Chapter 69

Doriel thanks Diem for saving Sophos and recalls their army. When Doriel presses Diem about messages to Montios and Fortos, Diem admits their kings are dead but confirms those Crowns will attend a coronation ritual. Doriel resolves to summon the Crowns in two days and pledges a vote for Diem—conditional on honesty.

Doriel recognizes Diem bears multiple Crowns. Luther defends that the Kindred themselves chose Diem. Seeking cooperation, Diem agrees to the ritual but privately refuses to contact her mother about access to Coeurîle. Diem then asks about a “lost realm,” forcing Doriel to reveal a guarded truth: a tenth Kindred once existed.

Doriel explains the youngest Kindred, Omnos, had a realm between Sophos and Montios, died after the Forging, and was erased from records—his portal torn down, maps redrawn, and references destroyed. Ophiucae’s star sigil and gryvern link him to Omnos; Doriel infers Diem likely descends from Omnos as well. Doriel suspects the Kindred’s "sacrifice" after the Forging may have been Omnos himself. A post–Blood War map marked Ophiucae’s Coeurîle prison, implying Montios and Umbros helped trap him.

Shaken, Diem wrestles with the name Omnos stirring her godhood and anger growing toward the Crowns. Stuart arrives; Doriel insists an ancient godstone broadsword return to the archives despite Luther’s objections, and Diem reluctantly yields it, planning to reclaim it later. In the infirmary, Sophos healers doubt Diem’s poultice, prompting her to recall a crucial detail.

Diem realizes her prior success came when her blood contaminated the mixture. She discreetly adds her blood to the poultice and urges the healers to try it. Luther’s intimate attention unsettles Diem; they refuse Doriel’s dinner invitation and leave together as Diem waits to learn if her remedy works.