With a bang, the door of Thomas’ house slammed shut behind Lewis and Arthur. For a moment, there was silence as Thomas and Emily stood alone in Thomas’ kitchen.

‘Is there anything I can do?’ Emily volunteered nervously, breaking the silence.

‘Have a seat,’ Thomas said, gesturing her through the next room to the chairs that sat in front of the fire. Taking the seat opposite her, he considered her for a moment. ‘Are you sure that Lewis is the right person?’

‘The heir to the throne?’ she asked. ‘Yes.’

‘Very well, then,’ Thomas said as he sat back, his eyes not leaving her for a second. ‘I had been expecting you to show up one day. Just not under these circumstances.’

‘You had?’

‘For many years,’ Thomas confirmed. ‘I knew it was you the second I saw you in The Red Clover.’

‘What do you mean? We’ve never met before, have we?’ Emily asked, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

‘No, we’ve never met before today,’ said Thomas casually. ‘What did Sebastian tell you when he took you to the castle in Tristan?’

‘He told me he picked me out of an orphanage in Tristan,’ Emily said as she stood up and walked over to the window that looked out on Thomas’ garden. ‘I never really questioned it. It always felt like a good enough explanation. Now it doesn't, though.’

‘Emily, sit down, please,’ Thomas said softly.

‘Why?’ she asked, turning away from the window.

‘Trust me, you’ll want to.’

‘You know why he took me to the castle?’ she asked quietly as she returned to her seat. Silently, he nodded.

‘There is this thing that runs in the Vandemark blood. Sebastian had it, as did I. I’m fairly certain that Lewis has it,’ Thomas said carefully.

‘Shadow Scar?’ Emily interrupted as she leant forward, remembering the disease that Sebastian had supposedly had before he died.

‘No, no. I hope not at least!’ Thomas said quickly. Breathing a sigh of relief, Emily sat back again. ‘This thing that runs in our blood allows us to pick up on the power inside of other people.’

‘How did you get it?’ Emily interrupted again.

‘It is passed down through the family. The reason I was so wary of you and Lewis when I first saw you was because I could sense the power you both have. It frightened me. I’ve never felt anything like it before.’

‘What power? I don’t have any power,’ Emily insisted.

‘Think about it,’ Thomas urged.

‘I don’t, Emily said. ‘I just have these dreams now and again. Sebastian called it an ability, not a power.’

‘This ability—have you ever been able to use it when you wanted to?’ Thomas asked. It was now his turn to lean forward in his chair.

‘No. The only time I’ve ever had anything like that, it was just a vague feeling. I had it on the way to Arcis,’ Emily said.

‘Then it is starting to awaken,’ Thomas said quietly.

‘What’s starting to awaken?’ Emily asked worriedly.

‘Your power,’ Thomas said seriously.

‘What power?’ Emily demanded. It felt like she was getting nowhere despite all the questions she was asking.

‘The dreams you have are not dreams, are they? They show you flashes of the future, don’t they?’ Thomas said.

‘Sometimes. They’ve been wrong on a lot of occasions, though,’ Emily said. ‘What’s happening to me then?’

‘It’s nothing that will harm you, I assure you,’ Thomas said. ‘You are what they call a Seer Precursor.’

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

‘What?’ Emily asked, taken aback.

‘A Seer Precursor,’ Thomas repeated. ‘It is something that hasn’t been seen in over a century.’

‘There were others that could see things like I can. She asked in disbelief. ‘What happened to them?’

‘As far as I know, there were seven of them, at least in recent history. They were the Sisters of Tristan,’ Thomas said. ‘Ever since then, the king has handpicked seven girls to take on their roles in the running of the castle and the kingdom.’

‘But none of the others have the visions that I do,’ Emily said. ‘Why were they picked?’

‘After the original Sisters of Tristan, there were no more Seer Precursors. The roles were often given to the daughters of wealthy or influential individuals,’ Thomas explained. ‘Sebastian was searching for another girl to make a Sister of Tristan when he found you in the orphanage. When he sensed your power, as I did, he knew he had to take you to the castle.’

‘What happened to the original Sisters of Tristan? Emily asked after a moment, torn between wanting to find out more about herself and the past.

‘The name Sisters of Tristan was a literal name. When Arden Vandemark was exiled from Arcadia, he left with his best friend, a man named Tristan Bergstrom. Apparently, they came to an agreement that Arden could be king of their new city as long as he named it after Tristan. He did, and Arden became king.

‘It wasn’t until a couple of years later, when Arcadia was stepping up its war effort, that Arden and Tristan managed to rescue Tristan’s six sisters. They both knew about their powers and how dangerous they would be. If they could keep the sisters close, then they would have a warning if Arcadia ever planned to attack them.’

‘I thought you said there were seven sisters?’ Emily interrupted as she tried to take in everything that Thomas was telling her.

‘The seventh sister was the most interesting. According to the official records, Tristan only ever had six sisters,’ Thomas said. ‘However, there were seven Seer Precursors. No one knows where the seventh came from or how they found her, but Arden kept her close. She was the one who told Arden that Arcadia was coming for them.’

‘What about the other six? Did they not have the vision?’ Emily asked.

‘I don’t know. For weeks, Arcadia had been trying to track down the sisters. When they found them, they killed them. They didn’t want to risk their attack being thwarted.’

‘They were all killed then?’

‘Six were for definite,’ Thomas said. ‘No one knows what happened to the seventh sister. Apparently, when he realised that the sisters were threatened, he tried to find a way to protect them. Whether or not it worked, I don’t know.’

‘So why did Sebastian take me to the castle?’ Emily asked, still trying to get her head around Thomas’ history lesson.

‘He wanted to protect you. In the hands of the wrong people, a Seer Precursor is incredibly dangerous,’ Thomas said. ‘You weren’t the only one at the orphanage in danger, though. Sebastian also took Arthur and brought him here to me.’

‘Arthur is a Seer Precursor as well?’ Emily asked.

‘No. For some reason, Seer Precursors only ever seem to be female,’ Thomas said.

‘Why was he in danger then if he wasn’t a Seer Precursor?’

For a moment, Thomas paused, looking away from her for the first time during the conversation. ‘Arthur is your brother.’

‘What?’ Emily demanded, jumping up.

Silently, Thomas nodded. ‘He is your twin brother. When Sebastian saw the pair of you, he knew that as long as you were a Seer Precursor, Arthur would be in danger. There was no telling what people might do to him if they were able to get hold of him. That’s why he brought Arthur here.’

‘Why couldn’t he have taken Arthur to the castle as well?’ Emily said as she started pacing.

‘Sebastian sensed a power deep inside of Arthur as well, something that he had never seen before,’ Thomas said. ‘He felt it was best to get him as far away as possible.’

‘What was the power? Does he know?’ Emily asked, pausing at the window.

‘I don’t know. If Sebastian knew, he never told me. As for your other question, no, he doesn’t know. He doesn’t know any of what I have just told you,’ Thomas said.

‘I’ve always felt like there was something missing,’ Emily said quietly as she placed her hand on the window, staring out at the garden as the sun began to set.

‘That’s not an uncommon feeling between twins that have been separated, so I’m told,’ Thomas said. ‘Whatever happens, there is always some sort of connection there.’

‘Do you know what happened to our parents?’ Emily asked. ‘Sebastian would never talk about it.’

‘Not a lot, I’m afraid,’ Thomas said as she saw him appear behind her in the reflection on the window.

‘Tell me,’ Emily whispered, a tear rolling down her cheek as Thomas placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. ‘Please.’

‘It was your mother that took you to the orphanage in Tristan,’ Thomas said. ‘She asked them to take care of you and Arthur because she wanted you to grow up as far away from the world she had been raised in.’

‘What happened to her?’ Emily asked.

‘I don’t know. I assume she went back to Arcadia. What happened to her after that, no one knows,’ Thomas said. ‘When Sebastian took you and Arthur from the orphanage, he respected your mother’s wishes that no one go looking for her.’

‘I thought Arcadia was destroyed in the war?’ Emily said as dozens of questions burst to the front of her mind, all clamouring to be asked first.

‘Arcadia was destroyed in the war,’ Thomas confirmed. ‘On a number of occasions, sailors who have been sailing near the area have reported small-scale rebuilding going on in the area. I don’t know what Arcadia is like now, but if it is anything like it was before it was destroyed, then I understand why your mother wouldn’t want you anywhere near there.’

‘Why didn’t she just move to Tristan as well? What about my father?’ Emily asked, blurting out the questions before she could stop them.

‘I don’t know the answer to either of those, I’m afraid,’ Thomas said as he looked over her shoulder. ‘Here come Arthur and Lewis. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t say anything about what I’ve told you until I told Arthur. He deserves to hear it from me.’

Silently, Emily nodded her agreement as she watched Lewis and Arthur walk up the narrow garden path, talking. Neither of them had noticed that she and Thomas were watching them approach. She wondered if Arthur had ever had the same feeling that something was missing as she had.