Chapter 74 The Unexpected Alliance
Back in the city, Mara stood before the council. Everyone was there. Luna. Marcus. Brutus. Riven. Even Kieran. All waiting to hear her decision.
"I spoke with the Moon Goddess," Mara began. "She gave me a blessing. Suppressed the fragment. I have one year before it becomes a problem again."
"One year?" Marcus frowned. "That is not much time."
"I know. But it is what we have. And in that year, I need to prepare someone to take over. Because after the year ends, I am leaving. Stepping down. Disappearing."
The room exploded with voices. Everyone talking at once. Arguing. Protesting.
"You cannot leave!"
"Who will lead us?"
"This is madness!"
"ENOUGH!" Zevran's voice cut through the noise. "Let her finish. There is more to this."
Mara nodded gratefully. "The goddess was clear. If I use my power, if I give in to the fragment even once, everyone loses. So I cannot fight. Cannot defend the city. Cannot be the Moon Wolf anymore. Someone else must lead. Someone else must protect the kingdom."
"But you are queen!" Luna said. "How can you be queen if you do not fight? If you do not lead?"
"I cannot. That is why I am stepping down. After this year. After I train my successor. After I make sure the kingdom is stable."
"And who is this successor?" Marcus asked. "Who could possibly replace you?"
"Isla. My daughter. She is strong. Smart. She has leadership in her blood. She will be a better queen than I ever was."
"She is a child!"
"She is seventeen. Almost eighteen. Old enough. And she will have help. Zevran will advise her. You will all advise her. She will not be alone."
"What about Demetrius?" Brutus spoke up. "His army is coming. Six weeks away. Maybe less. If you cannot fight, how do we defend the city?"
"You fight. All of you. I will help with strategy. With planning. But the actual fighting must be done by others. That is the only way to keep the fragment dormant. The only way to keep everyone safe."
"This is a terrible plan," Marcus muttered. "We are basically handicapping ourselves before the biggest battle of our lives."
"I know. But it is the only plan that keeps me from becoming a monster. And a monster queen is worse than no queen at all."
A guard burst into the room. Out of breath. Panicked. "My queen! News from the scouts! Demetrius's army! They are moving! Marching toward us! They will be here in one week! Maybe less!"
The room went silent. Everyone stared at the guard. Then at Mara.
"One week?" she whispered. "That is not possible. They were six weeks away."
"They forced marches. Moved day and night. They are coming fast. And they are close."
Mara felt her chest tighten. Felt panic rising. This was too soon. Too fast. She was not ready. The kingdom was not ready.
"Ash," she thought. "Are you hearing this?"
"I am hearing it. And I am laughing. The goddess tricked you. Gave you a blessing that weakens you right before your biggest battle. She wants you to lose. Wants Demetrius to win. So the Sun God gains power."
"That cannot be true. The goddess saved me before. Why save me just to let me die now?"
"Because you are not useful to her anymore. You refused to be her champion. Refused to fight her battles. So she found a new champion. Demetrius. And now she will let him destroy you."
"You are lying. Trying to make me doubt. Trying to make me use you."
"Am I? Or am I telling the truth you do not want to hear? Either way, you have one week. One week to decide. Die with honor. Or survive with power. Your choice."
Mara pushed Ash's voice away. Focused on the council. "We have one week. That changes everything. We need to mobilize now. Every warrior. Every able-bodied person. We fortify the walls. Set traps. Prepare for siege."
"And you?" Zevran asked. "What will you do?"
"I will help plan. Strategize. But I will not fight. Cannot fight. The goddess was clear about that."
"Even if we are losing? Even if people are dying? You will just stand aside?"
"I have to. Or the fragment wins. And if the fragment wins, everyone dies anyway."
"That is not acceptable!" Marcus slammed his fist on the table. "We need you! Need your power! Without it, we have no chance against Demetrius!"
"Then we find another way. We fight smarter. Use the terrain. Use traps. Use everything except my power."
"That will not be enough!"
"It has to be!"
The council dissolved into arguments. Everyone shouting. No one agreeing. Chaos.
Mara felt overwhelmed. Felt the weight of impossible choices crushing her. She looked at Isla. Her daughter stood in the corner. Silent. Watching. Her face unreadable.
"Isla? What do you think?"
Isla stepped forward. "I think the goddess lied to you."
Everyone went quiet. Stared at the young woman.
"What?" Mara asked.
"The goddess lied. She does not want to help you. She wants to control you. Make you weak. Make you dependent on her. That blessing is not a gift. It is a chain."
"How do you know this?"
"Because I carried the fragment too. Remember? I know how it thinks. How it manipulates. And I know the goddess. She visited me in my dreams. Tried to convince me to reject you. To reject the fragment. To let it consume me so she could claim it. She is not benevolent. She is selfish. She wants power. And she will sacrifice anyone to get it."
"That is blasphemy!" Marcus said. "The Moon Goddess is sacred! She protects us!"
"She protects herself," Isla corrected. "We are just tools. Pawns. The moment we stop being useful, she discards us. Just like she is discarding mother now."
"I do not believe this."
"Then do not. But ask yourself this. Why would the goddess give mother a blessing right before her biggest battle? Why weaken her when she needs strength most? Does that sound like help? Or sabotage?"
Mara felt sick. Because Isla was right. It did sound like sabotage. Like the goddess wanted her to fail. Wanted Demetrius to win. But why?
"There is something else," Kieran spoke up. "The shadow inside me. It has been quiet since the Northern Wastes. Since Mara pushed it back. But today it woke up. Started whispering again. Saying the same thing as Isla. That the goddess is not trustworthy. That she serves her own interests. Not ours."
"The shadow would say that," Luna argued. "It wants us to doubt. To rebel. To fall."
"Maybe. Or maybe it is telling the truth. Maybe we have been worshiping a liar all this time."
"This is madness! All of it! We cannot fight Demetrius while questioning the goddess! We will fall apart!"
"We are already falling apart!" Mara stood. "Look at us! Fighting among ourselves! Doubting everything! This is exactly what Demetrius wants! What the goddess wants! We need to stop! Need to focus!"
"On what?" Marcus demanded. "What do we focus on? Defending the city? Preparing for battle? Questioning our faith? What?"
"On surviving. That is all. We survive. However we can. Whatever it takes. And after we survive, we figure out the rest."
"And if surviving means using the fragment? Using forbidden power? What then?"
Mara looked at everyone. At their frightened faces. Their desperate eyes. They were looking to her for answers. For hope. For miracles.
But she had nothing to give them. Nothing except impossible choices and terrible odds.
"Then I use it," she said quietly. "If it comes to that. If people will die otherwise. I use the fragment. Use Ash. Damn the consequences."
"You promised the goddess you would not!"
"I know. But I am also queen. And queens protect their people. Even if it means breaking promises to gods."
"That will doom us all!"
"Maybe. But at least we go down fighting. Instead of cowering. Instead of waiting for death."
The room was silent. No one knew what to say. How to respond. They were trapped between impossible choices. Between gods and monsters. Between survival and damnation.
"One week," Mara said finally. "We have one week to prepare. To fortify. To train. To pray. After that, Demetrius arrives. And we fight. With everything we have. Including me. Including Ash. Including any power we can muster. That is my decision. Anyone who disagrees can leave now. I will not force you to fight a battle you do not believe in."
No one left. They all stayed. Even Marcus. Even the ones who doubted. They stayed because there was nowhere else to go. Nothing else to do. They stayed because Mara was still their queen. Still their hope. Still their last chance.
"Good," Mara said. "Then let us begin. Zevran, organize the warriors. Luna, prepare the civilians. Marcus, fortify the walls. Brutus, set traps around the city. Kieran, you and I need to talk. About the shadow. About what it knows. About how we can use it against Demetrius."
"You want to use my curse against him?"
"I want to use everything. Every weapon. Every advantage. We are outnumbered three to one. Maybe more. We cannot afford to be honorable. Cannot afford to fight fair. We do whatever it takes to win."
"Even if it corrupts us? Changes us? Makes us into monsters?"
"Yes. Even then. Because a living monster is better than a dead hero. At least the monster can protect people. The hero just becomes a memory."