The Prophecy (Daughters of the People Series Book 1) (30 page)
Read The Prophecy (Daughters of the People Series Book 1) Online
Authors: Lucy Varna
James stood
stock still at the entrance, his avid gaze cataloging every detail of the room,
from the alcoves to the Handmaidens to the woman at its center. “The Oracle?”
he asked quietly.
“Yes.” The
reading Handmaiden marked her place in the book and moved out the way. Maya
twined her fingers with James’ and led him to the Oracle’s side. “This is her.”
“Did she give
the People the Prophecy?”
“Nobody knows
where the Prophecy came from.” Maya shrugged and considered the sleeping woman.
“It’s possible she did, but it would’ve had to have been a very long time ago,
before our written records begin.”
James tilted his
head to the side. “She doesn’t issue prophecies, but you call her the Oracle?”
Maya pursed her
lips, stifling a laugh. His confusion was natural, and so very endearing. “She
was found in a cave, a grotto, really. I think it was somebody’s idea of a
joke. You know, mysterious woman in a cave, the mystical elements of the curse
and the People’s origins?”
“Gotcha. So who
is she?”
“We don’t really
know. She’s been this way for as long as anyone can remember, and we have some
very old Daughters.”
James dipped
toward the Oracle and exhaled sharply. “She’s not breathing.”
Maya snagged his
arm and tugged him backward. “Relax. She doesn’t breathe. In fact, she doesn’t
move at all, not that anyone can see. We think she’s in some sort of mystical
stasis.”
“So you just put
her here and what?”
“Protect her.
Watch over her.” Maya lifted the veil away from the Oracle’s face and torso and
folded it carefully below her waist. “Hope she wakes up so we know who she is.”
James cleared
his throat. “Er, should you be doing that?”
“It’s ok. This
is part of the tradition. When a Daughter breaks her curse, she comes here with
the one she trusts to pay homage to the Oracle.”
“So you trust
me, then? Your curse is broken?”
She smiled up at
him, this man who meant so much to her. He’d earned her trust and ensnared her
heart, and managed to save her in the process. “Yes and yes.”
He slid an arm
around her shoulders, and she leaned into him, thankful for his presence, grateful
he’d taken a chance on her and had the patience to wait for her trust to grow.
After a while, she took one of the Oracle’s hands in her own and explained
quietly how she’d met James and what he meant to her. When she’d emptied her
heart and run out of words, she pressed a kiss to the Oracle’s hand, surprised
as she always was that the sleeping woman’s skin was warm and soft, kept so by
some force beyond Maya’s reckoning.
“Can I touch
her?” James asked.
Maya arched a
single eyebrow. “You really do like older women, don’t you.”
James shot her
an exasperated look. “One at a time is more than enough for me, sweetheart. I
wanted to thank her, like you did. Can I do that?”
“I don’t see why
not.”
James lifted the
Oracle’s hand and bent down to whisper softly, as if she really were asleep and
he didn’t want to wake her. Then he kissed her hand as Maya had done and
stepped back.
Maya reached
forward to draw the veil back across the Oracle’s body.
The Oracle gasped
and arched upwards. Her eyes shot open. “Gulnar?” she rasped. “Gulnar nadji?”
She collapsed against the gurney and her body jerked, her limbs flailing
against its metal sides. Maya snagged James’ elbow and pulled him out of the
way as five Handmaidens raced to the Oracle and braced themselves on either side
of her, containing her on the gurney.
Maya’s hand
tightened on James’ arm. “What did you do?”
“I talked to
her, just like you did,” James said, his voice shaking.
“What did you
tell her?”
“I told her what
you did, how we met and how I love you, and then I told her we’d found the
Prophecy of Light and that we hoped to use it to break the curse.”
The Oracle
sagged and stilled. One of the Handmaidens radioed out. Another ripped the
cloth away from the gurney’s edge. Two others unlocked the wheels and rolled
the Oracle carefully out of the cave. In a few moments they were gone. The
remaining Handmaiden escorted them out past the two Handmaidens standing guard
and left them at the golf cart.
Maya and James
navigated their way to the Archives’ entrance in silence. When Maya turned in
the golf cart, the guard on duty relayed the information that the Oracle was on
her way to the hospital near Tellowee.
James walked
beside Maya to the car, head down, his expression pinched. “I’m so sorry, Maya.
If I would’ve known she’d react to me…” He shuffled to a stop and stared at the
sky above them, clear blue and cloudless. “Has no man ever spoken to her
before?”
She threaded her
arm through his and rested her head on his shoulder. “She has a lot of
visitors, James, Sons and men like you who’ve become part of the People. It
almost certainly wasn’t your presence that triggered her seizures.”
“Still, maybe I
shouldn’t have told her about the Prophecy. Maybe it would’ve been better if I
hadn’t said anything at all.”
“I think you did
exactly the right thing.”
The Oracle had
awakened, if only for a moment. James couldn’t know what that might mean. He
had no idea of her importance or of the significance of what he’d said. Maya
turned the possibilities over, studying them carefully. Could the Oracle be
connected to the Prophecy somehow? Is that why she’d woken now or had it simply
been her time to wake up? And what was it she’d said?
Gulnar nadji
. Nothing
Maya recognized, but maybe someone else would know the phrase.
All of that would
be resolved in time. The Oracle would be cared for and maybe she’d even wake up
for good. The curse would be broken, their enemy defeated, and the People
saved. The hope that these things would come to pass was greater now than it ever
had been before. Maya tucked the worry and hope away. For now, she had more
pressing matters to think about, a family to build, a life to live, and a love
to bind it all together.
She took James’
hand and kissed him softly, absorbing his heat into her own, and with it some
of his worry. He relaxed against her and she knew he’d be ok, that he’d go on
to fulfill his promise to the Oracle. He’d help the People break the curse, and
he’d love Maya forever. That was what she’d waited for her whole life, a man she
could love without reservation, someone who loved her just as fiercely.
She intended to
enjoy every moment with him.
* * *
In the days of
Shadow
The Light will
awaken
Daughters and
Sons will gather
Where the bones
of the Sisters shall lie
The storm will
rise, but
The bow of the
Enemy will unbend
And the Light of
the People
Shall see into
the darkest Shadow
Two paths lie
before the People
Strength brings
victory
Weakness is
death
Only the Light
can decide
Which one to
follow
* * *
Read the next book in the
series now!
Light’s Bane
(Daughters of the People,
Book 2)
* * *
Thank you for
reading
The Prophecy
, the first book in the Daughters of the People
Series. Please consider leaving a review for it at your favorite online
retailer.
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gain access to these stories and bonus features:
- “No Good Deed,”
a
Daughters of the People short story. Varin must protect a fragile copy of
the Prophecy of Light from the Eternal Order in this historical fantasy. - “Trick or Treat,”
a spin-off
of
The Prophecy
(Daughters of the People, Book 1). Dierdre
Bellegarde goes trick-or-treating with her almost-sister Amelia Terhune
and Amelia’s boyfriend, Johnny Linton, and discovers that hope comes in
many forms. - “The Christmas Surprise,”
a spin-off
of
Light’s Bane
. Dani Nehring meets Dave Winstead’s family and gets
the surprise of her life. - “Tomorrow’s Promise,”
a spin-off
of
In All Things, Balance
(Daughters of the People, Book 4). Naomi
Spillfeite’s tomorrows grow promising when she meets stoic Mike Fairfax. - Plus
bonus and deleted scenes
, like the
original Prologue for
Light’s Bane
(Daughters of the People, Book
2), cut before publication.
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Dedication:
For Bailey, the
first Daughter.
Acknowledgments:
A deep
and heartfelt thank you to Richard E. Hopkins, Jr., whose knowledge of weapons
proved incredibly useful to the creation of the fight scenes. Richard also
served as the “alpha” reader, the hole finder, the grammar check, and the final
editor. Without him, this story would have floundered from the first word. A
sincere thank you to my son, who provided invaluable feedback on the deeper
story line. Muchas lovas! Regarding the original cover: Many thanks to Autumn’s
End Designs, Clayton, Georgia, for providing props; to Deb’s Cats N Quilts,
Franklin, North Carolina, for help in selecting appropriate fabrics for the
costume; and to the cover model for her patience during the chilly photo shoot.
About the
Author:
Lucy Varna lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of northeast Georgia, surrounded
by her large, extended family. Visit Lucy online at
her website
or
Facebook page
, or visit
the Daughters online
.
* * * * *
The Daughters of
the People Series
Immortal Amazons unjustly cursed,
struggling to save their People, and their hearts.
The Prophecy
(Book 1)
Maya Bellegarde journeys to Sweden on behalf of the
People. There, she meets James Terhune, an attractive language expert.
Together, they must uncover the secrets of the grave and protect it from an
ancient enemy, and Maya must decide whether or not to trust James with
her
deepest secret.
Light’s Bane
(Book 2)
When Daniella Nehring teams up with Dave Winstead to
track down and recover stolen artifacts, her task is complicated by the
attraction she feels for the stalwart undercover FBI agent, and by her own
sinister heritage.
Read
Light’s Bane
now:
The Enemy Within
(Book 3)
Indigo Dupree and Bobby Upton are drawn into a deadly game involving the
Prophecy of Light, forcing her to choose between her duty and her heart.
Read
The Enemy Within
now:
Tempered
(Book 3.5)
