“It brings a tear to my eye,” Gabriel said, placing his hand on his heart mockingly and I rolled my eyes at him.
Gabriel moved forward, wrapping the two of us in his arms and squeezing us tightly before placing kisses on our heads.
“You’ll be the best queens Solaria has ever had,” he said fiercely, keeping us in the cage of his arms a moment longer as I breathed a laugh.
“Have you seen that?” Darcy asked curiously and he grinned as he stepped back.
“No. But I feel it in my soul.”
Darcy gave me a hesitant smile, reaching out to take my hand and I turned back to look at the gates once more.
“Well, here goes nothing,” I said in a low voice and we stepped forward over the threshold.
Magic rang through the air, making my body burn hot with the heat of my Phoenix and forcing the shift on me so suddenly that it burned right through my clothes, coating my body in blue and red flames and making my wings burst from my spine.
Darcy gasped as she was forced to shift too, her hand tightening around mine as the gates clanged shut at our backs with a finality that left me in no doubt that they wouldn’t be opening again until we had finished whatever our task here was.
“Welcome home, fire born,” a commanding, female voice called, the air trembling at the sound which seemed to come from all around us and from nowhere at once. “It’s time for you to learn the path of the flames.”
W e walked through an overgrown courtyard, but with every footstep we took, the vines and weeds retreated, exposing an ancient mosaic on the ground of a Phoenix dancing with its own flames. A stone fountain stood at the heart of it, a Phoenix bird rising from the centre of it and as we approached, fresh water bursting from its beak.
“There seems to be a theme here,” Tory muttered.
“Phoenixes?” I guessed through a laugh and she snorted.
We turned towards the dark doorway which was thick with shadow, creeping inside and the moment our feet touched the flagstones, fires burst to life in the sconces all along the walls.
We followed the fire deeper into the ancient palace, turning past another old courtyard in the centre of it where a tall tree stood, casting it in shade. On its branches were large green mangoes and I wondered if that was what we were going to be eating down here.
Despite the place seeming to come alive at our touch, I didn’t understand what we were supposed to learn from simply being here.
Two stone doors opened ahead of us and we shared a look before tiptoeing through them and gazing around at the enormous throne room we were in. The throne was made of a ruby red glass, its back carved into the shape of two huge Phoenix wings. Upon it, lay a single feather, the bronze colour seeming to glint with a fire that burned within it. An arching window beyond the throne sat high up on the pale walls and sunlight filtered through the room in slanted rays.
I stayed close to Tory as we approached the throne and I reached out to touch the feather.
The moment my skin connected with it, the feather fluttered away from me, spinning up in the air right before our eyes as a shimmering red and blue light built around it.
We staggered backwards as the feather suddenly shifted and a goddess of a woman took its place, sitting on the throne with her bronze wings stretched out either side of her, her body clad in armour similar to the kind Geraldine had gifted us. Her hair was as dark as charcoal, her skin a rich brown hue and she had a mouth that seemed used to smiling. At first it seemed like she was solidly there until her wings folded behind her and I realised I could almost see through her.
“Descendants,” she sighed, her beautiful features lifting with happiness, her eyes so bright they burned. “Finally, you have come.”
“Um, hi,” I said and Tory raised her hand in a two finger wave.
The apparition looked between us then threw her head back and laughed so loudly it filled up the room.
Tory and I shared a glance, backing up another step as the woman got to her feet, smiling eagerly at us.
“You don’t know who I am, do you?” she asked and we both shook our heads, but then I frowned, realising she did seem kind of familiar, though I couldn’t place her. “Perhaps this will help you.” She raised a hand flicking her finger and a beautiful crown appeared there that was so stunning it stole my breath, the platinum set with deep red and blue stones which made the fire coating my skin flare hotter.
“You’re a queen?” Tory guessed and I gasped as I suddenly remembered where I’d seen her before. In Lavinia’s memories.
“She’s the Vega queen I saw in Diego’s hat. She’s the one who banished Lavinia to the Shadow Realm,” I said and the queen’s eyes darkened at that name.