Guardians of the Boundary (Book 3 of The Conjurors Series)

Chapter 34

Valerie couldn't take her eyes from Sibyl's face as she tried to imagine why Cyrus had never spoken of the prophecy. He'd had chances to tell her.

"How can a prophecy that hurts someone lead to the path of light?" she asked. Though it wasn't fair, anger rose in her at the thought of anyone causing Cyrus pain.

"He had to make a choice that no one else could make for him," Sibyl replied. "My prophecy told him the truth about why Thai didn't come to the Globe. It was up to Cyrus to decide what to do with the knowledge. He would be the only one to ever know the reason, unless he decided to share it, and Thai would remain ignorant of Reaper's lie."

Sibyl's words were so unexpected that Valerie's brain almost couldn't process it.

"You're saying... Cyrus told Thai that Chern was Reaper, which is how he figured out that the prophecy that kept him from coming to the Globe was false?" Valerie asked.

"He did. He made Thai swear that he would never reveal his role in bringing him to the Globe, but he did not ask me to promise. I thought you would want to know," Sibyl said, her wings stilling now that she had told Valerie everything. "Cyrus could have chosen to keep the lie alive, and Thai would have remained on Earth for the rest of his days. No one would have known why he never came to the Globe. Instead Cyrus gave you the choice to decide who to be with for yourself."

Her hand was pressed against her heart as she remembered her last few conversations with Cyrus before Thai had come to the Globe. He'd told Thai the truth even though he thought he would lose her.

"In telling Thai, he chose the path of light," Sibyl said. "I believe that is why I received his prophecy."

"I never would have guessed the truth. Thank you, Sibyl. As close as we are, I didn't know Cyrus as well as I thought I did," Valerie admitted. She'd underestimated him—again.

"It goes against my nature to see such selflessness go unnoticed," Sibyl said. "Only you can decide who is your other half, but I thought you would want to know all the facts before you decided."

"I don't understand why Reaper would go out of his way to lie to Thai," Valerie said, her foot tapping against the step.

"Putrefus delivered a prophecy to Chern the day that he visited the Roaming City with you, Henry, and Gideon," Sibyl said.

"What did it say?" Valerie asked, stunned. She had a dim memory of Chern pulling Putrefus aside to scold him, but he must have been seeking a prophecy of his own, from an Oracle who could help him toward a path of war.

"All prophecies are recorded, but Putrefus barred those who followed the path of light from visiting the hall of records," Sibyl said, regret in her eyes.

Valerie nodded mutely, and her perspective shifted at that moment, more than it ever had under Reaper's spell.

Henry and Valerie spent the day preparing to visit Azra and letting their friends know that they'd be gone for a few days. They had decided to visit her alone, and everyone understood. It was unspoken, but they needed to be away from the rest of the world to grieve. They would go at dawn the next day.

That night, Valerie couldn't sleep. Instead, her feet led her to The Horseshoe. Arden's guilds seemed otherworldly in the moonlight, and it brought her comfort to think of Skye's words and know that in an important way, the battle hadn't been for nothing.

She saw a figure sitting on the fountain in the center of The Horseshoe, and even in the dim light from the stars, she knew the silhouette.

"Kind of makes the view from my tent look pathetic, doesn't it?" Thai asked, staring up at the stars as she approached.