But she knew, without a doubt, the moment he’d uttered the words that they were true.

“I have kept the two promises I made your mother,” Darai said quietly, that strength suddenly gone as fast as it had come. “I have always guided you in the way of the light, and I have never lied to you. So I will not lie to you now, and say there’s a different solution.”

Nor nodded, stepping back to give herself space to breathe as she took it all in. “How?” she asked. “How would it be done?”

“We would wait until the satellite construction is complete,” Darai explained carefully. He, of all people, knew the delicacy of the situation. How it was killing Nor on the inside to even hear this plan. “I don’t feel we should tell him, so as not to ruin his final days. When it is time, we can...ease him into it. Aclisia is fashioning a throne, of sorts—a place where Valen will sit, and his body will be nurtured, plugged into a series of tubes and wires meant to keep it alive for eternity.”

Nor could see it all too clearly in her mind.

It made her sick.

But as her uncle spoke, she also understood the necessity of the plan. She heard the pain in his voice—he knew, just as much as she did, that Valen would be the ultimate sacrifice to free Exonia.

“We will also plug his mind into that device,” Darai explained. “We will essentially upload his consciousness, and all that Valen is and does, into the satellite. He will feel no pain. He will simply become the Nexus, and the Nexus will become him, and then the galaxy will forever be beneath his compulsion. He will never lose control. You will reign, and your future children will reign, and Mirabel and Exonia will forever be yours.”

Nor was breathless. She found herself sinking back onto the couch, Darai still clutching her arm, but this time he was the one supporting her.

He watched her intently. “I wish there was another option, my dear. But there is none.” Darai nodded firmly. “Say the word, and I will give Aclisia a direct order to speed up her side work in completing the device.”

It was too much.

All of this was happening far too quickly for Nor to process.

“He is dying, Nor,” Darai pressed. “And when he is gone, all hope of saving the Exonians will be gone, too.” He patted her hand, the way he once had, long ago. “A life for a life. You will be able to forgive Valen when he becomes a sacrifice, the same as Zahn. It will be a gift to him, that forgiveness from you. And he will die not as a failure, but as a savior. A worthy end, for a Solis.”