You will not sacrifice yourself for this war.
Aya didn’t trust this woman. But she trusted him. So she waited until he met her gaze, until he settled back next to her on the couch, his chin dipping in encouragement.
She told the woman everything. Lorna did not interrupt, but Aya could see the tension mounting in her body. She marked the way her hands trembled when they reached for her mug, her mouth pressed into a thin line the further her story progressed.
A tense silence followed when Aya finished. Lorna stared at her absently, as if lost to her own thoughts.
‘Unlike Visya affinities, which vary in bloodlines, the Seer ability is passed down directly, though inconsistently, throughSaj bloodlines,’ she finally said. ‘It can disappear for generations, especially if the bloodline fails to produce another Saj. When it does appear, the visions are murky. Misleading. Before me, the power had been absent from my line for over a century.’
‘And your vision was about the prophecy?’ Aya asked.
Lorna nodded. ‘The prophecy was foretold so long ago, it’s difficult to trace exactly where it originated. It was added to the Conoscenza nearly 250 years ago.’
‘So the theory of a Second Saint wasn’t even established until centuries after the war?’ Will cut in.
Lorna shrugged. ‘According to our family history. The first Conoscenza was written about a century after Evie’s sacrifice. It’s unlikely they would’ve left out such a detail if it had been foretold.’ The Saj pressed her lips together, her brow furrowing as she looked between them. ‘The centuries have allowed us to live in anonymity the further removed we’ve become from it. That, and very few Seers admit to having the gene.’
‘So why then are you worried for your safety?’ Aya frowned.
Lorna sighed. ‘When I was fifteen, I had my first and only vision. I wasn’t even sure what I was seeing.’ She glanced at her son. ‘It was with the help of your great-grandmother that we were able to piece it together.’ Another shuddering breath, as if she were steeling herself against whatever truth was about to unfold.
‘When the rumors came that Kakos was beginning to experiment with their affinities, the late King Roderick strengthened Tala’s borders and the embargo. He was certain that between the Dyminara, the trade restrictions, and our alliances, there would be no threat to Tala. But his daughter did not agree. Gianna felt her father wasn’t taking the threat seriously, and that the rumors of the Diaforaté were an insultto the gods and needed to be dealt with. She became fascinated by the prophecy of the Second Saint.
‘Gianna suspected what was unfolding in Kakos was an indication the prophecy was to come true; and that if she could learn as much as possible of its meaning – of its origin – then she’d hold the key to defeating the heretics.’
‘You were worried she was going to uncover you,’ Aya observed, a hint of disgust in her voice. This woman faked her death, left her son … and for what? Why flee the most devout kingdom of the realm? Why refuse to help them protect their people and the gods?
Lorna bristled under her scrutiny. ‘I saw a tear in the veil. It is cracked. Vulnerable.’
‘The gods used their own power to repair the veil after Evie opened it for them,’ Aya retorted. It was what kept them from interfering and what kept mortals from chasing their heavenly presence before death.
‘That’s not what the vision showed me. And if the veil is cracked, it throws the entire prophecy into question. We’ve always believed that when the prophecy speaks of the greatest wrong, it speaks of the Decachiré. But what if the greatest wrong isn’t the Decachiré? What if it’s that Evie opened the veil in the first place? What if it’s that she weakened it, leaving us susceptible to something far worse?’
Aya frowned. ‘But if she hadn’t, the Decachiré would’ve won. They would’ve ripped it down eventually, right? To challenge the gods?’
And if this vision was to be believed … then it meant the veil was weaker.
And Kakos still could.
Lorna shrugged. ‘No practitioner has ever reached that level of power. No Visya, except for Evie. Evenyouwould not have been able to bring the veil down in your rage in thedesert. But with training … perhaps you could have such power.’
Aya rubbed her temples as she let the information soak in. ‘So if the Decachiré practitioners learn of this … they could summon enough power to tear it down far sooner than they could if it were whole?’
‘Not just the practitioners,’ Will muttered, understanding lighting his gaze. Lorna nodded at her son.
‘What better way for your queen to enact vengeance on those who spit on the name of her gods than to call down the wrath of the gods themselves?’
Aya stilled, her body going cold. ‘Gianna would never do that,’ she breathed. Because that would mean the destruction of their very realm. The gods had been clear: they were not to be summoned to the realm again. There would be no second chances.
‘Would she not?’ Lorna challenged. ‘Her devotion knows no bounds. The gods honored Evie’s attempt to save the realm – they banished only the heretics. Perhaps Gianna thinks they will grant her the same grace as she proves her devotion.’
But to take that chance … tohopethe gods would only enact their rage on the Decachiré practitioners and no one else, despite their warnings …
‘Gianna would never do that,’ Aya repeated.
But even as she said the words, her nails cut into her palms.
‘You say that,’ Lorna smirked. ‘But I can see your doubt. And you can see why I would flee. It was too dangerous for me to stay. If she knew my connection to the prophecy, if she thought I could help her avenge her gods, well … we all know Gianna has her ways of getting what she wants.’
