Ursula was gorgeous. Arcus had never seen anyone so beautiful—a living, breathing model of the feminine ideal. Her features bordered on miraculous, the likes of which the hand of an artist might conjure, but nature itself could not.
He had heard of the Heoga Tribe. They were a people who inhabited the plateaus that ran from the northeast of the kingdom up to the border with the Northern Confederation. Unaffiliated with any country, the land they lived on was a neutral zone. They did, however, have dealings with Lainur, and their fabrics and products could be found in the capital’s markets.
Members of the Heoga Tribe were recognizable by the tiny horns that grew where their forehead met their hairlines. Arcus raised his lantern up high. Though it was mostly hidden by her hair, Ursula had these horns too. They weren’t even half an inch long.
It wasn’t unheard of in the man’s world for tumors or keratin to harden and take on a hornlike shape. These horns came by themselves, or as asymmetrical pairs, and their forms could not be predicted. Ursula’s appeared to be made of bone and were perfectly symmetrical—clearly a separate phenomenon.
Arcus distracted himself from her beauty with a question. “And what does a woman of the Heoga Tribe want with a noble kid like me?”
“I have come to greet you, Seer.”
“And you think I’m important enough that you came all the way to the capital to do it?”
“That you are.”
“I think you’ve got the wrong guy. See ya.” Sheathing his sword, Arcus made to leave. It was partly a test.
It still wasn’t apparent what she wanted from him. He didn’t know how she had decided that he was the “Seer” she was after either. That was the question he wanted answered first. Pretending to leave might draw something out of her.
“Please wait. I have proof.”
“Where?”
“Your left arm.”
“Huh?”
Arcus’s left arm was currently wrapped in bandages. Was that how she had identified him? Deciding someone was a “Seer” solely on the basis of an injured arm seemed a little flimsy to him.
But Ursula looked as serious as anything. She definitely wasn’t making fun of him.
When he asked her to elaborate, she said, “Before I explain, Seer, there is something I wish to ask of you. Do you know of The Prophecy of Shadows?”
“Yeah. And stop calling me ‘Seer.’ Who said that’s what I was? I don’t even know what it means.”
“Very well. May I call you Arcus?”
“So you do know my name...”
He was obliged to assume that she knew about his background too. There had likely been a lot of preparation put into this visit of hers.
“The Prophecy of Shadows writes of a leader to the Heoga Tribe. You match the description of that leader perfectly.”
“What leader?”
“The Seer is said to be a youth with silver hair and scarlet eyes.”
“Everyone in my family has those. I bet you’d find people with the same hair and eye colors in other countries too.”
“I quite agree. That is why I would like to see your left arm. It is written that there is a phoenixlike pattern on the Seer’s left arm.”
“A phoenix?” Arcus’s heart thumped once. “Pattern” was a strange way of putting it, but he did have a birthmark shaped like one. He hadn’t been aware of it until Sue pointed it out the other day as she was treating his arm. It was an unsettling coincidence.
“Yes. The mark of the one destined to bring peace to the tribe.”
His birthmark may have resembled a phoenix, but it was just that: a birthmark. Was this woman really putting her faith in something borne of random chance?
Arcus suddenly realized his gaze had dropped to the location of the mark.
“So, the prophecy was true,” Ursula said.
“It kinda looks like a phoenix, but that’s it.”
He unwrapped his bandages to show his arm to a smug Ursula. What she saw left her beaming like her heart was overflowing.
“There it is...”
“It’s gotta be a coincidence, though. And besides...”
This sort of thing happened in fairy tales. Not real life.
Ursula shook her head vigorously before he could point that out. “That mark, along with your hair and eyes... I doubt it is an especially common combination. I do not believe there is any room for doubt. What’s more, this is not the first time you have been called ‘Seer,’ is it? Else there would have been no need for you to stay and listen.”
“I might look exactly like this ‘Seer’ is supposed to, but how come you’re so sure I’m the one you want? Aren’t prophecies supposed to be a little unreliable?”
“The events foretold in The Prophecy of Shadows are all linked to future events.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard that too, but—”
“And in fact, it has already proven itself to be true about many things.”
“Like what?”
“Led by a previous Seer, all forty-two clans that make up the Heoga Tribe overcame a period of suffering.”
“And you’re expecting me to lead you in the same way?”
“Yes. I understand how presumptuous it is to appear before you without warning and make such a request of you; however, this too has been foretold.”
At least she was self-aware. However, the fact that she had sought him out despite that showed how pressing the matter was to her. A part of Arcus was incredulous about her unconditional belief in the prophecy. The other side of the coin was that, to a true believer, the prophecy was infallible. In fact, he was the odd one out. The prevailing line of thought in this world was that the events described in The Prophecy of Shadows were literal certainties. It was one of the reasons magicians took such pains trying to decipher it. Chain herself may as well have outright corroborated it in his dream.
Arcus decided it would be best to assume the prophecy was true for now, although it didn’t alleviate all his doubts.
“This is all too sudden,” he said, “and I really don’t have the kind of abilities you’d need in a leader.”
“Even if that is the case now, you will surely attain them.”
“And if I do, you want me to help you? Do you guys even need a leader?”
“The Heoga Tribe does not own land, and each turning point in our history has been marked by a journey to a new place. We dearly wish to find a land where we may live in peace.”
“Right now you’re occupying...the northeast part of the Lamacan Plateau and part of the Cross Mountain Range, right?”
“We settled in our current home less than two decades ago, but there is much that we are dissatisfied with. That being said, we have no complaints about the climate or terrain.”