"He's late," Bijan muttered, eyes scanning the courtyard gates.
"He's not. The king is," Jarek said.
Jarek and Bijan stood near the back of the crowd. Plainclothes. Gray cloak. Brown tunic. No armor. No sigils. Just another pair of faces in a crowd of hundreds.
"This many people for a mana test?" Jarek asked.
"Not for a test. For him," Bijan said, nodding toward the gates.
The palace drums started. Slow. One beat at a time.
Xerxus turned from Kota. His eyes found Leiya. "A mana crystal," Xerxus said. "It measures what you are."
Leiya didn't step back. "Measures how?" she asked.
"Magic is the way of the whole world," Xerxus explained. "Not just Solstia. Every kingdom. Every person. You breathe it. You bleed it. You live because of it."
His gaze went to the crystal. Veins of blue light pulsed, slow and steady.
"Mana crystals react to the magic in your blood. Touch it, and it shows your strength. Your element. Your worth."
He stepped closer.
"For most people, the crystal shows different colors," Xerxus said. "Blue for water. Red for fire. Green for earth. The shades shift with mana type and strength."
"Regular magic, we call it white magic, shows in many colors." His voice dropped. "But gold and violet are different. Gold is white magic at its peak. Violet is dark magic. Forbidden in this kingdom."
Kota didn't move.
Xerxus snapped his fingers.
Two guards at the edge of the circle straightened. "Bring our guests down," Xerxus ordered. "Now." He pointed towards Thorne and Mira who surprisingly were on a balcony.
The guards bowed and pushed through the crowd.
"You asked what magic is," Xerxus said to Leiya. "In Solstia, we use white magic. The things that keep a kingdom alive."
His smile thinned. "Dark magic is different. The kind that breaks instead of builds. The kind that takes instead of gives. That's why Solstia fears it. That's why we test."
Leiya's chest hurt. She didn't know if she wanted it to fail.
Our magic is sacred, Xerxus had told her moments ago in the hall. Disrespect it and the crowd will turn. They always do.
The crowd was silent. Hundreds of eyes on Kota. On the crystal. On Xerxus.
Jaeger stood behind Kota, arms crossed. He hadn't said a word since they entered the courtyard.
"The king really doing this in public," Jarek muttered.
"He wants witnesses," Bijan said.
Thorne and Mira appeared at the edge of the circle. The guards flanked them.
Thorne's eyes went straight to the crystal, then to Kota. Mira's hands were clenched at her sides.
"Good," Xerxus said. "Now everyone is here." He turned to Kota. "Touch it."
Kota looked at the crystal. Then at Xerxus. Then at Leiya.
Leiya met his eyes. She didn't nod. She didn't shake her head. She just waited.
Kota stepped forward.
The air got heavier.
He raised his hand.
The blue veins in the crystal flared.
Xerxus's smile faded. "Kota," Xerxus said, voice low. "Do you know what Leona truly was?"
The crowd didn't breathe.
Kota's hand hovered over the crystal. "No," Kota said.
"Then let's find out what you are first," Xerxus said.
Kota's jaw tightened. "Barely knew her. That's why I'm here," Kota said.
The guards near the edge shifted. Thorne stepped forward half a step. Jaeger didn't move.
"Then touch it," Xerxus said.
Kota's palm met the crystal.
The world went quiet.
The blue veins inside the crystal went still. For one second. Two.
Then it cracked.
Not the crystal. The color.
Gold light exploded from the center, sharp and clean. It shot up the black stone like lightning, flooding every vein at once.
The courtyard flashed. People shielded their eyes. The banners stopped snapping.
The light didn't stop at gold.
It bled.
Violet seeped in from the base of the crystal, climbing. Not mixing. Chasing.
Gold on one side. Violet on the other. The two colors split the crystal straight down the middle, neither overtaking the other.
White and dark magic. Yen and yan. Both alive in one body.
The air turned cold.
Mira sucked in a breath. Leiya's hands stayed clasped in front of her.
Thorne's hand went to his blade.
The guards around the circle stiffened. Every one of them went still. Like the air caught in their chests.
Jaeger's eyes narrowed.
"By the throne," Jarek gasped. "He has both."
"Just like the rumors of Princess Leona," Bijan said.
"He's not supposed to have both," Jarek said.
"Neither was she," Bijan said.
Xerxus didn't move. He stared at the crystal. At the line where gold met violet.
His fingers twitched. Only for a second. Then his smile returned.
The crowd started murmuring. Then shouting.
"Dark magic!" someone in the crowd yelled.
"No, it's gold too!" another shouted.
"Forbidden!" a woman cried.
"Impossible!" a man yelled.
"Only Princess Leona was the only one to have both!" an old man shouted.
"Princess Leona hasn't been seen here in over 60 years!" a girl screamed.
Xerxus raised his hand. The courtyard went silent again.
He looked at Kota. Really looked at him. Not like a king. Not like a host.
Like a man seeing something he thought was gone. "Both," Xerxus said. His voice carried. "Gold and violet. White and dark. In one body."
Kota pulled his hand from the crystal. The colors stayed. Half gold. Half violet. Still pulsing. Still alive.
"Bring out another crystal," Xerxus ordered the guards near the pedestal. "I want to make sure my analysis is complete."
He paused. His eyes swept the crowd. Dozens of other citizens stood in line behind Kota's group, each waiting for the mana testing.
Children clutched their mothers' skirts. An old man with a cane leaned forward, squinting. A girl no older than twelve held her breath.
"After Leona's public tests, my brother and his queen banned them a few years later," Xerxus announced. His voice was loud enough for the first rows to hear.
"I reinstated them. The citizens are still a little hesitant toward supporting them. But tradition matters." He smiled. "Matter of fact, bring out three or four. For the rest of our guests."
The guards bowed and rushed toward the palace doors.
Xerxus looked back at Kota. His expression shifted. Like a thought struck him.
"He may truly be her son. Something big has come indeed," Xerxus said.
The drums started again. Slow. One beat at a time.
The palace doors opened.
Four guards walked out. Each one pushed a podium on wheels. Each podium was black stone, identical to the first.
Each one held a mana crystal, same size as the first. Same blue veins glowing inside.
The crowd murmured again. The guards rolled the podiums into a line beside the original.
Five total. Five crystals. Five podiums. All matching.
Xerxus stepped between the first podium and the second. He didn't look at Thorne. He didn't look at Mira.
His eyes were locked on Kota. "Again," Xerxus said. "You will do the test again first."
Kota's head snapped up. "What?" Kota asked.
"Crystals can be flawed," Xerxus said. "Old. Cracked. Influenced. I need to be certain." He gestured to the second podium. "Touch it."
Jaeger moved for the first time. "He already did," Jaeger said.
"And he will do it again," Xerxus said. His voice was calm. But underneath it was something else. Excitement. Barely leashed.
"If the result is the same, then we know. If it changes, then we learn."
Thorne stepped forward. "Why does he go twice?" Thorne asked.
"Because he is the anomaly," Xerxus said. "The rest of you can wait."
The crowd pressed closer. The guards didn't stop them this time.
"Same result, you think?" Jarek asked.
"If it's different, maybe the king kills him here," Bijan said.
"And if it's the same?" Jarek asked.
"Then Solstia changes," Bijan said.
Leiya watched Kota. She didn't speak.
Kota looked at the second crystal. Then at the first. Gold and violet still pulsed there, split down the middle. Waiting.
He exhaled.
He stepped to the second podium.
The air got heavier again.
He raised his hand.
The courtyard went silent. Even the drums stopped.
His palm met the crystal.
The blue veins flared.
For one second, nothing.
Then gold surged up the stone, bright and pure.
Then violet chased it, cold and deep.
Again, the crystal split. Gold and violet, side by side. White and dark. Yen and yan.
Neither stronger. Neither weaker. Same as before.
The guards went rigid.
The crowd erupted.
"It's real!" someone shouted.
"He has both!" a woman screamed.
"Leona's son!" a man yelled.
"Solstia will burn!" another shouted.
"Solstia will rise!" a girl cried.
"It's her blood," Jarek said. "It has to be."
"Quiet," Bijan hissed. "The king is watching us too."
Xerxus closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was smiling. Wide. Unrestrained.
He looked at the three remaining podiums. At Thorne. At Mira. At the line of citizens.
"Now," Xerxus said. "The rest of you, continue testing." He turned to the group. "You five, with me."
The drums started again. Faster this time.
The midday sun sat high over the palace wall. Bright light spilled across the courtyard.
Two crystals glowed, split gold and violet. Three others still pulsed blue, waiting.
Kota pulled his hand from the second crystal. His fingers were steady.
Xerxus turned to him. "Where were you born?" Xerxus asked.
Kota met his eyes. "Aetheron," Kota said.
The crowd went still again.
Xerxus studied him. "Your father's name," Xerxus said.
Kota's throat tightened. "Kalamity," Kota said.
The name hung in the air.
Xerxus didn't blink. Didn't breathe. For a long moment, he just stood there.
Then he laughed. Not loud. Not mocking. Just one breath of sound.
He looked at the two crystals Kota had touched. Both split. Both identical.
"Grab those two crystals," Xerxus ordered his guards. "And bring one more."
He pointed at the first and second podium. Then he looked at the line of citizens still waiting. "The event continues."
He turned and waved at Kota, Leiya, Thorne, Mira, and Jaeger. "Follow me," Xerxus said. "We'll finish this in the throne room."
Xerxus walked toward the palace doors. The guards lifted the two split crystals from their podiums and grabbed a third crystal from the line.
The crowd parted for him.
Kota stepped forward. Leiya followed. Thorne and Mira fell in behind them. Jaeger moved last.
Jarek watched the doors shut. "That's not a prince," Jarek said. "That's a problem."
The drums followed them through the doors.