I left that afternoon to rehearse my reception, where a lot of Sentinels would be present along with the Ancients and the queen herself. To say that I was nervous would be a very crass understatement, though unfortunately nothing at all seemed to ease my nerves. Reagan told me time and time again that there was no need––as if my brain did not know this.

My body was adamant on acting on its own accord, and therefore the frantic beating of my heart was as uncontrollable as my sweaty palms. I was even aware of how many times I needed to swallow––such an insignificant thing, though as soon as I grew aware of it, it ceased to be an automatic biological occurrence. It felt as though my body itself rebelled against presenting myself in front of thousands of faces that would be painfully aware of mine, though I wouldn't have the time to register any of theirs.

Feeling an impending sense of dread move through me, I bit down hard on my teeth as I was being prepared for the real thing now. There was a lady with emerald-green scales for clothes doing my hair, braiding a part of it with slender, artistic fingers. She pinned some of the braids somewhere in the back.

I noticed she had her hair done similarly. She lacked the stones, however, that she intricately weaved into my hair. She used emeralds that shone like her scales and white moonstones. I wondered if the colors had been chosen purposely to match my eyes, though the green in mine was much duller than these rocks.

The dress I'd been squeezed into hugged my figure with an intensity that made my mouth drop as soon as I'd caught a glimpse of myself in a reflection provided by the window across from the entry to my bedchambers. There was no vanity in my chambers, but I was glad. Seeing myself in such a figure-complementing but revealing dress only added to my anxiety, making me feel incredibly self-conscious.

Once the lady doing my hair finished her piece of art, I was picked up by another female with blue scales covering her thin body.

She'd walked me through the process countless times, proving to possess an insane amount of patience. Her pale face was framed by dirty blonde hair that clung to it. Ariena smiled at me in greeting.

"Are you ready, Lera Catherine?"

I provided a shaky smile, shaking instead of nodding as I probably should have.

"You will be just fine," she assured, though I doubted I would be.

Ariena was dressed in simpler and plainer clothes than I was––she was only to accompany me down to the massive amphitheater which was built intertwined with the eastern side of the palace, just as much a part of it like the towers were. My dress glimmered in colorless rocks scattered across a satin fabric that stretched over my body. The torso was tight, while the dress loosened around my hips. My décolleté was left bare, to be accented by a necklace of Reagan's choosing during the reception.

The worst part of it all was that I would need to walk up to the queen and be assessed whether I was worthy of being both promised to Reagan and to oversee one battalion of Sentinels. It was really a very strange gathering that seemed to serve more than just one purpose as I'd initially thought. It all melted into one single event with thousands of watchers sitting around the amphitheater.

Ariena and I both descended the stairway leading down to lower grounds. The halls in the eastern wing were barer than the ones in the west. Reagan called the east the winter wing, so I assumed that was why the hallways were emptier. Winters in Polla'Nisia did not last long, apparently, so not much time was spent in that part of the enormous palace.

As only Ariena and I walked through it, it felt like such a cold place to be in. The oilpaintings that adorned most of the walls in the summer wing did nothing to give it the feel of a home, but they did at least drive away any sense of hollowness that these marble stones were soaked in.

"What if the Queen rejects me? How will I know?" I wondered aloud, my hands clamming up as my heartbeat vibrates in my ears.

I felt Ariena's gaze from the side, looking at me in silence as my words echoed around us.

Just when we were about to descend another set of stairs that led further below ground, she finally answered.

"It is hard to predict her behaviour as it is always what you least expect. But Queen Amalfi loves Kar Reagan dearly. And he seems to be happy with who the split has graced him with."

Her words did both comfort and unnerve me. "I've heard you call it the split before. What exactly is the split?"

Ariena smiled. "The split is the occurrence in our history when souls were created but one physical body could not sustain its pure essence. So, the souls were all split into two parts, giving both the sole purpose to find each other and combine in every way possible. The Promised Bond. It is the most sacred because it gives us one singular and common purpose of life."

Ariena and I found ourselves in a hallway leading into only one direction, light not able to bounce of the walls as there was no lighting and no windows to provide light. It was more of a tunnel than a hallway, really.

"And the Queen respects the split, I gather?" I asked with a shaky voice, afraid that she would disapprove of our racial differences. She hadn't seemed deterred when Reagan introduced us. Then again, she'd barely listened when he had.

Ariena nodded slowly. "She does."

"But?" I pressed, sensing that she was holding back on something.

She remained silent, which only made me more nervous.

"Please, Ariena, just spit it out. It's too late now to turn back, unfortunately, otherwise I probably would have."

Ariena looked at me and our eyes met. She sighed briefly. "Queen Amalfi is not a particular fan of you Sentinels," she explained and I was entirely unsure what to make of that.

For one, it did not necessarily surprise me. Kit too had seemed rather deterred by our kind, since we resembled humans more than we did our animal side.

"Why does your kind generally not like us shifters? Weren't we literally created to aid you?"

Ariena shifted uncomfortably, put off by the direction our conversation was headed to. But I couldn't help myself.

"You were, yes. But as our numbers dwindled, our hatred for the human race grew. You are still part human."

I contemplated her words then, trying to understand her kind's perspective of things and how truly horrid everything was to them. They were fighting against genocide. Any race would despise those responsible for wanting to wipe them out of existence entirely. To some degree, their views were understandable.

To another, it felt foolish to dislike someone or someone's union based solely on what race they were born into. I was not responsible for the war, even if I was part human.

I was more draconic, however, than I was human, really.

Realising that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Lera Catherine, it is time I open the gates," Ariena announced and the moment of pure dread––that I'd not been eagerly awaiting at all––finally arrived.

Ariena moved towards the wall, blending into the shadows, when suddenly loud clicking sounds reverberated. A mechanism of sorts hidden within the stone walls began to move, unseen, and the gates was more of a boulder being slid upwards, providing a crack of light on the ground that grew larger the higher up the door was being pulled up.

Taking a deep breath, I focused on keeping my body as controlled as I could. My arms hung at the side of my hips, while my feet remained steady in the impossibly extravagant shoes they were wrapped in. The heels made me taller than I was, and albeit I'd practiced walking in them, I still felt a little wobbly.

Maybe it was more in my head, though.

This was the part I needed to walk alone––to my dismay, Ariena did not walk beside me as I came nearer and nearer to the source of the light and the reason for my pounding heart.

Just when I stepped into the light, I was hit by a wave of admiration.

And it fueled my confidence a tenfold, providing me with enough strength and determination to walk up to the podium that connected both sides of the amphitheater with each other. It was where the royal family awaited my arrival.

I ignored the thousands of people scattered all across the amphitheater as they fell behind me and instead concentrated on Reagan, his brothers and their mother standing in the middle. She was dressed in a shining white gown accented by golden lace. Golden threads cascaded down to her hips, woven into her curly hair. Her blue eyes reminded me of Dante's, piercing right into me as they connected. Another wave of anxiety went through me, fear of not being good enough resurfacing.

But when I let myself feel the awe of the crowd, it was whisked out and I could breathe properly.

Even if the Queen herself would deem me unworthy, so long as Reagan did not, nothing else mattered. She didn't need to like me or my kind.

"This is Lera Catherine from Everett Valley," the Queen's voice boomed through the amphitheater, enhanced by either herself or some other form of aid. It carried across the entirety of the crowd, reaching every corner, echoing back.

I was careful not to trip as I walked up four long, flat steps onto the podium. I was to take my place to Reagan's right. Reagan's siblings were all to the Queen's left. My promised and I would be the only ones standing to her right.

"Kar Reagan has found his promised in this woman standing before you now."

The crowd remained silent, but I could feel the magnitude of everyone's emotions.

I couldn't tell if the general feel of me was pleasing or unsettling.

"We gather here to solidify their union."

And now I was to move in front of her so she could perform whatever test she thought was necessary. I suspected she'd use her gift, whatever it was. It was the only part of today that I couldn't have been prepared for, and therefore had no idea what would happen.

Ariena and I acted out both possible scenarios, either success or failure, so I was at least ready for the aftermath. Now, a bubble of nervosity popped inside of me.

"If the Ancients are approving of this connection, then they will communicate it through me."

She stretched out her delicate, pale hands. Turning them so her palms faced upwards, I placed mine shyly within hers. Once her slender fingers curled around mine, a strange wave of pressure moved through me and I knew she'd already begun.

Her next words were but a whisper. "You are not just a shifter, are you?"

My heart stopped.

The Queen's eyes fluttered shut, my hands still tightly held firm by hers.

☼

The pressure inside of me was like a foreign entity that washed through my veins, reaching every physical part of my body, all the way to both my fingertips and my toes. My mind, however, remained exceptionally clear of any influence, which I appreciated greatly. And then I felt vibrations in my feet, unsure if it was just in my body or caused by something that travelled through the ground I stood upon. It felt just like when the Thrakos men had been sitting in a square formation in the woods on our journey here––and the rememberance of it made me think of the Ancients.

And then I heard voices in my mind and they were clear as they spoke in a language that was not my native.

The King. The peasant. The traitor.

I wondered, but who are they?

And though I'd never communicated with the voices that had been searing through my mind countless times in the past, warning me off danger, they suddenly seemed to answer back.

You have met them, Zunaei.

They called me the Releaser. That too made me question what it was they were saying.

Kintar, Tyler and Holden, I thought and a strange sense of approval vibrated through me.

Blood will flow as tears are spilled, they said.

Do you mean the war?

Approval.

What does this have to do with my union with Reagan?

Stillness.

A tidal wave of vibrations flushed into me and I nearly lost my footing, one voice blaring inside my mind like a siren.

Kintar.

And then my eyes opened on their own accord, the vibrations ceasing to exist as the world appeared around me once more. The Queen's delicate, exceptionally young face sharpened into focus, her icy stare piercing into mine as though she'd been waiting.

Confused, with a heavily beating heart, I was afraid to ask aloud if the Ancients had given their blessings or not.

Her hands were still wrapped around mine. The Queen's eyes searched mine, for what, I didn't know.

Once she released me and turned her attention away from me, towards the crowd in the back I'd completely forgotten about, her regal voice echoed through the amphitheater with great volume. "Lera Catherine and Kar Reagan have been blessed by our ancestors."

A strangled breath escaped me.

My next actions would determine a great deal of how the present people would view me as both an individual amongst them and their leader.

I did not only speak to my battalion that I would work with in the days to come, but to every soul that listened.

"I come from a valley hidden behind mountains, riddled with secrets that only now are finally coming to light. I've lived a life of isolation from the openness you have known, within walls that were defined by rules but also by lies. Because of this, I vow to lead anyone willing to follow in constant truth and transparency. I vow to be kind, just, strong and supportive, and to keep my promises, not only to make them. You have yet to see actions that support what I claim, and I can only hope that you will grant me the chance."

I paused shortly, trying to keep any quiver out of my voice.

"Essentially it is you who decides me worthy. I will spend the rest of my life, however long it may be, proving to you that I am."

It was when cheers and clapping erupted that the first, steady breath entered my lungs was exhaled in the same manner.

☼

The Queen proceeded to speak of the upcoming war, thanking everyone for their contribution. She also used the opportunity to call out each respective leader, since there were a lot of groups that had come together. Reece was one of them. We were both to lead an entire battalion since Reece had proven himself worthy of the task by acing both his physical and his mental training. Once the entire event neared a close, I sought out the Queen privately. Unfortunately, she was never alone. Either her attention was focused on one of the Sentinel Leaders, her sons or her guards.

"Queen Amalfi," I greeted steadily, eyeing the guards standing aside her. Their dark stares unnerved me, taking away my previously gained confidence and reducing it to anxiety.

The woman before me was otherworldly, and looking at me with that icy gaze reminded me of her regency. She emanated an aura of strength that glowed around her. I couldn't imagine the level of power that she kept hidden, for what I felt was even more intense than what I saw. It was only now really clear, as though she'd been concealing it until now.

"Lera Catherine," she greeted back.

It was the first time I was speaking to her directly and she was not airily dismissing me or anyone around me. Maybe that was why I was only noticing now how much magic that she bore. Power.

"What did you mean when you said that I wasn't just a shifter?"

Intrigued by my question, Queen Amalfi's plumb, rose-colored lips turned into a smile. "You know what I meant," she answered and my heartrate begin climbing.

"How do you come to that conclusion?" I made sure to keep my head high and not let her take note of how much she intimidated me.

She shrugged, attaining that airy way that she'd had when I met her.

"Oh, do not assume that I am clueless only because I do not act upon everything I know."

My head spun. Did she know of Xenon and his secret? She must've found out. But how? Had there been someone spying on him, or me, the past few days?

"Deina is a trusted vatess, and she has been for a very long time," she began to explain, though I didn't understand why Deina was now a part of this conversation. Before I could ask, she continued. "She claims that Reagan was right to assume you are what they set out to search for."

Baffled, I tried to keep my shock out of my face, despite the icy feeling of it freezing the blood in my veins.

"And whatever your heritage is, I trust her word. And I have faith that you will be the Releaser, as the Ancients too have claimed."

"What does that even mean?" I asked.

She smiled again, a strange expression on her otherwise relatively empty face. She was not a woman that displayed any feelings at all in the way she spoke, looked or moved.

"You will release us from the hold that the Heretics have on us. You will bring a peace that will last for centuries. It has been foretold, and it has been verified that you should be that very person. So I will say it again. Your heritage is of no significance, for your purpose overrides all. Our survival depends on you, Catherine."

Queen Amalfi's voice dropped an octave, sending shivers down my spine.

"We all depend on you."