She sank against the fountain wall next to Elon. “The Reaper King? That’s impossible. That means he’s been alive for…”
“A thousand years. And it’s not impossible. You know how my Foresight is merely part of my gifting? Given to me by the previous King?”
She nodded.
“Part of the gifting is the ability to pass it on to someone else. The First King passed some of his gifting onto the Commander. He grew stronger, smarter, faster, and immortal.”
“Immortality is part of the gifting?”
He nodded.
“Then why are there new kings?”
“The Kings choose to pass into the Second Life once that generation’s Cursed has died.”
“A Cursed?”
Elon nodded. A slight breeze rustled through the garden, making a hushing noise. “Like you. The first Cursed was the First Queen. In fact, you’re a descendant of her.”
Carissa tilted her head back to stare at the stars, gleaming like tears in the sky. “I’m descended from the First Queen? Wait.” She straightened to glance at Elon. “Aren’t you a descendant of the First King?”
“I was adopted, if you’ll recall, as are all of my predecessors.”
She tightened her eyes in thought. “But why?”
“As the poem says, the Queen gave birth to a cursed daughter she gave away. When the King and Queen were wed, it was understood that they would be faithfully wed for as long as they lived. If one of them was unfaithful, they’d be cursed. When the Queen fled the King, she invoked the curse—and passed it on to all of her descendants.
“After the King discovered his wife and missing daughter, he came up with a plan. He adopted and appointed a new king to find and wed her. Ever since the First Queen’s mistake, that’s the only way the curse can be stopped, by reuniting a Cursed and a King.”