Chapter 22: The Gala of Glass and Gold

The Grand Pavilion was a marvel of Kaelen’s architectural alchemy—a structure of spun glass and white marble that seemed to float over the rushing waters of the Dividing River. Usually, this place was a symbol of transparency and joy, but tonight, it felt like a cage filled with beautiful predators.

I stood at the top of the sweeping staircase, draped in a gown of shadow-silk that shimmered from charcoal to deep violet. Around my neck sat a single shard of the Abyss Heart, encased in silver filigree. It was a reminder to our guests: I am the one who tamed the void.

Beside me, my Mates were a unified front of power. Thane was in his full ceremonial shadow-steel, looking like a god of war carved from obsidian. Kaelen wore robes of deep emerald, his eyes constantly scanning the room for magical fluctuations. Jace was invisible to most, a flickering presence in the high rafters, ensuring that no Jade assassin could find a clear line of sight.

"Look at them," Thane whispered, his golden eyes fixed on the delegation from the Jade Isles. "They walk like they own the air we breathe."

High Scholar Vanya stood in the center of the hall, surrounded by her beetle-husk guards. They weren't eating the roasted cashew nuts or the honeyed jackfruit we had provided. Instead, they stood perfectly still, their bodies vibrating with a faint, solar hum.

"Sovereign Elora," Vanya called out, her voice cutting through the soft music of the Aether-harps. "Your hospitality is… adequate. But the air here is heavy. It smells of stagnant magic. Don’t you feel the weight of the darkness you’ve allowed to settle in your soil?"

I descended the stairs, each step a calculated movement. "The darkness isn't stagnant, Scholar. It’s the mulch. Without it, the light has nothing to grow from. But I suspect the Jade Isles prefer their gardens to be artificial."

A ripple of tension went through the room. Vanya gestured to one of her guards, who stepped forward and placed a small, golden orb on a pedestal.

"This is a Sol-Core," Vanya explained. "A fragment of the True Sun, distilled and purified. It provides heat, light, and life without the need for a 'bond' or a 'sacrifice.' We offered this technology to the Western Kings, but they were too obsessed with their steam and iron to understand it. We offer it now to you—if you agree to dismantle your Abyss-reactors and hand over the Aether-Born children for 're-education' in our temples."

"Re-education?" Kaelen stepped forward, his voice tight with academic fury. "You mean lobotomization. You want to strip them of their connection to the void so you can turn them into batteries for your cores."

Vanya’s gaze turned to Kaelen, cold and clinical. "We turn them into something stable. Something that won't eventually implode and take a continent with it. The Aether-Born are a glitch in the universe, Alchemist. We are the correction."

"I don’t like being called a glitch," a small voice rang out.

From behind a marble pillar, Lyra stepped out. She had ignored my orders to stay in the dormitory. Her white-blonde hair was glowing with a faint, violet luminescence, and her eyes were fixed on the Sol-Core.

"Lyra, get back," I commanded, but the girl didn't move.

"It’s hungry," Lyra said, pointing at the golden orb. "It’s not light. It’s just… trapped fire. It wants to go home, and it’s angry that you won't let it."

Vanya laughed, but there was a flicker of uncertainty in her blue eyes. "The child has a vivid imagination. Guards, escort the girl to—"

"Don't touch her," Thane’s voice was a low growl that shook the glass windowpanes.

Lyra walked toward the pedestal. Before anyone could stop her, she reached out and touched the Sol-Core. I braced for an explosion, for the solar fire to incinerate her small hand. But instead, the violet veins in Lyra’s arm flared with a brilliant, golden light—the same light I had used at the Tundra Graves.

The Sol-Core didn't explode. It shattered.

The golden light didn't dissipate; it flowed into Lyra, then radiated outward in a wave of pure, revitalizing energy. The stagnant air Vanya had complained about was suddenly filled with the scent of ozone and blooming jasmine.

Vanya recoiled, her beetle-husk guards drawing their solar-lances. "What have you done? That core was worth a province!"

"She didn't do anything," I said, stepping between Lyra and the Jade delegation, my own power rising to meet the threat. "She just showed you that your 'ordered' light is nothing compared to the spirit of a child who knows who she is. The audit is over, Vanya."

I looked at the shards of the Sol-Core on the floor. "You came here to see if I was a steward or a child. You have your answer. I am the Queen of the Outcasts, and I will not let you 'correct' a single soul under my protection. Take your ships and leave. If I see a Jade sail in my waters by sunrise, I will treat it as an act of war."

Vanya stared at Lyra, then at me. The elegance was gone, replaced by a mask of cold, calculating malice. "You have chosen the path of the eclipse, Elora. When the Light comes to reclaim its debt, there will be no shadows left to hide in."

As the Jade delegation retreated toward the harbor, I picked up Lyra. She was exhausted, her eyes drifting shut as the golden glow faded.

"We just started a war with the most powerful empire on the planet, didn't we?" Jace asked, dropping from the rafters and looking at the retreating ships.

"No," I said, looking at the sleeping girl in my arms. "We just started the fight for the future. And this time, we aren't fighting for survival. We're fighting for the right to exist."