AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I settled easily on the silvery woven rug before the hearth. I loved these dark trousers with the sapphire blue overskirt that Hava had made for me. The bodice was modest but becoming with silver lacings to the top and long sleeves to my wrists.
One reason I was glad the weather was turning colder was that I could easily hide my new markings upon my wrists. Hava had urged me to show Goll at least a hundred times, but I wasn’t going to him for anything. If he didn’t deem it important enough to even check on my well-being after the Rite of Servium, then I needed nothing at all from him.
Sitting cross-legged, I pulled the book into my lap. Hava sat across from me, crossing her legs the same way.
“What is that?” Hava asked again, her eyes widening. “It looks important.”
“It is,” I assured her, then pulled one of her hands into mine and added with gravity, “What I’m going to show you are sacred visions of the oracles of Issos. Specifically, oracles devoted to the Moon Temple at Valla Lokkyr. All of the visions are from world-seers.”
“But how did they let you take such an important book? Our priestesses would never let a book of visions leave the temple.”
“Neither would ours,” I admitted, grinning. “I scribed these myself after many visits to the temples of Issos, of Mevia, and even one our royal scribe brought back from Morodon.”
Hava blinked her red eyes and grinned with wicked glee, her fanged teeth making her look even prettier. Odd, since that once would’ve frightened me.
“Are you going to share your secrets with me?” she asked excitedly.
“Yes. Because I need your help.”
Her smile dimmed. “Will it get us in trouble?”
I couldn’t lie to her. “Maybe. But look, let me show you something exciting. Proof, I believe, that the gods have placed a gift right here in Northgall.” I flipped open the book to the very first vision I scribed when I was fifteen. The one that had led me here the first time. “I found this one in my father’s personal library.”
She gasped then whispered, “You were being sneaky?”
“Yes,” I answered. “I was. And I’m still glad that I did it, because I firmly believe there is something to this.”
Hava had twisted to sit beside me on my right.
“I’m sorry. I canspeakhigh fae,” Hava admitted shyly, frowning down at the page, “but I cannot read or write it.”
“I’ll read it to you. This one I found in my father’s desk drawer. The parchment had been folded and creased and obviously handled over a long time. He must have read it over and over. See this name here.” I pointed to the page on the right. “That is the oracle who spoke the vision. Her name was Vaylamorganalyn.”
“That’s quite a name,” giggled Hava.
I smiled. “She was once very revered, my brother told me. A very important priestess of the Moon Temple. I don’t remember her, but he said she was once High Oracle of Valla Lokkyr.”
“What happened to her?” asked Hava.
“She was excommunicated by my father.”
“Why?”
“For speaking this prophecy.” I pointed to the book.
Hava’s red eyes widened. “Gods above,” she whispered. “What does it say?” She scooted closer to look over my shoulder at the words even though she couldn’t understand them.
“This says, ‘The Moon is round, lovely, and bright, blessing her kind, far and wide. One day soon, a new night will come and the moon will be done. Shadow, fire, and beast will reign. Moon children will fall to a plague. Only the god-touched will find the way. Only the anointed will save the day.’”
I paused, remembering the moment I discovered this vision in my father’s desk. He’d not been in his office for a month, having taken ill from the beginnings of the Parviana plague.
“When I read this and asked my brother about Vaylamorganalyn, he’d told me he was just a small boy when she was excommunicated. He’d said she refused to admit that her vision was a lie. I mean, how can a vision be a lie if it’s from the gods?”
“This is true,” said Hava. “Why did your father want her to say it was a lie?”
“Because the whole court had heard the prophecy. And it speaks of a time when the moon fae would fall. When the Lumerian people would suffer.”
Hava’s brow crinkled. “And now your people have suffered.”
