Smoke and Mirrors (45)

Forty-Five

Birds of Fate

---

Dying is actually pretty annoying.

I mean, when you think about it, you spend your whole life breathing and living and working and functioning like a normal human being, and suddenly something relatively small happens that causes that to just—stop? Why? What’s the purpose of living if I’m just going to die later on anyway? I mean seriously, it’s kind of stupid.

But anyway, enough of that little rant.

I laid there in shock for a while. I didn’t even realise what was going on at first until I noticed a hole burned itself in my chest. Warmth covered my fingers in scarlet, but even then I didn’t quite realise what was happening.

—In fact, I don’t think I ever fully understood what was happening. As my vision faded, as voices rang around me like the broken speakers of a TV I used to have, I continued to lay there, frozen in shock.

One might have mistaken me for a statue.

Except, unlike a statue, I was dying.

Everything faded to black at some point. I barely remember that bit now, but I know it happened. That’s what they always say in all the books, after all.

One thing I remember exceptionally well was the feeling of being dead. Of looking down at my body and seeing the people gathered around me. Adrian, Seraphina, a few guards. That was all that was there to bid me goodbye.

This is a random thing to notice, but I hadn’t ever thought about it before. I didn’t need to breathe as a dead person. It was a nice feeling, and it mingled with the weightlessness of death. There was no pain, either. There were small aches and things that I was suddenly realising no longer existed for me. Some pains I had gotten so used to in life, I didn’t even realise they were there until I noticed their absence.

There’s a gap in my memory at some point. I tried recalling it, but I never could. I just know that after that weightless floaty feeling, I found myself being yanked back to life. The weight, the small aches and pains, a slight crick in my neck I hadn’t noticed before, the burning pain in my chest, all of this came flooding back at once and I hated it.

Maybe death wasn’t so stupid after all.

I gasped my first breath. I began to cry. It was an overwhelming kind of cry, where you can’t help but let out the confusion and chaos in the form of tears.

Looking back, I wonder if that’s why newborn babies cry. Maybe they remember the weightless freedom of being only a soul and miss it.

I do remember one thing clearly; a bird chirping.

It wasn’t lovely or melodic, in fact, it was actually kind of grating, but I knew at once that the whistle was what had brought me back. Somehow, it had called me.

The bird shimmered with the colors of a goldenrod sunset. When my eyes opened, it was the very first thing I saw, standing on my chest and staring into my face with dark eyes.

I coughed and then winced at the pain in my chest.

“She’ll be thirsty, give her something.”

“Not yet, it’s been too long for her body. Give her a little while.”

“You said that with the last one and you saw how he turned out.”

“Well—I’m the one that saw how she will turn out, not you!”

The other voice sighed.

I blinked and took in the scene before me.

The room was big, with white walls and gold touches throughout it. Many other gold birds that looked like the one on my chest stared at me with small, watchful eyes. They were perched on the backs of chairs, on vases, and anywhere else they could sit. It was unnerving.

Sitting in a chair beside me was a young woman. She wore a tie-dye dress and had her hair pulled back in a braid, and in her hand was a cup that read, ‘My favorite daughter gave me this mug’.

Another woman, this one older, stood beside her. Her face was traced with wrinkles and her silvery hair was pulled back in a tight bun.

“W–” My voice cracked and I coughed. My mouth felt like cotton. “Where am I?” I asked.

The women looked at each other, then back at me.

The tie-dye girl chirped, “You’re at Fates Incorporated.”

“You died,” the older woman added. “Not that that’s an issue for us of course, I just thought you should know.”

I coughed again, then choked on the very air I breathed. My mouth was so incredibly dry. “How am I—here then?” I rasped.

All of the birds began to chatter then. They were laughing.

“The birds,” the young woman said simply, as if that explained everything.

I looked around the room. Herbs hung from the ceiling, likely drying. Their scent wafted through the air like a gentle caress.

“You’re one of us, you know,” the older woman said suddenly. “The prophecy—it’s all coming true.”

I sat up suddenly, then winced as a wave of pain went through my head. A thought hit me. “Sterling—if I died, what’s happening with his kingdom?”

“You’ve only been gone a day, it’s not long enough to tell much yet,” the tie-dye girl said. “Only time will tell—and Maureen.”

I wrinkled my forehead. “Maureen?”

“Yes, she’s one of the fates. She saw glimpses of how the prophecy would play out.”

“And how did it end?” I asked quietly.

“Oh, we don’t usually see endings, dear. Things rarely end. But that husband of yours was just pitiful.” The tie-dye girl sipped from her mug.

Pitiful? Sterling? Over my death? He was the one who wanted it so badly. “I need to go back.” I scrambled to sling my legs over the side of the bed I was in, then realised I was tangled in blankets. I fell forward and groaned as my knife wound burned angrily.

“No, you can’t go back. Not yet!” the older woman exclaimed. “The plan!”

“What she means,” the tie-dye girl cut in, “is that we’ve created a plan that flows alongside the prophecy. Did you never wonder why there was a prophecy written about you, Tessa?”

I pulled myself back into the bed. “I mean—I guess I always wondered, but there’s a lot of curious things in this world.” I rubbed my arms and scooted back onto the bed.

“Every one of the Fates has a prophecy about them. Why else would so much have been written about you?” the old woman answered.

“Wait,” I started, “are you saying I’m—like, one of you guys?!”

“Mhm.” Tie-dye sipped her drink.

I coughed. “Seriously?! You mean to tell me that all this time, I’ve been one of you guys?!” No wonder the Fates were known for making bad matches. I was the worst person ever to help dictate how people were supposed to live their lives.

“Didn’t you know?” asked the older woman. “Haven’t you had visions or anything?” She tossed a side-glance to Tie-dye.

I began shaking my head, then paused. That awful image of Adrian filled my head. How had I known my mother’s group was keeping him in such bad conditions? I knew it wasn’t just an illusion, but I never thought about it being. . . an actual vision. What did that mean for me?

“I guess so,” I said slowly. “I just didn’t realise that was a. . . Fate thing.”

Tie-dye smiled. “Oh yeah. It’s part of how the Maker designed us to function. We all see visions of things we need to know ahead of time.”

“Like your death,” added the old woman. “Your prophecy is how we were able to get the birds here in time. If it had been too late, you wouldn’t be here.”

I closed my eyes and pushed the palm of my hand into my eye. “What does this mean for me? All these prophecies—why is it so important for me to be one of the Fates?”

“Because you are what the world needs right now. In this time, in this moment, it is you who are destined to save our world from being destroyed.” She sipped her coffee again and tugged on her braid.

My eyes widened at that. “Oh–that reminds me; I know who the unseen evil is.”

The two glanced at each other and then back at me. The older woman’s eyebrows were scrunched together in confusion. “Who?”

I inhaled and my breath caught at the pain in my chest. “It’s a society of people.” A slow exhale. “They’ve been building their group since Lady Wyrn’s days, and they’re trying to get rid of our Talents so they can control us all.”

They began whispering to each other. Finally, the younger woman looked at me and shook her head. “That’s impossible. We’ve ensured that the evil isn’t here yet. We’ve been looking for it forever. Whatever the evil is, it has to be something new. Something not here yet.”

I raised my eyebrows at her. “Why does it have to be new? Isn’t it possible that you just, I don’t know, messed up like any normal human does and missed it? These people are real, I’ve seen them.” I folded my arms to punctuate the end of my argument.

“I’m sure you saw someone,” the older woman began, “but most definitely not the same evil from the prophecy. We have been searching for it diligently. If it was here now, we’d know it.”

I snorted. “Well an unforeseen good didn’t give me this knife wound.”

“Oh of course; this band of ruffians must be stopped, but it couldn’t have been the ultimate enemy, you see.” The woman fluffed her greying hair.

“My mother and the ruler of time are part of this group,” I said suddenly, remembering I’d seen a glimpse of Shi’s face just before he’d killed me. “In fact, Prince Shi was the one who killed me.”

They sucked in a breath and looked at each other. After a moment of silence, the tie-dye girl asked, “Are you serious? This would be a serious accusation if what you say is true.”

I nodded firmly. “It’s true.”

“But he and Yinyue made such a lovely couple,” the old woman moaned. “This upsets everything!”

“I know,” I replied stiffly. “Believe me, I know.”

After all, he was the one my mother tried to force me to marry. I knew all too well that this information was unsettling.

“Suppose this group is real,” the tie-dye girl began suddenly, setting her coffee mug on a glass table near her chair. “What next? If they’re as dangerous as you say they are, and have stayed hidden so well, then how are we supposed to stop them? We’re only mortal. Well, some of us.”

I rolled my eyes. “What happened to the whole, ‘You were born for a time like this’ speech?”

Tie-dye pursed her lips. “Why don’t you get some rest. When you’re ready, I’ll call a meeting with the other Fates and have this information presented to them. If this group is real, and is as bad as you say, then this won’t be good. For us or the nations.”

I sighed in frustration and impatience, but I was tired.

Truth be told, dying takes a lot out of a person.