Fate of the Sun King

For their safety, Nadir moves Lor and their allies to a new residence in the Twenty-Third District. Nerissa shares her research, drawn from an alternate history source rather than standard lore, revealing that the objects called arks were created to pair with each Artefact and could be used both to amplify and channel the magic of its realm. She discovers that Zerra’s priestesses were tasked with retrieving them and that Zerra was merely a “caretaker” of pre-existing magic, not its creator. 

Lor and Nadir’s plans are disrupted by a note from their spy, Hylene, which states that the bonding party has been moved indoors to the throne room. The group discusses creating a diversion, with Mael suggesting drugging the guards’ food and Amya proposing they collapse of part of the throne room as a last resort. The note also reveals that Nadir’s father, the Aurora King, is in Aphelion. Lor realizes the Aurora King is also searching for an ark. With their options dwindling, the group decides to seek help from Erevan, the leader of the low fae resistance.

Nadir and Lor travel through Aphelion to a gambling den that serves as the headquarters for Erevan’s resistance movement. They meet with Erevan and propose an alliance, asking him to create a diversion large enough to allow them to sneak into the Sun Palace. In exchange for his help, Nadir promises to end slavery in The Aurora’s mines once he is king and to grant Erevan an additional favor. Erevan agrees but expresses doubt that their planned riot will be a significant enough distraction. Just then, a severely ill Gabriel bursts into the meeting. He claims to possess a secret that will not only create the perfect diversion but will also “change Aphelion forever” (484), before he collapses on the floor.

In the previous era, King Herric of The Aurora is in the Evanescence with Zerra. He wears a ring made from a magical black stone he calls “virulence” and secretly tests his theory that it can harm her. He confirms that channeling magic through the stone causes Zerra to fall ill. Emboldened, Herric attempts to kill her with a larger surge of power, but it is not strong enough. Zerra senses his murderous intent and immediately banishes him from the Evanescence. Stranded back in The Aurora, a furious Herric realizes he needs more power to achieve his goal and begins to formulate a new plan to destroy Zerra.

In the present, Lor and Nadir hide within the massive crowd gathered for the public presentation of Atlas and Apricia’s upcoming bonding. Suddenly, Gabriel and Erevan walk toward the royal dais, flanking a frail High Fae male whom Lor does not recognize. Nadir is stunned, identifying the man as Tyr, Atlas’s brother, whom he has long believed to be dead. Gabriel projects his voice over the crowd, publicly declaring that Atlas is an impostor. He reveals the century-long deception: Atlas secretly imprisoned Tyr, the true Sun King, while telling the entire kingdom that his brother had died.

Chaos consumes the plaza following Gabriel’s shocking revelation. Lor and Nadir use the pandemonium as their diversion and make their way to the palace gates, where Lor’s friends Halo and Marici are waiting to escort them inside. With additional help from Hylene, they navigate the palace corridors, finding them mostly deserted, save for a few guards who have been incapacitated by the drugs Willow placed in their food. Nadir neutralizes the two guards posted outside the throne room, and he and Lor finally enter the chamber alone, approaching the covered Mirror.

Soldiers storm the throne room. Nadir fights them off while Lor communicates with the Mirror. The Mirror calls her “Heart Queen” and reveals it has been safeguarding an item for her. It then ejects a small, carved object—the ark of Heart—which flies directly into her hands. The moment she touches it, Lor’s full magical power is violently unlocked, erupting in a blast of red lightning that shatters the throne room’s glass dome. When the energy subsides, she sees that the ark has flown from her grip, and she’s also dropped the bag containing the Heart Crown during the chaos. The Aurora King, Rion, steps into the room and calmly picks up the ark. He turns to Nadir and thanks him for revealing Lor’s location then orders his guards to seize them.

Back in the plaza, Gabriel collapses from the intense physical strain of his betrayal of Atlas. He begs Tyr to release the warders from their magical vow of loyalty. Atlas threatens to kill Gabriel if Tyr complies, causing the true king to hesitate. Just as Gabriel loses consciousness, Tyr officially releases the warders from their oath to protect Atlas and his secrets. The debilitating pain instantly vanishes, and an enraged Gabriel attacks Atlas, beating him into submission. A blast of red lightning, which Gabriel recognizes as Lor’s magic, fills the sky as the throne room dome shatters. With Atlas defeated, Gabriel holds a sword to his throat and proclaims, “Long live the true king” (520).

Lor awakens in a surreal, celestial realm called the Evanescence, where she meets the Empyrium, a collective of gods referenced earlier in the story. They show her a vision of the Beginning of Days and explain the true history of Ouranos. The Empyrium were the ones who ascended the seven human rulers to High Fae, including a dark-haired woman in a red gown who stands beneath the Heart Crown. They reveal that King Herric of The Aurora volunteered to be their divine emissary but was rejected for his dark heart. Instead, they chose Zerra, then the unpopular queen of Aphelion. A resentful Herric later created six arks from a substance called “virulence” to slowly kill Zerra. To counter this, Zerra created her priestesses to find the arks, but they became corrupted by the power she gave them. The Empyrium conclude by telling Lor that Zerra has proven herself unworthy and that her time is over, strongly implying that Lor, a “queen without a queendom,” (530) is destined to be her replacement.

Lor regains consciousness in a moving cart, her hands bound in glowing blue cuffs and surrounded by the Aurora King’s soldiers. She unleashes her newly unlocked power, shattering her bonds and creating a massive dome of lightning that incapacitates all the soldiers. She is horrified to find Nadir among the unconscious bodies, also bound and with a barely-there heartbeat. She manages to drag him out of the lightning dome, burning his legs in the process, and into a nearby forest to hide. Lor desperately tries to use her healing magic to save him, but as she works, his heart stops beating. Lor collapses on his chest, her screams of agony echoing through the forest.