“One with heart so pure and bright shall cross paths with darkness and enter the depths of endless night. There, light and darkness meet, under stars aligned in twilight skies. This will bring their hearts complete, and a spark shall blaze at fate’s design. For when they join, it will be the kingdoms’ end of days.”
My blood runs cold as I pick up on several words I’ve most definitely heard before. “No,” I breathe out.
Fleur’s brows knit together. “What?”
“I-I know this,” I say hesitantly.
The confusion on her face only further deepens. “What do you mean you know this?”
“I’ve been having these… dreams. Nightmares, really. And in all of them there’s this screaming woman reciting different snippets of this… prophecy.”
Her face becomes one of pure shock and terror morphed into one. “The banshee.” It’s not a question, but a statement.
“That’s what Bas—” I clear my throat and internally scold myself for almost mentioning him. “Um, that’s what I’ve been told it might be. But I haven’t actually had the nightmare the last few nights, so maybe the danger has passed.”
She gives me a look that I can’t decipher before it turns stern. “I highly doubt it was that easy. Please remain cautious until you know for a fact that the danger is behind you.”
“So, what is this supposed to mean? Like, is darkness to be synonymous with evil in this case? Am I going to turn evil and, what? Go on a destructive rampage and destroy my parents’ kingdom?”
“Like I said, it’s open for interpretation,” Fleur says, giving the words some thought. “It could be a person, or an entity, or a presence that could corrupt. Your parents and I have mulled it over for decades trying to get to the bottom of it. The only thing we’ve landed on with a fair amount of certainty is that you’re the light in this equation as the princess of the Seelie Court.”
Princess.
I’m aprincess.
What the actual fuck.
I mean I should’ve known. My parents are a king and queen for fuck’s sake but I think it’s only now sinking in at the use of the word.
Dizziness washes over me as the room begins to spin. I need to get out of here.
“I think I need a minute,” I say, launching up out of the chair onto shaky legs. I ignore Fleur’s protests and head straight out of her room, stumbling out the front door of the cottage. Thesecond the door slams shut behind me, I take off running in the direction of the one place I know I can feel soothed when I’m overwhelmed like this.
I race through the forest and crest the hill, finding myself in front of the tree stump altar that serves as the memorial for my parents.
Or should I say, previously served as the memorial… for my very muchaliveparents.
A king and queen.
Me. A princess. From Alinea.
I drop to my knees, tears streaking down my cheeks. Looking at the carvings in the stump, I break. I claw at the edges of the bark, ripping and tearing at it until the words are warped beyond recognition. I collapse back against the stump and drop my head into my heads, my fingers speckled with crimson where the bark split my nails.
This feels like a dream. Or a nightmare? Maybe the banshee will make a surprise reappearance and put me out of my misery.
I can’t believe they’ve kept this from me. These things aren’t small incidental things you keep from a child because they’re better off not knowing. This is a betrayal. Fleur was the mother I never had growing up and now I find out this is all part of some larger plot? Was it really to keep me safe or a way to avoid paying the price?
I wish I had someone to talk to about this. But Fleur’s been lying to me for myentire life. I can’t talk to her about this.
And Tom. Gods. I can’t tell himanything.He can't know any of this.
Who does that even leave me with then?
Bastian?
He’s probably the only person Icouldtell. But, at the same time, he’s Unseelie. And if Fleur’s to be believed, I’m Seelie. That alone creates a bit of a problem. Well, a big problem if thestories are to be believed. Not even to add onto the fact that now I’m also supposedly royalty. I don’t even want to get into the dynamics of that.
And yes, I know he’s all for peace in the realm, but that’s not the general consensus. I can’t imagine the courts finding out he’s allied with a Seelie royal as going down well with either court. If I were a normal Seelie girl, maybe I could see it being an almost non-issue. But that ship has sailed.
