“Why?”
“I’m not sure. You are the only one I have visions about, so I have nothing to compare it to.”
“I still don’t understand how we got here.” Solveig tried to keep her voice level, her patience waning. The phantom pain of an unmet bondwas beginning to make itself known. Her skin itched with the desire to find Westley.
“It is a long tale, Solveig. Once the visions started to change, I would get flashes of people in your life. People who would push you towards the shadows, and people who would bring you into the light.
“It would have changed your future had you known. This is why we could never bless your union with Latham—he is cloaked in his own shadows, and you would have become the greatest weapon this world has ever seen if you’d chosen him as your Hjarta.”
“And what of Westley?” Solveig asked tentatively.
“Here is where it gets tricky. When you’d chosen Latham, your future went dark. This is when the prophecy of your mate, the one you know of, came to be.
“I was sure it was not referring to Latham, which was why I advised you to wait and told you of your father. What you don’t know is that a series of visions came after the prophecy. One where you found your mate before either of you were ready, and you took both yourself and him into the shadows.
“In the second, you found him too late. He had died in battle in front of you, and you descended into shadow and smoke. The third was awful in that you both suffered immensely, but also the most promising. You did not find each other but rather, fate pushed you together.
“We could not facilitate a meeting between you two. No one could. You also could not meet him and know immediately, nor he you. It was imperative, for whatever reason, that you come to your own understanding of the bond—no one could tell either of you. We were pushing the limits by planning the wedding to provoke your bond.”
“When did you know it was him?” Solveig asked, struggling to process all the information.
“Right before your first diplomatic meeting with Idavoll, when you were about one hundred and twenty years old,” Aelfsi said while Koa attended to her thirst.
“We could not let you meet him then,” Koa apologized. “It was too soon, and it was during the chaos before the War of Realms began.”
Solveig thought back to her one hundred and twentieth year. She had been well developed in her magic, quickly climbing the ranks of the Asgardian Army. It had been difficult, but she’d managed to hide her identity as the queens’ daughter to most and had proved herself to the ones who knew.
She’d led a double life, playing diplomat by day and commander by night. It was exhausting, but her position in court was as invaluable to the army as her command. Only she was able to learn vital information from those who gossiped and swooned at her feet as Asgard’s princess.
“I remember thinking it was strange none of the heirs were ever in Idavoll when I went there, nor did they come here when I was around.” Though it was not a question, Solveig expected an answer.
“We orchestrated that distance at first, and then we discovered Idavoll had its own Seer who’d warned that you were a danger to one of their heirs. To be cautious, Erik and Alvida kept you away from all their children, not knowing which one was your mate.”
“Did you find out what their prophecies were?”
“We were never able to ascertain that. We assume, however, that there was a spy among us at the time who told the king and queen of my visions,” Koa said sadly.
“So they knew Westley was my mate?”
“Not at first. Only after three of their children mated did they realize it was Westley. They were scared because he was also growing more powerful than his siblings, though he showed no desire to rule.”
“Still, they kept us apart,” Solveig mused.
“They did, not knowing it worked in our favour.”
“How so?”
“As you have said yourself, Ragnvald never told them you were the general of our army. So when they sent Westley on a mission to capture the general, they unknowingly aided fate in bringing you together,” Koa said, a sad smile on her face.
“And that set this entire path in motion,” Solveig muttered.
“Yes,” Koa and Aelfsi said together.
“Did you know I would be captured and tortured?”
“I knew you would undergo a great deal of pain, both mentally and physically.”
Solveig swallowed hard. She didn’t blame them. If the alternative was a descent into darkness that destroyed the world, she would endure an eternity of pain to stop it from happening.
