Page 37 of A War of Crowns

So long as you understand that all such knowledge is a double-edged blade.

“But you may refuse, Your Majesty,” the prophetess reassured. The woman’s strange silver eyes seemed to glow with some hidden power when she further promised, “It is your choice.”

A soft fluttering of wings heralded Alyx’s approach as the usuru finally stopped flitting about the rafters and settled herself into her usual place about Seraphina’s shoulders. The familiar weight of her winged companion was enough to soothe some of her rattled nerves.

But only some.

Why me?she wanted to ask again.

But if this danger truly concerned her people in Mysai, then that was answer enough. Unease prickled the hairs on the back of her neck as she considered the matter further.

A double-edged blade.

What did that mean? Would the knowledge wound her in some way?

But how could she possibly refuse a gift from the Lord Himself?

“I accept,” Seraphina finally whispered, the words so quiet she feared no one had actually heard her speak.

But clearly the Oracle heard, given how the Kunishi woman stepped forward and mounted the dais without further pause.

Those bells about the prophetess’s wrists and ankles, so soft and melodious before, were now like the ringing of a death knell as they rattled within Seraphina’s ears. But she knew, somehow, that it was too late to turn back. She had already agreed.

The gift could not be refused now.

Alyx’s purr rumbled against her throat when Seraphina reached out her hand toward the Oracle. She offered her arm as she always did when receiving a blessing from Father Perero.

But rather than gently touching her wrist as the Shepherd was wont to do, Oracle Tsukiko offered a soft, “Forgive me, Your Majesty,” before seizing her hand with a strength Seraphina would not have expected from so small a woman.

The pain which followed was agony beyond any she had ever known.

A great heat burned its way through her fingers and up her arm, rapidly consuming the entirety of her form. The throne room melted away. A dark smog took its place. She heard screams in the air. She tasted death on the wind. Usuri fell from the skies, the messages they bore lost within the haze.

The world spun, the vision shifted.

She saw Goldreach ablaze. Corpses lined the streets. Her stomach churned at the sight of so much death. It surrounded her on all sides.

Fire and ash and the bodies of her people.

Herpeople.

Seraphina writhed upon her throne. Her throat burned with the force of her own scream. From far away, she heard her godfather shouting. But none of his words made sense.

Nothing made any sense.

Stars fell from the heavens. The earth cracked open beneath her feet. The seas swelled. Mountains dissolved into dust. And all around her spread a great, impenetrable darkness that swallowed all until nothing was left. It was gone.

Avirel was gone.

I don’t understand, she screamed within that void.Why are you showing me this? What could I possibly do to stop it?

But the Oracle was silent now.

No voice greeted her in that void.

There was only darkness.

There was only pain from the inferno still blazing through her.

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