Page 83 of Dark Witch: Entangled Fates

"I'll do it." Syssi put her teacup down. "Bear in mind that visions usually should not be taken literally, and sometimes their purpose is just to hint at things. Also, I didn't ask to be shown where the pod with the royal twins was buried. I asked for something else entirely and was shown this instead." She continued to tell him what she had seen and what she and Amanda thought about Jasmine's role in the vision.

As Aru listened, he found it hard to believe that two intelligent females like Syssi and Amanda had put so much faith in tarot cards and Jasmine's ramblings about her promised prince. Not only that, but it also seemed that they had managed to rope Kian and his mother into supporting that questionable narrative.

Aru didn't want to offend Syssi, but he couldn't contain his incredulity. "Are you seriously suggesting that a human who bases her life decisions on tarot cards and crystal balls can help us locate the pod with the royal twins?"

Syssi smiled indulgently as if he were the one whose logic was skewed. "Tarot cards, crystal balls, and other instruments of divination are just conduits for the energy that is inside the individual. On their own, they are just inanimate objects with no innate power. Jasmine has something, a spark of potential that we can all feel. And besides, my visions are never wrong."

She had just told him that her visions shouldn't be taken literally, and now she was telling him that they were never wrong.

"So, let me understand what you are suggesting." Aru took a deep breath. "You want us to take Jasmine with us and have her direct our search for the pods?"

Syssi nodded. "What harm could that do? One more person on your team is not going to make much of a difference, but she might be able to point you in the right direction when you have no other clues."

"Jasmine is human," Aru said. "She will slow us down."

Syssi smiled again. "Yes, she will, but on the other hand, she might save you a lot of time by pointing you in the right direction."

He couldn't argue with that, but there was one more point he could raise. "What if we determine that she's useless?"

"She won't be," Kian said. "I have full faith in Syssi's visions. But if you decide that Jasmine is not helpful to your search, you can send her back home. We will cover the bill."

"Sounds reasonable," Aru agreed. "Did you speak with her about it? Maybe she doesn't want to go?"

"We've told her nothing so far," Kian said. "I wanted to check with you first. There are also a few other concerns that we need to address."

"Like what?" Aru asked almost defensively.

Kian lifted the teacup to his lips and took a small sip. "The twins are rumored to be powerful compellers, and your team will need the specialty earpieces William developed that block the sound waves carrying compulsion."

Aru shifted in the armchair and crossed his legs. "That would be much appreciated. Thank you."

Kian regarded him for a long moment. "Does the queen know that her son fathered the twins with the Kra-ell princess?"

"I believe so, but you need to understand that my interaction with the queen has been minimal, and my sister serves the oracle, not the queen. We provide information, but we don't get much back, and we can only speculate on what the queen knows and thinks. There were rumors that claimed a dalliance between her son and the Kra-ell princess, who later became the queen, but I don't think the Anumati queen believed them at the time. She probably thought it was more of the Eternal King's negative propaganda aimed at discrediting his son and painting him as a deviant. The Kra-ell queen was very good at concealing the twins from the public eye and shrouding the identity of their father, and even the Eternal King, with all his spies, wasn't sure that the twins were his grandchildren. It's common for the Kra-ell queens to hide the identity of their children's fathers, especially those who father the daughters that will rule one day, so no one thought much of it. On the other hand, the twins became acolytes at a very young age, so they must have raised a lot of brows at the time. That was very uncommon."

Kian nodded. "I keep forgetting that this is ancient history to you. We've only learned all of this recently, and the Kra-ell, who told us about the twins being in stasis for thousands of years, said it was recent history for them as well. The question is whether my mother should inform the queen of Anumati about this new thread that might lead to them."

Aru leveled his gaze at Kian. "There is nothing I keep from the queen. I don't share every thought and speculation I have, and I don't bother her with every unimportant detail, so I can refrain from telling her about this new line of inquiry until it is proven to be relevant, but if it is, then I need to inform her." He dipped his head toward the heir. "My apologies, but my first loyalty is to my queen."

Annani nodded. "I understand, and I appreciate your loyalty to my grandmother and your honest reply, but I have no intention of keeping this from her."

62

ANNANI

Annani suspected that Aru had communicated to his sister every important tidbit of information he had learned about her and the clan.

She would not have been concerned, but there was always the possibility that the queen's part in the resistance would be discovered, and she would be tortured for information.

There was not much she could do about it at this point, though. Her resemblance to her grandmother had given her away, and the moment Aru had informed the queen about her, the cat was out of the bag, so to speak, and there was no way to put it back in.

If the Eternal King discovered Annani's existence, he would not hesitate to destroy Earth just to get rid of her, and since there was no communication with Anumati, and no one was officially allowed anywhere near it, the king could annihilate the entire planet without worrying about his reputation.

Annani sighed.

It was not easy to live with a tangible and ever-present existential threat, but it was nothing new for her. Annani's life had prepared her well to not only handle and cope but to thrive under adverse situations. She would find a way to weather this storm as well.

"The queen is ready to begin," Aru said.

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