Meera closed the book with a yawn as the first light of dawn peeked from under her balcony door. She had brought a few books on the Great Prophecy to her room to get an idea of how the prophecy would resolve.

She had read many books, and so far, she had realized one thing—no one knew anything. Every so-called scholar had their own theory on how the great dragon would rise and lay waste to the worlds. Some considered the Champion to be a savior who would kill Aetheron and save the worlds before the dragon could do any harm, while others thought he was a destroyer who would fail to save all the worlds before killing the dragon.

But there was one thing that they all agreed on—the Champion would lose someone in their struggle against the dragon. Someone they could not live without. Some said it would be their love, a wife, or a girl they deeply loved. Some said it might be their child. Only one person said it might be a sibling.

Funny how siblings are not considered much when it comes to these sorts of things.

Meera sighed and deflated. Reading about her death again and again was getting tiring. She wondered what would happen if she left these worlds. Would the prophecy not come to pass? After all, she was the Arbiter now, meant to decide something vital in the great prophecy. If she chose to leave, then she would not die for one and not fulfill her role, and the great prophecy would not come to pass. Or would another Arbiter would rise?

She wanted to pull her hair out in frustration. Why did you have to step through that fucking mirror, Neel?

She stood, walked to the balcony, opened the door, and stepped into the cool morning air. Her room faced the east, so she saw the sun's yellow light peaking above the great ice walls in the distance. She looked to the south; somewhere far south was Winter's Embrace, where the Warlocks lay.

Silas and Cossus must have reached them by now and figured out the next clue they needed to go after Neel. She sighed. A part of her told her she was wasting time, but another part told her that she needed to find out about the true prophecy. After all, it might hold some clue as to what was happening and what would happen.

Maybe I'm not even meant to die.

She stood there watching the horizon till the sun rose and finally went back inside and opened another book. It said most of the same things as the last one. However, it had lines from another oracle who said the Champion would have powers to let him travel vast distances without needing a Gateway Mirror.

She didn't know how long she sat there reading as there was a knock on her door.

"Come in," she called.

The guards opened the door, to let Vasda in, who carried a big wooden tray. "Good morning, Reverent Lady. I figured you would be awake, so I brought you some food."

The poor woman looked haggard. She had stood outside the library for two hours while Meera ruffled through the books with Garal. Then she escorted her back, and now she was up at this early hour. She must've gotten barely four hours of sleep last night if even that.

"You shouldn't have," Meera said. "You needed your sleep. I kept you up for so long."

"I live to serve the Reverent Lady. Your wishes are my command."

Meera smiled. "Well, thank you. Have you eaten?"

She frowned slightly, not knowing where Meera was going with it. "Not yet, my Lady."

"Then come sit. Let's eat together."

Vasda's eyebrows rose as she gasped lightly. "I could never. I am far beneath you—"

"Let me just put a stop to this far-beneath-you nonsense," Meera said. "Where I'm from, everyone is considered equal, and didn't you just say my wishes are your commands? So, I wish to share a meal with you. Besides, there's more than enough food for the both of us."

She gulped, looked at the door, and then finally nodded. "As you wish, Reverent Lady."

They cleared some of the books, and Vasda finally sat down, and they began their meal. Meera's poor Maid was hesitant at first, thinking Meera would reprimand her or play a cruel trick on her, but when she realized she wasn't, the woman relaxed.

"So, Vasda, you got any family?" Meera asked.

"Yes, I have a son," Vasda replied. "My husband was a soldier, and he was martyred in the war with the Cervi kingdom."

"I'm sorry about that."

"There's no need to be sorry, Reverent Lady. He gave his life for the empire and His Divine Majesty. If we could all be so lucky."

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Meera could tell that the woman wasn't lying. There was honest pride in her voice. She wondered what caused this fervent patriotism. Was it that this God King was a kind king, unlike what she had been led to believe?

She talked with Vasda some more, which got her to relax. She found many things about the lives of the people here. As it turned out, these people were not the devils that everyone else believed. They or Meera shouldn't have gotten all the racism she did. Though, most of the racism she faced was in Rhione, where the people were fairer.

Is it the classic case of people hating others just because they don't look like them?

After all, she had seen these people cheer as the two Cervi were burnt at the stakes. Sure, they were half-animals, but they seemed intelligent and could use skills. So these people weren't any different, it seemed.

As Vasda started talking a bit more, Meera asked the question she really wanted to ask.

"Who is Garal?" She asked.

Vasda froze. It was like someone had petrified her. She had one spoon halfway to her open mouth and stayed there for a long moment. Then, finally, she looked at Meera and lowered the spoon.

"He-He is—"

She was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Vasda tried to stand, but Meera waved her down.

"Reverent Lady, I really shouldn't—"

"Sit, Vasda, please." Then looked to the door and called. "Come in."

It was the person she had been waiting for all morning—Munral, the Chamberlain. He wore the same black and gold robes as yesterday. He strode into the room with his hands behind his back, and his eyes belched fire when he noticed Vasda sitting on the table with Meera.

The poor woman had lost many shades of color. Her hands trembled so terribly that the spoon dropped and clattered onto the plate.

"How dare you?" He spoke in a harsh whisper.

Vasda shot to her feet. "I'm sorry, Lord Chamberlain. I didn't mean to."

Munral walked to her in a slow gait, his feet clopping loudly on the marble floor. "You know the punishment of—"

Meera coughed loudly. "I asked—no, I commanded her to. So, there will be no punishment for her. You can take that as my command if you wish."

Munral looked between her and Vasda and finally tilted his head towards Meera. "As the Reverent Lady commands, but it is improper to partake your meal with the help."

"I can decide who I share my meals with. Besides, Vasda is an excellent conversationalist," Meera retorted. "Now, I hope you're here to take me to see the God King."

"Unfortunately, His Divine Majesty will not be able to meet with you today," Munral said. "Some urgent meetings have come up that will take all his time today."

Meera squinted her eyes. "What meetings?"

"Meeting concerning the war with the Cervi Kingdom," he replied coolly. It was so hard to read his expression. It was like she was talking to a brick wall.

She had half a mind to thrust her authority around, but she felt this man wouldn't trip over his feet to fall to her to commands. If anything, he was actively trying to stop her from meeting with the king. She didn't know why, but if he thought her dangerous, he was right, but she posed no danger to his king.

She sighed internally. It's like I'm a prisoner again. Not this time, my friend.

She smiled. "I understand. He is a king, after all."

Meera shut the book and walked to the balcony. The sun had climbed higher and higher to the point it was directly above her. She figured it was noon, and even a God King would've woken up by now. If not, then it was a good day to go for a walk around the palace.

She had a strong suspicion that the Chamberlain was lying to her. It was just like with the sorceresses, when they lied to her about finding Neel for her if she stayed with them. The only difference was that they revered her here, which came with benefits.

Well, Munral, you might not know this. The last time someone tried to imprison me, I unleashed an archdragon on them.

She cracked her fingers and stretched before jumping off the balcony. She floated down to the ground. Her room was on the other side of the palace gate. The side that faced the farmlands. She didn't have to find a guard, as they found her first.

Two guards stood guard at the bottom of the steps leading into the palace. They wore the same white and gold uniform as the guards she had seen yesterday. They ran to her with spears pointed her way.

"Halt!" cried one of them. "In the name of His Divine Majesty, stop and state your name and business."

"I am Meera and wish to see His Divine Majesty. You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would you?"

They stared blankly at her, and then as one withdrew their spears and fell to their knees. "Reverent Lady, we apologize for not recognizing you sooner."

"It's okay, please stand," she said. "Now, about the God King, do you know where he is?"

They blinked at her, and finally, one spoke. "He is in the Royal Court, listening to the concerns of the common folk today."

Ah, that is definitely more important than meeting with me.

Meera smiled. "That is great. Then I hope he wouldn't mind listening to some of my concerns as well."

"He most definitely will," the guard said. "You are, after all, the Reverent Lady."

"Will one of you please show me the way to the Royal Court?" Meera asked with a smile.

"I will." They both said simultaneously, then glared at each other.

Meera cut that short before it grew into a fight. "How about you take me to him?" She pointed to the one on the right only because he had kinder eyes. The other one was not happy, of course, but he had no choice.

"It will be my life's honor to serve the Saviour's blood. Right this way, Reverent Lady."

Meera followed him in, and it turned out that the palace was even more of a maze than she had figured. The guard took her through so many twists and turns that no matter how much she tried to remember the way, she was hopelessly lost.

She sighed internally and thought back to Narikas's throne room, which was so easy to find. She would simply fly to its window and knock on the door. The thought made her smile, and she wondered how Narikas was doing. She hoped his reign was going better than his brother's.

After a stroll through the palace, they finally arrived at the queue. There was a long line of people that headed outside the doors that Meera had arrived through yesterday. If she stood at the back of the line, it would take her all day, if not more. But then, being the Reverent Lady had its advantages.

The guard strolled straight towards the open doors that led into the court. The guard stopped at the guards waiting at the door, who took one look at Meera, and their eyes widened. Then they bowed at the waist and let Meera through.

As soon as she laid eyes on the old man seated on the throne, she felt the same power and aura radiating from him as she had from Veridiana. Her Essence attribute spoke to her that this man was not someone normal.

God King Arhazar was an Ascendant.

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