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The arched ceiling opened to the velvety dark sky, liberally flecked with stars and a sliver of moon, which meant we were still in the first quarter of the month. A new moon meant new beginnings, especially a Dark Moon, such as this, and I shuddered to think what that portended for me.
The walls were filled to the ceiling with shelves of books and scrolls, a fire roared in the enormous fireplace, blue-flecked flames that put off no heat, yet the room was as warm as a mid-summer day.
The High Seer sat with her hands folded in a chair carved from something yellow. At first, I wondered if the throne was stone, but the closer we got, I saw it was the skull of an enormous creature, Torin’s slim form framed by three huge, empty eye sockets, the lower jaw carved into a seat.
“Leave.” Solok dismissed the surviving soldier, who wasted no time escaping this place.
“Are you sure she is still untouched?” The white-eyed female was off putting, with her odd mannerisms and that sightless gaze, staring like she saw straight through me. “You should have brought her yourself.”
“Tell me something I don’t know, Torin.” Solok snapped, pacing to the seer’s side. “She is here. She is untouched. Will this work?”
I wanted him to leave so I could ask her about what happened in the alley, her directive for me to leave, to take the northern road. Questions tumbled through my head, faster than I could pin them down, because something told me this female held the answers to everything.
“She must have been tempting for you, Solok.” The seer’s head tilted curiously as bile rose in my throat. “An innocent. How well I remember your love for ruining such perfection.”
Somehow, I didn’t think she was talking about me.
“Stop with your games Torin, and tell me if this will work, or if it was all for naught.”
“The girl possesses the purest bloodline in Caladrius, bar none.” Her words sent fear spiraling through me, but Solok relaxed, especially when she added, “Yes, this will work and our king will be restored to his former power and your wicked world will be right once more.”
“Don’t forget, I’m doing this for you.” He snapped. The seer—Torin—was too busy staring at me to see Solok’s face.
He looked at her like he wanted to eat her alive, like she belonged to him, his next words only reinforcing my suspicions.
“Forbothof us. We’ll get what we want and once this unpleasantness is over, you and I will mend this rift between us for good.”
Hatred flashed briefly across the High Seer’s face, then was gone. Solok was a fool. The Seer despised him, even as she took his arm, her lips curling in distaste as he led her toward me.
“Anaria, is it?” Her face gentled, reminding me more of the female who’d warned me that day in the alley, a lot of good that had done. She’d also claimed she’d bought me eighteen years, though I had no idea of what that meant, either.
“Yes, my lady.” Out of habit—and nerves—I dropped into a curtsy, the back of my neck prickling as I bared my nape to these powerful beings.
“You turn eighteen today.” Torin proclaimed, and when I raised my head, I caught the warning in her eyes.
Say nothing. Give nothing away. Play the game.
“I…that may be, my lady. I do not know when I was born.”
“You are eighteen today and you will come into your full power, at the same moment you drew your first breath.” Torin repeated firmly. “I well remember the moment you were born, child, there was a new moon that night as well. Tonight, we will usher in a New Age, for all of Caladrius.”
Nonsense, all of it.
The duchess paid people like this to come to the castle and tell her fortunes. Then she’d hide herself away and weep until some new charlatan passed through and told her something different.
Your future was written the second you took your first breath, and nothing would ever change the outcome.
That’s what I believed.
“How much longer?” Solok asked impatiently, glancing over my head as the door creaked open. Their stance straightened, the hair on the back of my neck prickled and I knew the Fae King had arrived, even before he spoke.
“I have brought another to oversee the ritual.” His voice floated over the rustling of cloth. “To ensure all goes to plan and there is no chance of…a mistake.”
The air in the chamber plummeted, and I couldn’t help but reach up and cover the nape of my neck, dread prickling through me. Torin went perfectly still, her eyes dipping to mine, and for a split second I saw what was in them. Pure, unadulterated panic.
Then her face smoothed out and she dipped her head.
“Oracle. It is an honor to see you again.”
