Page 52 of A Clash of Stars

I smiled at the fact it brought my parents together, but I still had questions I needed answered. “But how does this make me a true descendent? I don’t quite understand.”

“Clara, I am of Rhysette blood.”

I paused, slightly taken back at his declaration. “Wait, what?”

“I am the Queen of Rhysette’s brother. I am of warrior blood. Your mother is of Artesian blood. The only time it is looked down upon crossing royal bloodlines is with the Claiborne bloodline. It is to be kept pure.”

My face was in complete shock listening to this. This entire time, I thought differently about our land, the rules, and my family’s history. This entire time, I have been related to Griffin. The whole time! How— Why didn’t they tell me?

“Why— why didn’t you tell me? I thought you were just some regular guy that married Mother?”

He laughed, “Oh, Clara. No. You are special because the blood that runs through your veins is a mixture of both bloodlines. Pure. Good. It is also the blood that is to complete the prophecy.”

I tilted my head in confusion.

Prophecy?

“To defeat this curse over us, over our land, you must be the one to do it. You are the only one powerful enough. You hold every power because of that ring on your finger. You have both warrior blood and nature’s power running through your veins. You bring the balance of good and evil with both abilities.”

I still had a lot of questions about what he just told me, but I thought I would extend this conversation in a different direction by asking the question at the forefront of my mind. I needed to return to this because I’m related to Griffin, and that’s a lot to unpack in itself.

“Okay, that was quite a bit for me to take in and I will be bringing this information back up, but while I’m here, I have another serious question to ask you both.”

My parents looked at me with such focus and loving eyes as I breathed and asked, “Madok informed me that he had a vision that I have an inamorato. How will I know that I have met my inamorato?”

They both looked at each other and then turned to me. My mother’s voice was meek and mild, but her response was perfect.

“When your father and I met initially, I loathed him, seriously hated his guts.”

My father let out a laugh as my mother continued her story.

“He was so snarky and smart-mouthed. One day, I went into my library to write when I heard the door shut. When I looked across the room, I saw your father sitting in a chair. I realized that someone had closed the door, so I tried to open it, and it was locked. I tried my darnedest to find a way out of that room. Your father just sat his happy self in a chair with a book. I instantly was annoyed when he began to read it out loud, but I secretly loved to hear his voice, so I gave in and sat across from him.”

My mother stopped momentarily and smiled at my father, clasping his hand in hers before continuing.

“I remember looking behind him at the sky, noticing the stars that had just completed their alignment. When I looked back at him, he had stopped reading and was watching me instead. He closed the book, and in the next minute he kissed me. When he did, I could feel our inamorato’s golden swirls wrap around and through us. We took a step back. We both had our markings.”

My mother then leaned over to show me hers. I instantly thought back to Evander. His marking looked similar. Is it possible he already has an inamorato? That leaves the question of who is mine if it isn’t Evander.

“Is it possible that my inamorato already has their mark and I don’t have mine?” I asked.

My mother took a deep breath and responded, “It has happened before. Athiana and Myrick. His marking came way before hers.”

“Why did that happen?” I questioned her.

“Athiana tried to refuse Myrick. She knew the other gods and goddesses wouldn’t accept him because he was only a human king with no drop of royal blood. Without her knowing, she was choosing not to have her marking. Once she realized she was in love with him, her marking appeared, and everything that didn’t make sense finally became clear. Despite the gods’ disapproval, they married and had two children. One, Jeremiah, who you’ve already met. The other, no one knows what happened to her. Jeremiah had a younger sister, but she was stolen in the night by another after she turned sixteen. We assume that her being taken was the cause of the initial curse Athiana created.”

The discussion answered some critical questions but ultimately created even more. “Thank you for sharing all of this…with me.” I paused. “Are we supposed to hide out here forever, or is there another plan?”

My mother glanced at my father, “Although the gods and goddesses haven’t been seen physically in over a hundred years, we get broken visions from Athiana on what we are to do. We were told to stay here, and the next piece of the prophecy would fall into place for the first generations.”

I felt like my brain could implode from all the knowledge I was just given. I tried to break it down to grasp it and allow it to register in my mind.

Athiana placed a curse in retaliation. The god she placed the curse on created another curse, and she created the Variance to create a person who could destroy the god she hates. The first attempt didn’t work, which resulted in me. I have allthe powers as a vessel, but how do I ‘solidify’ them to defeat this god? Also, where theabyssdid all the gods and goddesses go? They just disappeared, and everyone was okay with it? I needed to talk to someone.

“Where are all my friends at? Do you happen to know where Evander is?”

My father said, “Your friends are being housed next door to us, and as for Evander, I don’t know if he is included in that bunch. He is probably just off exploring.”

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