“I saw a… Ashineabout the three o’ ye. The very air around the three o’ ye practically glitters, like golden sunlight bouncin’ off the ripples on a loch on a rare fine day. Yer the first I openly read for since I was a girl in the before. Learned quick not to tell people I could see. Used it to my advantage, of course. But what are they gonna do now, burn me as a witch?”
She laughed, but it sounded pained. “Now I’ll use yer coin to try to drink away as much of my last days as I can. It’s the only thing that eases the pain.”
“What if I can help?”
“Help how?”
“I can buy ye laudanum. And drink.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Can ye now? How much? It only lasts for so long.”
“More than enough to do the job for good.”
She looked dubious. “When?”
“Tonight. Right now, if ye’d like.”
She slowly nodded. “If ye can do that, I would be mighty obliged. I would give ye one last reading before. And I’ll even let ye help me home.” She slowly shook her head. “Guess that’s what the vision meant about ye helpin’ me.”
He walked her back to the shanty she resided in, which was barely four walls and a roof. The hearth was cold and he took a moment to lay and light a fire for her. Promising to return shortly, he hurried to find who and what he needed, which didn’t take long with his Prime powers to draw the immediate truth from people, as well as their compliance.
And ensure their silence.
He returned to her abode to find her lying on the pallet of straw and rags she called a bed.
She watched as he mixed the potion together and his hands trembled as he poured it into the larger bottle. He’d killed before. Too many times to remember. Even mercy killings, but never anything like this.
And this was definitely a mercy. She was full of pain, agony. It was a wonder she hadn’t hung herself, or slit her throat, or walked into the sea.
She’d lived a hard and harsh life and this was, to her, the ultimate kindness.
When it was ready, he filled a dented cup he’d found on the rickety shelf on her wall.
He had enough to fill it four times, and he’d been assured there was enough to kill ten people in the potion, mixed now with the sweet mead.
She motioned for his hand and he gave it, not speaking while he felt that…something again. Like a mental tickle.
He’d felt other Primes before, but this was nothing like that.
It was nothing like he’d ever experienced before.
She slowly nodded as she held his hand, humming that tune again for a few minutes before finally speaking. “There are two chapters to yer life. This is but the first, and it continues on for quite a while past now. I am not being vague on purpose, mind ye. I’m tellin’ ye what I see as best I can put it into words. This voyage yer about to undertake is but not even midway through the first chapter. Ye make it safely, as does yer mate. And yer friends, once they follow along in the next two years.”
She deeply sighed, her eyes closing. “Never lose the kindness in yer heart. Likewise, never hesitate to show or even use yer teeth when needed to protect yers. Though ye will have loss in the first chapter, ye will gain even more in the second. Love those from outside and welcome them as yers. They might not be yer blood but they are far closer, and they will willingly spill blood for ye, if need be.”
More humming. “Set yer roots in the northwest and dig. Coal, oil, minerals. Mining. There will be the start of yer vast and long-lived fortune. But look ahead. Buy up land elsewhere. Cattle. Crops.” She blew out a rancid breath. “War will come. Great war that crosses the sea. Then another soon after. Won’t touch yer land, but ye prosper from it. Yer companies can build and sell things. Blood money still spends and will protect ye and yers. Don’t feel guilty about it. And that’s important. Because yer compound becomes a sanctuary over the years as it grows.”
She swayed a little where she sat and he could see her eyes moving behind her lids, as if watching scenery pass her by. “Survival is important. Take the steps now. If ye don’t, yer kind will get wiped out. Not just yers, but all over. This land here is no longer safe for ye. Won’t be safe for yer kind for too damned long. Not just from humans, but from yer own kind, and others similar.”
Her voice changed, deepened, steadier now. “Buy politicians, lawmen, whoever you need. Counsel others like ye to do the same. Avoid hurtin’ innocents if ye can, because ye can afford to be kind. Ye’ll be loved more for that. Teach those lessons. Blendin’ in will keep ye all alive. Viciously take blood when needed however, and keep yer blood and found family close. Set yer own rules, make yer own way. Learn from the wrongs of the past and make right the future. What ye start now will soon become the old ways and the things people remember, takin’ nothin’ from this place and the past. Ye can build the foundation of something better.”
Her eyes opened. “I know this sounds like nonsense, but it’s what I see. I get images, whispers. I can only tell ye as best I can.”
“I understand.” She still held his hand so he didn’t pull away.
“The farther in the future I look, the vaguer it gets, ye ken? Because it also depends on what course you and others take.”
He nodded.
