The Centaur Queen (The Dark Queens #7)(7)
“Of course you are correct. That is why you will give them these.”
I reached out for them at the same moment she tipped her palm. The seeds were warm to the touch. Instantly I had a sense of deep-seated harmony, like there was nothing wrong with the world, like all I’d ever known in my life was peace and wonder.
Blinking, I looked up at her. I knew of these seeds. I’d read about them in a book long ago. But they’d been rumored to be fable, nothing more than myth.
“Yes, they are three of the six seeds of wisdom,” she said as if she’d read my mind, and I wasn’t quite sure she hadn’t. Galeta had always seemed to be far more than a mere fairy to me.
She patted her pocket, as if indicating she still had a few more on her. “Anyone who possessed even just one seed would be able to see into the cornucopia of worlds crafted by the Creator Itself. Trust me when I say the Fates will be no problem for you.”
Realizing the gravity of what it was I’d been entrusted with, I immediately put them inside the leather pouch belted at my waist so there’d be no chance of losing them. My pouch was spelled so that nothing could escape unless I willed it to. “And what would you have me ask of them?”
“You will know the questions when you get there. Think deeply, centaur. I know my orders seem vague, but I am following an instinct that tells me you must be the one to ask the question, for only you would ask the right one. The Fates are punctilious about only answering the barest minimum, so no matter what you do, be as specific as possible. You must force the proper answers out of them, or you’ll know just as much when you leave as when you arrived.”
I did not like it, and yet I recognized the wisdom of it. The Fates could read the past, present, and future. If I went with a question in mind, they could twist my thoughts, forcing me to ask a question that cost them very little and answered nothing at all.
Nodding my understanding, I was just about to ask Petra whether he was ready to leave when Galeta interrupted me.
“You should know, however, that if you agree to this journey, the Fates may require more than just the seeds. A task, no doubt a terrible and deadly one, will be asked of you. And if I were you, I would not want to accept any task without understanding exactly what it is I’d be walking into.”
I snorted because of course I’d already expected this. “Fear is a weakness of the flesh and nothing more, but forewarned is forearmed. Knowing what I do of the Fates, I have no doubt the task will be a difficult one, but I am not without my own strengths.”
Galeta tipped her head, acknowledging the truth of my words.
Then a thought occurred to me. “Would you happen to know where they’ll send us?”
She shook her head, causing her golden curls to bob prettily. “I do not know. The Fates know you come, but their minds haven’t settled on a course of action yet.”
I’d been right then, obviously. I’d had my suspicions inside the games and Galeta had just confirmed them. A half grin curved my lips. “I see the rumors of you are true.”
She looked anxious. Her eyes shifted around, as though searching to see whether anyone had heard me. But only Petra remained, and I knew he’d say nothing.
“If you know so much,” I said slowly, “how is it that you do not know what’s caused this madness? You have second sight. Surely you must have some idea. I do.”
It was the Harpy, the Creator, and Galeta herself, though I still hadn’t riddled that one out fully. Whatever the Pink had done, it had been against her will, possibly even accidental, but it had shifted the landscape of everything. The question I’d ask the Fates was in this riddle.
A deep sigh spilled from her. “I wish second sight would answer all my questions. Sadly, that’s not how my particular talent works. Because of the Creator’s influence in all this, there are many blank spots for me. I know some,” she admitted softly, “but not enough to speak definitively, and so I’d rather say nothing at all. The only way to unravel this mystery is to do it slowly and methodically, which is precisely why I’ve chosen you to speak with the Fates. Learn all you can, and when you are ready to return to me, merely speak my name and I will come for you.”
Pursing my lips, I understood she would give me no more. Petra shifted behind me, and I could sense his anxiousness to begin our journey. Satyrs, much like centaurs, were creatures of nature. We loathed being boxed inside four walls for long.
Exchanging a few other pleasantries, I ended with a clipped nod. “Be well, Galeta the Pink.”
“And you, Tymanon. And you. May the gods have mercy on us all.”
It would be several days travel to the island of the Fates. As though realizing that himself, Petra was the first out the door. I followed close on his heels. The moment we stepped outside the enchanted castle walls, he and I both took one long inhale of pine-scented air. The castle had smelled stale and dank. It was an odor that all castles acquired over time.
Petra carried little, just a spelled pouch at his waist that I’d given to him during the games. The only things I’d ever seen him put in it were bits of fruit, nuts, and berries. He was mostly herbivorous, though he would eat the occasional bit of charred flesh when I provided it.
His arms were muscled from years of chopping down trees to get at the nymphs hidden within. His abdominals were equally as solid, and his legs were impressive. I could admire the strength of his body. Though I’d preferred the look of a centaur male more in the past, I was discovering that, at times, I could in fact see beauty outside of my own race. It was a novel concept, though hardly earth shattering.