Prophecy Unravelled- Heir Series Box Set

by Rin Grey

  “What are you talking about?” Sean asked sharply.

  Elizabeth lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “Nothing. Just one or two things I heard during my time with the Salingas.”

  Sean grasped her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “What did they tell you?”

  “Why? Are you trying to keep something from me?”

  He frowned and released her abruptly. “I don’t think your motivation for becoming a Seeker is the right one. The answer is no.”

  Elizabeth’s stomach dropped. And she’d thought she was so close. “Come on, you know I have the qualifications,” she coaxed.

  “It’s not your qualifications I doubt.”

  So that’s what this was about? Well, being a Seeker was an answer to that as well.

  “No, you doubt that I’m willing to make that commitment. To you, to Linarra, to this baby.” She stared at him, feeling frustration rising inside her. “I’m trying to show you that I can, Sean. Becoming a Seeker is the only way I can think of to prove it to you.”

  “I fail to see the connection,” Sean said stiffly. “It just sounds like you’re looking for an excuse not to be a mother and raise our daughter. If that’s the case, tell me now and we can find another option.”

  Didn’t he see it? At all?

  “This is exactly why I’m suggesting this,” Elizabeth said in frustration. “You don’t trust me, Sean, and I don’t blame you. But you have to know that every time we have this discussion, I’m afraid of losing everything too. The only way I can see for us both to feel safe and secure in this relationship is to have some sort of commitment to each other.”

  “And you think being a Seeker is a commitment to me?”

  “Of course it is. I’m swearing an Oath of Fealty to you, aren’t I? I’m agreeing to trust that you know what’s best for this country and agreeing to help you with that.”

  “But what if you disagree?” Sean interrupted. “What if you don’t like the way I’ve decided to save the world?” His eyes were dark and intense, and Elizabeth somehow felt as if her whole future rested on her answer to this question.

  Suddenly the scene from the journal flashed through her mind. Bethany Salinga had disagreed with Sean on how to save the world. She’d left him over it.

  Elizabeth shook her head trying to clear it, disorientated. That couldn’t have been her Sean, and it most decidedly hadn’t been her. So why did she think it was the answer to everything?

  She hesitated, trying to figure it out.

  One thing she did know, Bethany had regretted her choice. In taking a stand, she’d lost the man she cared about, just as Elizabeth had done when she’d made the wrong choice about her last pregnancy.

  She wasn’t going to risk that again.

  “I trust you, Sean,” she said softly. “And I want you to trust me. I don’t know how else to show you that.”

  Sean swore softly and lifted her chin till she was looking in his eyes. Eyes that were intense and filled with emotion. “This is really what you want? You’re determined?”

  “I’m determined,” she repeated.

  “You realise I will not give you any special treatment. If you do this, it means obeying me, even if you disagree with what I’m asking. And I’m not going to explain my actions every time,” Sean warned.

  Elizabeth looked up at him. “Yes, I understand that. It’s worth it.” She paused to reach a hand up, hesitantly, to brush his cheek. “I want this, Sean. I think it’s the only way we can mend this.”

  Sean stared at her for a few moments, then pulled her into his arms and held her close. “Then I’d love to have you as a Seeker,” he said into her hair.

  Elizabeth’s heart filled with a mixture of fear and excitement. This was happening.

  She was going to be a Seeker.

  Chapter 17 - Arrangements

  Sean walked through the sea of colourful dresses and suits in King Hugo’s ballroom, not really seeing any of them. He’d rather still be with Elizabeth, cuddling up to her after making love, but he couldn’t come up with an excuse good enough to pardon him from the king’s birthday celebrations.

  Especially none that would have appeased Senika. Though she understood that he sometimes had unexplained absences, she was still mad at him for missing that party last week, and he wasn’t in the mood for her petulance tonight. He had far more important things to think about.

  He nodded hello to Lord Ingalis and exchanged pleasantries with him, thankful that Senika carried much of the conversation. He found it hard to focus on pointless chit-chat.

  Senika excused them, took his arm, and they walked on.

  He wasn’t quite sure what he’d expected Elizabeth to do next, but asking to swear an Oath of Fealty to him wasn’t something he’d even considered. She seemed serious though, and he couldn’t help hoping that it indicated a change of heart. She’d certainly won him over with her statement about trusting him. How had she known that was what he had longed for all these years?

  It was almost uncanny. Combined with her comment about knowing more than she let on, he might have suspected she’d guessed the truth.

  A part of him wished she had. To have his Bethany back again was more than he ever could have hoped for. For a moment, his heart ached that he and Bethany had never had a chance to re-establish their trust. He pushed the thought away before it could form. It was far too painful to revisit.

  Besides, dwelling on the past didn’t achieve anything.

  In the here and now, Elizabeth’s suggestion, though crazy, did have merit. And it soothed some of the ache in his heart that had been constant since he’d felt Bethany’s presence leave this planet.

  Perhaps, if she swore an oath to him, he might be able to trust her. Maybe they’d be able to build something real and honest. He let himself hope that maybe she was ready to change.

  Having her closer definitely held some appeal. He looked around and automatically smiled at the thought of seeing her face amongst all the others. It would be hard not being able to acknowledge her the way he would have liked—but seeing her here, dancing with her, even if it was only once, would be a bright moment in an often otherwise dull evening.

  The thought of Elizabeth in a ball gown distracted him so much so that he walked right past Hugo, and Senika had to tug on his arm to stop him so that he could say the expected ‘Happy Birthday’.

  Hugo accepted the good wishes solemnly, but his eyes twinkled. “I hope it isn’t a sign of impending doom in our international relations that you were so distracted?” he asked gravely.

  “No, just pondering the future of the planet,” Sean replied. The phrase had become almost a keyword between them, referring to Elizabeth.

  Hugo raised an eyebrow. “What, are you expecting an asteroid to fly out of the sky and obliterate us?”

  His voice was so serious that Senika, still hanging onto Sean’s arm, looked at him in shock for a few moments before letting out a tinkling laugh. “Oh, Your Majesty, you did startle me.”

  The flirting tone grated on Sean’s already strung nerves, and it took all his many years of practice for him to be able to turn to her with a smile and say, “Can you give us a few moments, dear? I need to talk to the king.”

  Luckily, there were plenty of legitimate reasons that he might need to talk to Hugo in private, so she made no fuss, only murmured agreeably and went across the room to talk to one of her friends.

  Alone, the two men dropped the formalities. Sean used just enough magic to stop their voices carrying as Hugo asked casually, “Trouble in paradise?”

  Sean laughed. “Just the opposite. Maybe. Elizabeth has decided she wants to be a Seeker.”

  “A Seeker?” Hugo raised an eyebrow, but didn’t sound terribly surprised. “I wonder why I didn’t think of that,” he said thoughtfully.

  “Because it’s an insane idea?” Sean suggested.

  “But why? You wanted her close to you, and it’s hard to get closer. Well, unless you married her, which I don’t think
you’re going to do,” Hugo said blandly.

  Hugo’s response was surprisingly close to Elizabeth’s, except she hadn’t mentioned marriage. She probably hadn’t dared.

  “That’s not exactly possible right now,” Sean reminded him, though for the first time he had a slight wish that it was.

  “Would you, even if it was possible?” Hugo asked curiously.

  “That’s irrelevant,” Sean repeated evasively.

  “Well, what is relevant then? Elizabeth is going to be a Seeker. At least, I assume you said yes?”

  “My objections didn’t last long,” Sean said with a sigh. “Not once she said she trusted me enough to obey me, even if she disagreed with me.”

  Admitting it out loud sent a shiver up his spine, and Hugo’s eyes widened. “She knows how to wrap you around her little finger, doesn’t she?”

  “I thought it was the other way around. She’s the one swearing an oath to me.”

  “Just keep telling yourself that,” Hugo said. “So why were you even considering objecting in the first place? Seems like it solves all our problems. This way we can be sure she’s going to still be here, and presumably still talking to you, in twenty years.”

  “Um, let me see. She’s supposedly our one chance at saving the world, and she wants to go out and risk getting herself killed,” Sean pointed out, a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

  Hugo smiled and gave Sean a brotherly slap on the shoulder. “You really need to trust more, Sean. If she is dead, how can she fulfil the prophecy?”

  “Ah, that would be my point?”

  Hugo laughed. “You see these things the wrong way. The prophecy says her baby will save the world. It’s obvious that if she dies, that can’t happen. Therefore, the prophecy basically confirms that she won’t die.”

  Hugo seemed so certain, as though it was all that simple. But Sean couldn’t agree. It wasn’t worth the risk. “What if it doesn’t work like that? What if our choices can change that future, and that prophecy never comes to pass?” Sean demanded. They’d had this argument over and over, but it never changed.

  Hugo was so damned optimistic, but all Sean could see was everything that could go wrong.

  Hugo shrugged. “Then we find another way. But unfortunately Taylia isn’t around to tell us which choices we should or shouldn’t make, so we’re going to have to bungle along ourselves. We can’t spend every moment second guessing our decisions. We just have to do what feels right, and then move on.”

  “How can you be so casual about it?” Sean asked.

  “We don’t have much choice.”

  Sean gave up. How could he expect Hugo to understand? The pressure wasn’t on him. All he had to do was run the country. A responsibility Sean had happily given up.

  “So, who is going to vouch for her?” Hugo asked casually.

  “I don’t know, I hadn’t thought about it,” Sean admitted, distracted in spite of himself.

  “I will then,” Hugo volunteered.

  “You’re not serious, are you?” Sean asked in shock.

  “I’m very serious,” Hugo said gravely.

  Sean stared at him for a moment. “Why would you do that? You’ve only met her once.”

  “True, but I knew Bethany for much longer than that.”

  “As you’re so fond of reminding me, she isn’t Bethany,” Sean pointed out.

  “No,” Hugo said musingly. “But you are right about one thing…”

  “What’s that?” Sean asked warily.

  “She has her eyes.”

  As though that settled it.

  Sean stared at his friend for a moment, and then shook his head. There were so many problems with Hugo’s proposition that he didn’t even know where to start. “The council will never allow it,” he said finally.

  Hugo considered that for a moment. “I don’t think it’s up to them. They can’t stop me.”

  So he was serious then. “Hugo, it’s just not possible,” Sean explained patiently. “I mean, for one thing, what if she defects?”

  “Do you think she will?”

  Sean hesitated. He didn’t really believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. He wanted to be able to accept that she meant everything she’d said, but he couldn’t quite let himself trust it. Not yet anyway. “How should I know? I gave up trying to figure out what she’d do years ago.”

  “Well, I suppose if she does, then one of us has to go fetch her back. Or we could both go. That would be fun,” Hugo suggested.

  Sean could just imagine that. The two of them riding out looking for Elizabeth. Just like old times.

  Then he shook his head. He couldn’t believe he was considering it. “No,” he said flatly.

  “No?” Hugo asked disappointedly.

  “No,” Sean repeated.

  “Then who?” Hugo asked.

  Sean gave a slight smile, looking across the room to where a young red headed man had just entered. “I know just the person,” he said with a smile.

  *****

  It was late when Jon put in his appearance at King Hugo’s birthday ball. He had sent Jenias home, insisting that he would pass the results of their mission on to Sean, and had paused only long enough to change his travel worn breeches for soft grey woollen pants and a dark green shirt. He greeted a few friends distractedly, his eyes scanning the crowds for his liege.

  It didn’t take him long to spot Sean talking to King Hugo. When his father saw him, he began to come over to him, but his mother, who was on this side of the room, beat him there. She greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and a hug, and said, “You look exhausted, dear.”

  He gave her a half-hearted smile, and said frankly, “I am exhausted. I just need to talk to Prince Veryn, then I’m going home to sleep.”

  Sean nodded to him, not making any comments on his welfare. Jon gave him a pointed look and he said to Senika, “I have a few things I need to discuss with Jon. I’ll catch up with you soon.”

  She took the hint and retired.

  Jon followed Sean out of the ballroom into King Hugo’s study.

  “Did you find anything?” Sean asked when they were alone.

  Jon shook his head, frustrated at his lack of success. Sean had insisted that he’d already sent mages to inspect the site of the explosion that had lost them the cache of magical items Elizabeth’s family had found, and that they’d found nothing, but Jon had needed to see it with his own eyes. He’d petitioned for and received permission to go, as soon as Sean had assigned him a new partner.

  He just wished he had something to report. “Nothing you didn’t already know. The explosion seems to have been magical. The manipulations on some of the debris is obvious. We could find no trace of any human tissue though, or any trace that magical items had been destroyed. It appears that either the explosion was so destructive that it broke everything down to nothing, or somehow, the people and items escaped the explosion.”

  “No sign that anyone else had visited the area in the last month?” Sean asked.

  Jon shook his head. “No, even the mercenaries who had made camp there previously were gone. The place was deserted.”

  “I suppose we are at a dead end then.”

  Jon nodded. “It would appear so,” he agreed.

  “Well, you might as well go home and get some sleep. You can fill me in on the rest of the details in the morning,” Sean said.

  Jon nodded and turned to leave, when Sean said, “Oh, there was one other thing I wanted to discuss with you.”

  “Yes?”

  “Elizabeth has gotten a crazy idea into her head that she wants to be a Seeker.”

  Jon laughed. “Why am I not surprised? I hope you’re not expecting me to talk her out of it?”

  “No, I’ve already agreed, but she’ll need someone to vouch for her. I thought you might be interested?”

  Jon thought about that for a few moments. Vouching for someone was a very serious matter, one you never took lightly. He’d only met his mother a few times, and in real
ity knew little about her. The fact that she was now pregnant with his father’s child, after readily admitting to having another boyfriend, didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

  Yet for some reason, he found himself nodding. “Of course.”

  Well, his father wouldn’t have asked him unless he trusted her. Would he?

  *****

  Jon leant on the bench watching Elizabeth as she brewed the tea, wondering if she could guess why he was here. He was glad she lived in the Dome now, and that she’d soon be a Seeker. He was looking forward to spending more time with her.

  When they both stood with cups of tea in their hands, Jon said, “I hear you’re going to be a Seeker?”

  “I was wondering if you’d been talking to Sean,” Elizabeth said cautiously. “Did he ask you to talk to me?”

  Jon nodded. “He did, yes.”

  “Well, you’re not going to talk me out of it, so don’t even try,” Elizabeth warned.

  Jon laughed. “I wouldn’t dare, and I said as much to Sean as soon as he mentioned it to me.”

  “Good.”

  “That’s not why I’m here.”

  Elizabeth raised an eyebrow.

  “How much do you know about being a Seeker?” Jon asked.

  “Not much at all,” Elizabeth admitted ruefully. “Pretty crazy, to sign up for something without all the details, isn’t it?”

  Jon grinned. “You’re going to have to work pretty hard to find something that’s going to surprise me about you. I’ve already resolved not to be surprised by anything you do.” He knew his voice sounded a little too admiring, but he couldn’t help it. He could already tell that Elizabeth did everything with gusto. Including this.

  Elizabeth laughed. “Well, hit me with it. What am I signing up for?”

  Jon nodded. “Well, you obviously know that a Seeker swears an Oath of Fealty to his liege.”

  He waited for Elizabeth’s nod of agreement before continuing, “Well, this oath isn’t quite as simple as the Oath of Allegiance to the king. Because we get a lot of special privileges and responsibilities, the princes aren’t willing to just take our word of honour.”