"Why did you think he might have been wrong?" Aurelia asked, her voice quieter now, though no less intent. There was a shift in her demeanor—less disbelief, more focus, as though she had stepped into the same line of thought as her brother and was unwilling to leave it halfway.
Aldric leaned back slightly, folding his arms loosely across his chest as he regarded her.
"Because even if you had married Neris," he began slowly, choosing his words with care, "you still would not have borne the child spoken of in the prophecy. At best… the child would have been powerful, yes. Perhaps even exceptionally so. But not the one foretold."
Aurelia's brows drew together, her gaze narrowing slightly.
"And what led you to that conclusion?" she asked. "You speak with certainty, Aldric, but Father believed the opposite. What made you question his reasoning?"
Aldric exhaled softly, as though retracing the very argument in his mind.
