“You’ve taken the seed crystal,” Samila said. “Without taking a slave collar. Impressively done.” She turned to the side and said, “No, Meena, I think it’s important to give credit where it’s due.”

There was no one there, though. Not even in superviolet. Not even as an afterimage of power.

Now that was interesting. Was Meena Samila’s version of Beliol?

Liv coughed, clearing her throat. “Can she see you?” Liv asked as she covered her mouth.

“No,” Beliol said. “Though she knows I’m here. You might find it in your best interest to hold back as much information as possible.”

That they both had… invisible helpers attending them, but that those were invisible even to other gods, meant something, but Liv wasn’t certain what. And had that been Samila slipping in letting her know about her own attendant, or had it been on purpose?

“Beautiful ring,” Samila said. “Is that where you keep the seed crystal?”

“Thank you, but no. A ring on the finger seems an awfully vulnerable place to keep such power, doesn’t it? On the other hand—sorry, no pun intended—I did want a small physical reminder of my power to flash about when such things might prove helpful.”

Samila Sayeh seemed to like the idea. It was a lie, though. The same lie Liv wanted Beliol to believe. She’d sent him to get her a suitable ring, and while he was gone, she’d turned her powers to making a gem that would sparkle and glow only when he was near.

Then, because it glowed every time Beliol did appear, he simply thought it glowed at all times.

She’d encouraged him to think it merely part and parcel of her vanity by also sending him for dresses and ermine and other jewelry. It was lovely to have such an obedient and powerful servant, but Liv had spent too much time being bent to the will of others to actually trust him.

“Where do you keep yours?” Liv asked, as if they were exchanging fashion tips.

“Oh, incorporated with my body, of course. As you keep yours. I simply wanted to see if you’d try to mislead me, make me think you were ignorant where you are not.”

And Liv, of course, had. Caught. Dammit. Liv had a brief flash of the same rage she’d felt before at Samila when she’d humiliated her by figuring out the problems of the Great Mirror so easily. “You do serve the man who tried to enslave me,” Liv said, smiling at the bitch.

“He enslaved me first.”

“There are many ways one might react to that,” Liv pointed out.

“There is no black luxin here,” Samila said, ignoring her.

“Is there not?” Liv asked.

“It was all carried away, long ago. You’re wasting your time if you came here looking for it.”

“Is that why I came here?” Liv asked.

“You grew up in bloody Rekton, yonder,” Samila said. “I told the White King you might be visiting there, to say goodbye. To mourn your dead. He thought the only reason you’d come would be for this battlefield.”

No, neither, actually. “The White King?” Liv asked.

Samila Sayeh shrugged. “One who brings all the colors together, perchance? The opposite of a Prism?”

“That’s not how prisms work,” Liv pointed out. “To bring light back together, you’d use another prism.”

“We had two Prisms at the same time once. Before your time,” Samila Sayeh said sarcastically. “It didn’t give us white.”

You old hag. “So Koios sent you to stop me from wasting my time?” Liv asked, amused. “So kind of him.”

“He wants you to rejoin him,” Samila said. “You don’t wear his collar, but our kind cannot hide from each other. He can find you anywhere in the world. On the other hand, you will also be able to feel him or any of the rest of us coming for you. It would make for a tedious chase. Instead he offers you a kingdom. Ilyta, specifically, traditional home of Ferrilux.”

“What do I care for Ilyta?” Liv asked.

“What do you care for any human land? You’re a god now. But it is good to have a home, and a people who will rally to you. And worship you.”

“He really thinks he’s going to win, doesn’t he?” Liv asked.

“At this point, it’s nearly inevitable. The question is really where you’ll be standing when the fighting stops. He also offers the superviolet bane, without which you will never reach your full power.”

“My bane? He has it?” Liv asked.

“Oh, now you’ve tipped your hand, haven’t you?” Samila said.

Liv didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Never mind. He guessed as much.”

“Guessed what?” Liv asked.

“You are the reason why the Chromeria hides so much knowledge, Aliviana Danavis. You incorporated your seed crystal before it made a bane. If you’d waited until the bane had formed around the crystal and then incorporated it, you’d have both your powers and the place that magnifies them. Having incorporated the seed crystal too early, it will never form a temple. Unless you can figure out something even our ancestors struggled with. A Ferrilux would be the one to figure it out if any would, though, I suppose. Good luck.”

“He’s found a second seed crystal?” Liv asked.

“Not yet. As you might guess, with it being invisible and with superviolet drafters of any skill so rare, superviolet seed crystals are the hardest to find. But he has teams looking for it. You understand, it is both the carrot and the stick. He can give it to you if you will serve him, or if he finds it, he can kill you and make a new, empowered Ferrilux who will be loyal to him.”

Liv’s heart fell. She might be the most effective searcher for superviolet, but the other gods would be attuned to such a thing, and the White King could search many, many places at once. It would be a race to the death.

There was no way of knowing if another seed crystal had even formed yet. Liv might spend every moment for decades searching for something that didn’t exist—and would have to, because her life would depend on it. Meanwhile, the White King would simply have subordinates do it.

“That’s your deal?” Liv asked. “I may live as a slave queen?”

“His deal. I don’t care what you choose. Technically, you’ve rebelled. Being offered to live is generous in itself. But you’re special, and superviolet has always been different, and, bluntly, weak. You will never have to wear the hellstone collar. But yes, you will bend the knee. Servient omnes. All shall serve, child.”