Shadows gobbled up the remaining light of the day as she waited with Mai. She rested her head against his collarbone, closing her eyes and considering what he had said about the risk of invasion. She doubted even the most vehement Denese rebels would want to find themselves at the mercy of new masters. Better to reconcile than start afresh as slaves. As for the Magisterium, if there was a choice between keeping the magic in their veins, or letting it fade or be snatched away, Rina had no doubt the Magisterium would do what they must.

"How will we rebuild Hypat?" she said. "Is it even possible?"

He ran the tip of his finger in a spiral over her stomach. "Hypat wasn't built in the middle of a desert to demonstrate Denese domination over the natural world. Nor was it by chance. You see—" his body pressed closer to her, and she had the sense that she was about to hear something few people knew. "The only known reserve of Carnelian crystals grow there, beneath the city itself."

"What about this mountain?"

Mai scoffed and said, "I was homesick when I came here—the cave is merely a replica. A pale shadow—if that."

"So the Hypat mines—they're crystal mines? I thought they were long gone, that the prisoners mined gold and other—"

Mai cut her off. "Other precious resources are found in and around Denea, too. These are things that are found elsewhere, and in greater numbers—though the nations that hold them stockpile their wealth to keep the prices down." He shrugged as if to say it worked for him. "Were it common knowledge that a productive Carnelian crystal mine remained in Old Denea." He snorted, the sound bitter. "Better the kings and queens of this world continue to think they can only be found through luck, inheritance or our favour."

Yes, Rina thought. Eurora might be powerful, but it took every spare soldier and navy vessel to protect their borders from without, and each guard to protect it from within. Another border, one that was rock and ash and dust, requiring constant shiploads of food and water for a standing army, would be even harder to maintain—near impossible through an enemy blockade.

"So, with the crystals below, it could be done? They could help reinvigorate the land?"

His chin met the crown of her head, and his smile vibrated through the bone that touched bone. "I've not wasted these centuries. Those Denese who rebelled and could be allowed to live helped to restore their land—even if they didn't know it. When the time is right, Denea will be reborn."

"We'd still have to protect it—if it was restored," she said.

"My love," he said. "The Devastation is a legend, but it is far harder to build than to destroy. Such an act of power would deter any invasion for centuries to come."

She nodded, understanding the truth in his words, and turned in his arms, catching a flash of green from the mural behind him. To walk in the grass in Hypat. To plant lavender in memory of Martha. To see wild roses grow and smell the scent of jasmine at sunset.

The cave cooled with the darkening of the valley, and she shivered.

"Will you tell me—about what is being done?"

"Of course—you bear my heir. That's why I brought you here."

He told her of the mining operations. A portion of the crystals was sent for Eurora's use: infused by the Magisterium to power towns and cities, or to store the Taint from forsakings. Many remained in vaults beneath the ruins of Hypat's citadel, ready for use in the future. Still others, smaller but flawless crystals, had been set within tunnel floors and walls like veins.

The miners dug beyond the crystal mines. They created tunnels that burrowed deep into the land, following the path of long-gone riverbeds. The tunnels branched out like roots beneath the desert sands and the once fertile crescent of a nation, and one day, the crystals within them would be used to send the Carnelian Way back into the land.

"Perhaps you and I could do it, one day. And if not—"

Perhaps our child, she finished down the line. With trembling fingers, she brushed the spirals of black hair from his face.

He gave her a sheepish look, the weight of centuries dropping from his countenance, as she ran her nails along his scalp. She preferred when he went without his crown, and she could forget he was a god-like emperor—even if they planned the rebirth of a nation.

Mai moaned and pulled her to him, nuzzling her neck. "Your eyes," he said, breath tickling her skin. "They are just like Ia's. She was devastatingly beautiful, just like her parents, but none of them holds a flame to their predecessor."

A warm shudder rolled through Rina's body as the barest hint of stubble grazed her skin. He smelled of roses and the faint musk of a man who had been working in the heat. She liked that he worked. She loved the callouses on his hands, the ink stains on his fingertips.

He pulled back from her and said, "It's almost time. Come with me." Then he took her to the furthest corner of the cave, down a narrow stairwell cut into the rock of the cliff, leading her down to the cirque.

The garden had woken with the new night, full of the scent of blossoms and the buzz of cicadas, and a small pool sat in the deepest part of the depression, reflecting Hecata and a few early stars.

He took her to a gazebo, where lounging pillows waited in the centre. A small side table held scented candles and wine and food.

"Are we...we are alone?" she said.

"Of course."

"Are you sure that's safe?"

"There are guards at the entrances, and I can summon them if I need them. This place is secret to all but a few of my most trusted."

Over the weeks, she'd grown used to knowing where the guards were. That constant sense of eyes. Of being protected. It had been oppressive, to begin with, but now she felt vulnerable.

Just a minute longer, he said in her mind as he settled her, adjusting the pillows to take the pressure from her spine. She sighed. He sat to the side and removed her shoes, then he took a foot and began to rub a swollen ankle.

Rina let her head fall back, ignoring the prick of unease that continued at her nape. The sense of eyes remained. But the garden was full of life. The night creatures stretched and crawled through this garden cirque carved into the mountain face by long gone forces.

Mai switched ankles. The skin was tight, hot with the press of fluids. His hands were cool, and he sent this into the muscles and tendons. He finished with a pat, and lounged beside her, that lopsided grin on his face.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

She nodded, grinning back at him. Again, his finger stroked down the side of her face, and he tucked her hair behind her ear.

There, he said down the line, pointing into the night garden. The curved mountain walls around the cirque were dark now. She squinted to make out what he meant.

Then the world erupted in light. Like the stars had fallen from the sky and now hung in tree branches or perched on mountain slopes—hundreds of glowing balls. The night sky come to earth.

A finger lifted her chin, and her teeth snapped together. She heard a faint whir and the movement of water.

Do you like it? he said in her mind.

"It—it's incredible."

In answer, he pulled her closer to him.

"How?" she asked.

"The water is redirected to another wheel linked to these globes," he said. "No Carnelian Way. Just the energy from the water."

"Can it run out?"

"Only if the water stops or the glass or chains break. Go, look, if you want."

She stood and walked toward a string of lights hanging from a wisteria tree. She touched one of the globes. Smooth and still cool, though the promise of warmth was there. The colour was vivid. The green-tinged flames of the mage lamps had a slightly sinister feel to them, but this, it was pure ass starlight.

"We can power Eurora with this, Rina, and use what is left to infuse Old Denea. Make our two lands one nation that no-one will think to harm. We'll undo the wrongs of the past and make a new future. A better one."

She nodded again. The corners of her eyes were hot and wet. She looked up to the cave entrance, to where the mural of Hypat stretched across the mountain wall. She once stood in that tower, taking in the view from the high window through Elia's senses. Denea was home. Her people's home. Mai's home. Her hand traced the curve of her stomach—their child's home. It was the heart of the Carnelian Way. And she would do whatever it took to return them all to where they belonged.

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A/N: Thank you for reading. Please consider hitting that star. Just four more chapters left!