Page 3 of Revealing Fate

“Forgive me, Lord. I meant no offense.”

The Godking gazed out the window, his irritation abating as quickly as it came. This development presented a new problem.

“What would you have me do?”

“You are a scribe, Alcior. I would have you create a record of these events. The people deserve to know what transpired this day.”

“As you wish, Lord.”

“Rise, child,” the Godking said, still peering out into the dark. “Speak to your god, not to the dirt.”

The man righted himself. “Would you have me include…everything?”

“Everything, Alcior. I would not hide from my part in this.” The knowledge saddened him, for while there were new holes in his vision of the future, the Godking knew there were people he loved who would read these accounts, these godscripts, and grow to hate him. A consequence he would willingly bear. One he deserved.

“And once I’ve transcribed these events, Lord? What then?”

The Godking pinned the kneeling man with a penetrating stare. “Then you prepare, Alcior. For the Prima is coming, her mate afore her. When, we do not know, but one thing is paramount. She must not fail.”

The Godking left Alcior’s seaside cottage and the little village as silently as he’d arrived. No others knew of his visit.

The old shurii would ensure news was spread and preparations begun. The Godking did not know if they had days or millennia until the Prima’s arrival, and while he knew the Primordial Male’s line, the curse prevented him from seeing the timing and location of the male’s birth. There was no telling when or where this matched pair would arrive. Months, years, or miles apart? So, he would do as his Goddess had spoken. He would watch, he would wait, and he would suffer. But Alcior now ensured that he would not do so alone. When the godscripts finally reached across the lands, all the people would be waiting with him. When the pair finally arrived, the Godking would feel it in his blood.

Alcior was instructed to select others to join in his quest, and the Godking gifted the male with unnaturally long life to assuage the old man’s fears that he would die before his mission was completed. He would leave his little cottage by the sea and travel to every corner of Ilistaar, spreading the Godking’s word, and preparing the way for the coming of the Prima and her mate. Alcior would collect those who could be trusted to guide her once she arrived: scholars, artisans, and teachers who would pass on their knowledge to each new generation. The old would die, the young would prepare, and all would wait.

This was the best he could do, for now. Any direct intervention was beyond him.

The Godking wandered away from the village, prowling the sparse grasses of the tidal flats, feeling the sand sift beneath the pads of his hands and feet. A breeze drifted over the landscape, carrying with it the scent of salt and brine. The twin moons overhead lit the marsh in a silver glow.

The Godking glanced up once again. The moons looked down on him like his lost lover, their gaze no longer warm but cold and distant.

He blinked, black eyes shuttering for the briefest moment, and one of the moons vanished from the sky. Its lonely twin remained, hung in solidarity, dimmed by the absence of its counterpart.

Gone.

The Godking lowered his head and continued prowling into the night until he disappeared from view and the wind shifted the sand to cover his tracks.

He did not look up again.

Chapter 1

REVELATIONS

FELÍNE STOOD NEXT TO KAL, unable to look away from the body at their feet.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered. “You are unbelievable.”

Kal tilted his head, studying the corpse. The shurii man might have been mistaken for sleeping if it weren’t for the unnatural angle of his head and slack jaw. “Me? Why? It wasn’t my fault.”

Felíne jabbed her finger into Kal’s chest. “You,” she retorted, then pointed at the dead man. “Killed him. It is absolutely your fault.”

Kal shrugged broad shoulders. “He was snooping around. It couldn’t be helped.”

“I don’t believe that.”

He faced her, the afternoon sunlight playing off the angles of his handsome face. His stubble was darker than it had been when they’d said their farewells to the people of Cindamar just two days prior, black hair thicker where it shadowed his strong chin. “Fine. It could have been helped. However, the potential for…unwanted complications was higher than I was willing to risk. I made a call.” Kal brushed past her.

“Oh, you made a call?” Felíne stalked after him, away from the body and back to the small cluster of pines where Sig waited. “You can’t just keep killing people because you get a feeling, Kal. He might have been no threat.”