He doesn’t speak immediately and I wait for him to say something, knowing that he is probably thinking of the best way to say what he wants to say. If anything, Ernest is always careful about the words he chooses.
“I think that she is definitely special, chosen by the gods, but I also think that this is strange. The prophecy just states that the women will be powerful, that your children will be rulers, but nothing else. Shouldn’t it state something else, what is the purpose of this?”
He has a point. Something that I have been wondering as well. As fantastical as all of this is, what is the purpose of it all? I think back to everything that the scholars have said. I think about the prophecy, about the gods, then I remember a book that I read once. A book that I still own.
Leaving Ernest in my office, I hurry to the library. When the soldiers took over my home, they didn’t torch it like they did so many others. They left it in pristine condition for me to find, likely so that they could show me they only wanted to hurt my wife and daughter.
In the library, I climb the ladder and reach for one of the books on the top shelf, its burgundy leather-bound with gold writing on the spin. I always thought it was just a fantasy novel, just something to pass the time, but perhaps it isn’t just that.
Perhaps it is so much more.
Climbing down from the ladder, I walk over to the couch and sink down on the edge as I thumb through the old novel. Ernest sits down next to me and waits for whatever I’m about to say to him.
“It’s here,” I mutter. “I didn’t think that it could be, but it is.”
“Sir?”
Lifting my head, I look up at him. “I read this years ago, when I was newly married to Adelaide. It was a book that I found in my father’s collection after he passed on. I didn’t realize it could be real, it seemed too farfetched.”
Ernest doesn’t bother asking for more clarification again, it’s not his style. He’s a one and done kind of guy. Clearing his throat, he waits for me to continue.
“In this book, which I thought was just a fantasy, it is discussed that there will be a time that four women will come to our earth. They are goddesses created for four mortal men. However, they will be lusted after by all men, coveted and desired.”
I grunt thinking about that. I don’t want any men lusting after Birdie, she’s mine. But then I think about Logan and Jeremiah, who were both immediately enamored by her. Inhaling a deep breath, I continue.
“They fall in love with their warriors. They give them sons, heirs to their thrones.”
“Then?” Ernest asks.
Closing my eyes, I can’t help but think that if this book is so right in the beginning, then it must be right for the ending and I can’t deny that thinking about that makes me feel ill. I can’t go through it again, a great loss like that will break me.
“Then they are tempted by the Devil himself and fall from the gods’ graces. They put the entire world in jeopardy and their husbands have to hide their own sons from them and stay in hiding until the sons are strong enough to fight the Devil and win back the world from his evil clutches.”
Ernest sits back slightly, closing his eyes for a moment and lets out a breath. “Colton,” he rasps.
Apparently, when Ernest is upset, he loses the sir bit and calls me by my first name. This is good to know. This is also something that I never wanted to know, because I’m just as upset.
“Maybe this won’t happen,” he murmurs.
“Perhaps.”
We’re silent for another moment, then he shifts his gaze over to me. “It could, and you must prepare. We must prepare.”
“We need to find the others.”
He dips his chin in a nod. “Marriage first, then searching for her sisters.”
“The Assembly will be here and they will cart us off,” I mumble.
He jerks his chin in a nod. “They will, but this will not stop our scouts from finding the sisters. We already know they hail from Bunafi and Wolfjour Ail. They will be easy to find and easy to communicate with.”
Pressing my lips together, I think about that. I haven’t had a moment to think about the fact that her sisters are married to the most ruthless and infamous warriors in our world. This should not surprise me as it is what the prophecy proclaims, but it still is unnerving.
“We will not allow the women to become susceptible. Wolfjour Ail and Bunafi are lands that are known for their magic and we have Florence, this will have a positive outcome.”
“I hope that you’re right, Ernest.”
His lips turn up into a grin. “I know that I am, sir. The world would not give you the light that it has and take it away, not twice. She is a cruel place, but she is not heartless.”
“Ernest,” I choke.
He shakes his head a couple of times. “Just believe in the gods’ plans, for they know what they do. Perhaps that story is one of four warriors and their brides who failed? Perhaps, your story will be of ones that succeed.”
BIRDIE
The men stand far enough away that they can’t hear every word that I say to Florence, but they’re close enough to do their job if they need to. Clearing my throat, I look behind to them, then shift my gaze back to meet hers.
“Try it,” she demands.
Licking my lips, I press them together and wonder if it would really be the right thing to do, or if it’s an invasion of privacy. It really feels like an invasion. Her gaze narrows on me and she shakes her head once, then jerks her chin in their direction, behind my shoulder.
“Okay,” I finally
