Chapter 14 #2
“Pass,” Croak grumbled.
“Right,” Orry sighed. “So, barring that, we need a seer.”
“What?” Croak scoffed. “You want to go to Messene?”
“Messene?” Orry asked, confused. Croak arched a brow at him, and Orry pursed his lips before he realized what Croak meant. “Ah! No, no, we don’t need an oracle,” he said patiently. With a smile, he looked over at Terena. “We need a seer.”
“There’s a difference?” she asked over the rim of her cup before taking a drink.
“Aye!” Orry said, pulling his robes tighter about him as he leaned forward, warming to the topic.
“An oracle sees big things, visions only Apollo can see; things affecting all of humanity and divinity. Seers tap into the magic of the world around us, the magic within the realm of Elysium, to guide their visions. They’ve been practicing since Hekate educated the first women.
She taught them how to harness magic, how to cast spells and create potions from herbs and trees and flowers.
“The knowledge has been diluted, I believe, over centuries, especially since the emperor’s obsessive search for gods.”
When he finished speaking, Orry cast a look at the others, their silence expectant and their gazes entranced. Licking his lips, a corner of his mouth lifted as he continued.
“Many were killed after the Immortals War, but I’ve read that the priestesses, the ones who worshipped the goddess, Hekate, continued practicing, passing down their knowledge to their acolytes.
“At some point, they educated ordinary village women with their skills, and those women passed it along to their daughters and so on. As I said, it’s been much diluted; I’ve found mentions in some scrolls of women who only cast or only create potions, many of whom are village apothecaries nowadays. ”
“What of seers, then?” Terena asked softly.
Orry lifted a finger and touched his nose with a sly smile.
“And seers. Though, women with that gift are even more cautious than the village women who heal. The seers were among the first killed after the war. Those women were descendants of Apollo. That god never met a woman he didn’t want to impregnate, it seems. He fathered demigods who had the gift of sight and from what I’ve read in one account from a priestess of Hekate during that time, one of Apollo’s conquests sought Hekate’s help to hide her daughter.
She begged the goddess, offering the goddess servitude for eternity if she would save her daughter from the purge.
According to the priestess’s account, Hekate agreed and took in the girl, helping her hone her sight, teaching her the witchcraft she’d taught others. ”
“So what you’re saying,” Croak said loudly as he slid off the log to lean against it with a big groan. He pulled up one leg and rested his elbow on it as he splayed his hand. “So what you’re saying is we not only need to find the amulet, but now we need to find a seer, too?”
“We don’t need to find a seer,” Rydon announced as he took a seat beside Orry. He stretched out his hands to the fire, his expression thoughtful. “The Fates are ever watchful, it seems.”
Gabriol shifted and stared at him for a moment. “You mean…”
“Aye.”
“Well? Don’t keep us in suspense,” Croak said sarcastically. “We’re all dying to know!”
“I… met a seer once. Near here, in Ermanel.”
“Why do I feel like there’s so much you’re not telling us?” Croak barked out a laugh as he winked at Terena.
“How’d you meet a seer?” Terena asked, pulling her knees closer to her body and hunching forward.
Gabriol’s face broke into a big grin as color suffused Rydon’s neck and face.
Running a hand over the back of his neck, Rydon stuttered.
“Can’t hear you, old man!” Croak laughed.
“I said,” Rydon said through gritted teeth. “I met her during a card game.”
“How long ago?” Orry asked. “She could be anywhere by now.”
“I’m certain she is still there,” Rydon snapped. “Just as I’m certain the Fates are grinning down at us about it right now.”
“So… did you leave on good terms?” Terena asked.
Gabriol guffawed, throwing his head back and holding his belly. If possible, Rydon’s color deepened to a darker crimson.
“I think so,” he hedged.
“Gabriol, tell us,” Croak commanded, snapping his fingers.
Smothering more laughter, Gabriol ignored the glare from Rydon and looked over at the others.
“You have to understand, the woman was very beautiful, and Rydon was… smitten,” Gabriol said.
Croak laughed and sat up straight, already loving where this was headed.
“I was not,” Rydon ground out.
“Aye, you were,” Gabriol laughed. “She bet him one night with her if he won the game. All night he’d been winning, and she’d been losing, so he readily took the bet.”
“You bet a seer, someone who sees the future, that you would win? Are you stupid?”
Rydon’s head snapped around and bared his teeth at Croak.
“He’s not wrong,” Terena said, grabbing the back of Rydon’s cloak to stop him from pummeling her brother. “Why would you do something like that?”
“I don’t know!”
“You lost, obviously.”
Rydon grunted while the others grinned at his discomfiture.
“What did you bet?” Terena asked, a faint smile on her lips.
“He bet his horse, his sword, and all the money he had.”