by A L Wright
Shutting her eyes momentarily she wished she had chosen better wording. Improvising and running forward with the moment, she breathed in and mentally prepared herself for the next step of her plan.
“Yes, our passions are our rulers, are they not?” She opened her eyes and peered at him shyly.
He reached over with his other hand and stroked her cheek. “I wish to leave now, but I must insist on seeing you out of this place as well. There is a late party happening at a friend's estate, should you wish to join me.”
Trying to ignore his hand on her cheek she took in a deep breath. This could be her chance. If it was a late party it had to have Nobles in attendance.
“My Lord, Waylan, I would love to join you at this party. May I presume we are to leave at once?” She did not want to rush the man, but she needed to get out of the dark seating area she shared with him.
“Well then.” Waylan said as he eyed her lewdly once more “Let's begonia straightaway.” After she rose, he placed his hand on the small of her back much too familiarly for her liking.
Outside the venue Waylan waved for his coach that was parked slightly down the street. The coach came to a stop in front of them and he held the door open for her. Holding her hand as she climbed in ahead of him he took the opportunity to feel her leg some more until she was out of his reach. He sat beside her with his hand on her knee the whole trip.
It felt as though the ride took forever, even though it was only a few moments.
They pulled up in front of a massive estate house with an enormous manicured lawn that sported lengthy ponds all around. Josaleene could hear the music coming from inside, low enchanting melodies that were much, much different from the bawdy tunes that filled the tavern where she worked. There were Lords and Ladies walking the grounds of the estate, waiting for carriages to arrive or to simply walk off the wine they had obviously drank too much of.
After she exited the carriage she was ushered to the large doors on the estate. The doors opened and the greeter announced their presence to the crowd. She made the assumption that Waylan was a very minor lord since only a few people of the couple hundred in attendance turned to look.
One man did look their way though, and held her in place with his stare. He was very richly dressed, his suit made up of mostly black but cut with a deep red sash. She couldn't help but to think that his color of clothing very much matched hers. But as she held onto his stare the thought of their manner of dress was fleeting.
“Darling Josaleene. Do not stare too much at the Nobles, they get upset easily.” Waylan turned her toward him, and cut her view of the man off. “Let us dance our way across the floor and towards the refreshment tables, shall we? I could use a drink.”
Before she could protest, he took her hand in his and wrapped the other hand about her waistline and whisked her onto the dance floor. For a few brief moments she forgot all about Waylan's lewd stares and annoying nasally voice and just enjoyed the fluid movements of the dance.
They stopped abruptly and Josaleene looked up to see what the source of interruption was. She came to stare upon the face of the man who had caught her attention earlier. He was even more beautiful up close. He smelled wonderfully dark and his alabaster skin was smooth and unmarred by wrinkles. He had deep eyes, dark as the midnight sky. There was even a twinkle of light in them that was more than just the torch lights casting their beams around the room.
She couldn't look away, she couldn't breathe. All she could do was stare as this man's aura wrapped around her and claimed her as his.
Waylan clearing his throat brought her back down to earth. She looked over to see him bowing low. Distractedly she dropped a curtsy, not sure exactly what to do in this powerful man’s presence.
“My Prince. It is such an honor to have you here. I hope that your endeavors this night find for you exactly what you are looking for.” Lord Waylan Roughby spoke in a reverent tone that was obviously strained.
Still staring at Josaleene, the Noble Prince said “Yes, good sir. I believe that it already has.”
The Prince bowed to her then nodded to Waylan without looking at him. He then turned and made his way across the room and up the staircase in the back.
His presence now withdrawn from her, Josaleene suddenly felt very alone.
Chapter 10
Josaleene and Victor rode out of the gate and into the village a few moments later. They rode at a walk through town because she wanted to savor being outside the Palace. She smiled as they passed by the theatre she used to frequent, when searching for her path to becoming a Noble.
Finally their meandering came to a halt outside a shop with a large eye painted on the door. Josaleene knew of several such seer's shops around the village, but after digging around found this lady was reputed to be an actual visionary and not just the type to throw generic good fortunes around to make some quick coin.
She allowed Victor to help her dismount and quickly walked towards the door while Victor tied off their mounts.
"My Princess I beg of you to wait for me, I do not like these fortune teller gypsies. They lie for gold and their prices are much too high for lies." Victor was hurrying to get the ropes tied off so he could catch up.
Josaleene pulled up short in front of the door. There was a vibration in the air in front of her. It was so slight, she wondered if Victor would notice it. Putting her hand up, she waved it in the air in front of her, feeling the vibration ripple around her hand. It seemed almost thick in the center, nearer the eye on the door. Staring at the painted eye, she noticed it was painted like a snake's eye and not a humans. What she thought was eyelashes actually looked like a wing sprouting from one corner of the eye.
Victor walked briskly past her thinking her hesitation was only her waiting for him to enter the shop before her. She watched as he passed her and saw that he did not notice anything unusual as he opened the door.
He held the door open for her after he entered, and she took a deep breath as she walked past the painted eye.
Many different sights and scents attacked her senses as she walked in the small front area of the seer's shop. From different oils and incenses to a faint hint of animal blood, the smells had her looking all over to try to peg them all down. When she looked straight back she noticed an older woman behind a counter. The woman was dressed in loose draping garments with a faded silken cloth tied around her head. Unruly and very curly wisps of silver-streaked black hair poked out of the cloth in defiance. Her nails were painted bright red and she wore many silver and copper bracelets on both wrists. Her hands were slightly shaking as she stared at the guests who entered her shop.
As she noticed Josaleene looking at her hands, she dropped them from the counter and down where they couldn't be seen betraying her nervousness.
Josaleene stole a glance at Victor who looked unconcerned with the woman. He assumed she was just nervous that two Nobles had entered her place of business.
Looking back at the woman she saw a flicker of fear in the woman’s eyes, but more than that there was resignation like she had known this moment would come. She did not yet speak and the only sound was the occasional horse passing by outside, and the metal bracelets clinking together as she started to fidget with her hands.
Seeing no reason to continue to make the seer nervous Josaleene walked toward the counter.
"Greetings Seeress. I have need of your talents. I am hoping to know a little about the events that will surround my child’s birth, and I was told that you are the only true visionary around. Will you help me? I will pay whatever your price."
"And what if the price is your blood?" Croaked the woman. Squinting her eyes she peered at Josaleene expecting a harsh reply.
"I do not believe that my blood is worth much, but my child's blood has importance. I just know it." Smiling at the older woman she pulled a small silken purse from her belt and opened it. Pulling out several large gold coins, she laid them on the counter and pushed them to the middle.
&nbs
p; "Your blood will be the price you pay no matter whether I give you a reading or no. And that is not a threat from me so please let your guard know he can be at ease here. I knew as soon as you crossed my doorstep who you were, and I have expected your arrival for many, many moons now. However, I was not expecting tonight to be the night you would walk in here. My name is Mordred, my Princess. Now, let us go to the back room where you can sit and be comfortable."
Mordred scooped up the coins then turned and walked through a doorway, shoving a hanging sheet aside and leaving her to wonder how she knew she was the Princess. Josaleene began to follow her, but stopped short when Victor grabbed her hand. Not thinking at all about her guard's sudden possessiveness, she closed her hand around his and patted the back of his hand with her free one, and motioned with an incline of her head for him to follow.
She let go of Victor’s hand as she approached the sheet dividing the rooms. She felt another vibration in this doorway, but sensing nothing harmful about it she pushed the sheet aside and walked through. There were close to a hundred candles lit around the room, of many different colors and sizes. Josaleene watched as Mordred walked around the room extinguishing all but the white and black ones.
Turning around from the last candle, she set the snuffer down and gestured to a large overstuffed chair. "Please do sit down and get comfortable"
Josaleene lowered herself into the fluffy seat with Victor looming behind her. Mordred walked over to a small table where there were several items. One was a small pouch with the drawstring pulled closed. Another was a board, square with symbols placed in what she supposed was important patterns. There was also a small bowl with ashes in it, and a very sharp looking ritual knife laying across the bowl.
Picking up the knife and bowl she came back towards Josaleene.
"Now as I said you are safe here, but the reading requires a few drops of your blood. To be honest, the omens I have received about you have told me quite a bit about events surrounding you. But they have told me nothing about you, or your child. For that I will need the blood." Mordred was eying Victor to make sure he wouldn't make any sudden moves on her.
Josaleene held out her hand to the aging woman. Quick as a snake Mordred pierced one of her fingers and squeezed out a few drops of blood to catch in the bowl below it. Returning to the table she sat herself down on a small cushioned stool. Placing the bowl in the middle of the table, she took a match out of her robes and struck it. She tossed the match into the bowl and POOF the blood went up in a small burst of flame. It died out just as quick but continued to smoke for a few minutes.
Wide eyed, Josaleene leaned forward to watch closer. Mordred opened the small pouch to pour out a dozen small crystals into her other hand. She moved the hand with the crystals through the smoke a few time then tossed them down onto the square board. Watching mesmerized as the crystals scattered across the board she was startled when one crystal came close to rolling off the board, then seemingly stopped itself and rolled back to stay on the board.
"Did you see that Victor?" Gasped Josaleene.
"It was a fancy trick is all, Princess." He replied.
"No tricks are played here. The stones know where they want to land after they taste the blood in the smoke." Mordred was staring intently at the board. Sighing, she pointed to the top of the board, and the two crystals that landed there. "Two will travel north to find answers to a question that should never have come to be. Both will return with no answer but will bring with them a heavy burden of knowledge."
Mordred then pointed at the left side of the board and the two crystals that landed there. "These two mean you harm. They are jealous of your position in the Court. They do not think you deserve that position or the power of the child you carry. They will seek to displace you."
She then points to the right side of the board where six of the crystals had fallen. "This is very ominous indeed. This quarter represents large battles and with so many crystals falling there it only can mean that a war is coming."
Fixing her sight on the last two crystals, one of them the crystal that almost fell off of the board but rolled back she sighed. "These two represent powerful beings, separating themselves from others of their kind. Self-imposed exile maybe? This one in particular" she says while pointing at the crystal close to the edge "is self-destructive at the time, but with the right influence or catalyst he will right himself and survive the event that drove him to running away."
"Where am I on this board? Do you see what will happen to me?" Josaleene asks nervously.
"All of these events are centered on you. The two that travel north do so seeking answers to your predicament. The two that seek you harm, well that part is obvious enough. Do well to stay out of harm’s way and you will be safe. Safe from them anyway. Large battles, I think both past and present are represented here. Your condition is unprecedented but was rooted in a past war. I also see war coming back to the realm. Our very survival hinges on the outcome of whether this one" Mordred pointed back to the stray crystal "survives or dies before they are needed to fight in this war."
Mordred looked back up from the board and pinned Josaleene with a very intent stare.
"There are much, much larger things happening than you merely birthing a child. You and this child will both play a very large part in these events. Your child is powerful. More powerful than any Noble come before it. You must survive to bear this child. The land around you depends on it for their survival. Your part will be to make sure that this person,” she again points at the crystal that almost fell "lives after you are gone.”
Mordred closed her eyes and mumbled quietly. “The serpent slumbers now, but once awoken will seek retribution.”
Opening her eyes, Mordred folded her hands on the table in front of her. "That is all that I can tell you, Princess. I know there are many questions, but the answers will unfold in time."
Rising from her chair, Josaleene placed the small purse with the rest of the money on the table. "You have earned this, and maybe more. I truly do not know the monetary worth in this information. But if what you are telling me is true, then I think our survival will be the best payment I could give."
Moving to leave, she turned back to Mordred. "If ever you need anything of me, do not hesitate to come to the Palace and ask for myself or my Prince. Thank you."
As she left the shop her emotions were conflicted. She was not sure she liked hearing yet another confirmation of her not surviving past her child’s birth, but now she knew so much more. The information she was given by the seer tied into things she had learned from The Patriarch about the war and the spells surrounding the Slumber Chambers.
"Victor, please do not tell the Prince of what the seer spoke about. I would like to keep this quiet until I think about it all further."
"I will do as you ask, Princess. But I will take the knowledge of someone meaning you harm to heart and keep an extra guard at your doors." Victor looked solemnly at her after he placed her upon her horse, and she knew she could never talk him out of it.
"You are a great friend, Victor. I hope that when I am gone you will be as good of a friend and protector to my child as you are to me." Before he could respond, she spurred her horse to a trot back towards the palace and towards her beloved.
Chapter 11
Running his hands through his hair, Dartein forced himself to look away from the books and map in front of him. He had a very good idea of where to look for the old battleground and how to get there. Next to the map was a reed pen and a sheet of thin vellum. He intended to use these to write out the list of supplies he needed to gather for his journey. He wanted to travel as light as possible to make the best time, so the list wouldn't be very long. He just couldn't make himself write out the list.
If he wrote it he felt he was committing himself to this journey. And if he did that then he would have to leave his Josee behind. The thought scared him, especially after Victor reported Juron's strange conversation with his beloved in the cour
tyard the other night.
That was the only part of their outing that Victor would tell him about. Being told by his guard and old friend that The Princess forbade him to speak of the other events of the night were unsettling to say the least. He had not pushed Josaleene to tell him anything, though. He knew she always had reasons for what she did, and would wait to hear her out. As pensive as she had become lately though he thought he may have to break down and ask her anyway.
The door to the chamber swept open and in swept the one person who made his life worth living. Josaleene hurried in and stopped to give him a curious glance.
"Dartein, that lopsided grin is a bit out of character for you lately. Should I assume that you have been drinking? Or is there another reason for it?" It was a glimpse of the playful carefree Josee that he loved so much. She strode over to where he sat and cupped his face with her hands. Placing her face directly in front of his he thought she would kiss him. Just when her lips almost touched his she winked at him.
"No, I do not smell drink on your breath." She giggled.
Dartein wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against him. Since he was still seated, her now bulging belly pressed against the side of his face.
"You, always you. You always make me smile whether you see it or not." He murmured into her belly. He loved the feel of her, and loved feeling the heat coming from her middle. He knew their child would be a girl. And he knew without a doubt she would be as lovely as her mother. He wondered idly if she would just as uncontrollable.
As if in response to his thought he felt a light bump against his cheek. He pulled away and looked up at Josaleene sheepishly.
