"See the abomination you would have lead you! She is not a Kian! She is a creature of the Void, a rot that will consume the North!"
I looked at Kasper. He was the only one who hadn't moved back. He stood at the edge of the dais, his golden light flare-up like a beacon in the dark. He wasn't looking at me with horror. He was looking at me with an intense, unwavering expectation. He was waiting for me to take the lead.
I closed my eyes, reaching for the connection we had forged in the dark of the suite. I felt his heat, his solid, unyielding gold, and I used it as a tether. I didn't try to shove the Void back. I didn't try to hide the purple.
I expanded it.
I pulled the energy from the stone into myself, absorbing the jagged entropy and smoothing it out with the rhythm of my own heart. The violet fire didn't vanish; it changed. It became a steady, translucent glow that bathed the room in a soft, ethereal light. The screaming in my head died down into a low, melodic hum.
