I sucked in a shaky breath as raw emotion rose, clogging my throat. I closed my eyes, struggling to keep the tears at bay. “Did he tell you anything more?”
“Yes, and no,” she answered.
“That’s not really helpful,” Kieran replied.
Tawny’s blanched eyes drifted to Kieran and the look she gave him was one I’d seen her give many Lords in Wait in the past. One that said she was sizing him up and wasn’t sure if she was impressed or not by what she saw. “No, it’s not.”
“So, Vikter was able to tell you all about viktors and update you on things that have happened in Poppy’s life, but he wasn’t able to say anything of importance regarding the Blood Crown’s plans?”
“I’m not sure if you were listening or you just didn’t understand when I said that there were things he couldn’t say because of the balance and the Fates,” Tawny said in a tone I also recognized. Gianna pressed her lips together to hide her smile, while I didn’t even fight mine. “So, he obviously couldn’t spill all the secrets.”
Kieran’s eyes narrowed. “Obviously.”
Tawny lifted her brows at him.
“What was he able to say?” I asked before the argument I sensed brewing could really take off.
“He told me about the prophecy the goddess Penellaphe spoke about.”
Frustration rose, as did dread. I was so damn tired of that prophecy. “I know what the prophecy is.”
“But do you know what the whole prophecy is?” Tawny asked. “I don’t think you do. Or at least I don’t think Vikter believed you did.”
Again, it was a shock to hear Vikter’s name and to be given proof again that Tawny had spoken to him or someone who knew a whole hell of a lot. “What were you told?”
“I remember it completely. How, when I normally can’t remember what I had for supper a few hours after I eat it, I have no idea,” she said, and her memory was notoriously subjective. “‘From the…from the desperation of golden crowns and born of mortal flesh, a great primal power rises as the heir to the lands and seas, to the skies and all the realms. A shadow in the ember, a light in the flame, to become a fire in the flesh. When the stars fall from the night, the great mountains crumble into the seas, and old bones raise their swords beside the gods, the false one will be stripped from glory until two born of the same misdeeds, born of the same great and Primal power in the mortal realm.’” She took a deep breath. “‘A first daughter, with blood full of fire, fated for the once-promised King. And the second daughter, with blood full of ash and ice, the other half of the future King. Together, they will remake the realms as they usher in the end. And so it will begin with the last Chosen blood spilled, the great conspirator birthed from the flesh and fire of the Primals will awaken as the Harbinger and the Bringer of Death and Destruction to the lands gifted by the gods. Beware, for the end will come from the west to destroy the east and lay waste to all which lies between,’” Tawny finished and twisted a pure white curl. “That’s it.”
“Yeah,” Kieran murmured, clearing his throat. He looked to me. “That is much longer.”
It was. “A first and second daughter? I’ve been called the second daughter, but who is the first? And in what context?”
“I don’t know. I’m sorry.” Tawny’s brows pinched. “He couldn’t tell me what it meant, only that you needed to hear it. He said that you would figure it out.”
A choked laugh left me. “He’s giving me way too much credit, because I…” I trailed off, my thoughts centering on one part of what she’d said. “Wait. The once-promised King?”
Kieran drew back. “Malik?”
“When you were in Carsodonia, did you ever see Malik?” I asked.
Tawny shook her head. “No. I don’t know a Malik.”
“It has to be him if the second daughter part is about me,” I said. “Casteel is the King.”
Kieran nodded. “Yeah, but what is this blood full of ash and ice?”
I thought of the coldness in my chest, mingling with the eather. “I don’t know what that means or how I will remake the realms and usher in the end, alone or with anyone. I’m not going to usher in anything.”
“I don’t know either,” Tawny said. “Or who the false one is.”
Something occurred to me, and I stiffened. “You said that viktors will even guard those who are destined to do something—”