Chapter 25 #2
“It may not be me.” Pain stabbed my chest, and I squeezed my eyes shut. “Darius referred to my brother as the heir. He said the heir would explain everything,” I whispered. “Which was a total lie. I’m more confused now than ever.”
Ace wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his chest. He didn’t say anything.
He held me close and pressed his lips into my hair.
“O’Reilly also mentioned the heirs and how they couldn’t survive.
He meant you and Paul. I don’t think the rogue group is one large happy family.
One group is holding your brother up on a pedestal and the other is plotting to cut him and you down. ”
“And somehow they all knew Paul and I are phaanon before I even suspected.” I nodded into his chest. “You were right about the tapestry, too. The woman in that scene has to be Queen Mab.” I frowned. “But what does it mean she sealed us in root and stone?”
“I don’t know. Whatever it means, it probably explains why there’s a gap in time between her death and your appearance,” Ace said. “Does the book say anything about the poem?”
I read the next page. It referenced the art and poem as having an unknown source. Apparently, it had been found after the war.
And then the great purge commenced. The book described how King Oberon got a hold of the original poem and destroyed it.
He declared copies as contraband and had them destroyed as well.
Anyone who knowingly spoke of the poem or the possibility of descendants were killed.
He created a specific force responsible for seeking out and destroying phaanons or anyone suspected of being phaanon—whether full or halfblood.
Later, the force morphed into his assassins.
The history of Phaanons was erased systemically, along with any survivors.
“Is this what you did when you worked for the king?” I asked. “You hunted and killed phaanons?”
He shook his head. “I was instructed to look out for them and if any were found I was to eliminate them. I never came across any other than myself. And I wasn’t given any special instructions on how to kill a full blooded high phaan like yourself.
Maybe the king believes your kind is truly extinct. ”
“But you killed people.”
He nodded. “Mostly political rivals.”
He continued to hold me as I read more from the book. Everything else, I already knew. I flipped back to the poem and read it again.
“Should we take it with us?” I asked.
Ace shook his head behind me. “If they find it with us, we’ll be executed.”
“If they find us, period, we’ll be executed. With or without a book.”
Ace grunted. “Maybe, but let’s not give them any more reasons. Is there anything in there we need to have with us?”
“No.” I closed the book and slid it back into its spot. Someone had placed it in the section for “Endangered Species.” I shook my head. “The librarian had a sense of humour.”
Ace’s chuckle ruffled my hair and sent tingles along my skin. “Let’s keep looking. Maybe there are more hidden gems.”
The next few books didn’t provide any new or helpful information, but then Ace pulled a book from the shelf and hissed when he scanned the pages.
“What?” I reached for the book.
Ace danced out of the way, his eyes still scanning the words hidden from me. “Shh. I’m reading.”
“Ace!” I lunged forward.
He side-stepped me and tapped me on my head.
The audacity.
“I’m reading about how you’ll be our downfall.”
“Ace, be serious.”
He finally held the book out. “I am being serious. I just don’t care that you’ll be the destroyer of worlds. You’ve already ruined me.”
I rolled my eyes and snatched the book from his hands. The book started off like the other, explaining the rift between the phaanons and the galeons. It then shared the same artwork as the tapestry and the accompanying prophesy. So far, nothing new.
What was Ace talking about?
I flipped the page and as soon as I started reading, my heart sputtered.
While many accept this version of the prophesy, it’s important to note the prophesy was originally recorded in the Broken Tongue. A small group of academics disagree with the original translation of the final two lines. These experts believe the final words of the prophesy should be:
But the heir will destroy with ash and flame
The whole world in their mother’s name.
This notably changes the tone and outcome from one of righteous vengeance to one of world destruction.
The Broken Tongue is a language predominantly used by traitors and zealots whose sole mandate is to rid Earth of both galeons and phaanons.
Is this alternate prophesy ending legitimate, or is it simply wishful thinking of those who would see the world burn? Only time will tell.
“Well, phaan,” I muttered.
Ace leaned over and kissed the top of my head. “I’ll let you burn my world, Mouse.”
I snorted and swatted him with the book. “I’m thinking we need to learn more about this Broken Tongue.”
Ace snapped his fingers and spun on his heels.
“Where are you going?” I called out as he disappeared around the corner.
“The languages section. I skimmed through it too quickly. I didn’t think it was relevant.”
I almost laughed, but my gaze snagged on the sign for the “Endangered Species” section. I placed the book back on the shelf. “Wait for me.”
By the time I tracked him down, he’d found a book on the Broken Tongue. He waved it in the air at me. “A dictionary.”
I leaned over his shoulder and scanned the pages. Familiar circles and squares with lines drawn through them stared back at me. “It’s the same symbols we saw by the river and our prison.”
“So now we know the symbols are called the Broken Tongue, and this is the language used by traitors and zealots who believe the heir will destroy the world—or at least all the phaanons and galeons. We also know O’Reilly refers to this group as the Circle,” Ace said as he continued to skim the pages.
“And my brother is a part of it. The rogue hunters, or the Circle, or whatever, want me and my brother to destroy the world.”
“World might be too literal,” Ace pointed out. “It might refer more to society as we know it. They want our current, galeon-run society destroyed so they can return to something more similar to what existed before to the phaanons and galeons spilled into this world with their magic.”
Familiar bonded immortals were held above those without magic, despite being the minority. Maybe humans were sick of it. Maybe answering to pureblood immortal galeon monarchs stirred more than irritability and disgust. It created a rebellion.
Or at least an attempt at one.
“They’re not just rogue hunters. They’re rebels. They’re trying to overthrow the king and queen,” I said. “Is there a section with translations?”
He flipped forward. Half the pages were torn out.
“Check the table of contents?” I suggested.
He flipped back to the front. Sure enough, the missing pages correlated with the section on translations.
“Phaan.” Ace snapped the book shut and shoved it back on the shelf.
“I guess that would be too easy to have the code breaker,” I mused. “We need to find those translations.”
“Or we could just find someone who knows the language.”
“Like whom?” I asked.
“Orion probably knows it,” Ace said, gaze narrowing. “He’s educated.”
“That’s a big stretch, Wolfy.”
Ace just shook his head. “Let’s keep looking. Maybe we’ll find something else.”