Her strange urge roused my suspicions about exactly what she was. “Why did you send me to the room Casteel was in?”

Her red lips curved upward in a slight smile. “It simply…felt right to do so.”

“That is all?”

She nodded as she approached me. “One’s instinct should always be trusted.”

“You’re a changeling, aren’t you?” When she nodded, I asked, “So, your instinct is far more…accurate than others?”

A soft laugh left her. “Some would say that. Some would even say that instinctual accuracy has led me to become one of the greatest Seers Atlantia has ever known.”

A Seer. I knew it!

“When I saw you in the Red Pearl, I knew you wore a mask. Not the one that hid your identity, but one you were forced to wear for many years beneath the veil. One you didn’t know you even wore. I saw you, and I knew you were the Maiden.” Willa’s eyes searched mine as tiny bumps rose all over my skin. “I knew you were a second daughter, one who shared the blood of the gods.” Her gaze flicked over my shoulder to the door. “And I knew he was seeking the same thing that led you to the Red Pearl that night.”

My brows knitted. “He was there to discuss his plans.”

Thick curls swayed as she shook her head. “That was one of the reasons, but deep inside, he was searching for the same as you.” She paused. “To live.”

Air lodged in my throat.

“Can I share something with you?” Willa leaned in, touching my arm. A faint charge of energy danced over my skin. “You weren’t the only one seeking sanctuary that night. He was in need of shelter—one that could bear the weight of his desires, his love, and his pain. And he found it. He may have given you freedom, but you have given him more than you could ever know.”

Emotion clogged my throat, stealing whatever words I had to speak.

“Don’t forget that,” she said.

“I won’t,” I managed.

Willa smiled.

“Penellaphe,” Eloana called from the doorway. “Are you ready?”

Inhaling deeply, I nodded. “I am,” I replied and then lowered my voice. “Thank you for answering my questions.”

She inclined her head. “Always. And if you become…curious enough to ask those other questions I’m sure are brewing in your head, I’ll be more than happy to answer them or refer you to a certain…chapter.”

Oh.

Oh, my.

“T-thank you,” I stuttered out and then started to turn.

“Your Majesty,” Willa stopped me, and when I faced her, her smile was gone. “A Seer cannot always know things about another, nor can most close their eyes and look past the now into tomorrow and the days that come after. I cannot,” she told me, and those tiny bumps returned. “Atlantians can be superstitious, even if they don’t believe in prophecies. Do you know why they don’t?”

My skin chilled. “No.”

“Because we believe that the days yet to be seen are not foretold. That even what the gods may have in store for us is not written in stone,” Willa said, the golden flecks in her eyes burning brightly. “But what is written in bone is different, and what is not believed should not be ignored.”