The throne room was not as Galeia expected.

It was bright and filled with lavishly dressed courtiers. They danced in dizzying circles and their voices bounced off the ceiling and walls, creating a joyous din. Galeia pushed through the crowd, struggling to make her way through the room, but no one bothered to notice her.

As she approached the throne the crowd parted, revealing a handsomely attired Ajo.

He flashed a charming smile.

"I was beginning to fear you'd never join us," he said.

"Where is my husband," Galeia asked sharply.

"Husband? Are you feeling unwell?" Ajo's brow furrowed in concern.

"I will not fall for your tricks," Galeia snapped.

"What trick? Dance with me."

He took her hand and pulled her into the crowd, spinning Galeia until she became disoriented among the noise and flurry.

"You're lovely," Ajo whispered in her ear. "That gown is most becoming."

Galeia looked down to find her body wrapped in an elegant dress.

"This is not real."

"Then it is a dream," Ajo mused. "Let us hope you do not wake from it."

"I don't want this!" Galeia pushed away from him and a few nearby courtiers turned to stare.

"Don't startle our guests," Ajo urged. "Or they'll think you improper."

"Where is my husband? I will not ask a third time."

"Are you speaking of that boy in the woods? Have you forgotten what happened?"

Galeia stared at him, bewildered.

"He...gave you up," Ajo said with pity. "He returned to the towns—I'm so sorry. You've been heartbroken for some time, but mother and I believed you had come around." He looked at the courtiers. "We thought a ball might cheer you up."

He grabbed her hand, but Galeia refused to be swept into another spin.

"Please don't tell me you've become confused again," Ajo said. "Shall I see you to your rooms? A little rest will ease your mind."

"No!"

She pulled away and her posture became defensive. Ajo held his hands up, treating her like a cornered animal that needed careful handling.

"All right, Galeia. We'll send the guests away and I'll get mother—"

"Ajo." She shook her head. "There's no need."

"What do you mean?"

"I felt a little dizzy...but I'm all right now." She held her hand out to him. "Dance with me?"

He took her hand and pulled her towards him. He had the span of a second to realize her other hand had filled with blue light, and as their bodies connected she drove her fist into his nose.

The illusion of the ball shattered like glass, and all the courtiers disappeared with a piercing wail of anguish.

Torches lit the throne room a whisper above total darkness.

Shadows twitched across walls and corners, making the room appear vastly smaller than it was.

The glorious hall was now a tomb, and the throne, once a breathtaking sculpture of beauty, looked foreboding and threatening.

It was not the seat of a kind, gentle ruler.

And sitting on it was not a kind, gentle king.

Ajo studied his guest with a predator's eye. It was the first time Galeia had seen him since betraying him into Lilith's care, and she felt a prick of shame when their eyes met.

But they were not alone.

To the right of the throne, on his knees and wrapped in chains, was Galeia's husband. His mouth had been gagged to stop him from speaking, and he bore bruises on his face and body. Above his brow was a fresh cut, and from it a thin trail of red ran freely down the slope of his nose. 

Ajo's eyes flickered to the prisoner, but he found him a rather dull distraction compared to the new arrival in his hall. He turned back to Galeia with a smug, hungry grin.

"You're vile," Galeia spat.

Ajo ignored the insult. "Come to pay tribute to your king?"

"Why have you locked mother away?"

"She is taking a well-deserved rest. And she is no longer the ruler of this kingdom, so she will not be burdened with the problems of peasants. Any concerns you have, you will voice to me."

Galeia nodded her head at her husband. "What kind of king kidnaps his subjects?"

"That is not a subject, that is an enemy. Even his own kind hate him."

"His own kind will never understand that he's saving them."

Ajo snorted and looked at the hall around them.

"What memories this room holds," he said wistfully.

"You've had your fun, but it's time to stop your childish games."

"Childish?"

"Release my husband."

"It was more than childish when you led me to Lilith. All those stolen kisses in the castle and the woods—" Ajo looked at the human to see if the mention of their intimacy roused his jealousy. "All those sighs and empty promises, only to deliver me into the hands of that witch."

A horrid memory bloomed in his mind.

"You have no idea what she did to me."

Remorse drowned Galeia's face.

"And before that, you both tormented me with your vicious little plots, while you sneered behind my back. And now you dare call me childish." 

"I've come to make peace."

He clucked his tongue. "Peace is the one thing I cannot give."

"I will have it or we will have blood."

"Why should I give you anything?"

"Because under all your anger you are a good man. A noble, kind—"

"I was," Ajo acknowledged. "Before I was betrayed."

"What was I to do? You promised you would kill him—"

"And I meant it." Ajo tapped his fingers on the throne, trying to appear nonchalant. "I recall a promise you made, in this very room, before a full court. Remind me what it was."

"Ajo, please—"

"You should be held accountable for your words."

"I had to follow my heart."

"And what about MINE?!"

His roar carried through the hall, and the fierceness of it forced Galeia a step back.

"I want you to find happiness," she said when the echo died. "I wish for you to have a love of your own."

"What good will love serve me now?" His voice lowered. "Was I always so loathsome a beast that you could not love me?"

"No," Galeia answered honestly. "But it would have been a horrible thing to force me to choose anyone but the man I love." She stepped forward. "It was never about you being unworthy. I never hated you, Ajo. I loved you."

Ajo could not find a lie in her eyes.

"We can make peace," she urged. "We can walk through the woods as we once did, brother and sister, loving friends. You may not believe it, but I have missed you. I never wanted to give up you, or mother, or my life here."

When his posture relaxed, Galeia's courage grew.

"We have hurt each other, but we are not beyond peace."

"When did I hurt you?"

Galeia tsked. "I will admit my mistakes, but you must do so, too. I know you don't want to torture us for the rest of our lives."

It was the wrong thing to say.

"The rest of your lives," he said with a sneer. "How long do you imagine that will be, now that I have you both here?"

Galeia's anger rose to match his. "You're behaving like a petulant brat!"

"I have a right to take revenge on those who wish me harm."

"I don't wish to harm you!"

"You already did," he hissed. "You and your husband are traitors. Traitors to the crown must be punished."

"You little worm—"

"Ah, ah." He wagged his finger mockingly. "Do not disrespect your king."

"You are not my king."

"My woods, my kingdom," he hissed. "But you are not my queen, and you don't have any right to speak to me this way. To sue for peace while you continue with this treasonous marriage. I am the ruler here, and if you refuse to obey me, you'll endure the punishment I see fit to give."

"Ajo," she said with a slight break in her voice. "I'm going to be a mother." Her hand went to her stomach. "This child is innocent. It does not deserve to be subjected to your terror."

Doubt found its way into Ajo's thoughts.

It was gone in an instant.

"There will be no peace between us," he said.

Galeia spat on the ground near his feet. She steeled herself as blue light ignited in her hands—

But Ajo laughed at her, and the insult made her feel small.

"Wild Galeia, how savage you are. Ever prone to cruelty. But how can you help it, when it's the very essence of you?" He looked at his fingernails in a show of boredom. "Do you think I'll handle you preciously because of what's in your belly?"

The blue in Galeia's fists fizzled and her stance relaxed.

"I'm not wild. Not anymore."

"What are you then?"

"Kind, Ajo. I've learned to be kind." She looked at her husband. "He taught me that."

"Your memory is as flimsy as your heart. I taught you kindness, Galeia. I was the temperance to your passion. I tamed you, not that pathetic flesh."

"You tried," Galeia corrected. "You taught me about the virtue of kindness—but Oliver proved it was possible."

The sorrow in her eyes ignited something within the king. It was a tiny thing, an almost insignificant speck inside the hatred and fury.

But it was there.

For a singular moment, a world of possibilities opened before him. A future of light and peace. After everything that had passed between them, a sliver of hope remained.

"No," Ajo muttered, so low that Galeia did not hear him.

An image came forward in his mind. Lilith beating him mercilessly. His body bound to a tree while he screamed in vain.

He could kill them both now. He could make Galeia watch as he choked the life from her beloved mortal before turning his rage on her.

Or he could keep them and treat them as kindly as Lilith treated him.

Yes, a world of possibilities opened before him—but what would be the most brutal? What would please him while tearing Galeia's heart apart?

He tapped his fingers against the throne. "You wish for peace?"

"You know I do."

"There is a way to have it."

"What is it?"

"The price might be too high."

"Say it."

He beckoned her towards him. "Approach the throne."

Galeia took a step forward, cautious of a trap.

"No, Galeia. Approach the throne with deference."

Galeia's cheeks flushed with anger, and she didn't have to say the curses out loud for Ajo to hear them. With humiliated resignation, Galeia knelt on her hands and knees and slowly ascended the steps to the throne.

Ajo smiled at the picture.

"I won't deny that after years of pining after you, a little submission feels good."

Galeia made a repulsed noise and stopped short of reaching him, so close he could swipe the end of his boot against her.

"What shall I do next," Galeia asked sarcastically. "Howl like an animal? Kiss your boot?"

Ajo contemplated the image but shook his head. "Stand up." Galeia obeyed. "Come closer."

Her legs brushed against his knees. When Ajo reached out to touch her, Galeia shied away, but a threatening look commanded her to remain still. He pulled her into his lap and pressed his nose against her neck.

Galeia tensed but did not argue.

"Now tell me," Ajo whispered into her ear, "who's the best in the woods?"

He meant it as a tease but it came out as a threat.

"You are," Galeia replied blankly.

He nipped at her ear.

"Who's the bravest and strongest?"

"Ajo."

"Who truly deserves your love?"

Galeia remained silent.

When he laid a hand on her, Galeia shuddered. He squeezed her stomach, which was not yet showing evidence of her pregnancy, and sensed a small energy from the life within.

"What power it must take to grow another," he mused. "She will be strong for having your blood and your magic."

"She?"

He snickered. "Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your daughter."

He didn't notice Galeia's lips move to form a single word:

Credence.

"A queen was taken from me, so a queen must be given." He gave her a knowing look and nodded his head towards her stomach. "The price for your peace."

Galeia was horrified.

"Never." She placed her hands over Ajo's, gripping them with a protective hold but not daring to push him away. "You cannot ask this of me."

"Your firstborn will correct your mistakes."

"I will not give her to you."

"If I cannot have the queen I want, I will have one like you. A part of you. This is my offer, and it will not be given again. Refuse it, and all three of you will not leave this room."

Galeia gaped at him. "The Ajo I know would never say such a thing...did Lilith put this horrid notion in your head?"

"My words are my own. I'll ask for nothing else, and any children you bear after will be yours. It's one small sacrifice—"

"It is not small."

"Endless peace for a drop of blood, a face you do not know."

"Her life is not mine to give."

"Isn't it? Her blood is in you now, and any you shed is hers, too. Make a vow, bind her to me while she is still inside of you."

They stared at each other, and complex emotions danced between them.

"Do you hate me so much...that the thought of someone loving me disgusts you?" he asked quietly.

"I can't do it."

"You won't. How selfish of you. You talk about the safety of your family, but you do nothing to help them."

He flicked his hand and the chains around her husband tightened. The human groaned behind his gag. In a few precious moments the air would leave his lungs.

"Stop!" Galeia cried and the chains instantly relaxed. "It breaks my heart to see what you've become, Ajo."

"What you made me. You always ran from your problems, thinking they would go away with enough distance. You ran from your real mother. You ran from mine. You will not run from me. I will be the first to make you understand the severity of your actions. It's because of your sins that you find yourself in this predicament. Will you finally acknowledge that you have a price to pay? Or is your pride so great that you must lose everything?"

The chains tightened around the human once more.

"What is your answer, Galeia?"

A terrible struggle was born in the woman. She looked at her husband, and the human saw true fear take hold of his wife. He said something behind his gag, but it was not clear if he was encouraging or warning her.

Galeia looked at her stomach.

For the first time in her life, the fight inside of her died.

Her voice was devoid of any feeling when she spoke.

"Produce a dagger. I will make the vow."