If we didn’t, our brotherhood would be destroyed.
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
HAVEN
Kneel.The voice—a woman’s—echoed through the cavern.
Nope, not happening. Defying the voice wasn’t smart. I didn’t care. “What do you want with me?”
The soft light in the pool brightened.
Kneel.
Against my will, my legs bent. I fought the compulsion but landed on my knees.
That’s better. There are things you must know.
“And I couldn’t listen while standing?”
Laughter, like wind chimes, tinkled through the cavern. A disembodied voice was laughing at me. Perfect.
I shifted my weight, hoping to ease the sharp pain of the tiles boring into my flesh.
You are Destiny’s champion.
That sounded horrifically awful. “You’ve got the wrong woman.”
Haven Ford, daughter of Hope Ford, granddaughter of ValeraFord, I see you. I see your choices, and I see what you will become. You must follow a path filled with pain and suffering and death?—
“Sounds super fun, but I’ll pass.” Destiny couldn’t rule my life. It couldn’t. There had to be choices. There had to be free will. If there wasn’t, what was the point of living?
Again, the laughter echoed, sharp and musical. It echoed, making my shoulders bunch around my ears.No one can reject their fate. You may choose only the path that leads to your destiny.
There it was again, the path. And according to the voice, mine was filled with pain and suffering and death. I rolled my eyes, then turned and searched for the basajaun. Maybe, if I asked nicely, he’d take me back to the guards. Perhaps, if I got lucky, he’d eat me. Anything was better than listening to what the fates had planned for me.
You have chosen your path.
“Nope. I didn’t choose this path. The guard took me. They chose for me.”
You could have fought.
“And let the girls pay the price? Don’t be ridiculous.”
When your choice was taken away, you resisted those in power.
“That nearly got me killed.” My back throbbed with remembered pain.
Yet you saved the men responsible for your misery.
“That makes me an idiot, not Destiny’s champion.”
The voice sighed deeply. My rejection was a sore disappointment.You like choices? Fine, I’ll give you one. You can follow the path?—
“The path filled with pain and death?”
That’s the one, and don’t forget the suffering.The voice had a sense of humor.You can follow that path, and at the end, there’s a chance the world will survive. Or you can run away.
