She woke up pissed, and with a serious headache, which didn't help matters. It was rare that her kind got any sickness or headaches at all, so when it occurred, it sucked.

Feeling Vale's distinctive presence next to her before she opened her eyes, she kept them closed and groaned.

“Tell me I did not just faint like a stupid damsel.”

“All right,” Vale agreed, “I won't say it.”

She opened one eye to know where her target was and closed it again before slapping his shoulder. “Dick. What happened? How's Alarik? And Gallal?”

“So your priority order is the horse first, then the irritating elf poser. Interesting.”

That wasn't an answer. With difficulty, she sat up and finally opened her eyes.

She knew this room. She was familiar with the high stone walls held up by columns, the glassless opening leading to her balcony, and the carved sculptures around the curved doors. The bed was still perfect, firm like she liked, with soft covers of silk.

“The horse is fine.” As an afterthought, he added, “And so is the poser. I'm okay too, by the way."

She rolled her eyes. “I can see that.” She recalled the last second before Alarik spooked. They'd been surrounded. “We’re in the winter court,” she realized. She was in the very room she’d occupied in her father’s castle some thirteen years ago. “How did we get away? Did we get help?”

Vale smiled. “Aren't you cute, actually believing I need help against a few soldiers. But yes, we are indeed in your father’s court.” 

She frowned. There had been more than a few, and they were more than foot soldiers too. Devi didn't still speak in terms of monsters and dragons. She knew what to call them now. She knew what they were. Shea had taught her many things about the world during their lessons. 

“Vale, the Corantians are different. You have to be careful with them.”

“Different. What could you possibly mean? Perhaps they can make use of four elements and shoot ridiculously accurately in action. Perhaps they also have blue blood. Wait, that reminds me of someone else.” He watched her pointedly as she bit her lower lip. She was not supposed to talk of the scions; Shea had forbidden it.

Devi chuckled. “I'm not one of them.” 

“I know. You're a seelie unseelie of the elven realm. Everything but them. They come from Corantius. You have the power of every consequential creature of this realm, except theirs.” 

Her nails were fascinating right now.

“You don't want to talk, so here's what I know. Some sort of gods came to us, settled in the court of crystal, modified our kind and had babies with us. Those babies are powerful and power hungry. They've decided to wage war on the rest of us. And only a few of us are strong enough to fight back. So my mother, in her infinite wisdom, sent us to the relative safety of the elven realm, when she hopes we can find help.”

Her gaze was now fixed on his.

Vale pulled a small knife out of his coat and sliced a small cut in the palm of his hand before holding it up.

His blood was dark blue, just like hers.

“It is you and me now. My mother is far to the west. In a few hours, I am to speak to your father, known to be a wise king of a strong nation. I am going in with little knowledge of what’s going on. Whatever you know, now's the time to share it.”

She'd long ago promised Shea that their lessons were private and confidential. Opening her mouth without her say-so went against everything she was. And yet she did so, feeling like she could trust him.

“Scions. They're called scions. The children of the gods and their descendants. Shea is a scion, so you're one too. And I'm also one, from my mother's side, as well as my father's.”

Vale nodded, encouraging her to continue. Nothing she said seemed to be news to him.

“But they… did something to me. Before I was even born. Gave me more power. Only the first generations have blue blood. The direct daughters and sons of gods. I'm not one of them. I have as much power as one though, and my blood is as blue as theirs. Did they do the same to you?”

Valerius shook his head. “No, I was made the old-fashioned way. Daddy dearest’s blood colors my veins. I'm the son of the overking. Shea was so good to inform me that he was a divinity just a few night ago.”

“Wait, you're the son of the overking?” she repeated.

Vale tilted his head. “I'm surprised you're impressed.”

“I'm not. It just explains a lot.” She frowned. “The overking wanted peace. As it's unlikely that he would have just up and changed his mind, we have to assume that someone else is in charge of Corantius now. That would be someone directly in line for the throne.”

“My half-brother, Aurelius.” Vale inclined his head, following her reasoning.

“Yeah, well, he might have the power to move the armies, but he doesn't have the throne. He can't.”

She saw she'd lost him there.

“Shea and I have spent hours together. Every other night, she'd summon me. We trained sometimes, and she tried to help me control my powers too, but most of the time she gave me history lessons. She said these were tales meant to be told from mother to daughter and only shared with your kin. That writing them was forbidden, but that I had to know. As my mother wasn't here to tell me, she'd taken on the task. I never knew why. Now I do. She was preparing me for this. For generations, our families were preparing us for this. In case the gods decided to wipe us out. So we'd know and we'd be able to fight back. Now we know we have a way to win.”

“Well, too bad she didn't see the necessity of telling me any of this. Go on. What's your idea?”

“It's quite simple. We make you overking.”

Valerius looked at her for a beat and then started to laugh. “Sorry, I believed you were serious for a second.”

“But I am. Look, your mother told me about the throne of the court of crystal. It's not just a fancy chair, it's a piece of technology that controls the walls around their city, and the wall around the entire continent. It can also control the ship their race used to get on our planet in the first place. It is power."

“Sounds…” he thought it out before settling on “fascinating. And yet I still fail to see how or why the hell I'd become overking.”

“Valerius, the throne will not choose the next leader until all of those who have a claim present themselves in front of it. That's why they attacked the city, why they came after you. You have a claim to the throne, just like Aurelius. And he'd kill you rather than risking that the throne may choose you.”

The dark prince seemed lost in thought. Finally, he asked, “You're saying it's a fifty-fifty chance. It might pick Aurelius, right?”

“Would you pick someone who presumably assassinated his predecessor and burned down a city all in one night? The throne chose Orin the Peaceful. It won't empower a lunatic. And as for why would you become overking? Because we need you to be. Because the war that just started ends with your death or your coronation.”

His attention snapped to her, looking at her too sharply. “My mother said that. Those exact same words.”

Devi shrugged. “Well, she wasn't wrong.”

Vale remained there, seated on her bed and watching her, making her feel a little self-conscious.

“What, do I have something on my—”

She didn’t finish because his lips fell on her mouth, capturing it in a hot, passionate kiss that neither of them could chalk up to pretense. She hooked her hand behind his neck and pulled him closer.

Let the world burn for another moment. She deserved this, and so did he.

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