The Shadow Prince

“Whoa, what?” Daphne asks.

“She’s a descendant of the Traitor?” I ask. “How can that even be possible?”

“Orpheus brought back more than the Key from the Underrealm. When Eurydice died, a casualty in the Thousand-Year War between the Underrealm and the Skyrealm, not only did Orpheus lose his new bride, but he also lost the child she carried in her womb. Distraught with grief, he prayed to his father, Apollo, for help in getting them back. Apollo had also heard the prayers of many mortals, whose homes and lives had been destroyed in the cross fire of the war, and he was determined to put a stop to it. In exchange for instructions on how to traverse the dangers of the Underrealm and bring back his wife, Orpheus agreed to steal the Key from Hades. It was intended to be a bargaining chip for Apollo to use to negotiate a cease-fire between the gods.

“While Orpheus failed to save Eurydice, he carried with him the child and the Key, the Kronolithe of the original Lord Hades.”

“You guys,” Lexie says, hugging her purse to her chest. “I don’t know how you orchestrated all this, but the joke isn’t funny anymore. Can we go?”

“No,” the Oracle says through Tobin. “Our time is growing very short, and you all must listen and be quiet. Many have anticipated the arrival of the Cypher for thousands of years. Nearly eighteen years ago, it was predicted that she would finally arrive in the form of Demi Raines’s daughter. They tried to get you then, but they failed. The time was not right. The Champion was not right. You have remained protected in the Fields of Ellis, a safe haven for the servants of Apollo. But now that you have left, now that you have come to me, the wheels have been set into motion. The others will know soon whatever I tell you. The Oracles are connected that way. Whatever I say out loud will be known by all.”

“Then why aren’t you showing me?” I take her hand and press it against my forehead. I realize now that this is why the other Oracle showed me the instructions for my quest, rather than spoke it out loud.

“I cannot,” she says, drawing her hand away and speaking for herself once more and not through Tobin’s voice. She sounds exhausted, like that trick had drained her of most of her energy. “I do not retain all of my abilities in this human vessel.”

“Then tell us the rest,” Daphne says. “I need to know where I come from before I can decide where I’m going.”

“Are you sure?” I ask her. “If we set this into motion, there will be no turning back.”

Daphne nods.

“The irony of all of this is not lost on me,” Sarah says. “You came here, Daphne, to try to escape your fate, but coming here was always meant to be one of your first steps on your path to your destiny.

“When Orpheus stole the Kronolithe, it locked the Underlords in the Underrealm, rendering Hades mostly powerless, stripping him of his immortality. Hades sent Keres through Persephone’s Gate to go after Orpheus to retrieve the Key and destroy him for his betrayal. Knowing he could not hold such a prize for long while being pursued, Orpheus hid the Kronolithe where it could not be retrieved. He placed on it a lock that only his heart and soul can unbind. The Keres soon caught up with him and tore him apart, leaving his child for dead. But Apollo found the child, and took him to the Amazons to be raised by one of their own. The child grew, married one of the Amazonian daughters, and had a child of his own. The Amazons were eventually slaughtered by the Sky God for refusing to hand him over, and the family fled to a new safe haven—where their posterity has remained protected, and oblivious to their heritage, until you chose to leave. You must see this, Daphne: you are the last descendant of that child. But not just any descendant. You are the one who has inherited the heart and soul of Orpheus. The one who can retrieve the Kronolithe. But before you can retrieve it, you must find it.”

Sarah pulls a golden chain from around her neck. Dangling from the end of it is a large golden pendant with a circle of symbols in the middle. One of them is the raised outline of Lyra—Orpheus’s lyre. “You will need this. It is the Compass, and it holds the Instrument of Orpheus. They say the Instrument was cast into the stars, but that is not so. It has been with me all this time—I have fashioned it into a compass of sorts—but I have merely been waiting for you. Waiting to hand you your destiny.”

Sarah tries to press the pendant into Daphne’s hand, but Daphne pulls away. She jumps up out of her chair. “I don’t want that.”

“You must take it.” Sarah stands, meeting her. “There isn’t much time, Daughter of the Music. You must take your destiny.”

“You can’t just try to hand me my destiny. I don’t want it. I don’t want any of this. You said there were other options. Other paths that you can see.”

“There are many paths. And we choose our paths with the decisions we make. But escaping your destiny is not as easy as it seems. The moment you chose to leave the haven of Ellis, your and Haden’s destinies became irrevocably intertwined.”

Sarah turns to face me. The temperature of the room drops drastically, and I’m forced to suppress a shiver. A pulse of energy fills the air, and her words echo inside my mind. You have two paths before you now, young Haden. Both paths are fraught with peril. Both will bring you pain. However, one will lead to the honor you have craved since you were a child, while the other will lead to the end of Lord Haden, prince of the Underrealm.

Two paths? Two destinies? How can that be? “Which path is which?”

You decide that by the choices you make. The first choice will be upon you soon.

“What does that even mean?”

Sarah stiffens, bolt upright. Her eyelids open and close rapidly over her blind eyes. “My time is up. You must take this, Daphne, so I can fulfill my purpose.” The Oracle presses the Compass into Daphne’s hand. Daphne seems too stunned to protest this time. Sarah whirls toward the doorway of the common room. “They’re here,” she whispers. “Sooner than I thought.”

“Who’s here?” Tobin asks, regaining his own voice. “I need to ask you about …” He stops speaking as the door to the common room edges open.

“My time is up,” Sarah whispers over and over again, while rocking on her heels. “My time is up.”

The door opens wider. All of us stare at the opening, anticipating who … or what … might enter that has the Oracle in such a state. The door creaks open another inch.…