Twisted Fates

Chapter 4

 Saira basked in the warmth that seeped through her as she lifted the hot tea to her lips. Steam blanketed her face as she tipped the mug to take a sip.

Aven's cloak draped over her arms and pooled at her feet. When they had arrived back at the palace, he had insisted she put it on, ignoring the fact that it was at least twice her size and did little to comfort her. She thanked him nonetheless, grateful to cover the slashes and bruises that now marred her skin.

Dried blood crusted the flesh of her hands. Her blood. The same crimson that pooled on her grandmother's hands. Crimson on beloved hands. Just as the siren had warned. And she'd been too headstrong to heed.

Saira watched Aven through lowered eyelashes, pacing from wall to window. To wall. To window. She kept her mouth shut, waiting for his first words since calling her into the grand room this morning. She didn't really give a damn if he lectured her. She certainly hadn't forced him to get involved. Though she supposed she should show a little more gratitude, granted that he saved her life.

"I knew you were stubborn. But I didn't realize you were so hell bent on throwing yourself into danger," he remarked at last.

"I thought you were the dangerous one," Saira said with that same edge she'd had since he first met her.

"I was trying to protect you!"

"How was I supposed to know that? You very well could have told me she wanted my head on a platter!" That seemed to snap him from his frantic state. Aven's face softened as a hint of shame began to play among his features. He lifted his eyes to hers before taking the seat in front of her and folding his hands on his knees.

"That's the thing. I couldn't tell you," he breathed. "She has more control than you realize." Saira only tilted her head as if to say, keep going. "We have power as magic wielders. But no one is as powerful as Eberdel. She controls the fates of every being on this planet. If someone's death will help her in some way, they will die. If someone's birth will help her, they will live." Saira's brain twisted and turned. In the span of a week, her grandmother had gone from her father's mother to the sole most powerful being on the planet. "If we, as mystics, learn of another's fate, we are forbidden to speak of it. We can try, but the words will not make it past our lips. Just another one of Eberdel's tricks."

"So you knew my fate?"

"I guessed it. The sirens of my land know every fate. If you're clever enough, or lucky enough, to discern their riddles, you could learn the fate of another.

"So when I learned that the only living mystic with power greater than Eberdel's was sentenced to die, I had to do something to protect you."

"Who now?"

"You. You are our only hope to overthrow Eberdel. The only person whose power exceeds hers." Saira started. She gaped at him in disbelief, stuttering over the right words to express her shock.

"I-I'm a nineteen year old girl from a mundane town whose only notable trait is apparently her obstinance."

"I never said-"

"You implied it."

"Okay, fine. Anyway, I tried to protect you. It's why I sent the wolf to divert you from her cottage the day we first met," he explained. Saira thought back to the way his piercing emerald eyes had studied her before pulling her into his grip. The same way those eyes studied her now.

"I can't be a mystic," she murmured, glancing down at her hands as if watching for magic to spark from her fingertips. Aven placed his hands overtop her own and gripped her fingers.

"Saira. I'll help you," he offered gently.

"I don't even know where to start. I might be more powerful than her one day, but how am I to save the world? To rule?"

"That's a question none of us know the answer to. We've never known a world where she didn't twist our fates," Aven said.

"This is a lot to take in."

"I know. And I'm sorry I couldn't tell you sooner." He watched Saira carefully as she processed everything he had just thrown at her. Thousands of years worth of knowledge. And only a fraction of what she needed to know.

Saira tapped her foot as she stared, unblinking, out the window and towards the clear skies. Her unfaltering gaze and chin rested upon her hand told Aven she was deep in thought. Deciding what her next question would be.

"You say 'we' when talking about mystics. Who is 'we?'" she finally broke the silence.

"Oh, I am one of many. And if you decide you want to take this seed of power and change the world, you'll meet more mystics than you'd probably care to."

"So it's a choice?" Saira asked. He smirked.

"Well, yes. But you don't strike me as the type to pass up an opportunity like this." She smiled hesitantly in answer.