The mysterious figure from the guild made his way into Barron castle. Quickly pushing past servants, he made it into the throne room and immediately kneeled in front of him. “My lord! I have some news you might want to hear.”

King Phillip looked down to the man and raised a brow. “News you say? I hope you are not meaning bad news.”

“Unfortunately, my lord, I believe you may find this news unsettling.” He knew the risks of being the messenger, he knew he may die from this. But he spoke anyway. “An Anderson has returned. She came through the old queen’s portal.”

Silence fell over the throne room and Phillip slowly stood up. “What are you saying?”

The man swallowed nervously and looked down at the ground. “Exactly what I said my liege…”

Phillip stood there for a moment, anger flowing over his body and he grabbed the man by the front of the shirt, lifting him up off of the ground, and speaking in a low and dangerous tone.

“An Anderson has stepped through the portal, exactly 100 years from when the portal was first erected? On the day my father warned me about? Do you understand what this means for me?!”

The man flinched and tried to pull away from Phillip’s grip. “Uh- I-I don’t know.”

“It means the breakdown of my future and the future of my daughter!” he shouted before tossing him across the throne room.

“Father?” came Selene’s voice from beside him. “What are you doing?” she asked, crossing her arms slightly, having heard everything that had just been said.

Phillip immediately calmed down and put on a more controlled face for his daughter. “Ah, hello sweetheart. Father is just having to deal with some unwanted news. That’s all.”

Selene felt a twinge of anger course through her, knowing that there was something going on that he wouldn’t tell her. “And what news would that be?”

“Just…news with the increase of criminals in the city, that’s all,” Phillip answered. In his mind, he wasn’t entirely lying. To him, Skye was a criminal. Skye was the enemy that was going to tear his kingdom down.

“I know you’re lying, Father. I heard the name Anderson, and I remember it from the stories you used to tell me. What is really going on that you won’t tell me?” Selene said as she stood in front of him. The only one brave enough and the only one who would never get hurt being this close.

Phillip let out a long sigh. “Selene, you have to stop accusing me like this. All I ever do, I do for you. So, you have to understand that if I lie, it’s for your own good,” he said as he tucked some of her hair behind her ear. “When I say you only need to worry about your future, I mean it. Let me focus on the now.”

Selene scoffed and pulled her head away. “Just stop! If all you're going to do is turn this conversation back on me finding a husband, I don’t want to have it,” she said before turning on her heels and heading back to her room.

She now knew she needed to get that second volume to figure out what was freaking her father out so badly. Obviously he wasn’t going to be the one to tell her.

Phillip sighed again as he watched his daughter go before the glare came back and he shot a look directly at the man cowering on the ground. “You. Go back to the guild and continue to monitor the situation. I need to know everything about this Anderson.”

“Everything sire?” the man asked with a shaky tone as he stood up.

“Everything. Threat level, magic, skills. Everything. And do not disappoint me,” he said with a stern tone. “Now, go. NOW!”

The man immediately scurried off and nodded, running out of the castle and back to the guild as fast as his legs would carry him.

Phillip sat back in his throne and contemplated his next move. He had dinner with a nearby noble the next day. Perhaps he would travel past the guild to see if anything seemed out of the ordinary. Maybe get a glimpse of this Anderson himself.

And as he sat and contemplated, his daughter once again had escaped from her window, dressed as her alter ego and headed directly for the library.

She quickly made her way along the rooftops of houses and businesses, her focus narrowed in on the library as she stopped on the roof of the building. Her breathing was heavy, but not from effort. From frustration.

Why couldn’t her father just talk to her? He was sick, that was why, and she knew it. He was unwell in the mind, but no one would ever be brave enough to point it out—to point out that his delusions of a happy kingdom was truly only the suffering of everyone but himself, and she was included in that group of people.

As brave as she was when it came to standing up to him, she was horrified to tell him that he was wrong. That he needed serious rest and to just let go. To let go of this illusion of control. To let go of her, and his role.

She quickly made her way to a skylight and propped it open with a knife before sliding inside. Silently, she landed on the floor and made her way to the restricted section, easily avoiding the librarian as she made it to the book she needed.

She pulled it free of the shelf quietly and opened it to the front page beginning to read on the spot.

“...Continuing, the Anderson’s had led their lives for the people and for family. The king, Jameson Anderson was a strong fighter with a heart of gold. He ruled with a sound mind and a steady voice that very few rulers have ever had. A warm controlled hand that many had described as comforting…”

Selene couldn’t help but let out a soft sigh. All she had ever been told was that the Anderson’s were evil. But here she was, reading words written by someone executed by her grandfather for spreading what he had claimed were lies.

The librarian wanted to keep it from her, wanted to keep it for those he trusted. And now Selene understood why. Because if her father found out, the librarian would be dead the next day.

She went to continue reading when she heard the voice of the librarian call out: “Is someone out there? I’m closed up for the day!”

Selene quickly shut the book and contemplated putting it back, but she needed to know more. So without another word, she made her way back to the skylight and climbed back up and out, silently closing the window right as the librarian walked under the glass.

His head tilted up and barely missed seeing her figure disappear from sight. He shivered slightly before looking around the rest of the library, and seeing no one there he relaxed and went back to his work.

Selene couldn’t help but feel nervous to learn more. She had always been told that the Anderson’s were bad, and maybe she used to see that. But now, she didn’t know, and as much as she wanted to put her father in a better light, she felt more inclined to believe this book than him. Especially in the state that he is in.

Next, she would learn about the queen, the queen who supposedly cursed her family. She felt guilt wash over her. No matter how much it wasn’t her fault, it was her family’s. And she felt responsible for this.

She felt responsible to keep doing her own research as she opened the book and continued reading.

“...The queen, Elora Anderson, was a powerful sorceress. Her abilities were renowned across the lands. And she ruled beside her husband with an equally warm hand. Using her knowledge and expertise to help solve the problems in the kingdom. And the two led with confidence and kindness. And things only got better when they had their daughter…”

Daughter? Selene was never told about her. She didn’t even know they had a child. She continued reading, but the daughter wasn’t really mentioned anymore and she couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed.

“...It is rumored that before their fall, the queen had retreated to the basement of their home and expended every ounce of magic she had and erected a portal to another land. She claimed that in 100 years time, an Anderson would return and would set the world right again. A mural now rests in the castle, a prophecy of sorts, that foretells the return of the hero. The return of…”

She turned the page and her eyes widened at what she saw. The rest of the book's pages had been torn from the book, and she let out a groan.

“Come on!” she yelled before shutting the book and tossing it in one of the drawers in her desk.

And she knew at that moment, she would need to go to the castle to learn the rest. She needed to see the prophecy herself. But first, she had to return that book.