Answelica was a goat with teeth that were the mirror of her soul—large, sharp, and uncompromising.
The opening line of this book introduces what will become a major character. Besides having a quite unusual name, this goat also manifests some unusual behaviors. In fact, the very next sentence begins a short paragraph which explains that her favorite game is to lure monks into a false sense of security by changing her demeanor. So enjoyable is terrorizing the brothers from nearby monastery that it is common knowledge they would all like nothing better than to butcher her for meat. And the only reason they don’t is their certainty that they would forever be haunted by her ghost. So, fortunately, Answelica is allowed to live and because of that fact, Beatryce does not die young.
There will one day come a girl child who will unseat a king and bring about a great change.
The monks who bring the goat so much pleasure to torture belong to the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. And there is a book which is of supreme important to the monks. And in this book is one particular line which is viewed as prophecy which is especially important to the monks. And so, because of the potentially dangerous threat inherent in the prophecy coming to pass, they have historically kept one eye focused at all times on the coming of that unidentified girl. But there is one person whose eye is even more focused on the prophecy foretelling the arrival of a girl with the power to unseat a king. And that is the man who whom another prophecy in the Chronicles of Sorrowing foretold was destined to become king. And who did become king. And who is currently king.
“How can it be a true and accurate prophecy without mentioning the goat?”
One of the themes explored to some degree in the book is the nature of prophecies. There is much debate that takes place within the different groups of parties with a special interest in the prophecy what, exactly, such messages really mean. Is a prophecy merely a prediction of something that might happen? Is it an assertion of something that is destined to happen regardless of action? Is it a foretelling of an event that is bound to happen only if action is not taken to alter the course of the future? In other words, can a prophecy be edited through intervention to change it? Also at stake in the debate is the inevitably ambiguous nature of all prophecies. This one merely mentions a girl and a king rather providing any sort of hint about which king, much less which girl. And if the prophecy is referring specifically to Beatryce how could there possibly be no mention of a goat when Answelica would obviously be of such vital significance to her story that it would be unthinkable to imagine the prophet could not see her.
