Chapter 4 Four

“That’s impossible.”

Apollo’s booming voice filled every corner of the room, and while every other head bowed in respect, I held my ground between the two stone guards and kept my eyes on his.

“It’s a long shot,” I said. “But I think I know how to stop them.”

“Have you become so desperate to save yourself,” he asked, “that you would speak such foolishness before the entire council?”

“Please,” I begged desperately, my voice small and weak and scraped thin. “Just give me a chance to explain.”

There was silence.

Then, from the centre of the table, a light female voice spoke for the very first time.

“I want to hear it.”

Aphrodite. Goddess of love, ancient and luminous, with radiant eyes that had seen every form of devotion in existence.

Where we Heartwalkers had Aphrodite, the supreme Goddess of Love, the Nexium had Hades, God of Death, though no one had ever laid eyes on him before.

Long ago, it was she who first brought love to the hate-filled humans on the brink of murdering each other to extinction.

It was Aphrodite who rallied God’s of light to her side to help bring balance to the realms and end the age of fear.

She was the founder of Heartkind, the one who made our ancestors and gave them the gift of love magic so they could serve her purpose, always and forever bringing love and peace to the human realm.

She was leaning forward slightly, her chin resting on her linked fingers, looking at me with interest.

“Give her the floor,” she said simply.

Apollo’s jaw tightened, but he said nothing.

The guards released my arms.

My knees weakened, and I fell to the marble floor, catching myself on one hand, my torn golden robes pooling around me.

I pushed back up to my feet, squared my shoulders and faced them.

“There is only one way to beat the Nexium,” I said. “Creatures of hate and darkness can only be defeated by the opposite. Love and light.” I breathed in.

“I propose… I propose that we find the Nexium King a soulmate.”

For a brief second, there was complete silence.

Then one god at the end of the table burst out laughing, as if I’d said the funniest thing he had ever heard.

“The Nexium,” Apollo said through gritted teeth, “are dragon creatures of hate and deceit and destruction. They leave death and decay in their path wherever they go, and their king is the worst of them all.”

He sighed, “They are not capable of love. They do not experience it, they do not want it, and they would not recognise it if it stood in front of them. You are describing the impossible.”

“Just a moment ago,” I said, my voice growing steady as I grew more confident. “Before whatever happened to my magic, I was the best Heartwalker this council had ever seen, and you know that. You were about to make me a god.”

I looked at him directly. “If anyone in any realm can find the Dragon King a soulmate, it is me. And you know that too.”

The laughing god stopped laughing.

Apollo studied me for a long moment. “And how exactly do you propose to get close enough to the king of all Nexium to accomplish this miracle?”

“The Accord meetings,” I said. “Every five hundred years, as the gods commanded, Heartwalkers and Nexium must meet on common ground. Enemies sitting across from each other and being civil so that no great war ever comes again.”

I looked at Aphrodite. “The next meeting is in three days.”

“It is,” she said.

“Last time we met in our territory, so this time we will meet in theirs. In three days, the Heartwalkers will travel across the skies down into Nexium territory, to sit with the dragons as the gods require.”

I paused. “When everyone returns home that day, I will not go with them.”

One of the gods drew a sharp breath. “Don’t tell me…”

“Yes. I will stay behind in Nexium territory and disguise myself as one of them. I will become a spy, watching the king, so I can learn everything about him. And when I know enough… I will find him his perfect match."

“When the King of Nexium surrenders his heart to his one true love, the war is as good as won. Hate will no longer exist; he will be like one of us.” I finished.

The room was quiet.

Then Apollo said, “She has lost her mind.”

“The king of darkness,” another god said, shaking his head slowly. “In love. Whoever heard of such a thing?”

“Guards.” Apollo raised one hand. “Remove her before she infects the rest of this council with her madness. Take her to the border and throw her out!”

The doors burst open, and every head in the room turned.

Lyriel stood in the doorway, chest heaving, his eyes finding me instantly, and when he saw the guards rushing toward me, he struck.

He crossed the floor in long, fast strides and pulled out his sword, striking the arm of one stone guard before it could drag me away.

It cracked and crumbled to a pile of rocks on the ground.

Suddenly, he was between them and me, one arm shoved back to push me behind him, glaring at two beings twice his size without fear.

“Don't touch her!”

“Lyriel, no!” I grabbed his arm.

“What has she done,” he said to the council, his voice shaking with barely contained fury, “to deserve this treatment?”

I watched in horror as every god at the table went still, their skin flushing with divine anger, and the ground beneath our feet began to shake violently.

Apollo rose from his seat, and when he stood to his full height, the light in the room grew so bright I was nearly blinded.

Every Heartkind fell to their knees and touched their heads to the ground, eyes tightly closed, begging forgiveness.

“You,” he said, and his great, deafening voice boomed, “would dare defy the gods?”

Lyriel did not step back.

“Yes,” he said. “If it means keeping Cupid safe, then I would defy Zeus himself.”

“Lyriel, stop….” I tried to pull him back.

“I have been outside those doors listening,” he said, louder now, speaking past me to the entire table,

“And I say give her a chance! She is the best of us; she has always been the best of us, and if she believes she can do this, then I believe her! We all do! Stop being so stubborn and just listen to her!”

I looked up at him with my heart in my throat and whispered, “Please. You will get yourself killed.”

He looked down at me, and his eyes went soft all at once, all that fury folding itself away, and he took my face gently in both hands and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“I know I wasn’t there for you before, but I’m back now. And I won’t let any harm come to you,” he said quietly. “Not while I’m alive.”

Aphrodite was watching us with an amused expression, the same expression I often wore just before I fired my arrow, when I saw two people who would be perfect for each other.

She looked at Lyriel’s hands on my face and at my hands gripping his wrists, and she sat back in her seat.

“Fine,” she said. “Let her try.”

“Aphrodite—” Apollo began.

“Look at what is standing in front of you,” she said quietly. “And tell me love cannot accomplish impossible things.”

Apollo looked at us for a long time.

The fury in his eyes did not go out, but it dimmed. He lowered himself slowly back into his seat, pressed two fingers to his temple and breathed.

“So be it,” he said finally. “Go. Live among them. Do this mad thing you are proposing.” His sharp, disapproving eyes found mine.

“But hear my words. If one month passes, thirty days without word from you, we will assume you are dead, and we will not come looking. You will be forgotten. And every trainee of yours who is losing their magic alongside you will be cast out the same day.”

He leaned forward. “Do you understand, Heartwalker?”

“Yes,” I said.

Lyriel’s arms tightened around me, and I leaned on him for a second, finding safety in his arms, drawing strength from his love.

Finally, I stood up straight, smoothed my gold robes, and looked at the council one last time.

“The fate of all Heartkind rests in my hands now. I will not fail you. You have my word.” I whispered, then I walked out.

I never looked back.