Aelius looked at me and sighed, his face softening. We may battle for power, but the passion between us did make for often explosive times together in the aftermath. Therewasgenuine affection there, even if it was often buried beneath other matters. We were mates, after all. It allowed for no less, really. And looking at him now, I could see he was thinking the same.
Maybe being his mate did make sense. We both wanted power and control. We just went about it in different ways. And we both loved one another, despite how challenging we found engaging with each other outside of the bedroom. But that did make it thrilling. I just worried that, in the long term, the struggle between us of love versus power would prove detrimental.
Aelius seemed to understand I wasn’t quite done with the Oracle and sighed. “I’ll meet you outside, my queen.”
His soft tone brought a smile to my face, and he caressed my cheek before leaving me to it.
That was more like it.
Once he was outside, I looked at the crone.
I didn’t know what had urged me to stay here…alone.
No, that was a lie. I did know. It was this damned sensation that kept pressing on me.
“You feel the hand of the gods, Queen Aurelia. They have a message not for your king’s ears,” the Oracle rasped out. I struggled to sit up straighter with my belly in the way.
“Not for Aelius to hear?” I asked, shaking my head in confusion. “Why ever not?”
As far as I knew, the Oracle always gave her prophecy to both parents. And there was never a second message mentioned. Let alone one that was only meant for one parent’s ears.
“Because you carry twins within you, Queen Aurelia. And Aelius cannot know. You must pretend to birth only one child.” The Oracle held up a hand, stopping the many questions on the tip of my tongue.
“Of your two children, you know only one can be heir to Day Kingdom, and that heir must be hidden from Aelius at all costs. He will kill the child should he find out about them when they are young and defenseless.” The Oracle informed me, leaving me in stunned disbelief.
Dread grew within my heart. Why would my husband kill our heir? Ourchild?Mychild! My arms wrapped around my stomach protectively on instinct.
I would not brook any threat to my child—children.
By Tala, twins!
“How do you suggest hiding an entire child,the gods chosen heir, no less, from my husband?” I demanded urgently. “He will likely notice me raising two children! And he will certainly notice if I produce only one child, and it isn’t the heir. I don’t understand. Why would he be any threat in the first place? He wants children,especiallyan heir! It’s all he’s talked about since we first got betrothed!”
The Oracle’s knowing silver eyes grew sad, matching her tone as she continued. “You will see. He would try to make the gods choose another, but that cannot happen. Your heir is too important to the world. Without them, we face a fate worse than you can understand.”
I shook my head, thoroughly confused—not to mentionterrified.
“You must use this when the time comes,” she demanded, shoving a piece of paper into my hand. “You now know as much as the gods can impart without threatening the future of this child. Wecannotrisk them. As a mother, you will seek to protect them above all else. I trust in that. As do the gods.”
The feeling of peace I had been experiencing intermittently, thanks to the gods' influence, suddenly evaporated, and what felt like pure chaos overtook me. A riot of destructive power that I struggled against feebly.
“This is what is happening to our realm.” The Oracle’s words reached me through the haze of chaos I was trapped within.
The feeling stopped abruptly, and peace returned, filling me up like a harmonious song as the chaos was banished. I sighed, relieved to be free of the chaotic deluge they’d buried me under.
“Thisis what your heir will bring,” the Oracle insisted. “Do you see their importance? The gods cannot allow the schemes of those in power to take away the only chance this realm has.”
The sensation lessoned, slowly, until all I felt were my own natural emotions. I looked up from my knees to ask the crone more questions, but jolted as I discovered that she was gone.
I looked around the cavern, but she was truly nowhere to be found.
And I was left. Alone. With the ominous threats against my child and the knowledge that the gods needed them to fix whatever was wrong with our realm that was tipping it toward chaos.
I gulped, holding my stomach tightly.
“I love you, my children. And I swear to you now,” I clutched the paper the oracle had given me tightly, then slid it into my dress so no one would see it. “I will let no one harm you.Ever. Even if I have to kill my own mate to ensure it.”
* * *
