“Do you know what those lives were?” Maybe she had been Cleopatra or Queen Elizabeth who ruled England for forty-five years. Samantha nearly laughed at her own humor but as Iza was very serious in her task, she did not do so.
“I only see your soul through time and it accomplished much, and lacked only one thing that it still longs for.”
She could not imagine what she was missing. “What would that be?”
“Your soul never found its mate in all that time.” Iza finally looked up from the cards. “It has loved many but never met the mate to your soul, the one true love.”
The stuff of fairytales. Samantha nearly dismissed and managed not to snort at the absurdity.
“It is not nonsense,” Iza chastised, as if she’d read her mind. “There is a mate to every soul, but it is also a very rare occurrence when the two happen to meet. Most accept the love they have for another being the one true love, and while they may live a happy life, it could have been so much more had the marriage been to the mate of the soul.”
“A soulmate?” Cassian questioned.
“Yes. The true and deepest love of all and Lady Samantha’s ancient soul did not find hers.”
Samantha wanted to ask if she had met one in this life but wouldn’t she already know?
Perhaps she would have asked if Cassian had not been sitting beside her, but she was also afraid of the answer. She may only be infatuated with him, which was not love and certainly not a soulmate attraction, but he was also the only man she had ever wanted beyond a friendship.
“It is not only your past that I saw, Lady Samantha, but a future as well,” Iza offered in an ominous tone that sent a chill down her spine. She then reminded herself once again that Iza was a Romani and practiced in their art and craft, meant to thrill and scare, which Iza had managed to just do. Scare her, that is.
It was a performance even when they truly had the gift of sight.
Did she dare ask?
“Be careful where you wander,” came the warning.
“Why?”
“Something lurks. It is not clear, but there is danger.”
Goosepimples formed on her arms.
“Do you know what it is?” Samantha asked.
“I can assure you that Lady Samantha is safe at Nightshade Manor,” Cassian insisted.
“Be careful where you wander,” Iza warned again.
“I will,” Samantha answered though she couldn’t imagine what she needed to fear. She had already visited the whole of Nightshade Manor except for the forbidden part of the forest and she had no intention of going there. But, if for some reason the opportunity arose, she would remember the warning and stay away.
“Thank you, Iza.”
“You are very welcome, Lady Samantha.”
“What do I owe you? I promise to return with the funds.”
Iza smiled gently. “It was my pleasure to assist you, Lady Samantha. Just heed my warning.”
“I will. Thank you again.”
She stood, ready to return to Nightshade Manor, a bit unsettled by what she had been told, though she really had nothing to fear for she did not wander, and there was little she could do about finding a soulmate and if she did happen to fall in love, hoped that he was the one her soul had been searching for.
She then realized that one question remained. “Is it true then, that the silver in my hair is because of an ancient soul?”
“Do not view them through the eyes of vanity because you are young but celebrate the gift that your soul can provide if you simply listen to what it is telling you,” Iza chastised.
“I do not dislike the silver,” Samantha quickly assured her. “It has simply been a curiosity and if what I had been told was true.”
