Chapter Part 2: Chapter Twenty

Next week: The Supernatural—

a multi-world concept.

NEW EARTHAN PRESS A Prediction A light rain fell on the Yharria. Soft, steady and pleasant, the gentle sprinkle had been falling for some time after early-moon and had cooled the early summer evening down considerably.

Ladora Vin-La stood on an apartment balcony, her hood pushed back and her head lifted upwards. Such rain was rare in the summer and the feathery wisps bouncing off her face felt good and clean.

Below her, in the streets, life went on as usual in the bazaar. No amount of bad weather could stop all of it. The courtyard directly underneath her swarmed with people and activity.

She turned and walked into the apartment. Bright light and the smell of some type of aromatica greeted her as she stepped through the curtains. She stopped for a moment to let her eyes adjust. No oil-globes or candles here although Ladora would have thought those more appropriate to the dwelling of a seeress. But Denelle had off-world electricals installed in her apartment. Ladora had never gotten used to such unnatural light, especially when turned up as high as it was now.

Even so, that light revealed the three-sided main room facing her to be large and immaculately decorated. Lush drapery hung like tapestries from the walls; the portions of wall space revealed were brilliantly painted in a variety of rainbow hues; flower arrangements stood on every table and mantle and hung from the ceiling in pots, leaves and stems drifting sometimes to the floor itself; sculptures, both native and off-world, sprouted from the floor like bizarre plants themselves.

The floor itself was uncarpeted, revealing gleaming troyat wood. What furniture there was consisted mainly of huge pillows and small, low tables. A door each on all three walls hinted at other rooms beyond; a maze of magical chambers perhaps? The fortune-telling business must be lucrative, Ladora thought with a smirk as she wondered how expensive the furnishings had been.

“Come in, Ladora.” A soft, almost ethereal, voice sounded from the far side of the room. “I’m finished with my comm call.”

The speaker lounged on a long couch, the one rare piece of true furniture, plumped up with yet more pillows. A glow-pipe mouthpiece balanced loosely in a long-fingered hand. Denelle was an Afra-Terran female, dressed in a simple, sleeveless smock and an ankle-length half-gown that draped over and around her long, thin legs. She stared enigmatically at Ladora out of dark brown eyes.

Denelle’s otherwise shaven head sported a long braid of white hair that trailed down the back of her neck. She blinked slowly as she took the glow-pipe mouthpiece in her mouth. Briefly, Ladora saw the gleam of short, sharpened teeth, no doubt an augmentation from a regen-treatment. When Denelle spoke, her Senitte wasn’t exactly tinged with an accent as it was breathed, whispered, and almost musical.

“I’ve come for my second reading,” Ladora said, somewhat impatiently. Denelle had kept her waiting while another client had run over her allotted comm time. Ladora took a seat on one of the pillows opposite Denelle. On a table between the two women, a large glass globe sat in its faux-clawed base like a giant gemstone. A mist curled inside it like a child in its womb, undulating and weaving in and out of a myriad of shapes.

Denelle chuckled. “Do I not know?” she said. “I can see the future, after all. Besides, you’re on my schedule. Hmmm?”

Ladora wasn’t in the mood for jokes. Especially alien ones she never understood. “Yes, well, can we get on with it?”

Denelle put the glow-pipe mouthpiece aside and leaned forward. “Of course. Do you have the litha blade?”

Ladora unsheathed her knife and handed it to Denelle who, in turn, took it in her hands. The Terran turned the knife over, inspecting the blade. She held the weapon to her forehead. A moment passed as, eyes closed, she murmured something. A spell? Ladora wondered. And there, right before her eyes, the gemstones inset on either side of the hilt began to softly pulsate, glowing with some inner fire.

“This was drawn once in anger,” Denelle said, not looking at Ladora.

“Not anger,” Ladora replied, staring at the glowing knife. “Self-defense.”

“Against an apen?”

Ladora jerked in surprise. Denelle’s prescient talents were what Ladora had hired her for. Still, the apen attack had become common news quickly enough. She shouldn’t be surprised Denelle knew Ladora had been there.

“Yes.” The knife continued its pulsing, unsettling Ladora. She had had this... thing of power in her possession for almost ten suns. Nothing like this had ever happened in that time.

“Of course not,” Denelle said, as if reading Ladora’s mind. “Litha is not something to be possessed lightly. The less you knew, the better. The readings will be more accurate, not clouded by any perceptions or desires.”

Denelle shook her head. “No, not entirely self-defense,” she began again. “The blade was drawn lightly in an action of what I can only describe as... perverse joy? Is that what it was?”

No, Ladora thought uneasily. She can’t have known that. “Does it matter?”

Denelle shrugged. “Only as far as your true self is concerned. Had you spilled blood with this...”

“I didn’t.”

“Yes. I know that too, hmmm? As for what the energy within the litha stones can tell me...”

Finally. “Yes, yes. You explained to me how the blade can absorb and record the energy around it. It can foretell if conditions are right.”

“You are ambitious, yes? I don’t think you need a seeress to tell you that. But, if you’re to make a move to gain your ultimate goal, the time is now. You must move quickly and soon. Do you see?”

Ladora snorted. “I do see. I see that anyone could tell me that.”

Denelle’s eyes became hooded, her features hardened. Her manner suddenly shifted, turning darker, much more serious. It was almost like she had undergone a metamorphosis, changing into another person. Perhaps her true self. She almost seemed feral now, a hunter. “You came to me to tell you of your future, yes? Isn’t that right?” Her eyes gleamed in the light.

Ladora flinched. She shifted uncomfortably in her otherwise comfortable seat. Denelle commanded her, her tone of voice almost imperious. “Yes,” Ladora said stiffly. Who did this klau think she was? Ladora was the customer here. She was the one paying this... seeress.

“And you told me nothing else of yourself except the basics of what I needed to know? Correct?”

“Yes. At your request. Only that I had a decision to make and that I needed help in reaching that decision.”

“The results of the litha energy are not to be underestimated. Understand? You surprise me, Ladora. I know you have had close ties with Pumans in your past despite your dislike of them.”

The relocation camps. Ladora frowned at the memory. She had been a child then. Her adoptive parents, who had taken her out of the ghetto, had included her in that mercy mission along with the other children. She remembered the misery, the hunger, and the pain of the Pumans incarcerated at the camp. She remembered the “perverse joy” she had experienced as a result. Even now.

“Anything to further your purposes, yes?” Denelle’s question brought her back from her musings. “So, you should know my power is real. You work for a rich and influential merchant house and there’s one there who may stand in your way, isn’t there? The Head Server.”

Ladora wasn’t convinced. Yes, she knew some magickers were powerful and could command unseen forces. And Denelle had come highly recommended. But this information Denelle related could be gleaned anywhere. It was no secret Ladora worked for the Honin-Zays. As for Behoola standing in her way? She had never looked at it like that before. “Yes, well...”

“Four suns ago,” Denelle said, “you took one of the household guards to your bed. Hmmm? You enjoyed it but refused to see him again.”

Ladora felt herself flush. Had that fool Nareed told everyone?

“And you recently tried to interest your mistress’ bodyguard in some pleasure. He refused your advances, did he not?”

This was different. Ladora couldn’t imagine Kazrah telling anyone about that. Though Denelle’s goading angered Ladora, it seemed this reading began to turn more toward her expectations. Better and better.

Denelle looked away, turning thoughtful. “The energy readings are not complete. I must interpret some of the findings, yes? This bodyguard. I would stay away from him if I were you.”

“Pah! He is just another servant.”

“Nevertheless, do not provoke him. No, listen to me. I cannot say exactly why. There is a blank spot in the litha waves concerning him. That could be important. Understand?”

What? “I don’t care about him. But I think you’ve made your point, however confusing.”

“Hmmm. Not yet. On your way here, you stole a set of earrings from a merchant in the bazaar. You have the money to pay for it but it pleases you to perform such unlawful acts now and then, does it not? In fact, just now, you wondered how you could get the litha blade back in your possession. Yes?”

Ladora stared at the seeress. She almost felt embarrassed. Yes, she thought. Maybe this will be money well spent after all.

“All right. My apologies, Denelle. I believe you.”

“So. That aside, here is the information you requested. You must usurp the head server to reach your goal.”

“What?”

“Take the head server’s place in the household you serve and you will attain that which you seek. Yes? At least that will be a step in the right direction. Becoming Head Server will get you noticed more quickly as you pursue the goal of then replacing the mistress of the house to become the merchant’s next wife. Is it not so?”

Ladora felt the skin at the base of her scalp crawl. Yes, that was her goal. And she knew she would have to push Behoola aside at some point. But so soon? “Yes, yes. I see.”

“Do you? It will not be simple to do, I think. But you must ponder on what I have told you and of your own situation. An opportunity will arise that will allow you to step into the present Head Server’s place. Yes? Be on the lookout for this! It will happen soon and you must be ready.”

Denelle reached to the drawer of the table and pulled out another knife, a simpler, plainer Senitte blade, and a small cloth bag. From the bag she removed several rectangular lora coins, not credit chips, and handed the much-lighter bag and the knife to Ladora. “Your deposit minus my fee. Hmmm?”

Ladora took her knife and bag, a sudden feeling of detachment stealing over her. “Will I be successful? You really haven’t told me my future, only my past and present, and what might occur.”

Slowly, the Terran picked up the glow-pipe mouthpiece and inhaled. The blue-smoke whirled around her head, emulating the mist entrapped in the globe. “I have told you as much as I can see. You will know when to act when the time comes but you must be observant as to that time. Beyond that, the future forks into many paths, does it not? You must choose the right path. The past determines what will happen in the future. Use your skills. Remember, replacing the Head Server is the key. Do you wish to schedule a third reading?”

“No, not yet. My thanks, Denelle.” Ladora rose, bowed to the seeress and turned to go.

“One moment, Ladora.”

Ladora turned back. Once again, Denelle’s expression had darkened. Her eyes gleamed with a hardened light. “Attend what I say very carefully.”

Ladora felt a shiver crawl up her spine. “Yes?”

“I am not in the habit of helping those who do not deserve it. I especially take no joy in such a thing. I abide by the Seeress Guild’s protocol in all matters and do not refuse anyone my services despite my personal feelings, no matter what the situation. However...” She took a slow pull off the pipe, her eyes never leaving Ladora.

Ladora suddenly felt paralyzed. She couldn’t turn away from that piercing gaze.

“This opportunity I foretell can be taken advantage of in a variety of ways.” The seeress blinked slowly. “See to it that your choice is the most benign, that it brings as little harm as possible.”

“Ye... yes, of course.”

“It can be done. You must seek out such a solution. I will know if you have not.” Her features softened. “Well! That concludes our business, yes? Bright sun to you, gentle fem.”

Ladora felt as if she had been cut loose from some type of bondage. “Bri... bright sun, Denelle.” She turned and walked slowly to the staircase that led to the exterior door on the ground level. She walked down the stairs as if in a morium haze. Despite that last warning, she felt good. Her reading only strengthens what I’ve felt I must do all along, she thought. The only question to yet answer is the how of it. Benign? We shall see.

By the time she reached the street, she smiled broadly. The rain had stopped and the sun peeked through the clouds. The crowds had increased, thronging the street.

“Excuse me, gentle fem, is this the residence of Denelle, the seeress?”

Ladora looked at what appeared to be a Puman fem. She wore a drab longfrock, the hood of which practically obscured her face. But what features Ladora could see were not pretty, even in the Puman sense. This one seemed to have been scarred in some way. She leaned on a staff, her body favoring the one side.

“Yes. The second floor,” Ladora said, wondering what might have happened to the Puman. A fire? But then she realized she really didn’t care.

“My thanks.” The fem limped to the stairs and slowly made her way up.

Ladora turned back to the activity in the street. No more breaking the rules, she thought. I will be the best, most obedient Second the Honin-Zays have ever had. And then, well, whatever happens, happens. It is, after all, ordained.