Page 131

The old woman shook her head. “No. It was merely a vision of something we’ve not yet seen. The interpretation of others made it something wretched.”

I did not know what to say to that. If Fadey united the power, no mistake, he would rule with more cruelty than Hundur or Damir.

“When it was obvious Fadey abandoned our clan and hunted the power for himself,” Gammal went on, “I went to speak to the kingdom I trusted most. To share with them what I had seen.”

The seer’s tale my mother and father heard, Roark spoke against my palm.

“But you told the Dravens that you saw the firstborn heirs with the bone shards.”

Gammal freed a long sigh. “Gifts of the Wanderer form within the heirs of bone, blood, and soul when a god-queen’s daughter finds life of her own. Through death, hate, and war, she unites these crafts once thought broken, forevermore. Heed not this fate and leave the divide, then blood will come and three kingdoms shall not survive.”

Yrsa rubbed her hands up her arms, as though warming a chill. “So it was believed that the craft Fadey sensed in the lands meant every heir to each kingdom had something to do with it?”

“Yes. His interpretation has grown rather vicious, I’m afraid,” said Gammal. “As you know, he believes he must use Lyra’s bones to take the power of her soul, but…since my words gave up that the power lives within your firstborn souls, Fadey believes he must take you all to find the true Wanderer King.”

Roark closed his eyes. He plans to kill every firstborn heir?

“Yes. Because he knows that the daughter of the god-queen’s blood is alive, he believes now is the time when the prophecy is completed. Think on it, dark soul,” Gammal said gently. “Not only does he believe their souls have some connection to the Wanderer—which in a way he is not wrong about, merely misguided—but he plans to be a king, a tyrant, over all. This will destroy the bloodlines of any who might challenge him.”

“And my mother knows?” Thane’s face had grown pallid. “She knows he seeks to slaughter me, meld me to his bones?”

“Perhaps much like the blood crafter queen has kept Fadey’s bond with Lyra hidden, he, too, has kept dark truths from her, Jorvan prince.” Gammal leaned forward and patted Thane’s knee.

“We don’t have any connection to the bones,” Yrsa insisted. “I’ve never seen one, never even been told about this tale.”

“But it is no less true. I said Fadey is misguided, but he is not wrong that every heir holds the power of the Wanderer King.”

“What do you mean, ‘holds the power’?” Thane pressed.

“Three veins of the gods’ craft were torn from that first king, scattered among his heirs to make their own lands, palaces, armies, and households. Don’t you see? Generations have passed with the bones of the Wanderer within them. The power of the first king has always been there, my elskans.”

Thane shook his head. “Like Yrsa, I have never seen the Wanderer’s bones.”

“All gods.” It felt as though the walls of Gammal’s hut were closing in on me. “Fadey doesn’t need their souls to find the first king. He doesn’t realize it, but by taking their bones, he will already have the shards with the Wanderer King’s soul.”

Gammal’s thin lips split in a grin. She leaned back in her chair. “Why is that, elskan?”

“Because the craft of the first king is inside them. Because the firstborns are true descendants of the Wanderer King. Like you said, I come from the blood of the god-queen, and they come from the blood of the Wanderer’s heirs.”

“Yes,” Gammal said, her voice firm. “We know from the sagas that the god-queen blessed her three young ones with the purest veins of craft during the Wanderer’s downfall. It was what corrupted him with such envy against his own children. Because of this, an unbroken vein has lived on within the three bloodlines, passing on from firstborn to firstborn. Until now, when the firstborns who align with the daughter of the god-queen hold the strongest vein of that ancient craft. Bone.” Gammal opened a palm to Thane. Next, Yrsa. “Blood.” Finally, she looked to Roark. “And soul.”

Roark shook his head. I am not the firstborn.

The seer merely returned a pained smile.

“I’m afraid I will disappoint you, dear Gammal,” Thane said. “I come from a long, proud line of bone crafters, true. But like my father before me, I have no craft.”

“Because it was the Jorvans who began corrupting the power. Gifts of the gods can be taken, sweet prince. And it seems they have taken it from your blood.”

Gunter folded his arms over his chest. “Craft faded from your bloodline because of the use of soul bones?”

Thane rubbed the sides of his head. “Seems so.”

“But it does not negate that you are a direct line to the Wanderer’s eldest son. The keeper of bone craft. And that craft lives within you, burning hotter now that the god-queen’s blood is also born.”

Thane leaned his elbows onto his knees, fists in front of his mouth, but said nothing more.

“All this is to say,” Gammal said, a little weary, “Fadey knew he could restore the power of the first king the moment he learned a girl with silver scars lived. He knew he was not the one with the stronger craft, but he devised his wicked scheme to take the power of the girl fated to carry what he desired. Because of my words, he also turned his sights on every heir.”