Page 198 of Golden Queen
I suddenly realized Master Cassius was standing just in front of me when I saw a shaky hand reach out for the little elderwood seed cradled in my palm. “The eyes of Artax claim Adrio is the reborn first elderguard, a man whose name is lost to the cataclysm,” the master said in a hushed voice.
“The eyes of Artax?” I asked as I pulled the chain over my head so that he could see it better.
“The seers who live amongst the trees,” Io explained.
I had only read a little about the seers who lived in the forest. They were blinded from a lifetime of consuming the deadly druidscap mushrooms that ringed the edges of the Elderwood.
“I can’t believe I did not make the connection to Adrio being the twice born king,” Master Cassius said, holding the necklace up to look inside the braided wire cage.
He’d lost some of the exuberance about the prophecy, but his eyes still shone with excitement as he studied the little white seed.
I instinctively knew that I could trust him. Io did—that was obvious, so perhaps that was the only reason. But a small voice inside me told me it was my own intuition driving me to put so much faith in this old man.
So I told him the message from the Elderwood and everything Adrio had said to me.
"What else?" Io demanded, directing his question to the master when I finished my recounting of the visit from the horse lords. "What else do you know about the prophecy?"
The master had remained silent, wary eyes still focused on me. He shook his head. "Little and less. None of us can agree on the rest. But I know now that it is because the events are in the future. The other words are easy to divine. They have already come to pass. There are concrete things we can look to for confirmation. The rest is still to be, and the future is very hard to see for even the most practiced sage."
Master Cassius read the remaining words of the prophecy, consulting his page as new ones needed to be added.
"She harbors the seed of salvation and ruin. Aelia! Aelia! Hope!I would imagine that is referring to her blood and the effect it has on the godsgrass. And then there is:She hides behind the beast while gold burns beneath her feet. Aelia! Aelia! Traitor!" The master shook his head. "I cannot imagine what treason she could be guilty of."
"The treason of a broken betrothal contract?" I suggested, sourly.
The master did not remark on that, but Io looked at me sharply. "There is no treason in being with your mate."
Master Cassius continued, "The stolen shadow bleeds darkness upon light. He opens his father's eyes. The unnamed is made. Infinity is crowned with shadows and blood. Adrill, Adrill, destroyer. This is, of course, the part that implies some calamity that is of great concern to us."
"Who is this Adrill?" I asked, and then gave voice to something I was sure I would regret. "And do you think the black fire it speaks of is Amon's black fire?" The black fire was in the next few lines, but my mind was already racing ahead.
Io looked momentarily stunned, but then his jaw set in a hard line as Cassius replied. "No, no, of course not. We all agree that the words speak of the black fire of Khaxa in the Shadowlands. The great mountain of Khaszar Dun."
"How can you be sure?" I asked.
"Because I would not tear the fucking sky in two, Sera," Io said coldly.
I turned to him in surprise. "And I am not a traitor either," I spat and had the satisfaction of seeing him wince. "So it's not like we should start taking it literally."
"Fair point," Io said, though his jaw stayed as tightly strung as it had been. "So, this Adrill?" he asked Master Cassius.
"We don't know. As far as we have found, there has not been an Adrill in living memory. The name fell out of favor entirely once the prophecy started making its rounds through the continents. No one wanted their child associated with beingthe destroyer."
Master Cassius finished the prophecy in its entirety then as Io and I sat there, staring ahead. He added the new words, saying each of them carefully, thoughtfully. I saw nothing, though, as I looked at a spot on the far wall without registering any of my surroundings.
My mind was exhausted, and I was finished trying to find meaning in the swirling madness of prophecy. The rest only made it sound like I would be the catalyst that destroyed the world anyway.
"He breathes a frozen breath of ether that wants to burn the worlds to ash. Flesh is broken and black flame rends the sky in two. The dragon opens its bloodied eyes. It is hungry with her own fell appetite. Aelia! Aelia! Death!”
I thought of Eroa’s blood-red eyes.
“A flame is kindled as they watch and cry; she is the first. Her tongue bleeds lies. The kingdom burns. The Golden Queen burns! Blood will bear ash across the seas and the skies will rain fire before Malus rises on a tide of death. Her veil is ashes and the taste of glory is her meal. Blood opens the gate."
We all sat in silence when he had finished. I had a million questions whirring unwillingly in my over-wrought mind, but none that I was prepared to give voice to, except for one.
"Why?" I said in little more than a whispered rasp. "Why is this about me?" My voice rose as I looked at them both in turn—the sullen Lord of Darkwatch at my side and the startled-looking master scholar across the desk, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Why is this aboutme?" I demanded.
"Because you are a descendant of the nephilim," Io said. "You have the blood of the gods, Sera."
