As Cadmus and I entered our bedchambers, I turned to him.
“How does one prepare for a solitary fast on an abandoned hillside?”
He pulled me into his arms, gently supporting my weight as he lowered us onto the softness of our bed.
“By feasting on everything that we will miss, of course.”
He laughed and I couldn’t help but laugh with him. I laid my head against his chest and felt it rumble with his laughter and I closed my eyes. This man was everything- my entire world. No matter what would come, we would face it together as we always had. We would be okay. I nestled into his hard body and inhaled his familiar, woodsy scent.
I woke up screaming.
I hadn’t planned on falling asleep, but my emotional state had left me drained. But the pain… the pain is what awakened me. The bird shaped birthmark on my wrist was on fire.
Literally.
I sat straight up on the bed, clutching my arm to my chest as I tried to block out the overwhelming pain. It hurt so much that the light in the room blended together and I couldn’t see straight. Cadmus frantically turned my arm over to examine it and we both gasped. My birth mark had grown to encompass the entire width of my wrist and had stretched to become three inches long. Its outline was literally burning and the air crackled with the sound of sizzling flesh.
The mark had also changed. It was now a clear outline of the Phoenix. It looked more like a flaming tattoo than a birthmark. After a moment, the burning embers died, leaving a blackened phoenix imprint.
My gaze met that of my husband and we stared at each other for a moment.
“What does this mean?” I whispered.
“I do not know,” he admitted. “Perhaps Hecate will know something.”
I nodded, but a feeling of dread curled around my stomach with icy fingers. This couldn’t mean anything good.
“Cadmus…” my voice trailed off uncertainly. I cleared it impatiently. “I have never actually seen the prophecy, have you?”
He shook his head grimly, his chocolate eyes frozen on my face. “No.”
“I think it’s time that I read it for myself, don’t you?”
He grasped my hand, rubbing a circle on my thumb.
“Alright. But Harmonia, I am concerned. I do not wish for you to become upset by anything that we see. A prophecy does not mean that something will certainly come to pass. We still have free will. And that means… that means that we can change anything that we put our minds to.”
I smiled gently at him, reaching out to stroke his handsome face. He leaned into my hand, taking a deep breath.
“I know,” I replied softly. “But I have to see it. I’ve heard bits and pieces but have never actually read it. I have only seen the page from the book in Hecate’s cave. I don’t even know whose prophecy it is. I feel like I will be stronger and can understand it more if I just read it myself.”
He sighed long and loud, but extended his hand. “Then let us go,” he suggested. “We do not have much time. Let us find it.”
I took his hand and allowed him to pull me from the bed. He kept a tight grip on my hand as we made our way to the main floor of the palace. The marble floors sparkled in the light pouring in from the windows and I found my mother sitting in a cushioned seat by the back terrace.
“Harmonia, you’re awake!” she exclaimed, rising to meet us. “I’m glad you were able to rest. We’re making preparations for the trip. Your father is with your sister and Hecate is in her cave. We are meeting back here at dusk. Are you ready?”
I nodded. “I will be, mother. But first there are just two things I need to do.”
“There are?” She was puzzled.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “I need to see my mortal mother—to know that she is alright before we depart and I need to read the prophecy for myself. I wish to see what it says… in its entirety.”
Her face instantly turned into an unreadable mask and I tensed.
“Mother,” I began uncertainly. “I feel as though you are hiding something from me. And I wish to know what it is.”
Sunlight bathed my mother in backlit loveliness as I waited for a response. I didn’t receive one.
“Mother,” I repeated. “I need to know. Where can I find it?”
“Harmonia,” she sighed. “There is no reason for you to read it. We’ve told you what you need to know and time is of the essence now. I don’t think it’s—“
I cut her off.
“Mother, where is it?”
Her silver gaze met mine for an extended moment and hers finally wavered.
“Very well,” she replied. “It is in the libraries. But I really wish you wouldn’t.”
“Your concern has been noted,” I answered glibly. “But I need to do this.”
Her shoulders slumped and she looked to Cadmus.
“Cadmus…”
“She feels strongly about this, Aphrodite,” he replied firmly. “It is not for us to keep it from her.”
“Fine,” she muttered. “But I see no reason to upset yourself at this juncture.” She turned her back on us and stared once again out the windows. The fact that she felt this strongly made me uneasy and I looked up at Cadmus.
“Are you ready?”I murmured.
He nodded and grasped my elbow, leading me from the great room and down the hall to Zeus’ massive libraries. We waited outside of the agate doors, hesitating just a moment while I gathered my thoughts.
I nodded and Cadmus pushed the doors open.
Late afternoon sunlight streamed in through the glass ceiling. It was as quiet as a tomb, the air still and silent. The room was a large as a gymnasium and it was filled with shelves from floor to ceiling. Leather bound books and pyramid-shaped stacks of rolled parchments filled the shelves. Any little noise that we made echoed loudly throughout the open corridors.
An enormous falcon, a personal pet of Zeus himself, sat on a perch directly inside the door. He had gold bands wrapped around his thick scaly legs. He swiveled his head to stare at me with onyx eyes. As his gaze met mine, he dropped his head in deference.
“I’ve been waiting for you,” he croaked hoarsely. “Show me your mark.”
I silently approached him and turned my wrist over. The phoenix imprint was still tender, a bright, angry crimson rimmed in charred black.
“Ah, so it begins,” the bird mused. “You may enter.”
I glanced at Cadmus uncertainly, but stepped forward into the massive library. There were too many books. I had no idea where to start.
“Where should we begin?” I asked Cadmus.
“Follow your heart,” the bird interjected knowingly. “You are tied to everything, Harmonia. You must simply listen.”
Cadmus raised his eyebrow at the bird questioningly, but I closed my eyes.
My heart thudded in my chest rhythmically, like a drum. I focused on it and allowed myself to feel every reverberation throughout my body. I could feel the pulse in my feet, the blood rushing through my veins, my bloodstone lying coolly on my chest. My heart beat against it.
And then I felt a pull. Willingly, I opened up my mind and allowed the pull to move me. I walked forward and Cadmus stayed at my side. I wound my way through the rows of books and stood in front of a shelf in the back corner where the light almost didn’t reach.
I knew I was in the right spot. I knew it with unexplainable certainty.
Suddenly, a rolled parchment fell from the top shelf and landed at my feet. Before I could even move, Cadmus bent and picked it up, untying the velvet string and unrolling the parchment.
I watched his jaw tighten as he read the words inscribed on the page. His beautiful dark eyes hardened and I felt the stirrings of dread.
“What is it?” I whispered hesitantly. He shook his head.
“It’s nothing. This is just a silly premonition by someone we don’t even know…”
The falcon fluttered from the top of a nearby bookcase and landed in front of us.
“The Oracle of th
e Dead brought us this prophecy,” he told us. “She has never been wrong, not even once.”
“The Oracle prophesied this?” I asked tremulously.
The bird nodded once, his black eyes shining in the light. I gulped and held my hand out to Cadmus. He didn’t move.
“Cadmus,” I prompted. He sighed and handed it to me.
The Prophecy of The Chosen One
She who will save Olympus and all that we know.
Treacherous snakes will tremble beneath her fingers and the crown shall be restored.
Despite great sadness and loss, she will prevail,
As she alone holds the noblest and purest of hearts.
The Chosen One will save everyone but perhaps herself.
At what cost will order be restored?
Will she perish in the flames of the Phoenix,
Never to rise to the land of the living once more?
Time will tell.
My breath caught in my throat as I read and Cadmus wrapped his arms around me, pressing his forehead to mine.
“It means nothing,” he insisted. “We choose our destiny, remember, Harmonia? The Fates are imprisoned in the Underworld. We choose our own fates now. I will never allow anything to happen to you. Do you understand?”
I nodded to placate him, but my heart was racing.