“Ah, here it is.” Leoake pulled out a black velvet pouch and poured a handful of square chips in his palm that looked like bleached stone. No, she realized, they were bones—each carved with a rune.
“Those are the tools of a soothsayer,” Cassiel said. “Are you not a seer?”
“Soothsayer. Druid. Seer. They are all relatively the same in regards to predicting the future. Divination takes too much concentration. Why look into the Time Gate when this works as well?”
“Are you saying you can’t provide divinations? Is it too difficult for you?”
Leoake pursed his mouth. “Do you want answers to your questions or not? I’ll divine when I see fit. What you lot mean to ask doesn’t require it.” He nodded to Dyna. “Speak to the runes, and they will reply. When I toss them in the air, ask your question.”
Finally, she would get answers. He threw them in the air and all eyes watched them fall.
Dyna drew a breath. “What did the Seer of Faery Hill divine in my future?”
The runes landed oddly on their side. Neither displaying the front or the back.
“The time runes are a finicky bunch,” Leoake said as he gathered them. “They only answer yes or no questions. Now you have two left.”
“Wait,” Zev growled through his teeth. “You didn’t explain that before.”
He shrugged. “Three questions, as agreed. I should clarify that I cannot tell you the divination of another seer, only my own. Now carefully consider your next question.”
The Druid tossed them again without giving her the chance to do that.
“Have I met all my guardians?” she blurted.
Six runes landed faced up.
“Yes.”
Fine hairs rose on Dyna’s neck, and goosebumps prickled down her arms. Had she met them? When?
“It would be useless to ask when or who.” Leoake motioned at the chips of bone nestled in the grass. Energy radiated around them, brushing against her like heat coming off metal. “What is a guardian but a protector?”
Dyna studied runes. Her father had taught her their many meanings, and his voice came to her then, reading each one.Uruzfor strength.Algizfor protection.Ansuzfor wisdom.Gebofor love.Tiwazfor warrior.Perthrofor destiny.
Three faces surfaced in her mind, and a rush swooped through her chest to the pit of her stomach.
“All of your Guardians have saved your life in some form or other,” the Druid said. “That was always the sign to identify them, and they will continue to shield you, as that is their purpose. They are drawn to you, Maiden. They cannot help but protect you as you cannot help but trust them, for your destinies recognize each other.”
Each moment of near death was seen in a new light. Cassiel saved her in Hilos, Zev in Lykos, and Rawn in Elms Nook. It was meant to happen. Emotion swelled in her chest as she thought of the sorceress. Lucenna had saved her in Corron, and Keena saved her life in the Moors. The sixth guardian … she had a guess who it may be.
Each of them had crossed her path, but half had also left it.
“The moment the Seer divined your future, you were bound together,” Leoake said, as if he could hear her thoughts. “You need not search for them, for they will reunite with you again.”
That left one thing she needed to worry about now. Dyna paused and looked at the others. They had questions too, but they nodded for her to continue.
“Zev, you said you had something you wanted to ask.”
“It’s fine, Dyna. Don’t worry about me.”
“He isn’t ready to hear the answer.” Leoake leaned back on his hands, crossing a leg over the other. “The Madness already tried to tell him.”
Zev’s wide yellow eyes pinned on him. What did that mean? Was he speaking to the Madness? Zev hadn’t told her that, but he probably wouldn’t when it was a sign he was losing himself further. Dyna wanted to ask, to beg him to confide in her as he used to, but he wouldn’t look her way.
“Ready?” Leoake asked her.
Far from it.
