Chapter 82

Arkyn returns to his cluttered suite, cataloging his scavenged trove and passing a caged miskunn before entering his office. He finds Sereme waiting with tidied furnishings and a prepared meal, angling for favor. Arkyn is curt, noting her overreach and failure around Raeve’s trial and supposed execution, and mentions new orders and preparations.

Pressed about timing, Arkyn states the invasion will proceed after the moonfalls, then moves to dismiss Sereme for an imminent pit battle starring Raeve. Sereme pivots, arguing Raeve has become uncontrollable and dangerous, urging Arkyn to have the razah kill Raeve in the pit. She frames Arkyn’s victories—Kaan, coffers, army—as justification and declares herself his queen, refusing to share power with Raeve.

Arkyn tests and needles Sereme, recognizing her insecurity and loss of leverage since Raeve’s rebind. As she presses her ultimatum, he darkens, concludes there is room for only two, and orders Sereme to remove her necklace and follow. He leads her through his slumbersuite and a tunnel into the frigid night, letting the silence expose her weakness and dependence.

Outside, Arkyn coldly states she is no longer useful: her flattery and assumptions weary him. He recalls his own father’s cruelty, then mirrors it by commanding Sereme to run. As panic overtakes her, Cliár erupts from the mountain in blazing flight, and Arkyn grins, punctuating her banishment with the Elding Bird’s dramatic emergence.