Page 7 of King Foretold (Realm of Four Kingdoms #2)

One day, when the queen was newly with child—so new that even she was not certain—she foresaw that she would give birth to the one destined to unify the Realm of Four Kingdoms. The one destined to unite all beings of Sky, Mountains, Water, and Underworld.

Shaken by the enormity of the revelation, she told her husband about her vision.

She needed to share the weight of responsibility.

She wanted to share the joy. For their son was hope.

But the King of Mountains did not want an heir, much less an heir foretold to be the greatest king the realm had ever known.

Too late, the queen understood that the good she had seen in the King of Mountains was an illusion, a mere reflection of the hope she had placed in him.

Too late, she saw in the mad glint of his eyes that the king believed her to be his possession, to keep and to break, but their son was a threat he had to end.

Fate had never been kind to diviners. Those with the gift saw both too much and too little.

The Queen of Mountains had not seen that her husband would strive to kill her son to preserve his power.

But it was not too late for her to save her son.

That she knew. He would endure much pain and loss in his journey, but the King Foretold would rise triumphant.

For she had foreseen it.