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)
Bele tries to keep Sera still during her gown fitting and does a terrible job. She tells Sera how big the crowd will be for the coronation and remarks how beautiful Sera is in her gown. Despite having to stay at the House of Haides for the coronation, Bele comforts Sera’s worries about a few things and then warns her about dismissing her title while praising her for remaining armed. After Rhain speaks with Sera, Bele sees them off.
Bele joins Rhahar in Lethe to fight the dakkais and isn’t aware of what happened to Aios.
I can only imagine how she’ll take it. The romantic in me hopes it will finally force them to stop dancing around each other.
AIOS
Goddess of Love, Fertility, and Beauty (in Blood and Ash timeline)
Court: Kithreia
Hair: Red.
Eyes: Citrine with thick lashes that turn silver after Ascension.
Facial features: Plump lips. High cheekbones. Heart-shaped face.
Personality: Cheery and bright. Worrier.
Habits/Mannerisms/Strengths/Weaknesses: Is a hugger. Wears a silver chain around her neck.
Preternatural features: Powers of life, love, and birth.
Other: Can create many beautiful things with her touch—like the trees of Aios. Voice like spun gold and windchimes. Slumbers in the Skotos Mountains in Blood and Ash timeline.
Background: Was very young when Kolis killed Mycella. Was one of Kolis’s favorites at one time—kept in a cage of gilded bones until she gutted a guard and escaped.
Family: Cousin = Mycella †. Second Cousin = Nyktos.
AIOS’S JOURNEY:
When Sera arrives in the Shadowlands, Aios is called to take her to her chambers and have food sent up. She’s startled when she feels an electric jolt when her skin touches Sera’s. She reveals that Sera’s room has been ready for a while and was dusted frequently just in case. She tries to settle Sera by telling her that she trusts no one in either realm more than she does Nyktos and wouldn’t feel safer anywhere else. She leaves to get what Sera needs and returns with food and a belted chenille night rail.
Bringing clothing for Sera, she tells her more about godlings and the Culling. She asks Sera if she previously knew about the deal. As talk turns to her, she reveals what Court she once served and says that she came to the Shadowlands because it was where she knew she would be safe.
Sera watches Aios help Reaver learn to fly. Later, Aios helps Sera after the Gyrm attack and brings her a robe and some whiskey. She informs Sera that Veses is gone and then leaves when Nyktos arrives.
As she and Sera spend time together, Aios tells her that Mycella used to tell her about Veses being kind. She also reveals details about stasis and Arcadia. When Rhahar and Bele return, she gives them both hugs.
After Gemma is hurt, Aios arrives just as Ector brings her inside the palace. She asks if Shades got her and runs off to get supplies. She returns just as Sera starts glowing and watches in awe as Sera brings Gemma back to life. She checks on the girl and declares that she’s definitely alive.
Talk turns to the deal and the Rot, and Aios thinks Rhain is on to something about the deal and the Rot being linked. The mortal realm is more vulnerable to the actions of the Primals and should have been affected long before now. She wonders if maybe the ember being in the Mierel bloodline protected it in some way, but once Sera was born, it was in a vulnerable vessel that carries an expiration date—Sera’s death. Or maybe it’s weakened in a mortal body and can no longer hold off the effects of what’s been done.
When Gemma wakes, Aios comes to tell Sera. She says that Gemma claims to have no knowledge of what Sera did, but she thinks the girl is lying. She wants Sera to confront her. Aios tells Sera it’s clear that she didn’t want to do what she believed she had to do—make Nyktos fall in love and then end him. She adds that she disagrees with her actions and is disappointed but that everyone has experience carrying out terrible deeds because they believed they had no choice. She says she’s done worse than Sera—all of them have.
Aios takes Sera to see Gemma and learns what she told Hamid and why. The girl says that Sera is who Kolis has been looking for.
As they talk about Kolis more, Aios tells Sera that graeca also means love, and she’s afraid that Kolis somehow found a way to create life.
When the murderous gods attack, Cressa throws a bolt of eather at her and takes her down. When she wakes, it’s to go to Bele. She removes the dagger and cries as she rocks the goddess. She begs Nyktos to let Sera try to heal her, shaking as it appears not to work. But then it does. She stays with Bele as the now-Ascended goddess recuperates.