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Ani
Tears shone in Sofringhati's eyes. "There are revelations that change the course of destinies. Brace yourself, Ani, for what I am about to tell you is thus." The Supreme Oracle took Ani's hands. "Your son had a daughter, and she is alive and well on Earth. This is not a vision or a prediction, my dearest friend. This is reported by Aru, who met her in person."
The news struck Ani like a bolt of lightning. It was as if time had come to a halt, and for a few heartbeats the world around her blurred, with only Sofri's voice and the fire in the braziers anchoring her to reality. But then logic and doubts burned away the haze.
"That is impossible. She must be an imposter."
Sofri smiled. "She is not. Aru told Aria that Annani's resemblance to you is striking. The moment he saw her, he knew right away that she was your descendant because your faces are identical. Unlike you, though, she is petite, has red hair, and is quick to laugh. According to Aru, she also exudes immense power. Does that remind you of someone? It is also obvious that your son paid homage to you by naming his daughter Annani."
Could it be? Had some part of Ahn survived?
He hadn't had red hair, and he had been a tall male, but he'd exuded power, and his glow had been legendary—a glow that had been snuffed out by his own father.
A torrent of suppressed emotions came flooding back. The pain of Ahn's death resurfacing, the wound that Ani had dressed in duty and resolve bled anew.
She had never allowed herself to truly feel the depth of sorrow and despair that had threatened to swallow her whole, always putting the needs of her people first. But now, with the news Sofri had brought, those old scars were torn open, revealing her raw, unhealed grief.
Memories of Ahn danced before her eyes, the serious young boy who had grown into a remarkable male. He had given her and the people of Anumati hope, but he had acted too soon, and the price of his haste had been his life.
Ani had suspected that the exile was only the first step in the Eternal King's plot to get rid of his one legitimate heir and the other gods who had conspired against him, including Ekin and Athor, two of the many children he'd sired with his scores of concubines. But there had been so little Ani could do without being accused of treason and sent to join Ahn on that accursed planet at the far reaches of the galaxy.
Had it been only her life on the line, she would have done that in a heartbeat, but with Ahn gone, she was the only one left to continue her son's work and lead the resistance. She had been the only one who could save Ahn and the other exiled gods from the king's assassins.
Except, everything she had done had been for naught.
She had arranged for the arrival of the Kra-ell settler ship to be delayed by thousands of years, and in the meantime, she had sent seven Odus to Earth, hoping Ekin would know what to do to restore their memories and build an army of Odus to defend against the Eternal King's emissaries of death.
But Ekin must not have understood the significance of the gift, or perhaps he had lacked the means to manufacture more of them with the limited resources he had on Earth.
Ultimately, the king's assassins succeeded in their mission despite her efforts.
In a rare unsolicited vision, Sofringhati had seen what the king had done, but even the greatest oracle of all time had not dared to make her vision public.
How had Ahn's daughter survived the bombing?
Tears stung the back of Ani's eyes, but she refused to let them fall, even if only in the presence of her best friend and confidant.
"Why have you not seen my granddaughter before?" she asked.
Sofri lifted her hands. "You know that I do not see everything, my queen, and even what I see is not always easy to interpret. The universe chooses what it wants to show me."
It was not Sofri's fault. It was hers.
She should have asked whether Ahn had any children born to him on Earth. Her spies in the king's court had told her that the king suspected their son had fathered the Kra-ell queen's twins, and his suspicion had been reinforced when it became known that they had been smuggled among the settlers aboard the Kra-ell ship.
Except, Ahn had never told Ani about his relationship with the Kra-ell queen, or rather the princess she had been before ascending to the Kra-ell throne, not even a hint, and Ani very much doubted that there was truth to her husband's paranoid suspicions.
It had been just one more excuse to despise his own son and justify his murder.
Gods did not easily produce offspring, and they did not rush into official matehood unless they were fortunate enough to find their fated true love. Ahn had still been a young god at the time of his exile. Given the selection of goddesses accompanying him to his new home, Ani could not see him officially mating any of them.
None had shone as brightly as her son.
Ahn might have chosen a mate after the communications with Earth were severed, but he also could have fathered Annani with a concubine.
"Do you know if she is legitimate?" she asked.
"Aru did not say anything that would lead me to think that she is not. Besides, do we care if Ahn had her with his official wife or a consort? Who would be able to deny our claim that Annani is the daughter of his official wife?"
