Page 71 of Dark Witch: Entangled Fates

Hopefully, assisting her mother just by being around wasn't detrimental to her in any way.

"What did you see?" Kian sat down on an armchair, facing her and Amanda.

Listening to Syssi describe what she had seen, Kian had to fight his natural skepticism. If those words were coming from anyone else, he would have dismissed the story as a dream or a hallucination, but his mate had a perfect track record for prophetic visions that, in one way or another, had come to pass.

"Jasmine needs to be told," Amanda said after Syssi was done. "I wish we had more time and didn't need to make rush decisions, but the cruise is almost over, and Aru and his team plan to head out as soon as they can."

"I need to think this through," Kian said. "It's not as easy as just telling Jasmine about gods and immortals and asking her to join Aru's team. We don't know what methods she uses other than the tarot cards, and whether there is any way she can actually guide the team to the location of the pod."

"She was there," Syssi said. "That means that she knows, or will know, how to get there. I don't see any other reason for the vision to show me that scene if it wasn't about to happen." Syssi leaned toward him. "We have just one more day at sea, Kian. You need to decide quickly."

He nodded. "Perhaps I need to discuss it with Turner. He usually sees clearly through the worst of messes. We also need to tell Mother." He looked at Amanda. "She will be so disappointed that Syssi didn't see what happened to Khiann. It was a long shot, but she had her hopes up."

"I can try again," Syssi said. "I gave it a lot of thought, and there is one commonality between the royal twins and Khiann. They are all in stasis. Maybe that's why I was shown the twins instead of Khiann. I was thinking about him buried deep in the earth." She sighed. "But maybe it's not the reason, and the Fates just wanted to show me the pod so I would know that Jasmine was needed to find it. This makes me think that they will not show me anything other than the Kra-ell pod until we find it. After that's done, I will try again, and maybe then I will be granted answers about Khiann."

52

ANNANI

Annani had a pretty good idea as to the reason Kian had called her to invite himself, Syssi, and Amanda over with only an hour or so remaining before the wedding ceremony was to start.

Syssi had probably induced a vision, and what she had seen was not good.

When Ojidu ushered them in, Annani scanned their faces for signs of sadness but found cautious excitement instead.

Had Syssi found anything? Perhaps she had seen a clue about Khiann's fate?

Hope surging in her heart, Annani wanted to cling to it for a little longer, so she did not ask about that. Instead, her gaze shifted to Syssi's empty arms. "Where is Allegra?"

"She's napping," Syssi said. "She was so exhausted from playing in the pool with my father that she fell asleep on the way to the cabin, and I had to put her in her crib without even giving her a bath. You know how she is if someone wakes her up before she is good and ready, so I left her with Okidu to watch over. If she wakes up before we're back, he'll bring her over."

Annani nodded, a smile tugging at her lips. Her granddaughter had a formidable will, which would make her a good leader one day, but it was not making her parents' lives easy, especially Syssi's, who was sweet and softhearted.

As her visitors sat down, Annani regarded Syssi with a calm expression, one she had honed over thousands of years of hiding her emotions. "I assume that you have news for me?"

"Not the news you hoped for, Clan Mother. The universe has chosen not to show me Khiann's fate and instead showed me clues about the Kra-ell royal twins."

Annani was indeed disappointed, but not as much as if Syssi had told her that she had seen Khiann's murder and that all hope was gone, so in a way, no news was good news.

"We should not refer to them as the Kra-ell royal twins," she said. "They are my half brother and sister, half god and half Kra-ell, so we should drop the Kra-ell part." She sighed. "I wish I knew their names."

Their mother had even hidden that from her people when she had conscripted her children to the priesthood. Kra-ell priestesses were referred to as holy mothers and, before that, as acolytes, but since there had never been male priests before the prince, Annani did not know how he should be referred to. Perhaps a holy brother? That made sense since the only reason he could have joined the priesthood was being his sister's twin.

Annani had no doubt that the Kra-ell queen had done so to further protect them and hide them from their grandfather.

She gave her daughter-in-law an encouraging smile. "Please tell me what you have seen, my dear."

As Syssi spoke of Jasmine appearing next to the pod, Annani was surprised. She had not met the human, but ever since Jasmine had been brought aboard, Annani had a feeling that there was something special about her. Still, she could have never imagined that the woman would lead them to the twins.

"I'm so sorry that I didn't bring you news of Khiann," Syssi said. "But I promise that I will try again once this vision is fulfilled. Until then, I doubt I will be shown anything else."

Annani leaned over and patted Syssi's knee. "Do not fret, my child. The Fates work in mysterious ways, and they reveal only what they want to reveal when they want to reveal it."

Syssi let out a breath. "I'm glad you see it that way."

Annani nodded to her daughter-in-law and then turned to Kian. "I am considering telling the queen about the twins when I speak with her tonight. I do not know whether she suspects that they are Ahn's. After all, his legacy lives on in them as well."

Kian frowned. "The twins didn't know who their father was, and all they have is his genetic material. You are the only one who carries on his legacy, and I don't think it is wise to confirm the queen's suspicion. She must be aware of them because the Eternal King wouldn't have needed to eliminate them if they were fully Kra-ell, and she knows that was his intention. Still, she does not know for sure, and maybe we should leave it at that. We don't know how she will react and what she will do with the information."

---