5
Faith
Nix was already tracking down Coburt Wyse. He’d escorted me to the palace as he ordered a group of his men to begin the search. Once I was safe in the palace, he’d left to join them. In this moment, as I stood next to Trinity before the citadel, I finally understood what it meant to be royal, to have responsibilities bigger than anything I’d ever imagined. I didn’t belong to myself anymore. I didn’t belong to Thor, as much as I wanted to.
I belonged to them. To all of Alera. I stared out at the people, the children with their beaming smiles, their parents with faces full of hope and horror—in equal parts.
But hope was winning. Trinity and I represented thousands of years of stability and tradition. Of safety and security, prosperity and peace.
And no old, greedy asshole, who h
