“Be my guest,” I replied. She should be answerable to everyone—she’d let us all suffer a lot of bother for no good reason. Just because everything had turned out okay, it didn’t mean she should be let off the hook, as far as I was concerned.
Corrine, Nuriya, and the rest of them all started walking toward her. The Oracle looked pleased as they approached – I guessed she could sense them. It struck me that she wasn’t very self-aware…maybe that came from living in a cave all by yourself for thousands of years.
I followed with Julian and Yelena.
“Thank you for ending the life of the entity.” She smiled at them all before they could get a word in. “Better this way than being re-imprisoned by the stones. Nevertide, and I, are grateful—your names will not be forgotten. You have sacrificed much.”
“Yeah, we have,” Ruby spat out. “No thanks to you.”
“Perhaps,” the Oracle mused. “Or perhaps not.”
There go those stellar prophecy skills.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ruby bit back. She was mad. I wondered if something had happened in the battle, something that had pissed Ruby off. Ash was alive, and I assumed her parents were otherwise she would have said something, so I couldn’t really understand what was bothering her so much—not to this point of fury, anyway. I glanced at Hazel, who shook her head with a ‘don’t ask’ expression.
The Oracle reached out and held Ruby’s hand. She looked like she wanted to shake it off but something stopped her.
“Ashbik won’t come to further harm, Ruby. You’ll have a happy life together, a long life. You two are the new beginning that I spoke of earlier, Tejus of Hellswan and Hazel as well. But it is under your rule that Nevertide will transform—will become truly free.”
The Oracle released her hand and stepped back.
“Thank you,” Ruby whispered. She wiped at her face hastily, looking as if she was crying.
“I should return to my home,” the Oracle added.
“Wait,” Nuriya interjected. “I’m afraid you can’t do that yet. The rest of GASP will want to question you. I understand that you may have helped us in ways we do not realize, but we need to know the full story, and I would prefer it if you waited for Derek and Sherus to arrive.”
“You don’t trust me,” sighed the Oracle.
“No,” Nuriya answered honestly. “I don’t. The fact that you’re a child of an Ancient and a jinni of old is curious, if not downright terrifying. I hope you understand.”
The Oracle fiddled with her dress, looking uncomfortable. “I have told the children and the other jinni my story,” she replied softly.
Nuriya crossed her arms.
“That’s not enough. Please, you must stay.”
“But if I stay now,” the Oracle replied, “my own future becomes very unclear.”
“They can’t harm you,” Aisha replied. “It’s in the best interest of us all for you to stay a while—yourself included. We need to confirm what you’ve told us. There’s a lot we don’t understand about the sentries and their history that you do.”
I hid a smirk.
Oh, yeah.
My sister was technically part-ghoul. So gross. I didn’t know if I wanted to tell her or wait until she found out from the Oracle…Either way was tempting. Maybe I’d wait for the right moment—let her relax a bit from the battle first. Enjoy her last moments of ignorance before I spilled the beans.
“Are you okay, Benedict?” Yelena asked.
“Yeah!”
“You look like you’re choking.”
In delight!
“I’m fine,” I replied hurriedly.
Yelena gave me a baffled look and then shrugged, turning her attention back to the Oracle.
The Oracle agreed to stay. She made it clear that she wasn’t all that pleased about it, but she stopped resisting. It was strange to come across a creature that was part Ancient, who seemed so compliant – not bent on destroying us all, but almost as if she was afraid of us in some ways.
Nuriya and Corrine sent the villagers back to Memenion’s castle. Ash would come and see them shortly to give further instructions, and make sure they all had some way of feeding themselves until they could return to their farming. I guessed most of them expected him to go with them, but I got the impression that he didn’t want to leave Ruby’s side, and none of us were willing to go back into the depths of Nevertide. We all wanted a break, and to get home as soon as we could. Even Zerus stayed with us. He didn’t say much to anyone, least of all his brother, but he seemed content enough to just sit still, staring up at the torn sky, waiting for the stars to come out.