Zodiac Academy Fated Throne - Caroline Peckham Page 0,34

released her before I lost my fucking mind and launched myself at him. I wanted his death more keenly than anything I'd ever desired and the way he was watching me said he was well aware of the fact. But it didn't matter because he'd placed the only woman I'd ever loved between us and he knew my hatred for him would never outweigh my love for her. She was a shield unlike any other he could have constructed against me and I was tamed by his control over her just as surely as she was by the shadows that had corrupted her.

Silence slowly fell throughout the courtyard as Father stepped away from Roxy and moved to stand in the centre of the space, facing the crowd.

"No doubt you are all wondering why I summoned you here this evening at such short notice," he called out and the other Councillors all exchanged looks, standing a little way behind him and clearly having no fucking idea what this was about.

I met my mother's eyes across the wide courtyard, but she was obviously just as in the dark as the rest of us, so I turned my gaze back to the man running the show to see what the hell he had to say for himself.

"Last night, I awoke with the words of the stars whispering in my ears," Father called loudly to the deathly silent crowd. "They summoned me from my bed and led me to the lake at the edge of my land and there, I saw a vision in the reflection on the surface of the water."

I frowned as I tried to figure out what the fuck he was going on about, but the crowd of onlookers were all watching him with rapt attention so I could only wait to find out where he was going with it. I seriously doubted he’d been gifted a fucking vision though. There was no trace of The Sight in our heritage and he’d never had one before to my knowledge.

I glanced over at Vard, my father’s creepy new Seer, wondering if he was going to claim to have something to do with this apparent vision, but he just stood watching, his mismatched eyes fixed on the show, the blood red one seeming to pulse with magic on and off.

"I saw destruction, devastation, death and the end of the world as we know it. I saw us losing this war against the Nymphs." Screams of fright went up amongst the crowd and the Councillors exchanged shocked glances, confirming that they were as in the dark as all of us, though they seemed to be more interested in hearing him out than interrupting his speech. "Then the stars offered me a deal. One which I felt duty bound to accept as it was presented by the guiding force of the heavens themselves. The true and divine beings who have given us all we have in this world. They gave me and those most loyal to the stars a gift – the Fifth Element."

The silence in the crowd erupted into whispers of shock and suspicion but Father was more than ready for that as he raised his voice to quiet them again.

"They offered me this and all the power that goes with it for the sake of our kingdom. But they also pointed out that our kingdom isn't truly a kingdom at all because it is not ruled by a single monarch the way that they intended for it to be."

He raised his hands and my gut lurched with bile as I felt the dark power of the shadows rising up around us before they even became visible to the naked eye. Father lifted his arms slowly and shadows crept down his hands, coating his fingers and pooling in his palms.

My heart raced in my chest as I looked between the other Heirs in horror, realising that this was it, his play for power. He was going to claim the throne. Which meant he was about to formally challenge their parents. And if he proved his power over them in front of this entire audience and all of the cameras that were trained on him, there would be no denying that he was the most powerful Fae in all of Solaria. He would claim his position at the top of the pecking order and there was nothing that any of us could do to stop him. Fae took their power and fought for their place