a speech. He’d known they would show, but this wasn’t what he had prepared for. This was why it was called the Hall of Queens.
“Then tragedy struck one thousand years ago, and I, not even nine hundred years old, was left the last member of this bloodline. No longer did I have to serve—I had to rule. I had to save as many of my people as I could and get them somewhere safe. I had to step up. I picked the best warriors, worked for centuries, and kept our people alive. I learned a very valuable lesson in the midst of it all. Ruling is just another word for serving.
“To rule well is to serve the people. My duty, what I was raised to do and to be wasn’t over, only changed. I like to believe I served well, but no one is perfect. Another thing I learned from all of you. Not even Avatars are perfect. Mortal failings catch up with us all, and when I die and Kristanya reads my life in the language of dragons, written on my skin…I hope I have done more good than ill. I hope I served well enough to overcome my faults of birth. Which brings me to now. For a thousand years, I have struggled to keep our people alive. I have done what I can where I can.
“I met a warrior who tested me. Together, she and I have given the Andinna one last fight to reclaim what we lost. I cannot do it without you, though. We are beaten and bruised. Right now, the last of our people are fighting to survive while I am here, begging for your help. I will continue to serve in your name until I have an heir ready to claim the throne. I will continue to serve our patron goddess, the mother of our bloodline. The only difference between me as a boy and me now is I ask to serve as the new Avatar of Lariana and King of Anden. Allow me the privilege to join your ranks, so I can bring our people back. This is not the time our people should fall into darkness and accept death. This is the time we stand, and we fight, but I need you to let me serve to the fullest of my abilities.” He was pointing at the ground, breathing heavily as he finished. Bringing it under control, he had to bring it around.
“A thousand years. For a thousand years, I served. I want to continue to serve. I await your judgment.”
“Queens of Anden, my daughters and my Avatars! Is he worthy to serve?” Lariana asked, her voice booming through the Hall of Queens. “Do we make an exception for this male and see if his body can handle the power only females have been allowed to hold?”
Alchan waited as no one moved.
Then one moved. His grandmother went to one knee and bowed her head. Then his great-grandmother.
Not every queen bowed, but like a wave, many of them did—so many.
“Ah,” the goddess said softly. “And so, Alchan Andini, Prince of Anden, you have roused the queens to believe you worthy of this power. You do understand what it means to rule, I’ll give you that.”
She appeared in front of him again.
“Now, you must prove worthy of me,” she said with that vicious smile.
“No,” Alchan whispered. “Not you.”
His words greatly offending her, she glared at him, a snarl ripping through the room like the very world was against his words.
“Excuse me?” she hissed. “You are to become my Avatar, and you don’t think you need to be worthy of me? You’ve grown arrogant.”
“I am here to prove myself worthy to my sister,” he answered truthfully. “Just as you once had to become worthy of your own, long before you created the Andinna and our wyvern cousins.”
“Explain,” she said softly, intrigued. Still angry, but curious. He could work with curious. “Tell me what you think you know.”
“Once, two dragons warred as the world was put together. They fought endlessly, light and dark. One more dominant and one more powerful,” he began. “They fought and shaped the very world we live in. The seasons ebbed and flowed as the white dragon and black dragon fought for who would overrun and take this world. To flood it in light or plunge it into darkness. You did not win,” he whispered, envisioning it. “No…something else changed. A new arrival came. A dragon, young and new. She convinced