The communication crystal array in the Academy's lower chamber had been built for a different purpose entirely — decorative, mostly, a demonstration piece from the school's founding era that nobody had bothered to remove. Sariah had repurposed it in a single afternoon. Ten crystals, ten Kings, one shared channel that let all of them speak into the same space regardless of how far their zones had scattered them across the fifteen kingdoms.
Raze activated his from the monastery camp's edge, Bephe curled against his side against the mountain cold, and watched the other nine crystals flicker to life one at a time across the array's projection.
Gareth first, as always. Then Seraphine. Then Aurora, her voice carrying the particular clarity of someone speaking from somewhere very high up and very cold. Kira Steelheart's crystal lit with a faint crackle of static that was probably just the connection and probably wasn't, knowing her. The other five followed in less predictable order.
