Total pages in book: 247
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 231436 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1157(@200wpm)___ 926(@250wpm)___ 771(@300wpm)
When talk turns to the Ascension they all felt, Attes chimes in and clarifies that what Nyktos says means that only Kolis can Ascend someone.
Kolis demonstrates his life-restoring powers with Dyses, and Attes sits up straighter when Dyses enters, restored. Kolis asks him if he has the same doubts as Hanan since he seems surprised to see Dyses alive and well. Attes explains that it’s just been a long time since Kolis has bestowed the honor, so it was a bit of a surprise.
He lies so smoothly.
Kolis tells Kyn to retrieve what he was ordered to deliver, and Attes swears when he sees the youngling, Thad. After Kolis makes his decree, Attes brings a dagger to Sera. Once Sera takes Thad’s life, Attes lifts the draken’s body, the blood singeing his flesh.
Later, in Vathi, Attes inquires as to why Nyktos and Sera are on his balcony without invitation or warning. When Sera asks about the draken, it takes Attes by surprise. He explains that Kyn went to burn Thad. Sera urges him to stop his brother and bring the body to them. When he hesitates, Sera shouts at him, and Nyktos orders him to do it.
It surprises me that he’d listen given how much older he is, but his loyalties really do lie with the Primal of Life. And he was Eythos’s friend.
He returns with the draken’s body and is told not to speak of what he sees. Nyktos says he will level his Court and hunt him down if he does. To which he responds that he’s getting really tired of the Primal of Death’s threats.
Attes watches, stunned, as Sera revives the draken; so shocked, he stumbles back from the table and swears.
The couple tells him he’ll have to keep Thad hidden, and Attes confirms that the gods and Primals would have felt the revival. It will be hard to keep him hidden, especially from Kyn. They tell him to bring the draken to the Shadowlands and promise he’ll be safe there. Attes says he knows Nektas will take care of him.
He comments on Sera’s charm, saying it won’t work there, but vows that no one will learn about what happened in Vathi—he swears it. He bows to Sera and promises not to betray what she did.
Attes insists that he knew something was different about her. He had even more suspicions when she didn’t react to his presence. Nyktos asks why he didn’t go to Kolis with his assumptions and gain favor, and he says that he could have, but again, he remembers who Nyktos’s father was and who Nyktos was meant to be.
At the coronation, Attes sees Nyktos bow to Sera and remarks that he’s a man who knows his place. He approaches the dais and bows to the couple—he is the only Primal to approach them up to that point—and tells Sera that her crown and imprint suit her. He adds that the imprint was…unexpected.
He reveals that a few dakkais have been sniffing about but left without causing too much trouble, then says they need to make time for the three of them to speak in private. Before he leaves, he says he hopes their union will bless the Shadowlands and beyond and then briefly stops to speak to Nektas.
During the battle later, he comes up to Sera from behind. She swings at him, not knowing it’s him, and he catches her. She thanks him—presumably thinking that he came to her aid—and he says that she shouldn’t thank him yet.
When I saw this, I instantly felt rage. When things unfold more later, I felt a little sorry for him.
He tells Sera that what he’s about to do is the only way and disarms her, then hauls her against him. He says that all they want is her. If she removes the charm, no more blood will be shed, and no more lives will be lost. If she refuses, his brother will leave none but the Primal standing. He reiterates that it’s Sera’s choice, but she needs to make her decision quickly.
Sera makes him promise that no one else will be harmed, and he swears. When she surrenders, he tells her she made the right choice.
Back in Dalos, Attes interrupts Kolis and reminds him that Keella helped Eythos capture Sotoria’s soul to be reborn. He reiterates that Kolis hasn’t been able to find her, even after hunting down every mortal with an aura. He then suggests that maybe he couldn’t find her because she’d been reborn over and over the last few centuries and insinuates that maybe Sera is telling the truth about being Sotoria reincarnated.
When Callum disrespects him, Attes tells the Revenant that he knows how to kill him and will prove it if he speaks to him like that again.
Kolis still seems hesitant to believe what Sera said, so Attes reminds him how clever Eythos was and says that it’s just the kind of thing he’d do to fuck over his twin.