Chapter 3

Flowers bloomed in Elowyn’s wake, while birds sang whenever she passed. Her words, however, made my stomach turn.

“Auren, I know you only pretended to be the Divine Heir because you’re in love with me. But that changes nothing. My heart belongs to Corvin.”

With a coy smile, she leaned into Corvin’s arms and gazed up at him through lowered lashes.

Corvin wrapped an arm around her with smug satisfaction. They clung to each other as though no one else existed.

“That pathetic sparrow actually thought he had a chance with Elowyn? What a joke. She’s the wisest goddess in the High Realm. She would never mistake another man for her betrothed.”

Elowyn and I had grown up together. She had once vowed that she would marry no one but me.

Yet after I returned to the High Realm, she treated Corvin as though he were the man she had promised herself to.

Even after learning who Corvin truly was, she chose to continue the lie rather than expose him.

She had even joined my sisters in murdering me.

I looked at the deceitful pair before me.

“You make me sick. I can’t believe I ever wanted to marry you.”

My sisters immediately flew into a rage.

“You’re nothing but a common sparrow. How dare you speak to the future queen that way? Guards, take him to the gods’ execution grounds, and make sure he suffers before he dies!”

Watching them rage, my smile only widened.

Elowyn looked at me with disgust.

“You’re about to be executed, and you’re still smiling?”

I folded my hands behind my back and lifted my chin.

“Because you’ve all made fools of yourselves, and you don’t even know it yet.”

With that, I raised my right hand and swore a binding oath before every god in the hall.

“By the oldest laws of the High Realm, hear my oath. I chose Elowyn as my bride because I believed her heart was true.

“Now that she has given it to another, I end our betrothal. From now on, neither of us has any claim upon the other.”

As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt the magic binding our betrothal snap.

As Elowyn had broken faith first, the shattered bond recoiled against her. The divine radiance surrounding Elowyn vanished. She coughed up blood as her face turned deathly pale.

Uncertainty rippled through the hall as the gods exchanged uneasy glances.

“If Auren were an impostor, the oath would have turned against him. Instead, it accepted his claim and punished Elowyn. Could he really be the rightful heir?”

“Look at him. He really does resemble High King Caelion.”

“But the princesses insisted that Corvin was their real brother.”

I ignored their whispers and met every questioning gaze without flinching.

Even surrounded by my sisters, Corvin could not hide the fear on his face.

Seeing doubt spread through the crowd, Seravelle hurried to intervene.

“That filthy little impostor attacked Elowyn!”

Tears filled Elowyn’s eyes. “Corvin, how could anyone be so vicious? He even attacked me just to steal your identity and take your place!”

Her accusation immediately turned the assembled gods against me again.

Elvarra stepped forward and pointed directly at me.

“Lay down your weapon and beg Corvin and Elowyn for forgiveness!”

Watching them, I threw back my head and laughed.

“You would force the rightful heir to surrender his blade to a common sparrow? Do you truly believe he is worthy of accepting my submission?”

As my nine sisters hesitated, Brannoc sent a burst of magic into my sword arm.

“Clang!”

My blade flew from my hand and landed at Corvin’s feet. He tried to step away, but it was already too late.

“Brannoc, you’ve forced the blood of the High King to submit to a common bird. I will have your life for this!”

Before Brannoc could respond, Corvin’s hair suddenly turned white. Decades seemed to pass across his face in an instant.

My sisters rushed to examine Corvin. Seravelle strode toward me and slapped me.

“Auren, if anything happens to Corvin, you’ll die with him!”

I met her gaze without emotion.

“He owes me his life, yet he dared accept the submission of the Divine Heir. Divine law is punishing him for claiming an honor he was never worthy to receive.”

Maerith, my fourth sister, stepped forward with tears in her eyes and accused me.

“Auren, you must’ve cursed Corvin! Don’t try to pass this off as divine punishment. You’ve proven that you’re too dangerous to be left alive!”

With that, she drew her sword.

Before she could strike, the enchanted blade at Corvin’s feet answered my call and shot toward her.

A heartbeat later, Maerith’s head struck the floor. The blade had destroyed her soul as well, leaving nothing to pass into the Underworld.

After killing my own sister, I wiped her blood from my blade and said coldly, “She tried to raise her sword against me. Her death was her own doing.”

The sight of a Dawnwing princess lying dead sent the assembled gods into a panic.

“That sparrow won’t live to see another dawn! He murdered a daughter of the High King!”

“Where are the guards? A princess has been murdered! Someone, inform the High King at once!”

I ignored their curses and crossed the hall to Seravelle, pressing the edge of my sword against her throat.

“Try that again, and what happened to Maerith will seem merciful.”

Spattered with her sister’s blood, Seravelle struggled to steady herself before calling out desperately, “Are you all just going to stand there? He has murdered one princess and is threatening another! Seize him!”

Nearby, Brannoc had nocked an arrow and aimed the Sunbreaker Bow directly at my heart.

“Brannoc, surely you know who I am. Lower that bow, or I will strip you of your godhood and turn you into the pig you swore to become.”

Brannoc hesitated, but Elvarra spoke with absolute conviction.

“On the honor of the Dawnwing bloodline, I swear that Corvin has always been our only brother. Auren is nothing but a fraud who stole his name!”

Brannoc’s expression hardened. He drew the bowstring to his ear and let it loose.

Just before the arrow struck, the air before me shattered like glass. A massive hand of golden light emerged from the rift, caught the arrow, and crushed it into dust.

A voice of absolute authority thundered through the hall.

“Who was foolish enough to raise a weapon against my only heir?”