by Judith Leger
burned the back of her eyes.
Once more, her son reminded her of his presence with a
harder kick.
She patted the spot on the increasing mound. Her baby
grew. Much faster than what she was accustomed to. She
liked it, too. His activity amazed her, but also sent thrills of
joy through her heart. She no longer feared his death. Since
her pregnancy with this child, the gnawing emptiness inside
her had filled with the knowledge of a new child growing
inside her. Leo’s reassurances of the strength of dragonseed
children helped alleviate much of her fear so that it dwindled
to only an occasional worry. She had a new chance for a child
of her own, one sure to survive and outlive her.
A knock on her bedroom door brought her attention to
the white portal.
Leo spoke quietly through the closed barrier. “Ms. Seren,
breakfast is ready. Come on and eat.”
“I’m almost finished dressing. I’ll be down in a bit.”
God, he didn’t understand what she felt like. She wanted
to see Paladin, touch him, and make love to him. A wave of
worried fatigue came over her. She sat on the edge of the
mattress, wanting so much to crawl beneath the covers and
not come out again until Paladin returned for her.
She squeezed her eyes shut. More tears stung behind her
lids. She didn’t want to need him this much. It’d leave her
open to heartache which was the one thing she’d had too
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much of in the past; first with Mandy’s death, and then with
her ex-husband filing for divorce. If she was truly honest, the
latter had been mostly her fault. She’d grown cold and
empty, unable to come to terms with her grief. Dealing with a
husband who didn’t seem severely affected by the death had
made her pull further away from him. Strange that now she
was expecting another child, those past memories returned
with such clarity. She hadn’t expected to realize them and in
the end accept them as truth.
When she opened her eyes, a ray of strength grew inside
her. He wouldn’t want her to react like this. Seren searched
her mind for something to keep herself busy while she waited
for Paladin’s return. What were the other psychics here on
Avaris like? Did they see into the future? If so, maybe she
could find one and discover if Paladin was all right.
She forced her body to move off the bed and march across
the room. Her hand trembled as she lifted it to turn the door
handle. She gritted her teeth, jerked the handle down to tug
the wooden portal open.
Leo stood on the other side, waiting for her. She yelped
and took a step back, not expecting to see him still there. She
lifted a brow. “Did he tell you to watchdog me like you’ve
been doing?”
Ivory teeth flashed. Leo’s deep chuckle echoed in the
empty hallway. “Now, why on earth would you think such a
thing?”
She shook her head and moved past him. “You’re getting
on my nerves.”
He continued to laugh while he followed behind her.
Further along the wide hallway, she came to a broad, curving
marble staircase. Below, an atrium spread wide, overflowing
with an abundance of flowering plants. The scent of sweet
perfume filled the air. Seren closed her eyes, savoring the
aroma. “You know what, Leo?”
“What’s that?”
She started down the stairs, speaking over her shoulder.
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“I want to find something to keep me busy so I won’t worry.”
The tall black man moved to her side. “What do you have
in mind?”
“I’m a psychic on Earth. A lot of people used to come and
want me to read their fortunes. Do the people of Avaris have
something similar here?”
Leo stopped. When Seren reached the atrium, she turned
to look up at him. His Adam’s apple bobbed. “Uh, I don’t
think it’d be a good idea.”
Puzzled, she asked. “Why not? I’m a great medium. That’s
what everyone told me.”
He shook his head and hurried to join her, hands
stretched toward her. “These folks take their soothsaying
seriously, just like they do their magic. You don’t want to go
messing around with something that has so much power.”
She started to argue, but he grasped her hand and gave it
a little squeeze. “I’m telling you the truth. Think of
something else to do. Anything short of diving head first off a
cliff.”
“Now you’ve made me curious. Take me to one—a local
medium.”
He stared hard at her. “I don’t know.”
“If you don’t take me, I’ll find a way of going on my own.”
She grinned and tapped him on the chest. “Come on, what
could it hurt? I can find out firsthand how powerful they
are.”
Reluctant, Leo nodded. “Let’s feed you first, and then
we’ll head out.”
Seren rushed through her meal of fruit and a tall glass of
milk. She couldn’t seem to get enough of the pale cream
liquid. It tasted like regular milk, but was sweeter, a little
thicker, sort of like eggnog. She’d asked Leo about it and he’d
grinned, saying it had dragon’s milk added to it. She’d eyed
the first of many glasses she’d consumed with wariness.
Now, she drank several during each day, preferring it over
the telee.
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Once she finished, her excitement over wandering
through the city had increased. She was excited about
looking at exotic sights and unique people. She needed this
distraction, anything to help keep her thoughts away from
Paladin.
They departed the house, heading down the bricked
walkway which led across a walled front garden. Once
through the gates, Leo guided her into the maze of adobe
buildings.
The stone houses were built in a staggered fashion from
the center of the city to the wall surrounding the entire place.
Stairs along with ladders led from the narrow streets to the
entrance doors. Terraced gardens overflowed over walls,
adding splashes of brilliant greens, reds, yellows, and
purples to the smoothly finished, dull beige buildings.
Everywhere she looked, she spied smiling faces, along
with new and strange clothing. Here and there, she noticed
animals that were similar to those on Earth, but different in
one way or another here.
Some of the people she passed stopped and stared at her,
some even bowed in reverence. Self-consciousness flashed
through her, but she held her head high and continued on
her way. She didn’t understand why they were doing this
unless they sensed a greater level of power about her. Did
they know she carried the dragon king inside her?
A little further ahead, Leo touched her arm. She came to a
stop. He met her look with a small smile and said, “Wait
here. I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared through the front door of a shop. Seren
clasped her hands behind her back and glanced around.
Across the way, a fruit vendor with a melodious tenor voice
sang out with the news of a unique berry, sure to cure any
illness. She snickered at the absurdity of the announcement.
Not many people even looked in the vender’s direction.
At the sound of Leo footsteps, Seren faced him. He
frowned as he spoke. “I found a place. It’s not too far either.
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Come on, this way.”
He took her arm and steered her down the walkway. They
came upon the entrance to a narrow alleyway which
branched off to the right. Leo nodded to it, and they entered.
The alley’s narrowness forced him to walk behind her.
“Straight ahead, last door on the left. There’s an old
woman who reads fortunes from the cards.”
“The cards?”
He kept his voice so low she had to strain to hear him.
“There’s only one type of seer cards on Avaris. All fortune
tellers use this deck for their business.”
After several moments of walking around barrels and
stepping over buckets, they came to a bare plank door. Leo
reached around Seren to tap on the wood.
No one answered. Seren glanced over her shoulder at
Leo. He shrugged and knocked harder. A few seconds later,
they heard shuffling from inside just before the door cracked
open.
Wiry black hair escaped from a crimson turban. Course
strands stuck out around the edges of the woman’s pale,
wrinkled face. Her watery blue gaze flickered over Seren then
Leo. “What do you want?”
Confident, Seren answered, “My fortune told.”
“Cannot do.”
Seren lifted a brow. She looked at Leo. “Are you sure this
is the place?”
He shrugged. “That’s what the shop keeper told me. Said
her name was Luci.”
She faced the woman once more. “Do you tell fortunes?
Are you Luci?”
“I do and aye, I am.”
Surprised, Seren asked, “Then why won’t you tell mine.”
“Dragons.”
Before Seren could respond, the woman continued. “Now
if ye wanna tell mine, I would be honored.”
Understanding came over Seren. “You knew I would
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come here.”
“Sure, read it in the cards this morning.”
Seren shifted her weight to her rear foot. She studied the
woman, trying to decide what to do. She wanted so much to
believe this strange woman had the true ability to read
fortunes, but she knew how the game worked. Of course,
here on this planet nothing was the same as it had been on
Earth. Coming to a decision, she nodded. Luci swung the
door wider to allow them to enter.
A rush of cinnamon aroma flowed over Seren. She
stopped, closed her eyes and inhaled, enjoying the scent.
When she opened her eyes, she watched the woman wobble
to a lone wooden table in the center of the small room. Two
chairs, opposite each other, waited for them. On the table’s
roughened wood surface, a stack of cards was placed in the
center.
Doubts sprang in Seren’s mind and rushed through her
abdomen. What was she doing here? She had only wanted a
distraction from her worries. Leo’s words sprang to her
mind, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to follow through with
this.
“Sit, my Lady,” the woman motioned to one of the empty
chairs. “Come now, this is yer desire.”
Seren, who wanted nothing more than to turn and flee
the way they had come, moved to the chair. With a large
amount of trepidation, she sat down, wondering if she was
right to be here. Did she want to see Paladin hurt or dead?
Maybe he was standing on his ship, on his way to meet her
here. Leo leaned against the wall inside the doorway. What
had she gotten herself in to by insisting on coming here? She
glanced at him, not comforted by the worried frown pasted
on his face.
Once the woman sat in the other chair, Seren looked at
the deck of cards. A simple pink diamond pattern covered
the back of the top card. No different than the decks of
playing cards Seren had owned on Earth. She touched the
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cards, half expecting a surge of power to flow into her from
the soothsaying tool, but nothing happened.
“Ye know the way. Three cards, past, present, and future.
This is what I desire to know.” The woman rested her back
against the chair. She studied Seren from under half-lowered
lids. Eyes focused on the cards, Seren swallowed, battling the
growing uneasiness inside her. She lifted the cards and
shuffled. When she had finished, she laid three cards face
down on the table. She glanced at the woman. A slight smile
shifted the wrinkled lips up at the corners.
Refusing to consider why this woman wanted Seren to
tell her fortune, Seren flipped the first card over.
Past.
A bright kaleidoscope of colors swirled over the face of
the card. Instead of a six of wands or high priestess, no solid
figure graced the face. Caught by the hypnotic whirls, Seren
stared, concentrating. Pictures formed in her mind.
A much younger, carefree Luci sashayed down crowded,
unknown streets, laughing at the many men who followed
her. Mental thoughts touched Seren’s mind and she spoke.
“Past, you wanted to live free, unattached. You desired to
succeed in your powers of soothsaying, not caring who you
hurt along the way.”
“Aye, aye, that is correct.” The woman leaned closer to
the table, excitement brightened her eyes. “Verra good, my
Lady.”
Seren turned the middle card.
Present.
She waited for the message from the cards. When she
received the meaning, she hesitated to speak. She met the old
woman’s eyes and waited until she nodded for her to
continue. “Present. You have regrets. Many regrets.
Foremost is the one of leaving your family—your lover and
children. You feel they are lost to you forever.”
The woman’s lips formed a straight line. Her head
wobbled up then down. “There is more. One card to go.”
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Hoping this card revealed the woman would reunite with
her loved ones, Seren flipped the last one over.
Future.
Caught in the circling colors, she bent closer, trying to see
clearer.
Roars erupted in her mind. The sky, blackened by smoke
and ash, stretched out above her. Screams, along with
terrified pleas, echoed across the city. She hurried, half-
running, half-waddling, down the street, seeking refuge, even
escape. The beat of mighty wings drawing nearer brought her
gaze over her shoulder. Slit pupil eyes, flaring red in the light
of the flames eating at the
buildings, stared at her. The
dragon opened it jaws and released its breath.
Terrified, Seren jerked away, her chair falling back from
the table. She managed to twist and catch a solid footing so
she landed on one knee. She gasped, sucking in deep breaths,
trying to calm her frantic heart. Leo knelt beside her. She
looked up at him. He opened his mouth to say something,
but she shook her head.
She had witnessed the woman’s death.
Death by dragon fire.
The woman’s raspy words came to her. “So, ye know my
fate.”
Leo’s gentle hand wrapped around Seren’s arm. He
helped her stand. “Told you not to come here. This ain’t play
like it is on Earth.”
Pulling away, Seren faced the woman. “Is it definite or
just what may happen?”
Wiry hair shook as the woman tilted her head. “May
happen? The cards dunna lie. What they foresee will be.”
A resigned expression flickered across her face, revealing
the unseen hope things could change.
This was enough for Seren to continue. “Has anyone ever
defied the cards? Tried to change the outcome. On Earth, it is
only what may happen, not what will happen. Humans
decide what their fate will be.”
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The woman’s eyes widened. “Earth? You choose...so it is
true what I see in my crystal. You are from the cosmos.”
“That doesn’t matter. Tell me, is your family here, in this
city?”
Luci tilted her head. “No. They be far to the south.”
Relieved, Seren nodded. “Good. I want you to leave.
Today. Go and join them. The vision I saw happened here.
Maybe if you leave, your future will be different. Do you have
the funds to travel?”
With a shake of her head, the woman stood. “No. So you
see this will not be.”
“Oh, yes it will.” Seren looked at Leo. “We’ll give her the
money to go. Paladin won’t mind. I want to see her aboard
an outgoing ship before the day is over.”
Leo, his face shining with a thin coat of perspiration,
nodded. He glanced at the woman. “Gather what you want to
bring. We’ll take you to the docks.”
For the first time since Seren had stepped into this small
dwelling, a flare of true hope appeared in the woman’s eyes.
She glanced around her, and then went to a curtain-covered
doorway at the back of the room. Several minutes later, she
returned with a small bulging sack.
“This is all I’ll take,” she murmured, stopping at the table.
