Ah! Reeling, the king staggered back.

“You,” he gasped as she reached him. He recoiled into his cushions.

“No need to concern yourself”—Governor-Advisor grabbed the girl’s arms—“my king. Just one of the children escaped from the guards.”

“That’s not one of the children,” the king whispered.

“My mistake—a supplicant.” Governor-Advisor, pulling the girl toward the door, bowed his head. “We’ll send her away—”

“She’s not a supplicant.” The words were thick in the king’s throat.

The girl, the hand of Governor-Advisor over her mouth, made a mmm sound.

“Just removing her now,” said Governor-Advisor, still backing away. “No need for the king to trouble—”

“Stop!” cried the king. “Bring her here.”

Still muffled, the girl was pressed forward.

On his pillows, the king whispered. “What do you want?”

“What all supplicants want, my king.” Governor-Advisor’s fingers, white with pressure, flattened over the girl’s mouth. “Coins for this. Forgiveness for that. Assistance they should be able to give to themselves. This one’s no diffe—”

“I know who she is,” the king hissed. “Take your hand off her mouth.”

“Perhaps”—Governor-Advisor leaned—“the king would wish to empty the room before I leave this girl to speak freely?”

The king stared at the governor-advisor’s eyebrows. They squirmed over his wide forehead as though trying to convey something important, then finally lifted in exasperation.

“Out!” cried Governor-Advisor. “Out! Everyone! Everyone but you!” He gestured to the dutiful guard with moon-shadowed eyes.

The room resounded with shufflings. Only when it was empty did Governor-Advisor unmuffle the girl, leaving her mouth and cheeks finger-marked.

“What do you want?” asked the king again. “Why are you here?” He felt cold as he asked. An oracle should not be out of her chamber. Should she even exist out of her chamber?

“I know you seek the twins,” she said simply. “The heirs.”

Governor-Advisor sneered. “Everyone knows we seek a child who threatens the realm. We need no augury for that.”

“But I…” The apprentice fixed her eyes on the king, and he squirmed under her gaze. It seemed as though she were digging about his innards, scraping around his insides. It made him feel hollow and crumbly and dry. He shuddered with the odious sensation.

“I can help you,” she said softly.

“Where are the heirs—” the king whispered at the same moment Governor-Advisor said, “She knows nothing!” and gestured for the girl to be taken away.

But before the guard reached her, the oracle-apprentice drew herself up. “You must heed the oracle-apprentice!” Though perhaps half the king’s height, though covered in filth, the room felt suddenly too small to hold her. Her voice echoed as it had in the cavern. The king shrank once more into his cushions.

“The children you’ve taken are not the ones you seek! You left the babes to nature, so nature will conceal them from you. The heirs will come to you—this is the prophecy. You must cease your searching. You must let the children go.” Though her words again seemed to come from somewhere beyond her—full of mountains and echoing stone—her gaze flickered, a slight hesitation.