Page 14 of Shadow Queen
Bhasim sat with a cup of wine in his hand. “They’re not spells, they’re staves,” he said.
“What are staves?”
He eyed her warily, obviously not used to conversation about his power, or perhaps not used to conversation at all. “The power of the Gift is not easy to wield. It can consume the body. One must protect himself, and the staves give this protection. The more powerful the Gift, the more protection required.”
Bhasim bore more markings than Nemus, which meant he was a more powerful traveler than the Mercian seer. Mikael had said he was the most powerful seer in the four kingdoms—which four kingdoms, she wasn’t certain. But her excitement grew. He might be able to help her where Nemus couldn’t.
Bhasim breathed a silent spell into the air.
“Why do you need the blood?” she interrupted. She didn’t think his lips could get any thinner, but they did. Was he annoyed?
“You seem to already know quite a bit about seers.” But where she expected a dismissive reply, he only asked, “Do you know of the Eye?”
She searched her mind of her visit with Nemus in Mercia, but he’d only mentioned that he had no control of what the Eye showed him. “It’s what shows you the future?”
He frowned, as if somewhat disappointed in her awareness. “To get to the Eye, one must step into the Aether, the place through which all energy flows. The Aether connects us all, but it’s a place of chaos. It is easy to find the Eye, but totravelto others, we need the blood spell to find our way, and to connect. Our blood calls us and lets us in.” He paused, eyeing her. “May I continue now?”
She swallowed and nodded.
He breathed his spell again. Then he pricked his finger and squeezed a small drop of blood into the goblet and held the cup for Norah.
She took it and drank it, then closed her eyes and tried to relax. Even though she knew what to expect, she still jumped with a start when he came to her. Bhasim kept his current form, unlike Nemus, who’d shown his younger self.
In her mind, they stood in the same temple, only it was dark, with long cloths that draped from an endless sky, creating rooms of memories between them. She turned, seeing all around her, almost overwhelmed by it all. With Nemus, there had been almost nothing.
They walked slowly, in silence, from memory to memory: seeing her grandmother for the first time, Alexander showing her through the castle, meeting with her council, talking to Adrian.
Norah paused.
A pain gripped her heart.
In front of her was the moment when Alexander found her in the forest. She watched him realize who she was. Now she understood the emotion in his face: the elation, the fear, the sting of her not knowing him. She wished she could touch him now, but he was only an image.
Another memory pulled her attention from Alexander.
Mikael.
The day of their wedding. His eyes were on her. Always, his eyes were on her. She smiled sadly and was surprised at the longing that pulled deep inside. She suddenly remembered she wasn’t alone. “I’m sorry,” she said, turning back to the seer.
He looked at her curiously, and they continued through the memories.
Suddenly, Bhasim stopped. “So, this is how you know of travelers.”
She turned to see the image of her with Nemus.
He lingered at the memory, looking at it intently. “I’ve never seen another,” he said quietly.
“Another traveler?”
He nodded. “Those of us with the Gift of sight have a shield—a shield that protects us from others with the Gift. It hides us from visions. I cannot see others, and they cannot see me. But to see in a memory…” He smiled. “I’d never thought of that.”
“It must be very lonely,” she said softly.
His eyes met hers, surprised. “It is.”
“His name is Nemus,” she said, realizing the significance to him.
“Nemus,” he repeated back to himself.
