Page 32 of Stranger's Choice
Auraelie noticed how her thoughts had wandered—she really was at the last of her reserves, unable to concentrate without extreme effort. She forced herself to work through what she had seen in Pianti’s future. She needed to focus on the details.
Hidden among dozens of visions, the possibilities unlikely ever to come to pass, she had seen two distinct paths in Pianti’s future. But the turning point, the event that would tell Auraelie which the woman would travel, was shrouded in gray.
In one future, Pianti found happiness. In one, she became bitter and brittle. Auraelie wasn’t sure what to think about the possibility that some interaction with Sebin would send Pianti hurtling down one path or the other.
Maybe he wasn’t the cause of the grayness.
She didn’t see grayness when she touched him; she saw nothing.
“What did you see?”
Auraelie blinked, trying to force the afterimages of her visions to fade. She lifted her eyes and noticed Lhashiki standing beside her for the first time. She couldn’t tell the other woman about the visions, the dual paths she had seen and not been able to assign to the categories of possible or probable. Not because she wanted to keep them secret—though part of her did—but because she still had not finished processing the images.
“She touched me.”
For a moment, Lhashiki’s eyes softened in concern, then it disappeared and a fierce stillness took its place. “On purpose?”
“No. It was an accident as she accepted the wine. Over in a moment, but still direct contact.”
Lhashiki’s shoulders relaxed, and her concern for Auraelie returned. “But you are all right?”
Auraelie shrugged. “I’m not sure it is safe for me to use my power any more today. Even before Pianti, I felt the strain.”
“His Imperial Majesty has one more person he wants you to scan, but it can wait until this evening. Go rest. Then return to the banquet hall after supper.”
“Who will I be scanning?”
“Heolin.”
Auraelie couldn’t keep her surprise hidden. Luckily, Lhashiki was the only one who could see her mouth gaping open. The other woman gave her a moment to smooth out her expression. Then said simply, “Go. Rest.”
Auraelie left, knowing that she would not be told why even if she asked. The earth sprite, ambassador for all the magical races to the imperial court, was not a typical target of her power. The humans of the court dreaded Auraelie’s approach, knowing that she was to spy on their futures for the Emperor, but they also could not refuse her offer of a drink. Heolin was not truly a member of the court, though. The magical races maintained an odd balance in the empire, neither true subjects of the Emperor nor entirely independent from imperial rule.
Once a year, Heolin presented the Emperor with offerings from the magical races, their alternative to the taxes humans paid. At that time, Auraelie was sent to wash his feet and scan his future. But only that one time a year. Auraelie scanned more of his future than the courtiers during that ceremony, sacrificing the ability to distinguish details in order to offer a complete picture of his coming year to the Emperor.
His Imperial Majesty risked insulting the magical races by sending her to Heolin this evening.
Auraelie took hertime finding the earth sprite in the crowd. With supper over, people moved constantly, socializing or watching the acrobats performing at one end of the banquet hall. Auraelie slipped through them, goblet in hand, without any urgency.
Her black outfit was enough to have people pulling back and giving her space, but when they saw which of the Emperor’s Will moved among them, the humans shrank back even farther. No one wanted to be the recipient of that drink. No one wanted to brush against her accidentally and have their every secret known to the Emperor—perhaps even before they discovered it themselves.
The metal cup had warmed in her hands by the time Auraelie spotted Heolin. She took a circuitous route to his side and arrived as he finished a conversation with one person and before anyone else approached him. She knew none would dare come closer while she remained by him.
“Auraelie,” Heolin greeted her warmly, but in a voice meant not to carry. “I have wanted the opportunity to speak with you.”
Auraelie smiled at Heolin. She was discouraged from spending any time with the sprite, but on the rare instances she talked with him, he was friendly and considerate. He saw her as a person, rather than the Emperor’s Oracle. “I’m here on the Emperor’s behalf, I’m sorry to say.”
Heolin looked down at the goblet in her hands.
“Ah. Well, we can deal with that in a moment. So long as you are here, I first wish to know how you are faring.”
Auraelie glanced around, checking that everyone was giving her and Heolin enough space for her to reply with any measure of honesty. With the background noise of dozens of people making merry, a whisper ought to be safe enough. “As well as can be expected.”
Heolin’s eyes darkened. “Has the foreign prince hurt you?”
“No.”
Heolin didn’t look convinced.
