Page 255 of The Sins of Silas

He chuckled, twirling me around and capturing me back in his arms. “The truth is my mother wishes for me to find a wife. She's insistent it is you.”

My face dropped so fast that Valter chuckled again, pulling me close. “Don't fret,” he murmured in my ear. “I know you wish to be with the Otacian Prince.”

My eyes hesitantly lifted to his. “It's that obvious?”

His gaze flitted to the side. “It's notso much you as the Prince staring daggers at me since your arrival here.” His bright smile went to me. “Igon's note said you'd be with your Soul-Tie. My mother took that as your arrivalunitingyou with your Soul-Tie.” He flushed bashfully. “Me…so she thought.”

My arms were still around Valter's neck when I glanced over at Lucretia, who sat on her throne, her gaze on us. “Did you believe I was?”

He shrugged, twirling me to the beat again. “I thought you were beautiful. But I don't know what a Soul-Tie bond feels like.”

“I'm sorry.”

“Don't be,” he insisted. “It was more of my mother's dream.” He fixed his attention on where Lucretia was sitting. “She'd grown far happier when she found her Soul-Tie. I suppose she just wants that for me.” He turned back, smiling as he leaned toward my ear. “Anyway, she'll be supportive of us sneaking off. So, let's go find some information.”

“The God of Rebirth,” Valter read from one of the many ancient books back in the library. “The heir of both light and dark. Good and evil. Life and death…the phoenix. A seer thousands of years ago prophesized that four gods would rise.”

“The same prophecy is found in the Warlock grimoire I…read.”

Valter seemed trustworthy, but I didn't want to let him know of it and risk it being taken from me.

“Strange to think,” he pondered.

“Notreally, considering we Mages have the ability to perform incantations as they do.”

“What?”

I wiggled my brows, lifting my hand and drawing my fingers inward before flaring them out.“Lumen.”

A small orb of mage light flew from my hand, bouncing around like a bubble in the air.

Valter studied it, brow arching as he returned his stare to me. “Mage light can be conjured by Mages on our own.”

I sighed. “True. But it takes less energy for us to use a magical tether—the ones the Warlocks rely on.” I walked up to him, trailing my stare to the book in his hands. I took note of the artwork in the ancient passage—two silhouettes of men and two of women.

Valter placed his finger on the woman beside Rebirth. “That is the Goddess of Purification.”

“She is supposed to fuse with Rebirth…creating Travelers.”

“Wow, you really do know your history,” he said surprisingly. “Yes, that is what the prophecy states.”

I chewed on my lip. “Fuse how, though?” I pressed.

Valter's expression became grave. “Well, I'd assume in the same way Valor created the God of Deceit.”

I frowned, angling my head over. “You think Purification and Rebirth will birth a child? Can Gods even do such a thing with one another?”

Valter shrugged, then ran a hand down his closely cropped hair. “If they can mate with Mages, I don't see why they couldn't with their equals.”

“The necromancer—the God of Deceit—he didn't tell me how he'd learned of his identity. I still don't know who he is. He's only spoken to me throughhis victims.”

Valter nodded in contemplation. “Wrendier would've had a higher Mage count than that of other kingdoms, considering centuries ago, Mages ruled that land. My guess is Balifor has been overrun as well.”

I swore, eyes pleading as I faced him, grasping his arms. “We need Nereida's help, Valter. There's no way we can stop him on our own.”

He swallowed. “I will talk to my mother, but I am not Supreme. I have no real influence.”

Panic started to overwhelm me, and Valter placed a hand on my shoulder. “Let's not panic. Tomorrow, the Chamber of Time will be charged. Your seer did not send you here for nothing, I am sure of it.”

---