Prologue

PROLOGUE

B ronwyn

Twenty years ago

“Take her.”

My sister shakes her head violently, fixing me with a steely glare, even though silent tears race down her cheeks and drip off her chin.

I peer down into my daughter’s sleeping face. So serene, so peaceful, unaware of all the danger and chaos that exists in this world. My battered heart breaks that little bit more.

“Please Mabel,” I beg, unable to drag my eyes from my daughter’s face. She is so beautiful, so perfect, from the miniature nails on each of her tiny fingers to each long dark lash that rests against the curve of her delicate cheek. My heart aches. I don’t want to hand her to my sister any more than she wants to take her from me.

But what choice do I have?

“Don’t ask me to, Bronwyn. Please don’t ask me to,” she whispers.

“You’re the only person I can trust. The only person I know will keep her safe.”

“She needs you. Her mother.”

My spine straightens and I look up to meet the watery eyes of my sister.

“I’ve told you. My days are numbered. What use does Rhianna have with a dead mother?” My sister winces, shaking her head again. But she doesn’t argue with me about what I’ve seen. We both know by now that my dreams do not lie. They show me the future and the future is my death.

We can bemoan and bitch about it until we’re blue in the face, until we’ve driven ourselves mad. But the future can’t be changed – not something like this – no matter what those who have used my powers may believe. The future is coming no matter what.

“And if you don’t take her, think who will.”

“Caspian?” she says. “He would keep her safe.”

I gaze back down at my daughter. I can see him in her features. The dark hue of her hair, the structure of her small face. I am there too. In the color of her eyes, in the fairness of her skin. She is the perfect amalgamation of us both.

“He wouldn’t,” I say.

“Surely, he will come and–”

“Mabel! There is no time! Take her. Take her now and hide her. Please, before it is too late.”

“He’s her father. He would keep her safe. He is far more powerful than I am. He has a whole army, for goodness’ sake, Bronwyn.”

Now I shake my head. How can I tell my sister the truth? She has always been so adamant when it comes to the things she believes in. She sees the world in black and white. For her, there is no gray. She has never wavered. She is strong. How can I admit I have been seduced by – that I have fallen for – a man I know is not good? That I suspected this about him, but turned my face away from the truth and loved him anyway.

“The only person she is safe with is you.” With the remaining part of my heart shattering into a million pieces, I hold the baby out to her. It takes all my strength, the act almost physically impossible, my arms not wanting to give her away. Bile sloshes in my stomach, burning all along my throat, and I force back the tears bubbling in the corner of my eyes. If I crack now, my sister will never take my daughter from me.

“I have seen it,” I whisper to her, almost afraid to utter the words out loud. “She is the girl from the Fourth Prophecy.”

“The prophecy?” Mabel says, her nose crinkling in the way it does when she’s confused. “But that prophecy is unclear and?—”

“It doesn’t matter. It puts her in danger, Mabel, so much danger. They will come. They will come for her – you know they will. Either to destroy her or to attempt to steal her powers.”

“Steal her powers?” Mabel says in alarm. “Have you seen that?”

I hold my sister’s gaze. “You must keep her hidden. Keep her safe … please …”

“But even from Caspian? From her own father? ”

“Yes, Mabel,” I snap. “Especially her own father.”

My sister considers my face. Goodness knows what she must think. Goodness knows how many questions she must have about what has passed between me and the Black Prince. But my sister is stoic and unshakeable. She keeps her curiosity to herself. It’s why I trust her with Rhianna’s life.

And her silence is for the best. How would I ever explain it? The Black Prince – leader of the so-called dark forces in the West, our mortal enemy – the man we have been fighting these past years. He disarmed me completely. Made me fall so hopelessly in love with him. Made me believe all his promises, all his visions for the future – a future of peace, of no more war, of no more fighting.

I have been such a fool.

My daughter snuffles in her sleep, her tiny nose wrinkling.

I have made mistakes, but I can make amends now, make amends by ensuring Rhianna is protected.

“But how?” my sister says. “How will I do it? I’m no seer. I have no special powers. Surely, there is someone better equipped to care for her than me.”

I shake my head adamantly. “There isn’t.”

My sister peers down into the sleeping face of my daughter, and her face lights up with affection. There is no one but me who loves Rhianna as much as Mabel does.

She lifts her arms, the tears now flowing freely from her eyes, and carefully, I lay my daughter in her hold. I am trusting her with the most precious thing I have in the world and though I know that my child is safer with her than she is with me, I have to force myself not to scream and snatch her right back .

“What if I can’t? What if I fail?” my sister asks. “What if I fail you, Bronwyn?”

“You won’t. You are stronger than me.” Better than me too. She always said I was too trusting, too quick to follow my heart and not my head. Not this time. This time, I ignore my broken heart. “And I will always be here. We all will. You can always call on us for help.”

I stroke my finger down the face of my daughter, her skin so soft, so new, so fragile, like the petals of a flower. Not yet blemished by the sun, ravished by the wind, marked by time.

“What will I tell her?” Mabel asks.

“What?” I say, too mesmerized by my daughter’s face – a face I am committing to memory – every line, every color, every expression, every sound, even the milky smell of her. I will remember it all. I will think of it when the final blow hits. My last thought will be of her. This beautiful, precious creature.

“When she’s older, Bronwyn? Old enough to know, to understand? What should I tell her?”

I press my lips to my daughter’s warm forehead, inhaling the scent of her one last time. “Tell her that I love her. That I love her so, so much. And that I will always be close by.”