“You needn’t come up here,” Gregorios said at the helm of the ladder. “I am more adept than many give me credit for. Besides, our conversation is important and therefore requires comfortable seating. You can make yourself useful by pouring us some tea I’ve brewed.”
I did as he requested, keeping a watchful eye on his movements. While guardians were created to protect their royal and talismans, that protection extended to seers as well. After all, they possessed the knowledge of all their predecessors and were the messengers of the Astrals.
Once we were both settled in the plush chairs beside the hearth, I sipped my peppermint tea in silence and waited, watching him. He seemed content to let me wonder in angst what he’d summoned me for. I enjoyed silence and solitude. Coupled with uncertainty, however, my mind became a dark place.
Finally, he tilted his smooth, dark brown head my way. “I wonder what it is you think you will find in the remaining libraries of Antares.”
I shifted at his directness. “An answer.”
Gregorios nodded, his clouded eyes glancing about, unfocused. “An answer that you believe I am unequipped to find myself?”
“No.” I leaned forward. “No, of course not. I mean no disrespect?—”
“Your actions say otherwise.” The gold band he donned on his wrist glinted as the firelight touched his talisman.
“I want to help, Gregorios. You once told me that I would save the queendom from ruin. How can I stand by and do nothing if that is to be the case?”
Gregorios gestured vaguely with his jeweled hand. “So then what have you discovered? Have Maryn’s punishments been worth it?”
My jaw tightened at the recognition of my failures. “There has never been a documented time in our history that remotely resembles this curse, let alone a drought lasting this long.”
Gregorios clicked his tongue. “Tell me you haven’t spent all your precious time looking into something that I already know. Or have you forgotten the memory of all Scorpion seers before me lives in my mind?”
“No, never?—”
“Granted, with such knowledge, it is a hefty process to comb through all of what exists in there. Like searching for a brown book in a library when you’re blind, you see. My acolytes were of great help, only it became clear after the first few years that indeed no such precedent exists. The mystery remains as to why our princesses are unable to succeed in their trial. In the last twelve years, only two other royals from other territories have died, and yet both King Zephyr of Gemini and Queen Solandisof Taurus succeeded them, surviving their trials with ease. Why has Scorpio continued to Choose royals who are not worthy of reigning? Why has Scorpio enabled this disastrous drought on its people?”
I glanced away, unable to believe hewasn’tdirecting these questions at me. “I couldn’t find anything on droughts in the few texts I found on Piscean and Cancerian history, but if we had access to their libraries?—”
“We do not need access to their libraries. I have conferred with their seers, who possess the same knowledge as I do with regards to their respective queendoms. I am curious, Raithe. Just what is it you think I have been doing all this time? Sitting here, twiddling my thumbs?”
“Of course not,” I protested. Though it was hard to say, given Maryn excluded Felaf and me from many of Gregorios’s briefings and updates lately. The general consensus amongst the palace, and subsequently the queendom, was that our seer was hard at work in the observatory, searching for a solution to the curse. Exactlywhatandhowremained ambiguous. “I apologize, sincerely, for incidentally implying?—”
“Acolytes at the Academies have noticed your increasing presence in their libraries. Do you understand how that makes me look? A guardian, spending his days borrowing texts, tomes, and scrolls on our queendom’s history related to droughts? It makes me appear incompetent, Raithe. And incompetency creates more panic.”
“I was only trying to help,” I said quietly, ashamed. My body tensed as I waited for the next ridicule of words to come.
“You cannot control what you do not know,” Gregorios insisted. He steepled his fingers. “But I didn’t bring you here to chastise you. In fact, these days I do feel rather useless. The truth is I am not any closer to figuring out why our princesses keep dying.” Gregorios rubbed the wrinkled skin between his brows.“It is exhausting carrying this burden I am about to share with you, but I fear you are perhaps the only person I can trust with it.”
I set the teacup on the table between us, all of my senses alert.
“As you know, we are nearing the end of the Age of Scorpio, where the realm has seen more death and calamity than ever before,” Gregorios said. “The apostai have spread like a disease across the territories. The existence of our curse has shattered our perception of the Astrals. Next year, we enter the dawn of a new era in the Age of Sagittarius, and this new period is sure to bring about brazen actions, war, and the assertion of individual will. We are shifting from a time ruled by water to fire. This shift will shake the spiritual and political foundations of our world, and our queendom is not prepared for any of it.”
Gaianos was born during the Age of Aries nearly 16,000 years ago. Humans only lived to be a century, if they were lucky. To be alive during a transition of ages was extraordinary because there had only been seven.
As a seer, Gregorios provided astrological foresight to Scorpio’s reigning sovereign—encouraging decisions based on what the cosmos would deem favorable or not. He also warned of any threats our territory faced. I sensed the latter was where this conversation was headed.
“There is a reason you and Felaf have been kept from briefings between myself and Maryn this past year, despite overhearing most. It was not always Maryn’s doing. It has grown harder to keep the illusion, especially in front of you. You have an incredible ability to detect truth from lies, Raithe. The fact of the matter is we are in far more danger than I imagined. This curse that plagues our queendom? It is not only our princess that has been affected.”
I stared at his expressionless face before rearing my head back. “Are other territories?—”
“No. At least, not according to the other seers.” Gregorios hesitated a beat. “No one else suffers from the curse except me. Or rather, my Sight. I am afraid it has been lost. Disconnected. Severed, if you will.”
“I don’t understand,” I said slowly, detesting the words. I abhorred not knowing the truth, no matter how big or small. My mind simply couldn’t fathom that there were things I was not meant to know.
“Since the creation of Gaianos, seers have been the receiver of prophecies, dreams, and visions sent directly by their Astral, andonlytheir Astral.”
“I know this,” I said impatiently. “Seers can only see the past, present, and future of those within their territory. You only have the Sight for people of Scorpion descent.”
