“She was his seer. I never heard her name… or at least I don’t remember. But she made it clear she was loyal to the tsar. She’s also the reason I wasn’t able to use my powers. Why I haven’t used them since.”
“She stopped you from using telepathy?” I shake my head. “But why? And… how did she stop you? How did she know you were using it?”
“She’s very powerful. It’s as if she has a sense, like she can feel the energy behind the magic. If I tried to contact you, contactanyone, she would punish me. I can still feel the pain, even if I justthinkabout using my magic.”
“That’s… That’s horrible.” I blink, trying to comprehend what he’s telling me. “What did she want from you?”
“She said the tsar wanted me to give you a message. In person. The seer’s prophecy foretells of an unchallenged dominion, and she believes the person who will rule this dominion is the tsar. I can’t recall all the words from the prophecy, but there were parts that stuck in my mind. The prophecy told of seizing power by using ‘the magic gifted by the gods to a powerful descendant.’ And she made it clear that the tsar wants you.”
“‘Magic gifted by the gods.’ So fae or siren powers, but why me?” My eyes widen.To a powerful descendant.Could that mean…? “Is that why you think the tsar is my father?”
He keeps his eyes on me, inhaling deeply before a long exhale. “Shedidn’t say it was him, but she was clear that he wanted you. It seemed like an obsession. I believe Torbin was supposed to bring you to him. Not to kill you. Not to break you. He needs you to help him fulfill the prophecy.”
I furrow my brow, grasping the arms of the chair while my mind reels. “But ‘a powerful descendant’ doesn’t necessarily meanhisdescendant, does it? Maybe it just means someone who comes from a line of powerful fae or sirens.”
“You may be right. But that doesn’t change the fact that the tsar has targeted you, and I can only assume that he’s done so because of the way the seer has interpreted the prophecy.”
I feel sick. I don’t know what to believe. I don’t know much about the accuracy of prophecies or even of seers, but I feel like something is off. If only my uncle could remember the entire prophecy, I might be able to pick it apart.
“That’s not all,” he says, bracing himself on the desk as he stands. “The other part of the prophecy that stands out is the whole reason for the carnoraxis attacks.”
I lift my chin. “You mean the third-born fae?”
“Yes. It was something like, ‘one of fae blood, third-born of kin, shall rise as the harbinger of ruin.’”
“Meaning…?”
“Essentially, a third-born fae could destroy the tsar’s plan to take over the world.”
“Okay,” I say, shaking my head. “But we knew he was after the those fae.”
What is he not saying? My mind races, piecing together what little I know. The tsar’s campaign against fae-blooded third-borns, the way he has hunted them mercilessly. The way he has torn through entire bloodlines to root them out.
“The attacks had always seemed random,” Uncle Kormak says. “Which didn’t make sense to me, unless the seer doesn’t know who this special third-born is. She somehow is able to detect third-born in specific towns, and she must be using some kind of witchcraft to put the imagesor essences or something of the third-borns she sees into the heads of the carnoraxis so that they know who they’re targeting. But I was starting to suspect something, and I couldn’t understand why she couldn’t see certain third-borns. It took me a while to figure it out, but I believe I have a theory.”
I’m completely confused, but I let him go on.
“I think she can only see third-borns whose powers have manifested,” he explains.
“Okay.”
“I think her powers reach out and grab hold of images of third-borns, and she sends the creatures out to attack those fae. That doesn’t stop the townspeople from sacrificing every third-born they know, just to cover their bases.”
I blink in confusion. “Right. Okay. But… I’m sorry, I’m not following.”
“I was trying to figure out why the seer wasn’t seeing… you.”
“But… what does that part of it have to do with me?” I ask, frowning. “I’m not third-born.”
Kormak doesn’t speak. He presses his lips together, something unreadable passing over his features.
“What?” I ask. “What is it you aren’t telling me?”
Kormak shifts, running a hand down his face. “There’s more you need to know.” His voice is quieter now but no less heavy. “Before she met your father, your mother lived in Alphemra, among the fae.” His voice is careful, measured, but there’s something raw beneath it. “She was young. Naïve, perhaps. And she fell in love.”
I say nothing, my hands coming together to clasp tightly in my lap. My neck suddenly feels hot, as if he’s about to say something that is going to change my world.
Kormak’s gaze flickers to me before he continues. “The man she loved died tragically in an accident, but when she lost him, she was already with child.”
