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But Roloff didn’t seem to mind the censure in my voice. Blinking his eyes back to normal, he sighed out his relief and smiled cheerfully. “Oh!” he said, his shoulders relaxing. “It’s just you.”
“Just me?” I lifted my eyebrows, cautious yet curious. “You think you know who I am, do you?”
“Of course. Your energy is very strong, my lord. And besides, every seeing eye in Far Shore knows of the Bastard Betrayer.”
I straightened, narrowing my eyes. “Now what did you just call me?”
“Bastard Betrayer,” the soothsayer repeated, bobbing his head and smiling as if either title was something honorable I should be proud of. “You’re to be famous, you know. Soon, everyone in Far Shore will call you such.”
“Everyone?” Cocking my head to the side, I murmured, “Is that so?”
All the while, a bloom of excitement blossomed in my chest. But famous? Did this mean I was going to complete my mission with success and save Sable?
I didn’t dare hope, except okay, I did. I hoped long and hard.
The word betrayer, however, caught me up. Betrayer didn’t sound so good. In fact, it sounded downright treacherous.
“Oh, no. Don’t look so worried, my lord.” The soothsayer patted my arm encouragingly. “Yes, sadly you’ll betray everyone you ever loved and nearly everyone you ever will love. But the worst of your disloyalty will be the very action that saves Far Shore and brings peace to many kingdoms. All your dishonorable decisions will be the most honorable thing you’ll ever do.”
“Right,” I said slowly. “Because that’s what betrayal does—generates honor and brings nations together.”
The soothsayer began to nod encouragingly, only for his smile to falter at my glib reply. “Well, no. Not typically, of course. But in this situation, yes, yes, it most certainly will.”
“That’s it,” I growled, grabbing two handfuls of the front of his tunic and yanking him close. I shook him hard enough to rattle his teeth. “Take it back.”
I’d force him to recant his irritating prophecy, even if I had to pull his tongue out and put it back in sideways to make him say what I wanted.
No one called me a traitor.
“But, I—I—I can’t. Your destiny isn’t mine to change. It is what it is. I’m just delivering the message.”
“A message full of untruths,” I snapped.
“Excuse me,” the little man gasped in outrage, not even mildly intimidated by my glower. “I beg your pardon, but I have been tested for purity, kind sir. I cannot tell a lie.”
“You lied about the gender of the child born tonight. It’s a girl; did you know that? And you told your king it would be a boy.”
Color leached from his face. “Yes, well. That—that was—that was most unfortunate indeed, but I had to discolor the truth a bit, in order to save a life. My own. And in the event of preserving life, extenuating circumstances can be made for lying. It’s written in the scrolls. My purpose hasn’t been fulfilled yet, you see, so I must live longer.”
Unable to help myself, I snorted out a laugh. “You sound like my sister.”
“Really?” he inquired with interest. “Which one? I hope the little opinionated one. She’s quite my favorite.”
At the mention of Sable, I ground my teeth.
She was my favorite too.
Agony ripped through my stomach like cloth tearing in two. And it reminded me of my immediate purpose in life: saving her.
Over Roloff’s shoulder, I spotted the two guards who were supposed to accompany me as they entered the courtyard, cantering up on their horses.
Remembering the urgency behind my plight, I pulled the little, bald man close.
“If you like Sable so much,” I hissed in his ear, “then you shouldn’t mind keeping her company for me until I can return, now should you?”
“Wha—but what does that mean?” he asked, glancing behind him in concern when he finally heard the hoof beats approach.
“Here’s your destiny, soothsayer. Take care of Sable. Tell her I’ll complete this mission they’re forcing me to do so I can return as soon as possible to free her. Tell her to hang tight. I will save her. All she needs to do is survive until I get back. And you? You help her survive.”
