Page 132 of Salt in the Seas
“Take your spots along the ring,” she instructed.
The acolytes led their group to a perfect circle cut from the rock surrounding the chair, placing each of them a few feet apart until they surrounded the Seer. Gaeren, Riveran, Aeliana, and Cyrus had all been stuck behind the chair, but Gaeren didn’t mind not seeing Lady Merinnia’s creepy eyes.
Nori, the only one in their eleven who had an inkling of what might be to come, stood directly across from them and in front of the Seer. To her left were Iris and Holm, their hands shaking with apprehension. On her right stood Sylmar and Velden, and even the half-Sayhleen looked a bit overwhelmed, his mother clearly not having given him details about her own visit to Lady Merinnia. Lukai and Kendalyhn were across from each other on Lady Merinnia’s right and left, each maintaining a defensive stance.
Nori stepped forward. “We come asking for your judgment, guidance, and wisdom. We ask that you bring clarity on our existence and our purpose. Show us what you will so that we may move forward with a better understanding.” The speech was given like some sort of poem the Sayhleens had all learned in childhood, a recitation that had been drilled into them along with their letters and numbers.
Nori then dropped to one knee and bowed in deference, so Gaeren did the same, and in a slow wave the others all joinedthem. Cyrus was the last, the indecision written on his face, and Gaeren suspected he was uneasy bowing before anyone other than the Stars.
When all eleven of them had copied Nori’s posture, Lady Merinnia rose from her chair, her movements stiff as though she’d been sitting there since the last person had come seeking her skills.
“And so you shall,” she said, her murmuring voice mirroring Orra’s in the moments when Orra seemed to almost separate from her body as she sifted for truth.
Gaeren felt a brief moment of panic, a desire to take back the request and run from the room. But then he was no longer in the room and no longer able to run.
He found himself standing on a balcony, the wind blowing in the trees around him. Beyond that, he heard a strange hum, like the background noises of a dozen other rooms and settings were filtering through his senses. Lady Merinnia’s voice echoed through his mind as he studied his surroundings.
You wish to know how to keep both Aeliana and Enla safe.
Guilt flooded through him as she cut to the heart of the matter. She wasn’t going to show him anything that helped Aeliana or their group. But a strange flicker of hope wormed its way through his guilt. Was it possible to keep them both safe?
If you try to protect both, you will fail.
He winced, but there was no way for him to question her within this vision.
There are only two paths in your future. The first holds both women.As her voice faded from his mind, Riveran stepped out onto the balcony, pushing a chair on wheels. Enla slumped in the chair, her hands limp in her lap and her gaze unfocused. She looked far older, the lines on her face evidence of many years having passed, but Riveran had hardly changed. He wheeled her to a table inlaid with jewels and locked her wheels in place before patting her arm and stepping away.
In the distance, Gaeren heard the distracting cacophony grow louder, with Lady Merinnia’s voice overlapping the sounds. It was as if he could hear remnants of every one of his comrades’ judgments and visions as well. It left him anxious that he’d miss something in his own vision because of the chaos.
But very little happened as Enla sat there, unmoving and seemingly unaware of her surroundings. He wanted to call out to her, but like the memories he tuned in to, he had no control over this.
The vision faded, and similar to when he crossed the barriers with the starbridges, he felt out of time and place without the grounding sensation of the floor beneath him. Until he settled once more on a shoreline, the waves coasting in and out to compete with the other sounds echoing in the cavern where he sensed his body still stood.
Down the coast, a woman ran with two toddlers trailing behind her. She bent forward to scoop up water, splashing them to make them giggle. He held his breath, recognizing the long brown waves and slim form, daring to hope it might be her. When she drew close enough for him to catch the jade glint in her eyes, he recognized the same full lips and brown locks on the girl running beside her, just before Aeliana pulled both children beneath the waves, their laughter cut short by both the water and the vision fading.
The other path only holds one woman.Lady Merinnia’s voice startled him as he tumbled through the emptiness again before the vision settled once more into the all-too-familiar throne room of his parents’ home. Enla sat ramrod straight, the crown on her head glinting in the Sun’s light streaming through the windows. A room full of people bowed before her, and she nodded at them, her face as stubbornly stoic as their father’s often was.
I find it fascinating that your desire is to see their safety.Lady Merinnia’s voice blocked out any of the conversation occurring around the room.Do you have no care for your own safety?He was tempted to ask the clarifying question she teased him with, but he sensed it wasn’t an option. She had filtered through what he wanted to know most, and that was what she’d given him.
He had no second chance.
I would have thought that added information would have helped you choose which path to seek. I wonder if?—
Her words cut off as a scream echoed through the cavern, pulling Gaeren from the vision. The disorientation hit hard as he reached for his empty weapons belt, and his eyes attempted to adjust to the far darker cavern before him. Many of his comrades stood, dazed expressionson their faces as they took in whatever vision Lady Merinnia still showed them, but Iris and Holm had stepped back from the circle, their eyes blazing with equal determination.
Iris held a dagger, but Gaeren wasn’t sure where it had come from. Tears poured down her cheeks. “Please, Holm, don’t make me do this.”
But then Holm lunged for her.
CHAPTER 51
Aeliana’s eyesight blurred,and a chill swept over her arms. The friends surrounding her faded slightly, replaced by a vision. The scene overlaid around her, leaving her companions as wisps behind the vision, which grew stronger as she watched it unfold.
The Seer’s voice broke through her mind.Most come seeking their future, but your future starts with your past.The full story is documented in the archives of the Dehvlonian Oracles. But here, you can witness the origins of your mother’s curse.
A young woman kneeled in a dark cave, her head bowed and hands splayed out on the earth as if in worship. Her hands were covered in tattoos that seemed strangely familiar. Details of the cave eluded Aeliana, but with a sharp gasp she recognized the other occupant. Bulbous black eyes and ruby wings. A nearly human form curled in on itself, and a mouthless face. It was the same sprite who had spoken with Aeliana at Lovers’ Falls. Was this the cavern Gaeren and Riveran had reached?
The sprite flapped its wings to lean forward and raise the woman’s chin with its long fingers and claws.
