Page 2 of War Of Fire and Fortune
Living while always knowing what was coming wasn't a life at all, although plenty of others over the years had told me and my sister how they wished they would have been blessed with the same abilities. This wasn't a gift like my water bending, but a curse.
In the vision I’d seen with the boy thieves, it hadn’t involved Marlena, but being a soothsayer and seeing what was going to happen before it did, regardless of how much I hated it, had its perks.
We couldn't change the things we saw, but we could alter them. Use our magic to intervene in ways to turn things in our favor, like Marlena had just done. But there was always a risk.Our interference could change more than a single moment if we weren’t careful.
“Come on, dear sister. Now we have enough to buy us both a nice dress,” Marlena boasted, looping her arm with mine as she turned us around and headed back toward the shop with the dress she so desperately craved.
As I watched her put the dress on and twirl in front of the trifold mirror with a beaming smile on her face, I couldn't stop my own from tugging on my lips. She looked beautiful. We shared the same dark skin, salt-and-pepper hair, and brown eyes.
Over the years, I’d stopped caring about my hair graying and my wrinkles forming. I viewed it as if I had earned them from all my life experience. Regardless of being an immortal fae, the centuries would show on you—it just took time. Eventually it slowed and then stopped when I was around four hundred or so.
My magic pulsed and tugged at me again. It seemed to be getting angrier by the minute. My head was beginning to pound from the amount of restraint I was using to keep it from showing anything to me. Marlena chatting with the seamstress faded into the background as I stood and walked toward the door.
“Are you alright?” Marlena called to me.
“Yes, I'm fine, just stepping out to get some air. Take your time,” I said as I walked out the door, the wood creaking closed behind me. I needed to get somewhere a little more secluded. I knew I couldn't hold off this vision for much longer. It was physically painful at this point. None had ever been so insistent before.
I paced past the seamstress’s small shop and moved through the wooded area, away from the main street through themarkets. And then I saw silver. A young girl skipped cheerily down the path, her silver hair feathered around her face from the loose strands that had fallen out of her braid. Her parents were not far behind. My magic thrummed, and the wall of resistance I had held all day crumbled in my mind.
I gasped from the force of power coursing through me. I wanted to stay away from the child, but I couldn't. My body moved of its own accord. Like a tether of fate tugging me toward her.
Emelyn, Emelyn, Emelyn . . .
I stumbled. My eyes had already gone milky white, the color of them lost to the magic coursing through my mind. And then darkness clouded my vision.
The light within the dark.
War and retribution.
Love . . . loss . . . betrayals, centuries’ worth of it.
All of the emotions shredded through my very being.
When I woke, a man, who I knew to be Orion from my visions, held a dagger pointed in my direction and had my hands bound.
“No need for this, child,” I said, my voice still weak from the amount of power I had burned through.
“Who are you, and how do you know my daughter’s name?” Orion questioned, moving the dagger closer to my throat.
“Orion, put it away,” I ordered, and his eyes rounded in surprise.
“Who are you?” he repeated, glancing back at his wife, Ivy, who was sitting up against the tree with their young daughter on her lap.
“My name is Willow. I'm a soothsayer and a water bender. I know who you are too. I know you're in Ember for the coronation tomorrow. You traveled from Esora. Your mate and wife’s name is Ivy. All three of you are water benders. Your best friend’s name is Hallan. He's a Sky Elf. He also has a wife, Kali, who is also his mate, and a son named Ace. Do you believe me yet, or would you like me to keep going?” I asked, and he slowly lowered his dagger with parted lips and surprised eyes. I lifted my wrists, revealing the ropes still tied there, and he cut me free.
“What do you want with us? I thought you were trying to kidnap my daughter,” he admitted, and I shook my head.
“I'm sorry about that. Sometimes, when I have powerful visions, I have little control over what my body is doing. I wanted to protect her.”
“From what?” he asked, his voice grave.
“I think we should go somewhere more private. There is a lot to discuss,” I suggested, and he stood up from his haunches and offered me a hand. I took it and stood.
“Come on, my home isn't too far. We can talk there.” I said, leading the way.
We made the journey quickly, rushing through the woods, the evening light casting an orange glow through the trees. This route was faster than staying on the trails.
We made it to my rickety front door, and I held the screen door open for them to come in. Luckily, Marlena still hadn't come home. I assumed she’d gone out with Lily, the seamstress; they had always been good friends. Since tomorrow was coronation day, the Imperial District would be full of festivities tonight. All the fae and creatures who had travelled near and far to celebrate something beautiful would be completely unaware of what actually awaited them.
