RISE OF THE WARRIOR QUEEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN-2

I stepped inside.

And for the first time in hours, I let myself feel everything I had been holding in.

“I was wondering how long it would take,” Agatha said softly.

Her cabin was warm. Not just from the fire in the hearth, but from the thick scent of burning herbs in the air. Old books lined the walls. Bottles of strange liquids sat on shelves. In the center of the room was a small round table, and on it—a worn, black-velvet cloth with cards laid out in a messy pattern.

Elder Agatha was no seer. At least that was what she always said. She always said she was no seer, just a woman cursed by the spirits to bear the burdens of others.

Nevertheless, Agatha had foreseen and foretold a lot of things in the past, and they'd always come to pass.

I didn't think she was cursed. I believed she was blessed. She just doesn't appreciate that enough.

She closed the door behind me and locked it.

“I just thought I'd drop by and say hi," I said, trying to sound casual.

“I know,” she replied with a soft smile, already moving toward the table. “Sit, child.”

I didn’t argue. I walked over and took the wooden chair across from her.

She sat down and studied me in silence.

“I… I saw something today,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Something that… broke me, I think. And I didn’t know where else to go.”

Agatha nodded slowly. “And so you came to me. Because I speak of things you don’t understand. Because I’ve seen what waits at the edge of your path.”

I swallowed. “I need to know what it is, Elder. I need you to stop being cryptic and just tell me. Am I really doomed to live a life of pain and heartache?”

She smiled sadly. “If only it were that simple, Kaia. But the truth—real truth—rarely ever comes in straight lines.”

She ran her fingers across the cards on the table. “But today, I will give you more than riddles. I will try to give you as much as I can.”

I leaned in.

She reached for the deck and began to shuffle the cards slowly and carefully. The room grew quiet for a moment before she spoke.

“This is not fortune-telling,” she said. “This is a reflection. A whisper. A mirror of what already exists beneath the surface.”

She stopped shuffling and laid three cards down, one by one, face down.

“Past. Present. Future.”

She turned over the first card.

The Tower.

My heart skipped.

Agatha’s face was unreadable. “Destruction. Pain. A sudden breaking of what you believed was safe. It has happened… or is happening.”

I looked away. I didn’t need to ask what that one meant. I already knew.

She flipped the second card.

The Moon.

“Secrets,” she said. “Illusions. Things hidden in the dark. Lies wrapped in love. Shadows pretending to be light.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. I didn’t want to cry. Not in front of her.

Finally, she turned the last card.

She paused.

Her eyebrows drew together just slightly, and for the first time… I saw something that looked like fear flicker across her face.

I went to look at it, but she quickly picked it up, holding it out of my reach.

My heart pounded in my chest as I stared at her with my mouth agape. "Agatha, what is it? Let me see."

She looked up at me and shook her head. “No. You don't need to. It's okay, child. Everything will be fine.”

I stared at the back of the card, swallowing heavily.

“What does it mean?” I whispered.

She didn’t answer at first. Instead, she looked away.

“Elder, please,” I pleaded in a shaky voice. “If you won't let me see it, at least tell me what it means. Please, Agatha."

She hesitated for a long moment, and then she swallowed visibly. “It means temptation. Control. A force… or someone… who will try to own you. Twist you. Bind you in a way even death cannot undo.”

I frowned, shaking my head. “No. That can’t be—”

“But it will be,” she interrupted gently. “Because I’ve seen it. Not just in the cards. In the fire. In the wind. In dreams that are not even mine.”

She leaned closer, her eyes growing sharp and her voice turning low. “Your path, Kaia, is not made of light. It is dark and tangled. You will be tested. You will bleed. And the worst part is… the danger won’t come from just enemies. It will come from people you trust as well.”

My blood suddenly turned cold.

“You always say that,” I said quietly. “That my future is full of darkness. That I’m too young for what’s coming.”

“Because it’s true,” she said. “You were born with a weight you did not choose. A fate others will fear. And soon… you will have to choose between love and survival.”

I stared at her. “Can’t I have both?”

Agatha looked at me in pity. “No one does, child. Not in stories like yours.”

Stories like mine. What did that even mean?

We sat in silence for a long time.

Then finally, I asked, “Is there anything I can do?”

She was quiet for a moment before she spoke. “Remember today. Hang on to the memory and keep it with you. When the time comes, it might not save your life… but it will remind you who you are.”

I replayed her words in my head over a hundred times, but I still couldn't make any sense out of them. Nothing she was saying made any actual sense.

In the end, I just nodded, telling her I understood, even though I didn't.

As I stood to leave, Agatha spoke one last time.

“Beware the one who hides behind love, child,” she said. “He will smile with familiar eyes… but bring ruin with every touch. If you fail to see it in time, love will be the death of you.”

My brows furrowed in confusion.

I didn’t ask who she meant. I didn't bother.

Because deep down… I already knew she wouldn't answer. I already knew I wouldn’t be getting any explanation from her.

So I nodded once more. "Thanks, Agatha. I'll be careful." And with that, I walked out of the cabin and headed back home.

The one who hides behind love, huh?

And what was that she said again? Love would be the death of me? LOVE?

I chuckled humorlessly. “I guess we'll have to see about that.”