"You! You're the one who started me on this path, the night of my birthday!"

The hag's mouth, the only part of her face illuminated in the firelight, curled into a smile. "Indeed, my dear. I must say, your success exceeded even that of my vision. Well done. Did your beloved explain who I am?"

Said man settled back into his place beside her on the couch, his arm gathering her close to his side once more. Ignoring his overtures, Miriam answered, "He called you Seer Muriel and claimed you had served multiple generations of his family, yet by your appearance you could be my great aunt or grandmother."

Miriam nodded once. "All true. Did he tell you anything else?"

"He said you foretold the mutiny of the magic weavers and the aftermath. He might have told me more, but his memories of this world pained him. While I comforted him, we were interrupted and never revisited the topic."

The mouth grimaced. "I don't suppose you remember the question I asked you when we first met?"

"I think," Miriam spoke slowly, "you asked me if I recognized you. You gave me no time to answer, just told me I'd figure it out in time."

"And have you, dear?"

Miriam wracked her fuzzy brain, and her own words from a minute before echoed in her thoughts. The memory of an overheard conversation of her mother's snapped forward, and she spoke her answer before she second-guessed it.

"You're my great-great-great grandmother Dorothy's older sister Muriel who went missing during the American Civil War. My mother was fascinated with your story. She found your diary while cataloging vintage books at the library when I was little, and every spare moment she had, she contacted experts around the world about it. She verified details you mentioned and searched for information about what happened to you. She stopped her research at the behest of a bad boyfriend, or at least, she did before–"

"Before you used the stone to erase one key event in your mother's life?"

Miriam had the odd urge to blush and apologize for the action. Instead she snarled, "And I'd do it again. That man–"

"Was a truly bad egg." The cloaked figure dismissed Miriam's outburst with a wave of her gnarled hand. "I would have done the same. But your action did more than preserve your mother's sweet personality. Without his interference, she eventually acquired my aunt's diary and in your current absence, she has read it and knows I met a strange man who claimed to be my soulmate right before my disappearance.

"Women in our family have great intuition, even before a soulmate bond awakens unearthly powers. As we speak, she will be matching my disappearance with yours and formulating all sorts of dangerous questions. Questions that will only double in number when Requiro arrives at her doorstep."

"What are you talking about?" Miriam sputtered, mind buzzing with all this new information. "He is to track down the traitors and ensure their threats are rendered useless. None used the portal here in the fortress, and it is the closest–"

"Distance matters not to their kind, for their ability to weld magic travels with them to your world. What does matter to them is revenge and leverage, both of which may be obtained through the possession of one woman."

Miriam gasped. "You think they mean to kidnap my mother, to influence us by threatening her with harm?"

The older woman threw back her hood and flung her arms into the air. "Worse than that, my dear. I've had a prophecy!"

She closed her eyes and hummed for a moment before chanting:

When the warrior is a ruler no more

And the kingdom led by two,

Then shall the traitors reemerge,

Seeking their mistaken due.

They seek a lady near the queen,

Yet distant from the throne,

One ignorant of any danger,

Vulnerable and alone.

They know what they seek,

But they know not where.

The protector unleashed must find,

Must woo, must bind, must prepare

Himself and the broken maid

To fight and love and make new memories.

Should he fail, both worlds may fall

If she be shattered by his enemies.

The old woman fell silent and dropped to her knees by the fire. Jonatham leapt to her side and helped her rise and stagger to the couch. Miriam wrapped a woven blanket around her relative's frail shoulders as her own body shuddered at the predictions just revealed.

Fear for her mother's safety warred with her concern for her new subjects. She felt responsible for her people, yet the prophecy outlined a distinct threat to the woman she'd loved all her life. Miriam froze, stuck between wanting to rush back to her childhood home and holding fast to her new duties.

Jonatham suffered no such hesitation. "I am certain my father will prove to be the perfect man for the job, and his unusual companions will aid him in the 'fight' referred to in the verse. All the same, I must relay this to him at once. I know he means to leave at first light, and this may affect his preparations. Mir, I'll return as soon as I can. Seer, I thank you for this valuable contribution to my father's success. You shall be rewarded handsomely." He bowed his head slightly to the two ladies and left the chamber, heedless of the fact that he wore only a robe over casual pants.

Miriam expected the wise woman to dissipate her form into the air, as she had at the conclusion of their previous encounter. Instead she turned and clasped both of Miriam's hands in her own and leaned in close.

"How are you holding up, dear?"

Surprised by the caring question, Miriam hesitated a beat before answering softly, "It's been a huge adjustment, and every day I discover something new that forces me to change my perspective on this world and my role in it. Part of me is still exhilarated with the thrill of it, and part of me wishes for just one predictable day so I can catch my breath. It's exhausting."

"Calmer days will come, dear, but isn't there an earth saying about variety and a happy life?" Muriel laughed. "Do you regret receiving my gifts?"

"Your gifts? Jonatham told me the gifts were from him, stuff that happened to be in his pockets when he got stranded on Earth."

The firelight sparkled on the wise woman's teeth as she grinned. "And who do you suppose made sure those exact items were among his pocket detritus that day? And who sent the karlet and his friends through the portal days before?"

Miriam gasped, but before she could ask any more questions, a familiar sound erupted from the chamber door.

Tap Tap

Muriel rose slowly from the couch as she said, "Your mate is heading back this way, and I must be gone when he arrives. Time and prophecy wait for no one, especially not an old woman like myself." She cackled at her own expense before sobering. "No matter what happens in the days to come, my queen, remember this: your place is now at the king's side, leading your people toward a brighter future than any of them can yet imagine. Your mother and your former home world are in the best of hands, and so are you."

Her robed form moved to stand beside the fireplace, exactly where she'd first appeared only minutes before. She turned to face the couch once more, and Miriam blurted out the only question she could grasp.

"Will I ever see you again?"

"I will never be far from your side, dear child. After all, we wise women need to stick together, or both our worlds are doomed." Mirth embroidered her words. The door latch rattled as she raised her hand to wave. Miriam glanced at the door to see Jonatham striding in, and when she looked back at the fireplace, Muriel was gone.

"Come back to bed with me, my lady," her mate crooned as he scooped her up into his arms. "It is late, and I think we both need rest for whatever excitement tomorrow may hold."

Before she drew another breath, Miriam found herself snuggled close to Jonatham as he tucked the soft bedding around them both. The steady beat of his heart beneath her ear and the soft tug of his fingers stroking her hair lulled her to the edge of slumber. Before she surrendered to it, a flicker of foresight twitched in the corner of her mind.

She felt that the coming days and years would hold more than their share of trouble and strife. Yet she knew everything would be all right in the end, not only for her, but for Jonatham and their people and their parents, as well. The best was yet to come, for all of them.