A sound split the silence. Not heard. Felt. Like thunder cracking inside my ribs, divine and merciless. My eyes snapped open. The bond shivered, not in fear but in fury, as if even Annie's dreams knew this intrusion was wrong. Light flared in the corner, golden, blinding, unbearably pompous. Not warmth. Not welcome. Demand. The Pantheon's sigil unfurled across the air, loops of celestial script etched in a brilliance sharp enough to scar. Summons. Official. Binding. Immediate. My jaw clenched. Each word burned across the air like a gavel slamming against my skull:
Malvor, God of Chaos, you are hereby summoned to the Pantheon. Attendance is mandatory. Time: Now. Purpose: Response required for destruction of the Citadel of Valor. Wear something appropriate.
I hissed under my breath. "Wear something appropriate?" My voice could have slit glass. "Are they joking?"
Annie shifted in my lap, still asleep, face pressed into my chest, breath slow and steady. My arms tightened reflexively around her before I forced myself to ease my grip. I glared at the summons, as if my stare alone could unravel it.
"If they wake her…" My voice dropped to a whisper edged with steel. "I swear to every gilded hypocrite up there, I will tear their sanctimonious throats out."
The air pulsed in response. Urgent. I did not move. Did not answer. Did not submit. My hand found her hair, fingers sliding gently through it, grounding myself in the silk of her rest. "She is sleeping," I whispered, every word deliberate. "She is healing."
My eyes burned gold now. Not with mischief. Not with play. With warning. With my deep well of magic. Ready to lash out. The sigil flared again, sharper this time, an additional word scrawled in jagged light across the script: NOW.
A growl rumbled through me, low and dangerous. "I hope you choke on your own formality."
Carefully, I shifted Annie back onto the bed. She murmured something soft, curling instinctively toward the place I'd left, chasing the warmth of me in her sleep. The bond tugged hard, begging me to stay. But gods do not ask. They summon. The soft cotton of my sleep shirt dissolved from my body, and in its place, chaos tailored itself into war paint.
Emerald silk poured over my frame, clinging sharp and perfect, silver-threaded runes crawling across the fabric like captured starlight. A vest glittered with diamonds, chain link embroidery catching light like teeth. And the cloak. Oh, the glorious cloak. Peacock feathers cascaded from my shoulders in a storm of iridescent arrogance, pinned by twin crowns that gleamed like mockery itself. Each jeweled eye shimmered with defiance, daring anyone to meet my gaze and not drown in it. My shoes gleamed, silver wings curling at the toes in a vicious parody of holy sigils. The cufflinks, because of course I had cufflinks, read in painstaking embroidery: Mandatory This, You Self-Righteous Pigeons.
I caught my reflection in the nearest shimmer of glass. I smiled wide. The very picture of sin, wrapped in silk and scorn. The portal tore open with a rush of air, and I stepped through without looking back. I didn't dare. Leaving her asleep, even in Arbor, felt like peeling my own ribs open. Every instinct screamed to stay. But gods don't ask. They summon. So I promised the only thing I could. I'll be back before she wakes. Or I'll bring the whole damn Pantheon down with me.
The hall of the Pantheon rose around me, trembling under its own hypocrisy. Wards buzzed off-key, cracks split the walls, light filtered through the fractured dome like a wound that refused to close. And I? I walked in like I wasn't the reason it all shook.
Peacock feathers rippled in a jeweled storm across my shoulders, each shimmering eye daring them to stare at me, not at what I'd done, not at what I was protecting. Emerald silk, silver-threaded runes glinting like stolen starlight, shoes winged in mockery, cufflinks embroidered with Mandatory This, You Self-Righteous Pigeons.
Every step was slow. Deliberate. Predatory. I wasn't just entering, I was distracting. The more they hated the spectacle, the less they thought about her.
Luxor's jaw locked the moment he saw me. Tairochi's silence rumbled like tectonic plates grinding. Vitaria sucked in a sharp breath, as if my outfit personally murdered her taste. Ahyona looked down, today the cool-eyed adult. Maximus, bless his rotted soul, raised his goblet in toast. "Fashionably criminal."
Yara clapped slowly, like a lover savoring a performance. "Dramatic," she purred. "I approve."
Good. Let them rage. Let them sneer. Better me than her. I smiled, sharp enough to draw divine blood. "Well. Looks like someone threw quite the tantrum."
I looked down at the scale live-image model of the Citadel of Valor. Luxor stood, glow sharpened to a blade. "You did this."
I grinned wider. "Did I?"
Vitaria snapped, voice like glass. "The Citadel collapsed. Mortal temples destabilize. Elemental magic leaks into sanctuaries. This isn't mischief, Malvor. This is cataclysm."
I spread my hands, dripping venom and velvet. "I'm flattered you think I'm that powerful."
Ravina's vine blackened at the edges. Tairochi's silence pressed heavier. Maximus chuckled, lazy and cruel. "We're not pretending this wasn't deliberate, are we? Because I love a man who commits to the bit."
Yara leaned forward, lips curling. "Was it personal? Do tell. I live for scandal."
"Enough," Luxor barked. His glow cut sharper. "You owe us an explanation."
So I gave it to them. Smile slow. Voice dripping with contempt. "Sure. I did it. I dropped the Citadel. Shattered it. Toppled a realm built on lies. What a shame." Gasps. Stares. Shock rippling like glass breaking.
"Where is Aerion?" Luxor's voice went low, dangerous.
"Not his keeper."
"Where is Orion?"
That name cracked something in me. I let the silence linger before answering. "Gone." Quiet. Final.
Even Yara's smile faltered. Ravina's vine coiled tighter.
"You killed him," Tairochi said, not asking.
I lifted my chin, chaos glinting behind my eyes like a storm barely caged. "He was the only good thing that bastard ever made. I still did it."
Silence. Heavy. Splintering. Until Ravina smiled, vine curling smug as a noose."And what of your mortal, Chaos? You speak of laws broken, but what was done to her was no such thing. Three gods form a Tribunal. Aerion, Navir, myself, we judged. It was lawful. Binding. Justice rendered."
The words hit harder than any blow. My smile didn't falter, but my bones burned. Lawful. The word curdled in me. Sheathed cruelty dressed in parchment and ceremony. I could taste bile.
"Justice?" My voice dropped, too soft, too sharp. Chaos licked at the edges of my vision. "You think law turns poison into wine? You think legality strips the rot from your hands? You-"
"Enough." Leyla's voice slid through the chamber, low and final. Time itself stilled. The weight of inevitability pressed against my chest. "What was done was legal," she said. Absolute. Unanswerable. "Debate is closed."
I went still. Not joking. Not mocking. Just still. My magic snarled beneath my skin, desperate to lash out. A crack spidered across the glass floor at my feet. Luxor's glow flared. "Then that judgment is passed."
Vitaria straightened, relief in her posture as she seized the chance to turn pain into bureaucracy. "For the death of Orion, Malvor, God of Chaos, you are hereby stripped of your vote in council. You will attend but not decide. Chaos will not dictate Order."
Tairochi followed, heavy as mountains shifting. "For the destruction of the Citadel of Valor, you will stand in silence at Aerion's memorial. You will honor what you broke."
"A memorial?" I spat. "He isn't even dead."
Luxor's golden eyes seared into me. "And yet he is gone. Mortals must be reassured. The Pantheon must stand united. You will attend. In silence."
Ravina's smile spread like rot. "Perhaps then you'll remember that law still binds even you, Chaos."
For a heartbeat, no one breathed. My shadows coiled, smoke made of broken vows. Then I bowed. Deep. Mocking. My cloak flared like fire, feathers whispering defiance. "I'll take your fury," I murmured, smile sharp enough to cut. "I deserve it. But I won't take it back."
The doors slammed behind me as I left. I didn't stop until I could feel her again. Alive. Warm. Mine. None of them, law or not, were ever going to take that from me.