It’s The Star.
I pull another card as Hawthorn says, “The Sun.”
The next one Ethan predicts, “The Moon.”
Walker, “The World.”
Greeley, “The Magician.”
Reeves, “Justice.”
Thoren rumbles behind me, “The Lovers.”
Then Maxime smiles kindly as I set his card down. “The Empress.”
Then they all speak together as I set “The Fool” down.
“I’m The Fool,” I whisper, tracing a line over the gargoyle on the card. They have a flower crown around their red horns, and they’re standing in a sea of stars with one shining brighter than the rest. They’re wearing a backpack and they have a small dog-like creature with them.
Thoren’s lips press against my neck above my collar, kissing me. “What is your question for the cards?”
My question? Do I need just one? Because I think I could ask a different question for every person at the table. “Um,” I prevaricate, trying to land on a single question that could help clarify why the cards could possibly think I should go with Thoren. “Um, can, uh, anyone backmeup while I back up Thoren?”
“Good question,” Hawthorn mutters, shooting me a visibly impressed look.
“Ok, now just deal a card over each one in order sideways. We don’t want them up or down,” Thoren instructs, so I start dealing out the cards sideways.
Six of Cups, Six of Wands, Seven of Cups, Nine of Pentacles, Two of Pentacles, Two of Swords, Ten of Cups, Seven of Wands, and Ace of Cups on my card.
“What does this mean?” I have no idea what any of these cards mean.
“That’s not really certain,” Thoren replies, sitting up to look over my shoulder. “The cards represented here are usually upright—”
As soon as he says the word, the cards shift to the upright position all on their own.
“That’s not weird.” Is that sarcasm I detect coming out of my mouth? For shame.
Thoren chuckles. “They’re imbued with a lot of magic. They do shit like this all the time. I lay out a reading and they change the reading because they think they know better than me.”
I wave at the cards. “So, what does this mean?”
The cards shift again, this time so that the top card shifts down and to the right of the bottom card. They’re still stacked, but the bottom card is visible now.
“Deal out another sideways card on each stack, and ask your question again.”
I do as I’m told, and this time the cards are a variety of the minor arcana, but with each one the tension in the room slowly relaxes. When I finish, Thoren hums thoughtfully and explains, “These are all positive cards. These cards indicate that every person here would be a good back up to you. I want you to gather them again and shuffle. Ask the cards which of us should talk to the tinkral, because I think they’re meaning that you ought to talk to the tinkral and I should do the dirty work if talking doesn’t work.”
I gather up the cards and shuffle them again. Is it weird that I’m the one dealing out the cards? It’s Thoren’s question, right?Also, who thinks the butler should make first contact with the aliens? That doesn’t seem like the best diplomatic move to me...
Although, I suppose that often the personal assistants to leaders are the first ones to make contact. Like, someone has to make the appointment and clear the calendars and book the rooms, and it’s not going to be the world leaders doing it; it’s going to be their assistants talking to each other first to coordinate. So, in a way, it makes sense that I might be the one to talk to the invasion force first.
Ugh. I’m just justifying this in my head, aren’t I?
I stop shuffling. I don’t even know how many times I shuffled, but when I deal out two cards, the first one is The Lovers and the second is The Fool. It’s uncanny.
“Who should talk to the tinkral?” I ask.
I deal the Hanged Man atop The Lovers and the Ace of Cups on The Fool.
