Cassandra

Some days after her trip to Gringotts, Rowan makes her way to her grandfather's study and hesitates at the door. She had never been afraid of her grandfather nor much less distrusted him, but she felt that her trust in those around her had long ago subtly been destroyed. It had been the conversation with Sir Knight Prince that had truly opened her eyes to the issue.

Rowan had never truly considered herself a victim, but she could not deny the fact that her childhood had left more than a few lasting scars and that most of them were not truly visible to the naked eye. Perhaps, it was the fact that she understood the terrible truth that only those that you trust and care for can ever truly hurt and betray you.

And even after all this time, there was still that impossible breach that could not be crossed unless she acted. But most importantly, she needed to ensure that her goal would be achieved with or without her as she could not trust that she would remain as she was. And that was the solemn, but awful truth.

Taking a deep breath, Rowan raises her hand and knocks against the door. From inside the study Reginald glanced up from ancient manuscript sitting front of him. It was a terribly old book that carried the foul scent of dark, vile magic. "Just a moment," he called out as he placed a silver dragon bookmark between the pages, and closed the book shut, before placing the ancient volume inside a locked drawer that could only be opened by the current head of the Prince family.

"Enter," Reginald finally said as Rowan stepped into her grandfather's study and closed the door behind her.

"Grandfather might I have a moment of your time?" Rowan somberly asked. "I would like to speak to you, if I may?"

"If this is regarding you and your brother's training, then the answer is no," Reginald curtly replied knowing full well that the twins had already tried begging off training more than once before.

Rowan grimaces at her grandfather's words, but shakes her head in reply, and takes a seat across from him. "No, but Severus and I would certainly would not be displeased if grandfather should change his mind regarding the subject."

Reginald arches his brow right back at her with a teasing glint visible in the depths of his dark eyes. "Be as that maybe, I do not think you have come to speak to me regarding such trivialities nor for pleasantries."

"Grandfather, I am bound by that which I have sworn," Rowan carefully worded. "I will need grandfather to draw conclusions based on the facts and the events that have transpired."

Reginald is silent as he pensively taps his finger against his desk, before coming to a halt. "Very well, then let us start at the beginning," he murmured out loud. "One, you are a farseer much like our forefather, Merlin-."

Reginald paused with distaste and with a grimace added, "-And like that of Gellert Grindelwald." Pursing his lips, he thinly says, "That which you have seen is a terrible future, and which you have sought to correct. In doing so, you have already chosen your own chess pieces-."

Reginald's gaze lingered on his granddaughter, who glared back in challenge. "And unlike them, Rowan, I am not bound by any oaths," Reginald drily remarked. "But I will not mention their names given the secrecy of said nature. And lest you forget, I was the one who permitted them entrance to the manor that winter's day, Rowan. Still, I do not believe that is the subject which you are requesting I focus on."

Reginald's fingers begin to tap against the desk once more, before stopping mid-halt. "Then said conversation can only be regarding that which you seek to change, am I correct?"

Rowan nodded her head in silence as Reginald lips press into a thin line as he flatly says, "Then considering that I am aware of the identity of said knight's and their position in their everyday lives, I can and will safely assume that it is in connection to a certain Dark Lord."

Rowan merely blinks in reply as Reginald furrows his brow. He had been aware for some time that was indeed the case, however, he truly did not like to contemplate the idea as it meant that not only his granddaughter, but even his grandson would be much more involved in the possible war that was to come. And war would come, he could feel the growing bloodthirst in his bones. It was a terrible gift of sorts, but one that had never been wrong.

"The Dark Lord will bring war," Reginald matter-of-factly stated to the shock of Rowan, who openly gaped at him.

Reginald's lips twitch into a faint sneer, and he dismissively scoffs, "Child, I have lived through one wizarding war, and we carry the blood of Percussors within us. We innately are far more sensitive to death and bloodshed than any other. And despite your best efforts, Rowan, war will come it is evitable."

"I know that now," Rowan hoarsely said as she clenched robes in her fists. "But I had hoped to be able to swing the pendulum of fate just enough to cause a fork in the road."

"Fate does not like to be changed," Reginald bluntly stated with a trace of sadness in his gaze. "History has proven that time and time again."

Rowan opens her mouth to argue, but Reginald roughly interjects, "Need I remember you of Cassandra of Troy?" Rowan fell silent as Reginald continued, "A seer by all accounts, and yet no one believed her words regarding her brother, Paris, who would doom the great city of Troy, and all its inhabitants. And as we know, they did all perish with even Cassandra being raped, and forcibly taken by King Agamemnon only to later be most foully murdered."

"And what of the countless others, who foresaw their fate dedicated by a Seer's prophecy?" Reginald loudly proclaimed. "There was Aeschylus, who did all that he could to not perish to only be struck by a falling turtle dropped by an eagle in the sky. Or what of Oedipus, who was abandoned by his father to avoid a prophecy and in doing so self-fulfilling the spoken prophecy."

Rowan presses her lips together tightly, but she cannot repute her grandfather's words for they were her biggest fears. What if nothing was ever enough? And what if, she failed? But worst of all, what if she succeeded? And if she did, would she be the cause of an even greater disaster? They were terrible thoughts that kept her up at night, but ones that she did not have a sufficient answer for.