Sibyl Belladonna was not a woman who was easily cowed.
She was scared of no one and no man and could easily have refused King Cedric's request to share aspects of her private life. It was one that she had hidden away for over two decades of her life and it was no one's business but hers.
However, this man was not just the King of Faria. He was also her child's husband and the father of her grandson. He deserved to know as much about his wife as possible so that he could do what he needed to protect his family.
She took a deep breath and began her tale.
"I am, by far, the youngest High Seer of my generation and there is a reason for that. My powers came to me quite early."
She narrowed her eyes in thought. "I think I was three or four when I began talking to animals."
"Hmm. That would explain why Talia works as an animal nurse." Cedric nodded.
"She is most definitely my daughter." Sibyl gave a proud smile.
"When I was eight, I was taken away from my family by the High Priestess of the coven of Seers to be trained as a witch."
"That is young to be taken away from your family."
Sibyl nodded. "I missed my family so much the first couple of years, but then I grew used to it. Ten years later, when I turned eighteen, I was the youngest witch to be admitted as one of the seven High Seers of the coven of Farian Priestesses."
"You were a High Seer at eighteen?" Cedric asked.
"Yes. Normally, High Seers are thirty or forty years old because, that's how long it takes to learn how to be one."
Cedric nodded. "That's right. I remember my mother talking to several High Seers." He grinned. "They were all rather old."
"Actually, your mother was also a very gifted witch." Sibyl confided. "Had she not been the cherished daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Faria, she would have also been taken away to be trained by the coven of witches."
Cedric raised an eyebrow. He had not known this.
"As it turned out, the Duke and Duchess of Faria blocked their attempts to take Athena away, so she grew up as a normal member of the upper class nobility."
Sibyl shrugged. "My parents were of lower social caste and could do nothing when the coven came to take me away."
Cedric's eyes softened. "I am sorry."
Sibyl smiled and shook her head.
"Don't be. Had they not taken me away, I would have spent the rest of my life as some poor farmer's wife and never given any education. At best, I would have been a simple animal healer."
She raised her head proudly.
"Instead, I was given the best possible education and was given the chance to develop my gifts to the highest of my abilities."
Her eyes sobered. "It was also how I was able to meet the Crown Prince Jero of Betaluse. No woman of my lower social class would have been able to set eyes on such a man, let alone meet him in person."
"Tell me about how the two of you met." Cedric prompted.
"It had to do with one of my most vivid and important visions." She took a deep breath and sighed.
"The vision had to do with a neighboring Crown Prince named Jero. It was foretold that he would be the next King."
Cedric gave a soft chuckle.
"How would that be considered an important and vivid vision? Don't most Crown Princes turn into Kings?"
Sibyl laughed. "That was not the vision that mattered. It was the one foretelling that King Jero would have a daughter and a son who would be highly gifted magical prodigies."
Cedric shook his head. "Again, why would that be important? Don't we have at least one or two extremely talented children each generation who join the coven and train to be High Seers?"
Sibyl shook her head. "It's not quite that simple. Yes, every generation produces a crop of witches who are adepts. If we're lucky, we might even be able to gain one or two witches each generation who are good."
Cedric shook his head and shrugged with confusion.
"But there is a difference between 'good' and 'brilliant', as in gifted genius."
Sibyl leaned closer.
"The witch who is good struggles all her life to break free from mediocrity. The prodigy genius witch rises up into brilliance with very little effort and at a very young age."
She gave a knowing smile.
"The vision was very clear. From his loins would come two of the most powerful witches of their time." Her eyes glittered with the brightness of pride.
"Upon hearing the vision and that it personally had to do with him, Prince Jero traveled to Faria to meet with the coven of High Seers."
"He wanted to find out more about the vision that the entire coven had collectively shared about the two children who would be his crowning glories."
"It was then that I first met King Jero, who was, at the time, the Crown Prince of Betaluse." Her eyes grew misty. "He was so handsome back then."
"At that time, Crown Prince Jero had married his first wife. He also had a two-year-old daughter with one of his three consorts and had brought this child to be inspected by the High Priestess."
"Was she one of the two?"
Sibyl shook her head. "No. We quickly determined that his first child was not the one that the vision foretold. She was, in fact, almost inert."
Cedric raised his eyebrows. The degree of magic within each person born in their world ranged from very high to very low, but it was never inert unless the child was disabled in some manner.
Sibyl shrugged. "After he found out as much as he could about the vision, Prince Jero returned to his kingdom."
Cedric shook his head. "That cannot be the end of the story. Nothing is ever that simple."
Sibyl laughed. "It's not. Thereafter, each year, Crown Prince Jero brought back another child to be tested by the High Priestess."
"Were any of them…" Cedric mulled.
She shook her head. "Although a few of his children had a modicum of powers, they were not enough to even be considered adequate to join the coven."
"It was during the second visit that Jero and I began to feel an attraction for each other."
"He was handsome and so very kind." She sighed. "We became lovers because I believed him when he said he had fallen in love with me and wanted to be with me for always."
Sibyl shook her head. "I was very young and very stupid."
Cedric narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He only knew too well what men were willing to say in the throes of passion.
"After Prince Jero had left, another vision had begun to grip the coven of High Seers. This one had to do with the Golden Child, of which you already know about."
"At that point, I was already six months pregnant and was starting to show. I was young and very scared. It seemed as if there was a prophecy and recurring visions that seemed directly pointed at my unborn child."
Her voice wavered as she relived those moments.
"In a panic, I sent a message to Prince Jero telling him of my pregnancy."
Cedric pressed his lips into a thin line, remembering his initial response to Talia when he found out she was pregnant.
How King Jero responded to Sibyl would be an accurate indication of the type of man King Jero was.