#but i couldn’t resist torturing claudia with the dramatic irony

[inamindfarfaraway]

No Longer You

[Shortly before Book Four, faced with committing a new low to revive her father, the desperate, weary, anxious Claudia consults a Xadian oracle about her future. She needs to know if her dark deeds will be worth it. Her hair has more white streaks than in Book Three, but isn’t nearly half-white.]

Oracle: I am the prophet

With the answers you seek

Time, I’ve unlocked it

I see past and future running free

There is a world where your heart can be whole

But that’s not a world I know

Claudia: What?

Oracle: I see a song of love and loss

I see you led as pathways cross

I see portrayals of betrayal

Where you reap and pay the cost

I see you on the brink of death

I see you draw a final breath

I see a mage who gets to save the ones she loves

But it’s no longer you

Claudia: This can’t be

I’ve suffered on spells

Through the toughest of hells

Now you tell me my effort’s for nothing?

Oracle: I see your brother butchered and bled

Your family shattered, your father lying dead

I see your lover ensnared by a dragon

A beast with a trail of bodies

Claudia: No!

Oracle: I see a song of love and loss

I see you lead as pathways cross

I see portrayals of betrayal

Where you reap and pay the cost

I see you on the brink of death (Actions vile, hidden scars)

I see you draw a final breath (Blood of child, fallen stars)

I see a mage who gets to save the ones she loves (Order broken)

(You’ll do whatever it takes)

But it’s no longer you