Cedric narrowed his eyes. Sibyl was right.
This was the reason why he had resisted taking up the Alpha position for so long. Once he was King, he was stuck in Faria to take on the huge challenge of ruling the land.
"Once I know which realm she is in, I can send others to go there to retrieve her." Cedric assured Sibyl.
She shook her head. "Whoever you send will not be able to go there or even survive for long without a witch by their side."
"But I don't know any—" He stopped.
What in hell was he saying. His beloved mate's entire family were witches.
Tarot laughed at the priceless look on Cedric's face.
"Your wife is a witch." He glanced at Talia.
"I am?" Talia pursed her lips.
Sibyl shook her head. "Not yet, although you do have high potential. How strong your powers are is yet to be determined."
Talia shook her head. "I've never had any sort of magical powers in my life."
"My Darling, that's because you're untrained. You only need to learn how to unlock your potential. Once that potential is unlocked from within, everything will unfold and blossom with hard work and effort."
She turned her dazzling blue eyes and gazed into her daughter's similar blue eyes.
Talia returned Sibyl's gaze without saying a word.
"I know what you're thinking, Child." Sibyl's voice was gentle. "You're wondering why I left you in New Orleans."
Talia looked away. There was a plethora of reasons why a child would be abandoned by her parents.
She didn't have any emotions towards this woman who she so closely resembled. The woman she called Mother, who had cared for her all her life had died two years ago.
If this woman wanted to step in and take over the position of Mother, she was going to have to do more than just show up and say, 'ta da! I'm your mother!'.
Sibyl read the look on her daughter's face and shook her head.
"I never abandoned you, Child. I left you in the care of my closest attendants to raise you in a safe environment. Every year, I checked on you to make sure you were living well."
"They died." Talia informed her tersely.
"Yes. I heard about their passing and I came to retrieve their ashes to bring them back to Faria. By then, you were already living on your own and doing well."
"Were you going to keep yourself hidden from me forever?" Tears sprang from her eyes. "Was this going to be a permanent secret?"
"No, of course not. I just had to wait until…"
"Until what?" Talia frowned.
"I wanted to wait until after the prophecy had run its course so it would not affect you. And yet, here you are, completely ensnarled within its web of predetermined fate."
She turned to Cedric with blazing eyes. "How King Cedric found you, even after I tried to hide you away, is indicative of how true this prophecy is unfolding."
Cedric held the High Seer's eyes. "I have no regrets meeting Talia in New Orleans, but you must understand. I did not go looking for her. She came to me."
Talia nodded. "There was a hurricane that blew through the city. I found Devin lost and wandering so I took him back to his home."
She turned towards Cedric with warm loving eyes. "That was how we met."
Sibyl sighed. "There is no running away from what has been foretold. What must be, will be, no matter how you try to run and hide."
Talia turned back to the High Seer. "Can you tell us more about the prophecy?"
Sibyl bit her lip. "Where do I begin to explain to you."
Cedric narrowed his eyes. "How about you start at the beginning?"
Sibyl slowly sat back and began to speak. Her words were halting at first as she tried to find the appropriate words, but once she was able to move past the strangeness of the situation, she talked more and more smoothly.
She spoke of the vision that she had received one fateful day and the oral prophecy that had chosen her to be its intended prophetess.
She even admitted to taking out the part of the prophecy that had to do with her daughter and then hiding Talia away in a different realm to save her from being the sacrificed coven bride.
By the time she came to the end of the tale, both Cedric and Talia stared at her with disbelief written all over their faces.
"You don't believe me do you?" She sighed, her shoulders drooping. It was to be expected.
Most people either thought the High Seers were spiritual connections between the worldly kingdom and the sacred divinity, or perhaps they were similar to a type of religious opiate for the masses.
The truth was actually not somewhere in between those two-dimensional opposite ideas. The truth hung above, shining its brilliance on another dimension altogether.
It was just that for the two-dimensional beings, there was no way for them to see the light because they could not look up to see the third dimension.
Cedric lowered his head and stared at Sibyl.
"There are seven of you in the High Seer coven, right?"
Sibyl nodded.
"Could it have been talking about one of the other witches' daughters?"
Sibyl thought about it for a moment. "Sonia Larabee does have a daughter. Her name is Evelyn Larabee, but…" her eyes widened in shock.
Cedric nodded. It was all falling into place and starting to make sense.
"While my brother was king, he sent out a decree stating that I had to marry Evelyn."
He rubbed his jaw in thought.
"Perhaps he thought she was the coven bride that the prophecy was talking about. Maybe he thought that I was the Golden Child and wanted to use her as the sacrificial lamb to fulfill the prophecy."
"So then why would he get her pregnant?" Talia gave a look of confusion.
"Cecil has good intentions," Sibyl grimaced, "but unfortunately, he is a very weak person."
She clicked her tongue.
"Tch. He would have never been able to resist Evelyn if she turned her powers of beguiling and bewitching on him. She is a witch's daughter."
Talia shook her head. "She wanted Cedric. I wonder why he didn't fall for her witching spells."
"Cedric has very powerful inner strength." Sibyl smiled. "And besides, witches beguiles and charms don't work on men who have already fallen deeply in love with another woman."
Talia's eyes widened with surprise as she turned to Cedric.
He winked and gave her a boyish grin that melted her insides.
"Could it be that once Evelyn realized she could not beguile Cedric, she turned to Cecil thinking he might be the Golden Child that the prophecy spoke of?"
Sibyl shrugged her head. "It wouldn't have mattered. Cecil was definitely not the Golden Child."
"How do you know? He does have that signature blond hair." Talia murmured.
"Yes, but so does Cedric and Devin." Sibyl pointed out.
"More importantly, they both have golden eyes." She pointed at their amber colored pupils.
"Golden eyes?" Cedric turned his amber eyes at her.
"Yes. Both the visions and the written prophecy foretold a blond man with amber eyes. Cecil has green eyes."
"Could it be Devin?" Talia stroke Devin's head absently.
She prayed it was not so. He was too young, too innocent.
"I won't rule it out completely," Sibyl mused, "but the vision is now sharp and clear. It started when Cedric was born into the world and it has now solidified."
Tarot rubbed his chin. "That means all the various possible realities have merged and the course has been set."
He turned to Talia and Cedric with intense blue eyes.
"The prophecy will happen within the very near future."