Page 55 of The Kingdom of Eternal Ice
“I think I did so, quite literally,” I admit before I start telling them what I told Gillean today, about my dreams, about Favian and Favia. Gillean adds his part of the story afterward.
“This is what Azadeh and I talked about today,” he says before turning to Aylin. “The boys said they are feeling the bond between them changing.”
“What does that mean?” I ask.
“The triplets have a bond connecting them to each other,” Aylin explains. “Most werewolves have such a bond to their families—the stronger, the better—as family is of utmost importance to us, but for the triplet princes, the bond to their family is like a circle, tying them to each other, but not to someone else.” She pauses. “Imagine fate like a tree. The strong stump is the bond to our family and later to our mate. The tree grows with time. It reaches out its branches in different directions as it tries to reach the place with the most light. Some branches die down, some are smaller, some bigger. There is not just one fate a person holds; there are many, and the mate bond, for example, is one of them. For the triplets, they didn’t have this tree of life in them. They just had a tight connection with each other.”
“To a point, it would hurt one of us if the other got hurt,” Endellion explains.
“I will carry the same wounds Ende or Caelan have,” Flinn adds.
“We can feel each other’s pain stronger than we should be able,” Caelan adds. “That’s why we are called the triplets without a fate.”
“But, now the sun is shining on you,” Aylin says. “And with the sun, suddenly the bond between you is loosening, and branches start to build themselves.”
“Is Aza the sun?” Endellion asks.
“That’s what we believe,” Aylin admits. “We didn’t know of her existence at first. Only when King Naseem suddenly offered his daughter to us, and she was said to be the Desert Princess with the gift, also called the Princess of the Sun, we realized finally things are set into motion.” She pauses. “You boys might have been born without a fate, but it doesn’t mean you can’t develop one. And Azadeh was always born with a fate that we believe intertwines with yours.”
“It’s hard to wrap my mind around it, but it makes sense,” Flinn says. “Because ever since Aza is here, we’ve felt a change.”
“The void I felt,” Caelan admits quietly. “Where my mate was supposed to be, it’s not that empty anymore. Something is there.”
“Are you saying the void is filling itself?” Aylin’s eyes snap up, and when Caelan nods, she reaches out her hand. Caelan places his in hers, while she closes her eyes. For a moment, she doesn’t say anything, but when she opens her eyes again, she looks surprised. “It’s true… a bond to an unknown mate is forming itself.”
“Is this true?” Caelan looks at her both in fear and hope.
“Why would I lie?” she asks shortly.
“Does this mean we all will feel it?” Flinn asks hopefully. “I could swear that I feel my fate changing, too.”
“With time, I believe so.” Aylin frowns. “Fate is peculiar, though. Yours and Endellion’s paths might differ from Caelan’s.”
“I don’t understand how I come into play here,” I say. “I understand that I might have set things into motion. But how?”
“You have a gift,” Aylin explains. “Sine and I believe it’s much more than what your father believes it is. No one of your ancestors has reached their full potential, but you… you might be able to do it.”
“What’s the difference between Azadeh and the former princesses with this so-called gift?” Flinn wants to know.
“I’m here,” I say quietly. “I am here, while they never left their home and had to settle for lonely lives.”
Aylin nods. “I came to the same conclusion.”
“Tell them about the prophecy,” Gillean urges.
Aylin takes a deep breath. “On the day of your birth, your mother received a vision, a prophecy. I will tell you now.”
We all nod, looking at her expectantly.
“Brothers of three, Born without fate,
two sides of a coin, Held by loneliness,
Princess of the sun,
Born with the gift,
Makes night turn to day,
