Elias had always hated the castle on Cairna. The dim hallways and dark stairs seemed to have monsters playing in their shadows. Swaths of black and silver silk hung between columns, swaying in a light breeze, creating ghosts in their midst.

The celebration would last all night, worshiping the four darkest gods in the pantheon: The underworld god, Torvan, his consort Anuth the shape-shifter, and Hallor and Sybella, the two faces of death.

It was a celebration meant to recognize the dark things in the world. To learn that death was not to be feared. To let out the animal held on a leash in your heart. From dusk until dawn on the longest night of the year, the only light would be the candles of high up chandeliers, blazing bonfires and the stars above.

Elias had never cared for the dark.

The dining hall was crowded near to bursting, people little more than shadows and flashes of firelight off teeth and jewelry as they ate and talked. The sound of laughter and free-flowing wine echoed off the stone walls as full darkness fell.

Elias tugged at the stiff collar of his dark jacket then lifted a goblet to his lips. He drained the cup and signaled to a passing servant to refill it.

"Keep that up, boy, and you won't make it past midnight," one of the lords sitting at the same table as him said, chortling as he sipped from his own glass. 

Elias offered a tight smile in answer, cutting into the bloody steak on his plate. He kept his eyes carefully on the food in front of him. Dark as it was, he still didn't want to risk looking toward the front of the room and the royals arrayed at the table.

Tonight could not draw to a close quickly enough for him. Then he could go back to his ship and wait for the king to give the fleet his permission to finally leave the harbor. He could leave Antelium far behind, and perhaps die a heroic enough death that his mother would receive enough money to make his sisters eligible for a suitably noble marriage. 

Conversation and laughter continued to spin around him and he struggled to shut it out. He was hardly in the mood to celebrate.

Not after...

Elias took another mouthful of wine, counting the minutes until he and Malitech and whoever of his Black Crests were coming could slip away to the city. The wine here was watered down, as was traditional. Elias wanted something stronger. 

Like the honey mead served in several of the more questionable taverns of the capital. Or the strong, spiced wine smuggled in from Soria.

But they wouldn't be able to leave until after the midnight service and at least a handful of dances at the masquerade ball that would last until dawn. So Elias drained his glass again and tried to avoid being drawn into any conversation.

The dinner continued to drag on through course after course. Finally, music began to play, fiddles and pipes trilling through the air, winding between lively conversation as the celebration began to pick up steam.

If there was one thing the Metian nobility succeeded in, it was having a good time.

As more wine flowed—despite it being watered down—and people began to move about the hall, Elias found himself sitting with the captain of the Black Crests and a few of the younger nobles. A serving girl perched in his lap, her dark hair tickling the side of his face as she whispered in his ear. Laughter roared around him, making him look up to find that Malitech had joined them.

More and more people began to trickle toward them, noble sons and daughters drawn into the prince's orbit. The servant girl was somehow replaced with a general's daughter in a dark-green silk gown that matched her eyes and set off the creamy expanse of her chest that was on display.

"That doesn't seem to be the right woman on your knee," a voice said in his ear.

Elias pulled his attention from the woman's neck to find Malitech looming over him, a sly smile on his lips. His arm was draped over the shoulders of a girl with deep black hair.

"She's the one that's here," Elias said with a lazy grin, his head buzzing pleasantly. And she neither looked nor smelled like the princess.

Malitech tilted his head, hazel eyes looking almost black in the twilight of the hall. His smile sharpened and he turned his head to whisper in the black-haired woman's ear. She pouted prettily but released her hold on the prince to be quickly lost in the spinning crowd.

One gesture from Malitech had the woman on Elias' lap disappearing as well, much to his chagrin.

"Come, Elias," Malitech said grandly, just as the clocks began to chime.

Seconds later, the rolling ring of a bell echoed through the hall, conversation dying as people stopped what they were doing. They turned from their conversations and food to look expectantly at the king as he rose from his seat.

Everyone except Elias. He kept his eyes carefully on the ground in front of him, even as he angled his body toward the king.

"My friends," the king began, "welcome, on behalf of my queen and myself."

The shuffle of clothes and the clink of glasses prompted Elias to grab his own nearly empty goblet.

"Tonight, we bid the old year farewell and look to welcome the new year with more hope than we left the last."

There was a smattering of cheers. Elias, for his part, stayed silent. He didn't see how the new year could possibly be any better than this one had been.

"Tonight, we ask those more fickle gods—wicked Torvan, sly Anuth, bloody Hallor and merciful Sybella—that they once more bless our empire. That they turn their wrath and their bloodthirsty gazes upon our enemies." The king paused dramatically. "We offer to them the blood and souls of every warrior felled beneath the blades of our brave soldiers."

A deafening roar came from the crowd at that.

Playing to the military might and pride of the empire was low-hanging fruit. Every citizen in Metus was absurdly proud of their legions and armadas. And the men who served in them.

"We ask that they keep their dark eyes ever watchful on our enemies and shield our empire from those whose jealousy of our wealth and our magnificence would tempt them into attacking our people and our beloved lands."

People hissed and sneered at the idea that anyone would be so foolish.

Elias dared a peek up at the king to find him standing with his goblet raised. In the darkness of the hall, with his dark hair and broad build, the king could have been Torvan himself come to earth.

And Cassia could have been Hallor.

Her deep brown hair—only bound by a silver circlet on her brow—was black in the low light, her honeyed skin turned pale by her dark dress. Elias couldn't decide if it was dark blue, or really black. She looked cold and distant as a statue, her face carefully neutral, her eyes on her father as she lifted her own goblet.

"So tonight, my friends," the king finished, "we shall pray. And we shall dance and revel in our power and the power of our mighty gods."

The bells rang out again, a great clashing symphony as they raised their goblets to the ceiling before drinking. Cheers rose as the king and queen followed the sound of those mighty bells, leading their court to the temple.

Elias watched as Cassia walked a few paces behind her parents, her chin high, her steps so smooth she appeared to be floating through the dark.

"Promise if I begin to doze that you'll wake me," Malitech murmured as they moved toward the doors, the crowd parting around them. The prince gave him a grin, rolling his eyes. "All the chanting we're about to endure always puts me right to sleep."

Elias raised an eyebrow, then cast a wary gaze at a painting of Torvan and Corlana hunting the wary Anuth, who was in the form of a silvered wolf clutching Torvan's heart in its bloodied maw. A beautiful piece, recently commissioned if the gleaming, pristine condition of the paint was any indication.

Mocking the gods or their priests was rarely a good idea, especially on a night when these particular gods were encouraged to come among them. Elias quickly offered an apology.

He couldn't help but watch as Cassia paused for a moment beside the large painting, frowning at it. She shook her head slightly then hurried after her parents, skirts flowing behind her like a waterfall of midnight.

Elias' heart twisted in his chest.

What an irredeemable fool he had been, daring to touch her as he had. He was nothing now but a lowly lieutenant in her father's navy. Despite the king's words, despite the prince's, he should have known he had no right to touch her.

No right to even pursue her—not as he currently was.

How could she love him, when he was so much less than he should have been?

The crowd made its way slowly to the main doors of the castle, spilling out into the night in a nearly silent procession. Elias' breath clouded in front of him. Frost limned everything in the gardens, turned to silver by the starlight. It wasn't snowing, at least, though the cold was enough to have him wishing he'd thought to bring a cloak.

Every fifty feet or so, torches bracketed the path leading them to the dark temple. Their smoky scent settled on Elias' tongue. Jewelry shimmered in their light. 

As she passed one of the torches, Elias caught the glimmer of ruby beads woven through her mass of loose hair. Her dress wasn't black, but of darkest possible red. Like lifeblood—the last that leaked from a body before it died.

It only reinforced the image of Hallor.

Elias caught himself wondering which animal she would be embodying tonight. Nothing that came to mind fit her, didn't fit her personality or the animal that was in her heart.

Unless...

Elias shook off the thought. It didn't really matter one way or the other. He supposed he'd never really known what was in her heart to begin with.

Finally, they reached the temple. Here the torches burned alternately with a black or silver colored flame. The procession came to a slow halt, everyone staring up at the head priest of the temple as he stood before the carved doors.

His normal sky blue robes had been traded in for more appropriate black robes trimmed in a bone-white cloth that seemed to shimmer as he moved. The priest spread his arms, his sonorous voice carrying easily through the chill air as he welcomed them and blessed them on this longest of nights.

The royal family entered the temple first, Malitech dragging Elias along with him. Elias tried to quietly protest as they entered the nearly pitch-black temple, then sighed in relief when he realized Malitech was steering them toward the back.

Benches filled the main atrium, moved there for the duration of the nearly hour-long service they were about to endure.

The king, queen and royal children traditionally sat toward the front, and indeed, Elias thought he caught a glimpse of the king's crown near some of the benches closest to the wide open doors. Priest Marius stood with his back to the open portal, the night flowing in around him as the nobles moved into the temple. 

They would stay open for the service. Elias had never been able to decide if that was simply to help keep everyone awake, or for some more mystical purpose.

"This way," Malitech muttered, grabbing Elias' arm and pulling him down a row of benches.

The prince pulled him into one of the inner temples, shutting the door quietly behind him. Elias opened his mouth to ask what in Torvan's name he was doing, then fell silent at the sound of a flint being struck. A lantern flared to life and Elias' gaze darted nervously around the temple, taking in the frescoed walls. 

The shapeshifter god himself stared at Elias from every wall, scenes of his story flowing from one to the other, leading to the biggest fresco on the rear wall. Anuth stood in a winter forest, cradling a heart in his hands, a sly smile on his lips. Blood covered the lower half of his face and coated his hands up to his wrists.

There were several forms of the god depicted here. As a man with white hair, as a silvered wolf, a white falcon, a woman with a wicked smile. Elias had always wondered what it would be like to be so free that a single form was incapable of holding your spirit.

Malitech set the small lantern on the marble floor and traced his finger carefully over a smaller picture, depicting Anuth teaching Eretanes how he might defeat the Wolf of Setoria.

"What are we doing in here?" Elias whispered, resisting the urge to fall to his knees and beg Anuth's forgiveness for their trespassing.

Malitech whirled around to him, his richly embroidered coat flaring. The prince frowned at him, looking extremely displeased. Elias choked down a grimace, not in the mood for a lecture.

And certainly not from Malitech.

"There are less than ten days until the end of this year, Elias," Malitech said, his voice low and urgent. "And by my reckoning, you have spent the last eighteen days spending more time with me than with my sister."

Elias clenched his jaw and turned from the prince, just to find himself staring at a fresco of Torvan and Anuth locked in a passionate embrace.

"Forgive my confusion, Elias," Malitech continued. "But the last time we spoke about it, you were intent on winning my sister's hand." There was a small pause. "Has something changed in that regard?"

"The only problem, Highness, is the fact that I still don't have a title," Elias said, the wine having loosened his tongue more than he realized. "The only problem is I have nothing to offer your sister. No title, no lands. No way to protect her."

Malitech raised an eyebrow, but kept his tone light as he said, "What would she need protecting from?"

You.

The word very nearly slipped past his teeth, but Elias still had enough of his wits about him not to dare whisper such a thought to the prince himself. If the thought of killing Cassia was not already in the prince's head—and somehow Elias very much doubted that—he certainly wouldn't be responsible for putting it there.

Not irreverent Malitech, who so easily dismissed the gods and their laws when it suited him. Who would dare to tread in this holy place on such a night as this one. He might be willing to break even the most sacred of laws in his pursuit of the things he desired.

Elias shrugged. "In our world, who knows? I don't have enough money to dissuade anyone from harming her. I have no home to take her to, far from here and from anyone who might be tempted to harm an Heir who has decided to step down."

For if she relinquished her title as Heir, she also yielded the protections such a position provided her.

Malitech frowned, his brow creasing in thought as he took that in. He made a slow circuit around the temple, touching certain illustrations lightly. Anuth stealing Torvan's heart as he slept. Anuth tricking Eretanes into yielding some of his warrior skill to him. Anuth leading the first Auralius to some fair, distant land.

"I have talked to my father, you know," Malitech said, his voice grave and quiet. Through the door, the sound of chanting could be heard. The service had started. "I've talked to him about your title as often as I can, which, admittedly, is not as often as I would have liked to press our cause."

Elias blinked in surprise. He'd had no idea that the prince had continued to speak on his behalf since he made the promise to do so more than a fortnight ago. He had just assumed that Malitech had spoken to his father once and had his petition dismissed. 

A beat too long passed, but he still managed, "I... Thank you, Your Highness."

Malitech only waved a hand, looking aggrieved. He paced another circuit around the temple in silence.

"He's a stubborn old fool," Malitech suddenly muttered, much to Elias' shock. He'd never heard the king's eldest son say anything disparaging about his father. The prince shook his head balefully. "Every time I bring it up, he simply rambles on about how we can never allow weakness into our empire. He cannot see that we already have."

Elias blinked, uncertain of the prince's meaning. Weakness of any kind had alway been pulled quickly out by its roots, regardless of the destroyed lives left in its wake. Unless... Anger flared, deep and hot in his gut as he wondered if the prince was talking about Elias' presence in the capital. In his being allowed a chance to court  Cassia, no matter how disastrously that had gone. 

But then Malitech whirled back to him, clasping his shoulder. "I will see you get your title back, my friend. And perhaps this won't be your only chance to win my sister's stone heart."

For a moment the only sound was the low rumble of the head priest's voice, words indiscernible through the closed door. Elias could do little more than blink for a moment, then shook his head in disgust.

"Of course it is!" he hissed, no longer caring to be polite as he shrugged Malitech's hand off. "Ten days from now, she will leave the castle. She will be gone for three years, during which anything could happen." Fear wrapped claws around his throat, choking him as he said, "Cassia could be killed or worse."

Malitech didn't say anything in response to that. Not that Elias had expected him to.

"And if she comes back," Elias continued, "she'll be that much closer to being queen."

Now the prince sneered, shaking his head. "That cannot happen. Cassia cannot be allowed to take the throne."

"And why not?" Elias scoffed. "She's the one who has the gods' favor. She's intelligent and fair and—"

"A woman," Malitech said, his voice sharp. He sighed and shook his head sadly, though the vicious glint in his eyes gave away his true thoughts. "She might very well be all those things, but that does not change the fact that she is a woman. That she is not strong enough to bear up under all the demands of the throne."

Elias didn't speak for a moment. For most women, he would have agreed with everything the prince said without a second thought. But Cassia was not most women.

"She's stronger than you think," he said quietly, meeting Malitech's gaze. At the incredulous look he received, he shrugged. "She has grown up in a world of adversity. She has grown up learning how to fight for herself and the things she believes to be right. If the world here has not broken her, I don't see how much anything else will."

Because this world, with all its jewels and charms was still somehow crueler than the world that lay beyond it.

Malitech sighed. "Say that is the truth—that my sister is as strong as she needs to be to survive bearing the crown. That is not the only obstacle she will face." The prince gestured to an image of Anuth and Torvan in full battle dress. "What does a woman know of leading men? How can she be expected to lead our empire through war?"

For this, Elias had no answer. As brave as she was, as much as she knew about tactics and the philosophy of war, that did not mean she would be able to lead them through a war.

Particularly if her generals couldn't even be bothered to listen to her. Elias remembered clearly enough the council he had been invited to, when General Julianus had ridiculed her in front of the king and his advisors. Furious as Elias had been on Cassia's behalf that day, he couldn't bring himself to rebuke the general. Mostly because the man had been right about how they should respond to the hostile Mortanians.

Malitech put his hand on Elias' shoulder again. His voice soft, he said, "My sister is a different sort of woman, this is true." He chuckled. "More like one of the barbarian gladiatrices than a princess."

A comparison to the female fighters of the coliseums seemed fitting enough.

"But fierce as she is, she still cannot be crowned queen. Our empire has always been ruled by kings. Warrior kings. Men who know how to fight and win battles. The very first of us was a man for a reason, Elias. The strength of our empire lies in the strength of our rulers."

Elias met the prince's gaze, holding it for a long moment. For once, Malitech appeared completely sincere, his utter belief in the truth of his words shining in his eyes. A deep sigh was pulled from him, and he nodded his head in agreement.

It would be dangerous for Cassia to be queen. Perhaps disastrous for the empire if kingdoms such as Soria or Khanatum felt that a woman would make an easy target. And from what he knew of Soria, whose men had less regard for women than even Metus, that was likely the case.

The ringing of bells signaled that the Cairna service would soon be drawing to a close. The sound of chanting turned to the sound of song, its ancient melody filling the entire temple.

Slowly, Elias said, "How is this not my last chance?"

Malitech raised an eyebrow in question.

"You said these last ten days before she leaves may not be my last chance to win her over. To stop her from pursuing something that could kill her," Elias said. "What other chance do I have?"

In spite of the wound she had given in rejecting him, Elias still loved her. He still wanted to protect Cassia however he could. Even if that meant conspiring with her brother.

Malitech smiled, his teeth shining in the light from the small lantern. "You will help me then? You will help me keep Cassia from sacrificing her life for a responsibility she never should have had in the first place."

Nervously, Elias glanced at the image of Anuth. The blood on his lips appeared wet, glistening in the low light and his dark eyes seemed to bore right into Elias. He hesitated for a moment.

After all, the gods had made Cassia the Heir, not Malitech. Were they really in any position to second guess the gods?

But, then again, the gods were notorious for their wicked games with mortals. Perhaps this was one such test. To see if the humans they had created would do whatever it took to protect the empire of the gods, even if that meant going against their own hearts.

Even if that meant defying the gods themselves, in order to keep the empire strong. 

Elias took a deep breath, bracing himself. He looked at the prince. "I will help you, because this is the only way I can see to protect Cassia." His heart stuttered slightly. "But you must swear that if I do this, if I work to dissuade Cassia from this path and hand the crown to you, you must swear something to me."

"I've already promised I will return your title," Malitech said, waving a hand dismissively.

"That is not what I am asking." Elias made his voice as firm as he could while keeping a low tone. "You will return my title because that is the only way I will be able to convince Cassia of my worthiness. What you must swear is that no harm shall befall her."

Malitech blinked once, and Elias couldn't decide if the dark thing that flickered in the prince's eyes was a trick of the light from the lantern, or something altogether more sinister. His mouth turned dry, but he refused to back down from what he had asked.

None of this would matter, not his title, not the lengths he was willing to go to, nothing would matter if Cassia was killed.

The song that had echoed around them began to die away, the last few notes slithering around them as Elias waited for Malitech's oath.

"You have my word," Malitech finally said. "I swear that I will not harm Cassia."

"Even if she abdicates her throne?" Elias pressed. That was when she would be most vulnerable. Especially if Malitech believed she could pose any threat to the legitimacy of his own reign.

Malitech laid a hand over his heart, looking vaguely shocked. "What reason would I have to harm her then?"

That wasn't wholly comforting. Elias frowned, but nodded. The bells rang once more, signaling the end of the service and the beginning of the masquerade. Elias swallowed his remaining doubt.

Something in him didn't trust Malitech completely, had never trusted the prince. But that didn't negate the fact that Malitech was still the only foreseeable way back to his title and all of the resources that would once more be at his fingertips to keep Cassia safe.

"I will help you," Elias finally said. "I will do what I can to persuade Cassia that there are other paths for her to tread."

Elias' eyes once more flicked up to the shifter god, who seemed to be laughing at him now. He scowled at the fresco and turned back to the prince, who reached out to clasp Elias' forearm.

"What do I need to do?"