Crimson and Gold

The entire way from the scholar’s house to the Royal Palace, Saria kept repeating in her head everything she had learned. She didn’t have high hopes for this visit, but she ended up discovering valuable information.

Though she didn’t have complete certainty, her gut feeling was telling her that the prophecy they had been after this whole time really came from the mysterious ‘Kirke’. Sadly, Tally’s master couldn’t offer her more information on the person.

‘Kirke’ had been somewhat of an elusive character in history, only confirmed to have existed through their prophecies. The scholar still debated whether the person in question was a man or a woman.

Saria thought focusing on finding out the actual contents of the prophecy would be their next step, however, once she repeated everything she found out to Lysandra, the Princess disagreed.

“There’s no need,” she said, pacing around the shrine of Astesis in the Palace. “What the prophecy is about doesn’t matter. What matters is that Loukios is interested in it and wants me dead because of it.”

Saria sat on the polished stone bench with a slight frown. “Don’t you want to know what it says? What if it really is about you?”

Lysandra stopped pacing and faced her lover with a hint of amusement in her eyes. “Don’t tell me you believe in this sort of thing?”

“You don’t?”

For someone so spiritual, the Princess’ sudden skepticism towards prophecies was unexpected.

“Well…” the Princess joined Saria on the bench. “For starters, Kirke and her prophecies are dated around twenty thousand years before the current era. Whatever they talked about had, most likely, already happened.”

Seeing that Saria opened her mouth to protest, Lysandra continued. “But if we assume they are still relevant, then it’s very unlikely they refer to me. My father isn’t the first descendant of Aelius to lead the Empire, nor will he be the last.”

While the Empire didn’t specifically require the Emperor to be of divine lineage, the candidates carrying the Golden Flame were still preferred.

“Even if, and it’s a big ‘if’, Ažiž were to really be reborn from me, then it’s going to be the most anticlimactic apocalypse in the history of mankind,” Lysandra laughed mockingly.

Saria didn’t quite follow. “Why do you say that?”

“I have no magic, remember?” the Princess gave her a jab with her elbow. “Nothing. Not even a drop. If a fire demon is reborn in my body, then it will be an achievement if she lights up a match with the power of her will, let alone destroying the world.”

There was some truth to what Lysandra was saying, but Saria still didn’t feel fully convinced.

“Alright, if you say so,” she said, leaning against the cool marbled column behind her. The doubts in her heart, however, were written all over her face.

The Princess took her hand, caressing the soft skin with her thumb, and sighed. “We don’t even know if what the prophecy says is true or if the interpretations are correct,” she started reassuring her lover once more.

“Take Ebreza and Ažiž, for example. Both of them are worshiped in Sumad as part of their Fire Pantheon. Even Shahriz only ever mentions them in a very neutral manner. For all we know, it’s just a bunch of scholars misinterpreting things that happened thousands of years ago.”

After listening to what the Princess had to say about the matter, Saria’s worries lessened, and she could finally let go. “I didn’t know you were also so versed in ancient history and foreign religions. Even the scholar didn’t know many of those things.”

Pride flickered in Lysandra’s eyes as she nonchalantly leaned against the marbled railing behind the bench and prepped her chin. “That’s because for all the knowledge those scholars have, they lack some wits.”

“Quite the harsh words, Your Highness,” Saria commented, raising her eyebrows.

“How else should I call someone willfully ignorant?” Lysandra rebutted. “They build their theories, spend years coming up with the most absurd explanation, all while ignoring everything that doesn’t fit their imagination.

The Princess squeezed Saria’s hand, feeling a pinch of annoyance welling up within her. “Did you know that they refuse to study any text that doesn’t come from an Aelian author?” she asked, flabbergasted.