LogFAQs > #907653740

B

"Let me tell her," you say to your Great Aunt before she opens her mouth again.

You turn to Raven and hold her hands. The two of you look into each other's eyes, and you can see your own serious expression reflected in those pools of violet.

"According to my Great Aunt Radelle," you say. "There will come a time in my life where I will be the last Rorek. She predicted something would happen that would cause the end of not so much the Null Family, but of the Roreks."

"That won't happen," Raven says. "An eighth Rorek would be born to your cousins or sisters, right?"

"Our family tree shows it doesn't work that way," you say. "A Rorek is always born to a Rorek. It's more obvious with the beginning, Rorek the First had a son, whose son was then Rorek II. Then Rorek II's grandson was Rorek III, through his son Ragan. It's harder to see going from Rorek III to Rorek IV, but Rorek IV's father, Radnor, was son of Radley, son of Radorm, son of Randolph."

"So they're only born to the men of the family," Raven realizes.

"Exactly. Radelle didn't have a Rorek, and her children haven't had a Rorek. No girl born to the Null Family has had a Rorek."

"Hard to call that coincidence," Raven says.

"Yes, but it's also my Grandfather's reason for thinking Great Aunt Radelle is just spiteful."

"I will admit I've been such in my life," Radelle says. "But that has nothing to do with this prophecy."

"Sure it doesn't," Grandfather says sarcastically. "You only promised the entire family that neither of my grandsons at the time, nor any future grandchild nor great grandchild would have Rorek VIII. You may have been right that Roger wouldn't have a Rorek and that Ronald would, but that doesn't give you the right to just say that was it."

"I'm sorry if I said it at the wrong time," Radelle says, "but it needed to be said!"

"Wrong time?!" Grandfather says. "You said it at Rory's sixth birthday!"

"What does it matter, though?" Raven says.

Everyone looks at her as she steps between Grandfather Sixth and Great Aunt Radelle.

"So what if there's no more Roreks?" she says. "This circle of families can't possibly be built purely on the attraction of marrying a Rorek."

"It's not about the Null family moving on, it's that there won't be a main branch," Radelle says. "Clearly my brother thinks that's me saying it out of spite as being passed over the same way many siblings and relatives of a Rorek have over the years. But I am saying it out of the concern for this family, the Null Family.

"I know the rush to have a child Roger and Rita went through because they wanted to have the next Rorek. It was the same as our cousin, Ranell, thinking succession would change to his family even though my brother existed."

"Then, whatever, it'd just go to normal line of succession," Raven says.

"Don't you understand what that means?" Radelle asks her, stepping closer. "The mad dash to sow seeds would skyrocket! It'd be like the actual royals, with branches of the family competing with each other. My relationship with my brother has never been the best, but I would never have tried to cut his line short, just as no one else in this family would ever do that. Because we had an anchor in the Roreks themselves."

"What was your prophecy?" Raven asks. "What specifically did you see?"

"What would that matter?" Grandfather asks.

"A Seer prophesizes with visions," Raven says. "And most visions have visual symbolism rather than direct explanations. I want to know what she saw."

A) Dismiss it, it doesn't matter
B) Let Radelle share her vision
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