The Convert Queen: Prophecy Fulfilled

Chapter 2: Into The Darkness

The courtyard fell silent. As Arner turned her around and led her towards the doorway, she could feel the eyes of all those present on her back. A barrage of questions hit Aleyna. What were they thinking? What did they see? What did they want to happen? Did they really want this woman who wasn't one of them to marry their king?

By the time she reached the entranceway, her thoughts were less concerned with the people at her rear, instead focusing on what awaited her inside.

There is no such thing as magic, she chanted in her head. There are no such things as spirits. It didn't help.

At the threshold, Arner stopped. 'I'll be here waiting for you when you come out. I'll not be far, and I promise I won't leave.' He reluctantly dropped her hands.

She had no choice now but to enter. She took a deep breath in and then walked through the darkened archway.

On the other side of the doorway, all was pitch black. She took a few tentative steps into the...she wasn't sure if she was in a room, chamber, hall or corridor.

'My lady,' a low voice spoke to her from the darkness. 'Follow the sound of my words.'

Aleyna thought whoever had been speaking was in front of her so moved further into the space. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she could just glimpse darker patches of shadow around her. Whatever this place was, it was vaulted or pillared. Perhaps it was some kind of arcade? Realising this, her steps became more sure, and she pushed on with more certainty than she had felt for some hours. Yet she could not sense the presence of another living person in that place.

On she pressed, and no more words she heard. However, a calmness had descended over her, one that although it wasn't completely devoid of anxiety, Aleyna did feel more like her old self.

Eventually, the air about her changed. To her sides, the air was cooler and draughty, but the air striking her face was warmer. She instinctively turned a corner and was blinded by the bright light of flames, so sudden were they from out of the darkness, she was forced to shield her eyes before they could adjust. Then, apprehensively, she moved towards the light.

'I spoke only once.' It was the same voice as earlier. 'How did you know where to come?'

'I... I... The path between here and the entrance was a straight line. Except for the corner I turned prior to entering.' Her voice was quiet and small, dwarfed she guessed by the magnitude of the situation and her surroundings.

'That is not true, my lady. You have just navigated a warren of secret tunnels without a single misstep or wrong turn. Do you know how impossible that is? Or how many of those paths lead into mortal danger?'

Aleyna didn't like the sound of that, and soon the fear was back, once more twisting at her insides. 'I don't understand.' But if she was expecting someone to explain it to her, she was to be disappointed.

Whispers started up in the shadows, the words spoken unintelligible to her ears.

'Silence. It is not yet done.'

The fire went out. Although it had been bright, it had not revealed anything of the environment to Aleyna. She had seen no-one. She had seen nothing, no furniture, no objects in the room. It was as if she had been alone, talking to herself. She shivered.

Then the strangest thing happened. A small crack appeared in the ceiling, its appearance being precipitated by the sound of stone grinding against stone. A shaft of moonlight filtered into the room to illuminate a raised structure, almost like a colonnade, yet there were only three arches, and its shape curved into a semi-circle.

Aleyna, surprised by this development, took a step backwards, only for a moment later her mouth to drop open in astonishment. The air in the arcade started to shimmer, and when it cleared, there were three silhouettes standing in the archways, their outlines monstrous and horrific. Aleyna gasped, but so too did those who watched from the shadows. And this time she could hear their words.

'The Three? The Three?'

Part human and part animal, were these the Spirits that Arner had tried to warn her of? Aleyna felt her knees give way, and she sank down on to the cold stone floor. Through a dizzy haze she watched as the figures stepped out from their alcoves and walked towards her. Her heart was racing. Her thoughts were racing. Her instinct was to run, but she was so terrified that she couldn't move.

This couldn't be happening. This wasn't real. They were not real. How could they be? Everyone told me spirits were not real...

'Do not fear us, woman.'

They were talking to her now. Oh, please won't someone make them stop...

Then everything went black.

When she came around, candles had been lit around the room. A man was leaning over her in earnest, holding her wrist as if to check her pulse.

'Everyone be calm. She has returned to us. Let her speak and see if she can shed light on what has happened here before we jump to the most extraordinary conclusions. Tell me, my lady. Tell me what you know.'

It took a moment for Aleyna to form a coherent sentence out of real words, rather than the strange sounds of shock she could only utter at first. 'The world is not as I thought it was. It seems, though I am a professor at the Academika, I know nothing.'

'Then tell us what you saw.'

'There were three of them. A man that could change into a bear. A man who was also a horse. Then there was a woman with bird wings.'

'Being a stranger in our land, you do not understand the significance of this turn of events. In the most simple of terms, at an awakening it is customary for no more than one of those spirits you saw to manifest, and then only if the initiate is considered worthy.'

'But I saw three.'

'Yes.'

'Why?'

'Did they say anything to you?'

Aleyna swallowed hard. 'They said...they said I was the one they had been waiting for.'

Silence. Then excited mutterings.

'There is a saying in our country, my lady, that when one prophecy is fulfilled, another is awakened. Only this new one seems much more...serious than the last.'

At that moment, Aleyna began shaking and sunk back down to the floor. As the room and the people around her started to swim and blur, all she could think about was the first prophecy, and how her world had been turned on its head. Surely one prophecy was enough for anyone?

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[Word count for chapter:1107, Word count for whole story: 2023 ]

Thank you so much for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please consider voting for it and / or leaving me a comment to let me know what you think.

Aleyna appears to have gone through quite a traumatic experience. Do you think it is going to change her and how she sees the world? I would love to hear your thoughts...

In the next chapters we are going to find out what led to Aleyna ending up in this situation and what is meant by "the first prophecy"...

Have a great day!