GEORGIO'S VOICE WAS soft as he tapped his fingers on the table, "Cybele?" I snapped my book shut, gazing up into his blue eyes. His eyes resembled the shade of my own, and sometimes I thought our twin irises were how we understood one another so well.

"Yes?" I brushed my blonde hair off my shoulder, setting the book back onto the stack of others in front of me. The library was my favorite place in the entire fortress, the place I spent more time in than anywhere else. I was expected to know all I could being Parisa's daughter, well educated and knowledgable about a diverse collection of topics. Luckily I liked to learn, and spending my afternoons curled up with a book hardly ever bored me.

"Parisa wants you." Georgio sat in the chair beside me, drumming his fingers against the table. "It still amazes me to this day that she still has no idea where to find you."

"What did she request of me?" I asked. Georgio didn't answer as he gazed at the stack of books on the desk in front of me, running his fingers along their worn spines. They were mainly about Sylph history, narratives on The Origin of the Sylph Species and The Second War of the Winged along with a few outliers related to forest ecosystems or the laws of interplanetary trade. As an heir, I had to know as much as I could.

"She simply demanded your presence. You know I don't have clearance for such information." Georgio's words made me take a breath, and I nodded slowly, sliding my chair back. I didn't want to leave my books, but Parisa was waiting for me much to my disappointment. "Thank you, Georgio." I stood and patted his shoulder, earning one of his smiles.

"I will see you on the combat field this afternoon." He added as he stood to his feet. "Might I also ask how your Prince is this morning?"

I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Cheeky, aren't you? He isn't my Prince and I don't know what you're implying. How's Bella?"

"Whisper please." Georgio said, "you know that we have to be a secret. And she's divine as always. I also won't believe that a woman as smart as you hasn't caught on yet. Don't play dumb with me, Cybele. I know you too well."

"Prince Xavier is doing well. I enjoy his company."

"I'm sure that's not all you've been enjoying." He said, making me glare at him as he chuckled.

"Always charming as usual, Georgio. I'll see you later, you bastard, and you better not bring this up in training or I'll shoot you with an arrow."

I went towards the door to the library as Georgio exited out the opposite archway, the two of us smirking at one another before I stuck out my tongue at him. He blew out air as he flipped me off before proceeding into the hall.

Shaking my head, I couldn't help but smile to myself. That man always liked to get under my skin in the best ways, and his hinting at Xavier made my cheeks burn. The kiss on the rooftop had been followed by a handful more. 

Now that Parisa wanted me I wondered if maybe she'd discovered what I'd been desperately trying to hide, the kisses that had been exchanged and the offer to take me to see the universe that would no doubt give her a heart attack.

My worries grew the closer I came to her office, and my wings tickled the back of my legs with each step. I felt their cool touch on my shoulder blades, strong and covered in white feathers that seemed to be made of iron. 

When I walked, I felt like I carried a shield on my back, a sense of protection and confidence rising in me. When I was alone, I could love them this way, but the eyes in the ballroom peeled back the security of my feathers layer by layer like an onion.

The sensation of my tickling wings made an old memory play inside my head. Parisa had told me that my father had wings like my own, but she never knew what he was. All I knew was that my parents had died a long time ago, and that Parisa had adopted me since she was a close friend of my family.

I shook the thoughts away as sunlight glimmered across my eyes from the open window. The sun was setting, and she would be angry if I were to make her wait.

Parisa seemed extremely stressed. This morning, I had seen her pacing relentlessly down the halls with no apparent final destination. I'd tried to ask about it, in return being scolded to leave her in peace with her thoughts and the fresh air.

I folded my arms across my chest, breathing out sharply. Maybe she was apologizing for her outburst? She hardly ever apologized to me, but maybe today would be an exception.

Perhaps another lecture was in store for me, a voice inside my head warning me that Xavier was the likely topic of discussion. Of course she must have found out about who I'd been seeing in my free time. Nothing ever escaped her when it came to me. 

I could never get away with anything, and I was foolish to think that I could hide the prince from her for this long. She'd find a way to get the two Fortis brothers sent home, and Xavier would be gone. The thought seemed to make a weight press down on my chest.

Parisa pulled her chair closer to mine and I sat up, fixing my posture. She flipped her deep auburn hair off her shoulders before meeting me with her piercing blue eyes. I shuddered and looked down into my lap. I was 22 and still couldn't resist a shiver when she looked at me in such a manner.

"I received word today of important news, news we've been expecting for sometime now." She started, folding one of her ankles behind the other and resting her hands on her knees.

"What news? Has there been news from the battlefront?" I asked, trying to ignore the heartache that had swelled like a geiser in my heart. Had an altercation taken place? Pluto and Vesta had left a few days ago for a reason that remained unknown to me, and I couldn't help but wonder if something had happened to them. Would General Fortis attack his enemy's children?

"No. Nothing from the battlefront. Sadly, both Fortis and Athena are still fighting over access to our planet more than ever now with their children having made visits. They should be asking the creatures who live on this planet for their thoughts instead of each other." Parisa sighed, rubbing her temples. She felt the weight of the war just as everyone else did, the stress of our impending decision to ally ourselves with one of the universal kingdoms evident on her face.

Perhaps she could persuade the council to meet together and see if they could pass new legislation... I stopped myself; now was not the time or place to start making such arrangements especially with our current guests. Parisa had called me in for a purpose, and it wasn't for the war.

"What is the news you wished to tell me?" I asked.

"I got news from..." She searched her mind for the correct words, picking them over in her personal vocabulary before she settled on an appropriate term. "A friend, you could say. He says there has been more news about the prophecy. I think our dragon is getting ready to hatch."

I felt my body tip forward in interest, every muscle inside me stiffening. My eyes were wide and my heartbeat quickened, an uncanny calm settling over me. The Prodigy; there was no other prophecy to debate. It was getting closer, the beginning of new order. "Do you know when the Serpent is awakening? Is this creature coming soon? The next few years? Months? Weeks?"

"No one is able to guess the correct time except Fate herself, but I believe that it is awakening very soon, Cybele. I can almost taste it. I feel its coming." She said, and I nodded in agreement. 

She felt it too just like I did. I couldn't describe the feeling that resonated inside me. It was this tingle in the back of my mind, whispering sweet words of preparation that sung out a harmony of the impending change coming to our universe. 

Parisa leaned forward, cold eyes concentrating on me. "You know the importance of this Prodigy and how influential its life will be on Ordinem, specifically how greatly its power can help our world and our people. I've taught you all of this many times before. The Prodigy needs to come here to Opulentia."

"Yes, Parisa. I know the being's potential. I've read all the manuscripts, Draco's notes, and all the history we have on the prophecy in our library." I folded my hands together, biting my lip. "Are you sure we will benefit from this? There is a double edged sword with its..."

"Never mind that. It's only a matter of chance."

I swallowed. "A half, Parisa. A complete half chance. Isn't that too risky to assume that we will get the better half?"

She waved her hand, silencing me. I bowed my head in defeat; she wasn't going to listen to me any longer so I closed my lips. "It doesn't matter to me. We need to take a risk to preserve the Sylph race and our kingdom. The Fairies are pushing in from all angles, stirring up dissent over their well deserved time in chains. Lamia is starting to fester in that dark kingdom of his, the wolves are in the midst of civil war, and now we have the Holy Order and the Confrontation pulling our planet into the middle of its power struggle. We are going to be destroyed, Cybele, if we don't find something powerful enough to push us through all the chaos. Opulentia and Viridis must shine through the darkness in order for our survival or else we'll be ripped apart. This Prodigy will show Fortis and Venus that we aren't a kingdom so easily dissolved, that instead of being pressured to join the war we can rise above it. We will be powerful and strong forever if we are the home of the Prodigy. We'll be respected and revered; no one will be able to touch our kingdom. We are doing this for the people, Cybele. We do everything always for the people."

"How are we going to get the Prodigy here, Parisa? How could we ever convince it to stay with us, to fight for us? How would we find it? Persuade it? There's so much we don't know, too much that we can't assume without the possibility of putting ourselves and our people in danger." I said, taking a breath. "This Prodigy is either the savior of light or the reaper of evil, our saving grace or our damnation. We don't know which one it will become, if we'll be saved or destroyed. How will we win this? How will we ensure that we are housing an angel instead of a devil?"

"You." She pointed to me, chuckling as a smile spread across her cheeks. I felt my blood run cold as I looked into Parisa's eyes, so much in them that I couldn't read but it frightened me just the same. She'd never looked so dedicated, so excited, so dangerous. "I'm going to find this Serpent and then your part will begin just like I always knew it would. Because you see, Cybele, you have a role to play that will help Opulentia just as you have always dreamed. You will convince this Prodigy to fight for me."