“Why?”
“Because they come from a family of witches, therefore, a witch would be safe with them. Whereas a witch marrying someone who knew nothing of magic would always need to hide her gifts or not marry at all. Then there comes the difficulty of any children if they turned out to be magical. That would be something not easily explained.”
Samantha nodded. “It is a dilemma faced by all witches, I suppose. Except, neither Viscount Bentford nor Lord Orion married a witch.”
“Their marriages were blessed by the goddess,” Cassian answered.
“How is it possible to know?”
He chuckled. “I cannot reveal the magic, and I should not even know, but I do and must never speak of it.”
“You are a pest, Lord Ajax,” Iza was saying as they drew closer. “You do not need a fortune, or a charm or protection.”
“That is not why I am here,” he argued.
“I know why you are here and I will not help you. I cannot help you. It is something you must find within yourself.”
“What if it is missing?” he asked quietly.
Some of the irritation disappeared as Iza’s shoulders relaxed and she placed a hand on his chest. “It is within, Lord Ajax, but it is not something a tea, charm, or even a spell will help you find. You must search your soul.”
Ajax stared at her for the longest time, before he gave a nod and walked away.
“What are you searching for?” Cassian asked as Ajax strode toward them on his return to Nightshade Manor.
“A purpose,” he answered and kept walking, clearly not in the mood to converse.
Cassian turned and watched Ajax. Was his friend unhappy? What did he mean by purpose? His life was set and needed nothing, other than to do the expected and take a witch as a wife one day.
“Cassian, what brings you here today?” Iza greeted them, though she studied Samantha, her dark eyes keen with interest.
“Lady Samantha was once told that because she has silver in her hair at such a young age that she must be an old soul or possess a soul who has lived many lives.”
Iza arched a brow. “You do not believe that is true?”
“I do not know if it is or not,” Samantha answered.
“It is why I suggested that we come here. If anyone knew of souls and such, I assumed it would be Madam Boswell.”
“I fear she is resting,” Iza said quietly. “She grows old and must rest often. It is why she is training me to take her place.” Sadness lingered in her tone.
“Then we shall not bother you further,” Samantha offered.
“I too, have the sight, Lady Samantha.” Iza reached out and took Samantha’s hand. “Come sit with me by the fire and we will see what we can discover together.”
Samantha was beginning to reconsider if she truly wished to know if there was an old soul that had been around longer than her physical body. Was such knowledge beneficial or harmful? Though, in truth, there was nothing she could do about a past that she had no knowledge of. But what if it had caused grievous injury to another, or evil, or…except, if that was the intent of her soul, would she not be like that now?
How did any of this work? And maybe having an old soul was just told to her to make her feel better about getting silver hair sooner than most.
Iza pulled her toward the fire and they settled upon stools.
“Souls really do have more than one life?” Cassian asked.
“Some have only one. Others have several. It often depends on lessons to be learned or what must be experienced.”
Samantha wondered if Iza would perform some kind of parlor trick, or one of the readings the Romani offered when they traveled from town to town. But then, she listened to the music of Iza’s voice and knew that she was speaking the truth. Or at least Iza believed that she spoke the truth, even though Samantha remained skeptical.
“Is there any way to know what my soul lacked, or what lesson it needs to learn?” Samantha asked, still not certain.
