The strange female stopped abruptly and dropped her luggage, the whites of her eyes clouding them over as she took us in.
“A creature strong with noble grace. In tales of old and whispers new. A pairing that the ancients knew. A union forged, yet hearts must choose. To seal the fate or risk to lose. Abalance swayed by mutual will, if just one walks, chaos reigns, and peace stands still.” Her melodic voice called out before she blinked rapidly and smiled.
“What?” I asked dumbly.
“It’s a riddle, pebbles for brains,” Caulder grunted.
“A riddle, a prophecy. To-may-to, to-mah-to,” the sphinx shrugged. “They are much the same to keepers of powerful secrets such as my kind.”
“How the hell does telling the future help anyone when you make it a puzzle nobody can figure out?” I huffed, moving to grab the female’s suitcases.
“A future clear to anyone is a future lost,” the sphinx replied. “Now, away with us, if you please.”
I shot Caulder a helpless look, causing the dragon to bark out a laugh at my expense. Scowling, I shifted, grabbed the other suitcase, and launched myself into the air. It was stupid to think the dragon would take any pity on me and explain the sphinx’s words. Scoping out the landscape was the perfect excuse to gain a moment’s reprieve from his taunting laughter. My eyes scanned over the dark horizon, ensuring we were still alone, and I whistled to let the dragon and sphinx know they could join me in the air.
When they joined me in the sky, we turned to the west, heading for a portal to the human realm. I wasn’t sure if it was luck or the sphinx’s gifts that caused her to settle so close to a long-abandoned portal. There were so many throughout the kingdom that many fell into disrepair and were forgotten. Vallynn found scrolls tucked away in the palace archives when we were children that held the location of many of the older portals, and the information came in handy a number of times on our covert missions. The fact that none of them were uncovered by the King was almost enough to make me believe Selir existed and was on our side.
It was nearly dawn by the time we saw the sphinx safely through the portal and returned to the academy. I spent most of the journey trying to work out the riddle she’d spoken themoment she laid eyes on us. I was no closer to solving the thing when I finally collapsed into my bed than I was when the sphinx first spoke it, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the answer to her riddle could hold the solution to dealing with the King.
Chapter Sixteen
Zypher
I hadn’t seen Bechora since breakfast. I was tempted to seek her out at Magus House, certain that she would be there, but I learned a bit about human realm customs from her mage friend, Miles, over dinner the evening before. The small male’s terror permeated the air until I made it clear I meant him no harm and merely wanted to understand more about the human realm.
A plan forming in my mind around the male’s advice, I made my way to the training arena in search of Rumlock. The electricity mage seemed sure that interfering with the professor would only anger myDilectus, but it was the one thing my instincts refused to compromise on. Besides, the combat professor was half-demon—that made him my father’s subject, and I was within my rights as heir to question the male.
The hybrid demon-fae was overseeing his last class of the day when I strolled onto the training pitch. Placing his fingers between his lips, he let loose a sharp whistle and dismissed his students.
“Prince Zypher,” he nodded respectfully.
“Rumlock,” I grunted, waiting until the last student was out of earshot. “What is this I hear about you pairing myDilectuswith a bear shifter for her first combat class?”
“I needed to speak with you,” Rumlock shrugged.
“Haven’t you heard of sending a message? You didn’t need to send my fated to the infirmary with a training injury. I could have your head for that.”
Rumlock turned to face me, his lips pressed into a thin line that caused the scar across his left eye and cheek to pucker. “What do you think the bear was, Prince Zypher? Would you have me seek you out directly and out myself as half demon against your father’s orders?”
“My father’s machinations are none of my concern. The well-being of myDilectus, however, is,” I replied dryly.
It wasn’t a secret among my kind that my father placed a spy within the Academy to ensure the safety of our people on campus. Lesser demons started vanishing decades before my birth from these hallowed halls with no explanation. They were written off as fleeing the Academy for any number of reasons, because anything else meant someone was working against the inherent magic that kept students and staff safe. The disappearances stopped in recent years with the suspicious rise of other supernaturals eloping to the human realm, which only furthered my father’s belief that something was amiss.
“You know my gift, my prince?” Rumlock asked.
“Of course.Filum Videnis the rarest gift of our kind, one of the few remnants of our origin. Your ability to see the threads that connect us was invaluable on and off the battlefield.”
“Yes, well, it helps to know who you can turn against your enemy and who to cut down to weaken their resolve.”
“I’m not certain why your ability led you to pair myDilectuswith a bear shifter, causing her to become injured. Nor why you felt that was the appropriate message to send.” I drawled, crossing my arms over my chest.
“It’s quite simple, my prince. I saw her threads, and the darkness attempting to choke them out.”
My eyebrows rose sharply at his words. “Explain. Now, Rumlock, before I lose patience with you.”
“It’s common for the females of our kind to have manyDilecti. Rare for those not of our kind, but as she is your fated, it would make sense that she shares some traits with our own females.”
“Yes, I am aware of this,” I interrupted with a wave of my hand. “My own mother, Lilith, was mated to Adam as well as my father. It is well known that Adam’s rejection of their fated bond weakened her power. MyDilectushaving multiple mates doesn’t concern me. So long as they accept their bond, they will strengthen her. I am not a spawn that requires reeducation in that regard, and I suspect the darkness you have seen is the true reason for seeking me out in such a dangerous manner.”
