Chapter 44
Matt
After breakfast and the morning chores, Robbie agrees to watch the babies while they play in the living room so Deejay and I can talk to Chanda. This is the first day off he’s had with us, and I’m surprised when we find him in the media room watching an old cartoon with Jasper and Cary. His aura has calmed, but the moment his eyes catch on Deejay, worry and anger slice through it. He was pissed about the curse Deejay laid on Tio, and I now see that his anger has barely cooled.
“Ntu Waamelika, we would like a reading,”
Deejay tells him, using a formal tone and address.
Chanda takes a Robbie breath, stands up, and focuses on us, assuming the mantle of Chanda Ntu Waamelika Muajamu as his aura turns completely black. “This conversation needs to happen where we can’t be distracted.”
“Of course,”
Deejay agrees. “Let’s go to my office.”
The three of us walk through the house, and head into Deejay’s office, one of the inner rooms of the house that doesn’t have any windows. There are two doors, one that leads into the hall where the music room is and one that leads to a staircase that goes up to the second floor and down to the basement. The bookshelves that line the walls hold a library’s worth of reading material on non-humans. This is where I found the small book on Obsidite culture, and where the encyclopedia we let Gage borrow normally stays. There’s a sofa, a large desk, and a couple of chairs.
When we come in, Deejay shuts and locks the door while Chanda starts rearranging the furniture. He drags a chair over to the sofa and grabs the end table and puts it between the sofa and the chair.
“Maledict, Reaper, please sit on the sofa,”
Chanda says, sitting in the chair he moved as he sets the nkisi fetish on the table in front of him.
Deejay and I sit on the sofa, shoulder to shoulder, then I feel static building in the atmosphere as Chanda starts speaking. “I have touched your strings of Fate, but never done a full reading for you, so let me cover the basics. When I do a reading, you ask me the question you want answered, and I go find the answer for you by sending my nkisi into your strings until I find the answer. There are no secrets from me when I do this. I will see many things including your past actions, present course, and future possibilities. I guarantee discretion, but I do not guarantee non-disclosure. If you’ve broken the law, it’s possible that I will turn you in and stand as a witness at your trial, however, I won’t bother if the laws you’ve broken haven’t violated the basic tenets that are true across all non-human cultures. I’m not going to expose a crime against Naiad law that doesn’t violate the laws of every other species. Now, ask me what you want to know, and when I start the reading, please remain quiet until I’m done. It may take a few minutes; it may take an hour or longer. It just depends on what I find when I go searching through your strings.”
“We’re here to consult you about Matt returning to the Cage today. I want to know that he won’t die if he walks into that arena, that Loretta won’t force him to act as Headsman again, and why Erroll of Morgaine is willing to kill him to keep him out of the Cage.”
Chanda nods, expression and aura unreadable. He focuses completely on this reading, which is why his aura turned completely black. He puts his hands on the table, palms up. “Put your hands in mine,”
he instructs.
We take his hands, then the static that built up discharges as I watch Chanda’s aura reach out and cut through the three layers of Deejay’s aura, then the little black aura from the nkisi fetish runs through the tear and disappears from my sight.
We sit there in silence for about an hour before I start to feel a minor discomfort inside me. It feels like the static energy that had built up before the nkisi went into Deejay is now inside me. The little hairs all over my body stand on end, making me want to fidget to release it, but I discipline myself and remain still and silent until after twenty minutes I see the black aura return to the fetish and the feeling dissipates with it. Chanda’s aura repairs the tear in Deejay’s then he lets go of our hands and sits back, taking a few minutes to recover from the expenditure of his psychic power.
When he recovers, Chanda looks up, focusing on Deejay. “If Matt gets into the Cage, nothing untoward will happen today. The future of the Hub is in flux right now, but I can see far enough to guarantee that Matt will return home safely. I think it would be in the best interest of your future to fight today, however, I can only see so far, and the strings of Fate between you and your mate have intertwined into a tangle that will take me time to unwind. What I can say for certain is that if the Obsidian Reaper enters the Cage today, he will return safely, but it is a single set in a chain of events that started when Felixia brought him here and it won’t break that chain whether he fights today or not. As to Erroll’s motivations, I am forced by other contracts to remain silent except to say, you’ve confounded him around every turn, and I expect that you will continue to do so.”
“By your contract with the King of Morgaine?”
Deejay questions, reminding me that Chanda did a reading last night for Erroll’s brother.
Chanda nods. “Yes. I apologize, but I do guarantee discretion and Erroll’s crimes against you do not affect the non-human community as a whole.”
“I respect the rules of the Ntu Waamelika, but I can’t say I’m happy with this outcome,”
Deejay sighs. “Thank you, Chanda.”
“I will be here when you need me again,”
Chanda assures him, then looks at me. “Do you have a question? I answered Deejay’s but you haven’t said anything.”
I’ve listened to his reading, the answers he’s provided, and I heard what he said about me and Deejay. I’ve read the handbook on Obsidite culture, and I know it’s normal for Obsidites to be quick to find and commit to their mates starting younger than me. “I just want to know how much of my Obsidite genetics are actually present. It’s my primary presenting species, but I want to know what that means for me.”
Chanda gives me an amused smile. “You’re about eighty percent Obsidite, eighteen percent human, and two percent Kelpie, and not a descendant of Poseidon. It means that while you may be a bit small for an Obsidite, you have all the physical, mental, and emotional qualities and attitudes of your people.”
There’s a lot of good news in that answer. “Thank you.”
“Should you need me again, let me know,”
Chanda tells us as he stands, “but give me a few days to sort out what I’ve already seen.”
Deejay and I stand with him and Deejay walks him to the door before shutting it and turning back to me. “So, you’re going.”
“That is the recommendation of the Ntu Waamelika.”