She didn’t wait to see how they would react. Instead, she pushed open the door to the cabin and greeted Rudy, who ran to her. Leaving the door ajar, she picked up the fox and carried him over to the fireplace to stir the stew she’d left cooking.
She heard chatter coming from outside, followed by the sound of swords being sheathed. Moments later, the door swung open with a flurry of snow and cold air, and the three men stumbled in one after another. The single stranger came last, several moments after the brothers, as if he were wary to get too close.
“The three of you are fools to have come here,” Kira announced to them even as she stirred the stew. “You’re all lucky not to have frozen to death. If you’d been caught up here without my cabin, you would all surely have died tonight.”
She’d seen it all too many times. Visions of those who came within close proximity of the cabin sometimes disturbed her dreams of more pleasant times. Yet they’d given her something to do in her solitude, searching out those fallen travelers to give them a few final words after their passing. These were the first men who’d arrived at her door alive. She’d seen them several times now in her visions. She’d seen them close to freezing, close to giving up, and yet here they stood before her. She could feel every set of eyes in the room upon her, gazing at her with shock and astonishment, and all she wanted to do was yell at them that it was rude to stare. Instead, she replaced the lid back on the stew pot and asked, “Why are you here?”
“If you’re the oracle, you should be able to tell us,” said the brother with the charcoal and white streaked hair. The floorboards creaked as he took a step forward.
“My visions are not always clear, but I do know you’ve all traveled a long way,” Kira announced. She turned to the newest stranger and added, “You the furthest of all.”
The fae with jet black hair and mossy green eyes dropped down onto one knee almost instantly, his head bowed as he told her, “I’ve traveled a great distance in search of you, my lady.”
Kira cringed at that. It had been a long time since anybody had called her a lady. Of course, that had been a title from her past, a title she’d only been afforded because of her gifts, and not at all because she had noble blood. She scoffed at the title, unable to stop herself. A human could not be noble, not in the fae world she lived in. Had it not been for her gifts, she would’ve been no better than cattle. In many ways, she hadn’t been. She’d been beaten and abused, practically tortured whenever her gift did not afford her master the answers he sought.
“You’ve found me,” Kira pointed out, gesturing for the man to get to his feet. She could see from the amusement of the other two that they had no intention of treating her in such a manner. “Now you will tell me why you’re here.”
“I’m in desperate need of your help,” the man told her. “I ask that you come with me, down from the mountain to my homeland.”
Kira didn’t need to look at the brothers to know their hackles had instantly risen at the other man’s words.
“She isn’t going anywhere with you!” the first brother snarled, again reaching for his swords. Kira sighed deeply and shook her head.
“I should’ve told you all to leave your swords at the door, I see.”
“My brother means no disrespect,” the flame-haired fae stepped forward, bowing his head, though he did not kneel as the other had. “Neither do I. We have merely come in search of answers.”
Kira tensed at the man’s words. The way he watched her with pleading, slate grey eyes made her tremble with something she hadn’t felt in such a long time: desire.
“I may not be able to give you the answers you seek,” Kira shook her head and glanced between the two brothers before she looked at the third man and added, “I may not be able to offer you what you seek either, traveler.”
“What kind of oracle are you?” the ruder of the brothers demanded. Kira turned her gaze on him, meeting his unwavering blue eyes with a stern glare of her own.
“I am a servant of Fate, not her master,” she answered proudly, “I can see only what she chooses to show me.”
And she has chosen to show me much of the three of you, Kira thought, though she could not bring herself to say the words out loud. Then she may have to admit what she’d seen coming to pass, and she could not yet even admit it to herself.
Seeing the frustration and confusion on the faces of the three men before her, Kira suggested, “Why don’t we all begin with our names? After all, it’s going to be a long night.”
Though the shutters on the single window were closed, as was the door behind the three men, she could hear the snowstorm beginning to rage outside, and she couldn’t help but wonder whether they might be stuck for much longer than one night.
“I’m your king,” the white-haired fae announced, straightening up proudly before he gestured to his brother, “And this is my brother, King Drake of the Autumn Isle.”
The third man looked utterly shocked by the announcement, and for a moment, Kira wondered whether he might bolt for the door and take his chances out in the snow. Yet she knew she should’ve known better. She’d already seen visions of this night. She knew what was coming, and she wouldn’t see any of them leave before the night was over.
The two brothers bowed their heads to Kira before turning to look at the third man expectantly. When he didn’t say a word, Kira asked, “And you, traveler?”
“I…I…” he stammered as though he couldn’t bring himself to answer, “I am Prince Menion of the Forgotten Isle.”
Kira’s heart skipped a beat at his words. The image of a golden-haired, stern-faced fae king flashed through her mind, and bile began to rise in the back of her throat.
“The Forgotten Isle?” Drake said, looking just as confused as his brother. The two looked at each other as if hoping the other might have the answer.
Menion chuckled, a dark and unamused chuckle, before he responded, “Of course, you don’t know it. Your father likely saw to it that everyone forgot our little kingdom, but I know of the two of you and your family.”
Kira was certain the bad blood between these two families might suddenly boil over if she didn’t step in, and so she quickly cleared her throat. “My name is Kira, and I shall have no violence or negative energy in my cabin. If you wish to remain, you must all promise to be on your best behavior.”
All three men began to sigh and nod.