Ysmira

He hesitated, not wanting to confirm his identity if she was only guessing.

"Prince Nicholas of Merlen, Fourth Prince of House Cruor, Corporali Prince. I know you have many more titles, your highness, but I'd rather skip them. Do you even memorize them yourself?" Ysmira grinned at Nicholas as she walked over and poured him a cup of tea.

Nicholas watched her, observing her every move.

It was not unheard of for mages to live long lives, but for one to reach over two hundred without seeming to age was quite a shock to Nicholas.

"I've lived a long life and this is the first time that a prince has been sent to me." Ysmira placed a cup in front of Nicholas and nodded for him to take a sip. "Don't worry, I won't poison you. I'm here with a message."

Nicholas raised his eyebrow but chose to remain silent.

"You are quite an interesting person, your highness. So many secrets, so many lives, so young and yet so significant." Ysmira's voice had become disembodied, as if it were coming from all around Nicholas.

"Who are you?" He was unable to stop himself from questioning her.

Ysmira gave him a sweet smile.

"I my, boy, am what you would call an oracle. Not many of us left since your great grandfather began hunting us down." Ysmira explained.

"So you can tell me the future? My future?" Nicholas eagerly asked.

If he could find out what his brothers were planning then he could have the upper hand in the battle to come. It would save him the effort of planning and plotting for every scenario, it could guarantee that he sat on the throne.

"Your eyes." Nicholas looked at Ysmina, noticing the grayish white orbs not so different from his own.

"I was born corporali, so was my brother, Michal's great grandfather." Ysmira nodded as she cleared what Nicholas was curious about. "For those as common as we, clan purity doesn't mean much."

"But you are an oracle, surely that meant you were of a higher rank among the Corporali!" Nicholas was confused

"I was a magicless Corporali when we lived on clan lands. My brother moved us when he met his wife, he sought a better life for us here, then my visions began." Ysmira told the prince as she nudged him again to take a sip from the cup. "It will get cold."

"Why should I believe you?" Nicholas asked. "You could have been sent by one of my brothers or by an enemy of the royal family."

"If I wished you ill, then I would have harmed you when you arrived." Ysmira made a good point as Nicholas continued to observe her.

"Prove it, prove to me that you are an oracle." Nicholas demanded as he chose not to touch the cup of tea she had offered.

"My visions cannot be commanded, your highness." Ysmira's tone was firm as she lectured Nicholas on how Oracles saw the future.

"Then what sets you apart from those that sell fortunes on the street or those that come to the palace, telling kings and princes of visions they have seen of the future." Nicholas demanded of Ysmira.

"I will tell you of my two visions, one will prove my ability, the other is a warning." Ysmira said in a grave tone as she looked Nicholas directly in the eyes.

"What is it?" Nicholas asked, curious as to what the oracle had seen if she were speaking the truth.

"In two weeks we will meet once more at the outskirts of the city. You with your people and I with mine." Ysmira said as she took a sip of her tea. "You will be different then, you will be leaving the city and then you will believe that I am who I say I am."

Nicholas nodded as he wondered what he could be leaving the city for. He would not leave his father's side, unless the king chose to send him away.

"And the second?" Nicholas asked, eager to hear the warning.

"You cannot be king without returning to your mother's land. You cannot be king without knowing your father's people. You will fail in your mission to be king of Merlen if you fail to return to the Corporali Clan lands." Ysmira warned him.

"You have seen this?" Nicholas asked her.

"I have. There you will be with your first wife, there you learn of the kingdom's past and the Cruor past. I have seen you fall by the hands of another because you failed to return home." Ysmira further explained.

"What else have you seen?" Nicholas asked, worried about failing to become king.

"As I said, your highness, I cannot command my visions, but maybe when we meet I will have seen something new for you." Ysmira said with a smile.

"I'm guessing this is why you had asked Michal to bring me here, to tell me of these visions. Is he even a merchant or married?" Nicholas began to question if all of this was set up by Ysmira.

"Michal is a merchant by trade, but he does as I ask when I need him to help with my visions." Ysmira confirmed to Nicholas. "When you leave this place, you will wander around the city, but your people will find you and take you back. The fighting has ended, the king is safe, for now."

Nicholas nodded as he stood up to leave, there was nothing more that he could get from this woman.

"We will see if you are a true oracle, Ysmira. Till then." Nicholas said with a nod as he departed from the house.

When he stepped out of the door, the streets still seemed the same, but Nicholas himself felt different.

The woman gave him an odd feeling, one that left him examining his plans and questioning himself.

He couldn't help but wonder if she truly was an oracle.

Nicholas found himself walking deeper into the city, the houses and shops had become narrower as the number of people on the streets increased.

Regardless of what Ysmira had said, Nicholas knew that he had to keep moving around the city. He knew that with an attack on the palace, it wasn't safe to go back just yet.

He had faith that if the fighting had ended Dion would send Regan and Regina to find him. For now the safest place for a prince was among people who hated him.

Michal and Cleo were not the only people in the city to express their disgust towards the royal family.

Nicholas could overhear disgruntled complaints about the king and his ministers as people talked about the attack on the palace.

"They deserve it, sometimes I wonder why the clans are loyal to that Cruor lot, there can only ever be one of them in the end." A man grumbled to his friend as they walked past Nicholas who was resting against a wall.

"Some magic of the land mumbo jumbo. My dad was a scholar for the Liber Council, he told me these things, never listened." His companion said with a shrug as they stopped at a stall nearby.

"Why didn't you just stay in clan lands, they have it better there in Liber, much better than for us at the Cibus clan. We feed the nation but we still earn cents!" The first man grumbled.

"Liber clan is all about magic and mana, I got none of those." The second man grumbled as they walked away.

As Nicholas continued to explore, he heard more of the same sentiment. Of people who wished to do away with the royal family and to do away with the clan councils.

When the sun was setting in the horizon, Nicholas spotted a familiar face in the crowd. He remained silent as he tried to sneak up on the male figure that towered over others in the streets.

Before he could even say anything to draw the man's attention, the man turned and grabbed his wrist, pulling him aside to an ally.

"You were supposed to say hidden in the servants' halls." Regan hissed as he looked around, making sure that no one overheard him.

He was careful not to address Nicholas by his true title, wary of the prince's safety.

"Regina!" He called out and waved as soon as his sister came into view.

Realizing that her brother had found the prince, Regina joined them as she kept a look out.

"I was sent out by the guards." Nicholas hissed.

"They didn't recognize you?" Regan said, surprised that a palace guard did not know how their prince looked.

"No, he didn't." Nicholas shook his head.

"Can you identify him?" Regan asked.

"I can." Nicholas said with a nod.

"It's best if we got you back. The fighting has stopped and this time the king is looking for you and it seems urgent." Regan said in a grave tone as he and Regina escorted the prince out of the ally and towards the palace.