Their Fireheart

Chapter Thirty Nine

"The Cauldron?" The golden one queried, "Our people do not invoke a Cauldron; our people do not have magic -"

"Don't they?" I asked.

Silence sliced through the room, sharper than any blade.

The ancient queen barked at me, "What, exactly, does that mean, Emissary?"

My lips curled upward in a smile, and it was not a pleasant thing. "I have known many humans who possess magic, or used to. Just as I have known fae without," I said. I looked sharply at the ancient queen, who paled at my next words. "It is curious how you have not experienced that during your reign."

The golden queen snarled at me, barely maintaining her bravado, "You lie."

"Do I? Perhaps you should take a closer look at your history books," I taunted.

The golden queen was prepared to continue this debate, but was cut off by the ancient queen. "It is of no consequence," she snapped. "Do you have the proof we asked for?" The sharp look she received from her companion had me smirking internally. The seed was planted, only time would tell if it was enough.

In a desperate bid to keep the vipers from seeing the goodness that was Velaris, Cassian jumped in. "Is our Emissary's love for the High Lord and his court not proof enough of our good intentions? Does our care and protection for her not speak to you? We have made every effort to ensure your comfort, meeting here in the mortal lands. We stand for all of us."

The ancient one sneered, "Proof of her idiocy, perhaps."

I stilled, fighting to keep the killing calm from my veins. "You know nothing," I replied bluntly. Fury filled her eyes.

The younger one interrupted before she could reply, waving her elegant hand towards the box on Mor's lap. "Show us, then. Prove that we are wrong." Prove that I am right, her golden eyes pleaded.

Rhys gave Mor a subtle nod, and I had to grit my teeth at the violation of showing them the treasure that was Velaris. At risking the home of my family.

You know that war is sacrifice, Rhys said into my mind, I would rather gamble Velaris than risk losing Prythian - or you. My chest caved painfully at his words.

Mor opened the lid of the box, revealing the silver orb that glimmered like starlight. "This is Veritas," Mor explained in a voice I understood well. "The gift of my first ancestor to our bloodline. We have only unleashed it a few times in the history of Prythian."

She lifted the orb from its velvet nest, settled in her palms as if it were an integral part of her being. She pulsed with more power than I had ever seen her display, as if a vital part of her became unlocked as soon as she made contact with the ancient artifact.

"Truth can be deadly, but it can also mean freedom. Truth can break and mend and bind. The Veritas holds in it the truth of all it has seen, of the world. I am the Morrigan," she proclaimed in a voice that was both hers and not. She glowed with that same strange, pulsing power. "I speak the truth."

She set the orb in between our two groups, and both queens leaned forward. A blanket of silence settled over the room.

Finally, Rhys spoke. "You desire proof of our goodness, of our intentions, so you may trust the Book in our hands?" The Veritas began pulsing stronger, a web of light spreading with each throb. "There is a place within my lands. A city of peace. And art. And prosperity. I will show it to you - show you the truth of my words, and the place within the orb itself."

Mor stretched out a hand, and a pale cloud rose from the orb, merging with the light. As the clouds continued roiling, leaking free from the orb, a picture appeared.