“Okay.” Ember’s violet gaze swept in a thoughtful circle around their apartment. “That supposed to mean something?”
“Not by itself, but whoever or whatever was talking through the Oracle for this prophecy knew exactly who was listening. Called me ‘daughter of L’zar,’ and then something about the Cu’ón’sdaughter being the Aranél. Turning a new Cycle. Claiming rights that were always mine but not L’zar’s to give away and a whole bunch of shit about blood and rot and fire.”
“Ooh, very doomsday.”
“Yeah. I think it was a warning.”
“For real?”
“Yeah.” Smoothing her drow-white hair away from her face, Cheyenne let her anger and her magic cool off and slipped back into human form. “I think L’zar wants to overthrow the Crown. Probably kill her. Maybe not. But all so he can take the throne and start a new Cycle as the new Crown.”
Ember cleared her throat. “I mean, that was obvious when everyone’s talking about rebellion and taking out the asshole drow on the other side trying to kill you first.”
“Right. But all this other stuff about cleansing and burning away the rot and my blood being something different?” Cheyenne stared at the vaulted ceiling, turning what she remembered of the prophecy over in her mind. Should’ve put on the activator and recorded it.
Ember studied the halfling’s profile and raised an eyebrow. “It looks like you already know the rest of what you’re trying to say.”
“Still obvious, huh?”
“Yep.”
With a wry chuckle, Cheyenne propped herself up in the recliner and met her friend’s gaze. “I’m just trying to decide if that’s what I think this means, or if I’m just looking for more things to pin on L’zar so I have more reasons not to like him.”
“Because you’re starting to?”
“What? No. I don’t know. Probably not. He’s an ass.”
Ember cocked her head. “And he’s your dad.”
“Please. You of all people know that’s not an automatic exemption from being shitty.”
“Sure. But my dad didn’t lock himself up for three-quarters of a century to make sure I didn’t die before breaking out of prison to keep making sure I didn’t die. He just won’t answer my phone calls.”
Cheyenne barked a laugh and immediately shook her head. “Sorry. Sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing at that.”
“No, go ahead. I’ll laugh with you. Ha-ha-ha. My dad’s a selfish bastard who’s given up on his only kid so he can pretend to be normal, and your dad’s a selfish bastard who wants to overthrow an O’gúl regime and take you with him. At least he’s trying.”
Chuckling softly, Cheyenne shook her head. “There’s that, I guess. But that’s the thing about this whole prophecy, Em. I don’t think it was warning me about L’zar taking down the Crown and winning this rebellion or whatever. I think it was warning me about him taking the throne to be the next O’gúl Crown. Obviously, he wants that too, but the death and destruction part? I don’t know.”
“Yeah, you do. Go ahead and say it.”
With a groan, the halfling glanced at the ceiling again and let her shoulders sag. “I think that prophecy was telling me L’zar’s not supposed to be the next Crown.”
“Huh.”
Cheyenne met her friend’s gaze again and shrugged. “Seriously, Em. I think all that fire and rot and blood shit was a warning about what’ll happen if I don’t stop him after we’ve won or whatever. That he’ll screw everything up just as badly if he takes the Crown and sits in her place.”
“So, you mean what? You’re gonna go help him win, and then you’re supposed to kill him or something?”
“I don’t know.” Cheyenne shook her head and stared at her. “That’s the thing. Prophecies are mostly bullshit, and the rest is impossible to figure out. I just don’t know.”
“Or maybe that raug’s just trying to stir up trouble. Make you think you’re supposed to do something, and this is just a way for him to screw things up.”
“Maybe. But Gúrdu wouldn’t have been at the ceremony yesterday if he was trying to throw a wrench in L’zar’s rebellion.”
“Well, there’s that.” Ember sat back in her chair and folded her arms. “What if it’s another test? Like, to see if you freak out about this prophecy or if you just let it be and keep moving in the direction you were headed. Honestly, if I were you, I’d much rather believe the magicals who’ve been helping me and fighting with me over some half-assed prophecy mumbo-jumbo.”
“Not a big fan of prophecies?”
“Nope. Granted, I’m just a fae who was born without magic but got it back by hanging out with you. I’ve never been the center of a prophecy, so I don’t have anything to go on.”
“Makes sense.” They both laughed, and Cheyenne closed her eyes. How much of this is real? “Maybe that’s the thing. That all prophecies are crap, and it all boils down to figuring out how to prove it. L’zar did that with his prophecy, ‘cause here I am.”
“Exactly. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
“I’m not worried.” Smiling, the halfling drummed her fingers on the leather armrests. “It was seriously creepy, though. I think the guy had some kind of seizure or something. Then he started pulling up black fire and throwing pillows all over the place.”
“Pillows?” Ember pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.
“Yeah. Instead of carpet.” Both girls sniggered. “Maleshi punched the hell out of him to stop the whole thing. I thought she’d killed him for a second.”
“From what I hear, raugs are ridiculously tough. And Oracles like to put on a good show.”
“He succeeded.” Cheyenne sat up straighter in the recliner and shook the entire event and the tangled prophecy out of her mind. Worrying about this isn’t gonna get me anywhere. I’m already skeptical enough about how we’re gonna pull off this whole rebellion takeover. “So, moving on. Did you get any alerts while I was gone?”
“Ha. Nope. Glen was fortunately silent, so I guess Corian and company are handling things pretty quietly.” Ember frowned at her friend. “You
