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Morning descended upon Acropolis beneath a pale glow.
While Lusian walked the streets beneath fearful gazes, two of his companions were entering a place where distrust wore a different face.
The Temple of Dawn.
Emily crossed its enormous doors alongside Kara.
White marble reflected the light from the stained-glass windows. Priests, nuns, and devout nobles stood waiting on either side of the hall.
No one spoke.
They all watched them.
High Priestess Elyra appeared at the far end.
She was smiling.
"Daughters of the Dawn."
Emily felt a knot tighten in her stomach.
"Why have you summoned us?"
Elyra continued walking until she stopped before them.
"Because the goddesses have spoken."
Kara frowned.
"About what?"
Elyra's smile disappeared.
"About Lusian Douglas."
Emily felt her chest tighten.
A murmur swept through the temple.
"The Oracle has revealed his true destiny," Elyra continued. "His existence is disrupting the path the gods have established."
"That doesn't prove he's guilty of anything," Kara replied.
Several priests began murmuring.
Elyra did not even blink.
"We never said he was guilty."
Kara narrowed her eyes.
"Then what do you want?"
The priestess looked directly at Emily.
"For you to do what you were chosen to do."
Silence.
"Eliminate the threat."
Emily felt her legs grow heavy.
"No."
The word escaped before she could stop it.
Several heads turned.
Elyra regarded her calmly.
"No?"
Emily clenched her fists.
"Lusian is not a threat."
"How can you be certain?"
Emily opened her mouth.
She did not answer.
Because she had seen things.
She had seen Lusian kill.
She had seen his darkness.
She had seen the way his gaze could change when he entered battle.
But she had seen something else, too.
She had seen him place himself between her and death.
Again and again.
Kara stepped forward.
"We're not going to kill him because you ordered us to."
A priest raised his voice.
"You are questioning the will of the goddesses!"
Kara turned her head.
"I'm questioning the person claiming to speak for them."
The temple fell silent.
Emily looked at her.
Kara did not take her eyes off the priest.
Elyra, however, smiled again.
"I understand."
Her voice was gentle.
Far too gentle.
"Then you will have time to think it over."
The doors of the temple opened.
A crowd waited outside.
When Emily and Kara emerged, the faithful began cheering.
Flowers.
Prayers.
Hands raised toward the heavens.
"The Chosen of the Dawn!"
"Save humanity!"
Emily stopped.
She could not move.
Kara grabbed her arm.
"Come on."
Emily looked at the crowd.
Thousands of people gazed at them as though they were already saviors.
As though the decision had already been made.
As though Lusian were already dead.
Kara leaned toward her.
"Don't listen to their voices."
Emily swallowed.
"What if they're right?"
Kara stopped.
Emily lowered her gaze.
"What if there really is something inside him that we don't know about?"
Kara took several seconds to answer.
"Then we'll find out for ourselves."
Emily raised her eyes.
"And what if the answer is that we have to kill him?"
Kara looked directly at her.
"Then we have a problem."
Emily let out a small, nervous laugh.
"What problem?"
Kara glanced toward the temple.
"I'm not going to do it."
The two continued walking.
Behind them, the bells began to ring.
And somewhere in the city, thousands of people were beginning to prepare for a war they still did not understand.
A war against one man.
And two of the people chosen to kill him...
had already decided they did not want to.
Over the following days, the Douglas mansion began to empty.
First came the stable hands.
Then two cooks.
Then several gardeners, servants, and workers who had joined the duchy during the apocalypse.
They were not Douglases.
They never had been.
They were people who had lost their homes, their lands, and, in some cases, their families.
Lusian had given them food.
A roof over their heads.
And work.
He had never asked for their loyalty.
Only that they do their jobs.
But now the rumors had reached them.
Duke Douglas was an enemy of the gods.
One by one, they began to leave.
Some left their tools neatly arranged before departing.
Others handed over their keys with trembling hands.
"I'm sorry, my lord."
"We can't stay."
"We have children..."
Lusian barely looked up.
"I understand."
That was all.
He did not stop them.
He did not threaten them.
He did not even ask their names.
If they were afraid, it was better for them to leave.
The mansion continued to function.
With fewer hands.
Fewer voices.
Fewer people.
Until one morning, Lusian crossed the great hall and discovered that half the tables stood empty.
He stopped for a moment.
He looked around.
Then he continued walking.
It did not matter.
The Douglases were still there.
His soldiers were still there.
Adela was still there.
Elizabeth was still there.
And as long as they remained at his side, he still had a duchy.
At noon, the gates of Acropolis opened once again.
The caravans began to depart.
Hundreds of Douglas soldiers marched alongside wagons loaded with provisions, weapons, and belongings.
Black banners fluttered above the column.
Lusian rode at the front.
Behind him, the mansion grew farther and farther away.
Some of the former workers watched from the streets.
None of them approached.
Lusian did not look back either.
There was no resentment.
No farewells.
Only a city that had ceased to be his home.
And a man who had just realized something far more important:
he no longer had anything to protect there.
So he would return to the only place where he was still awaited.
His duchy.
His people.
His family.
And the war that was approaching.