“Teddy,” I say as my head pounds. “If you wish, the next time we visit Verdana, I’ll cover every inch of its borders with you. We’ll search the Shouldered Mountains for openings. Is that enough?”

She sticks out her hand for me to shake. Another deal. With a weak laugh, I grab it.

“You know, I’ve read about prophets. There aren’t many, at least according to the books,” she muses. “Most people that call themselves prophets are actually heretics. So say the texts.”

I can’t believe I’d thought Teddy had finished her interrogation. I straighten my shoulders.

“Yes. True prophets must be incredibly rare.”

Teddy jabs a finger in the air. “Exactly what I’d deduced! Although, there was one legitimate prophet I read about. I’m sure you’ve heard of her.”

I face her with a blank stare.

“The Woman of the Woods, of course,” she says proudly. “The First Prophet.”

“I don’t know much about her,” I admit. I spent my youth training with blades, not books.

Teddy is clearly looking for some kind of response from me. She drapes both her legs over the chair arm and strokes a finger along her chin.

“Well, even though you show no enthusiasm, I’ll have you know most of my research focused on her. She’s the reason we know about the Lady and the Guard in the first place. All the sacred texts were written after her prophecies.”

“That much I do know.” I hesitate for a moment. “In your studies of Verdana, did you run across a Cyra Hyland? Around the time of Novak’s reign?”

Teddy taps a steady beat against her thigh. “Not that I recall. The records of the Hyland lineage start with Novak and his wife, Mallory. I mean, there was Queen Adelaide before her, you know, the Traitorous Queen. Nothing on a Cyra Hyland, though.”

I nod again, consenting to the mystery. I may never learn what those Minean visions mean, and I remind myself that I’m at peace with this. The visions don’t matter, not anymore. Teddy’s eyes glow with her passion, so I ask the question I know she longs to answer.

“What else do you know about the Woman of the Woods?”

“Oh, plenty! I have her first prophecy nearly memorized: what she taught about the gods and the Great Darkness. The one to end all things, or whatever.”

My skin prickles and crawls. Although I told Teddy much of what happened in the Wood, I didn’t share what the Minea said about my fate as I left her home the second time.

“The Great Darkness is in your blood, Idalia. Should you choose to face your fate, you will not survive it.”