“The prophecy thatyouare to rule,” she states matter-of-factly.
I snap my attention back to her. “Novawas supposed to rule,” I say, finally finding my voice. “Halcya said so at our birth!”
She nods slowly at my outburst. “Yes, but so are you. Halcya may have been ok with disregarding an ancient prophecy but I wanted nothing to do with it. And they wanted me killed for my knowledge. So here I am.” She gestures to the room around her.
I shake my head. “I don’t understand.”
She sighs. “The mirrored princesses.” She stands, moving to a shelf across the room. She pulls out a scroll but the parchment isn’t aged like those in the ancient archives.
“I knew they would try to get rid of all evidence so I copied the prophecy before I ran. If it still exists, you can find the original in the ancient archives or with the High Priestess.”
She rolls out the single piece of parchment in front of us. A manicured nail points to the passage at center of the page.
When twin daughters bloom beneath the veiled skies,
Born of breath and root, where old power lies,
A realm once whole shall split once more,
Two Crowns to rise from ancient lore.
One shall guide the winds that roam,
One shall stir the seeds of home,
Each to thrones the stars foretold,
In mirrored lands both fierce and bold.
Joined by flame, embraced by sea,
Fourbound fates shall come to be,
Yet secrets shield what must remain,
Until the storm reveals the flame.
But shadow waits behind the veil,
To test their will, to see them fail.
Should mirrored daughters heed the call,
Two thrones shall rise, or kingdoms fall.
Blinking,I read the lines over and over.
“It is clear both of you were to rule,” she continues. “I interpreted it to mean Nova would rule Solevara with Caspien, and you would rule Varethiel with Aiden.” My head jerks up at this.
“Aiden?” I blurt out, cutting her off.
“Yes, based on the birth order-”
“Wait- wait, Aiden has the same birthdate as us?” The words rush out of me. My head is spinning. “Did you know that?” I turn towards Cillian.
“No…” We sit there for a moment staring at each other, both of us unsure what to make of this new information.
Cillian’s deep voice fills the silence. “Is there any other context? What did the rest of the text say?”
