Page 109 of Elven Throne

But it wasn’t enough to put her completely at ease in the Peddler’s presence. She wouldn’t feel right again until they were out of here, in the fresh air and sunshine above, with this old woman and her damn squeaky rocking chair behind them forever.

If all went well.

Her rocking now abandoned, the Peddler hummed and nodded, tilting her head this way and that as she fiercely gripped the back of Rowan’s hand in a gnarled grasp and trailed the fingers of her other hand across his palm.

“You havemanydifferent roads available to you,” she muttered, her white eyes wide in excitement, a wide but distracted smile hanging a little crooked on her lips. “Some are more easily walked than others. Some will bring you happiness and fulfillment. Some will give you everything you’ve convinced yourself you’ve ever wanted.

“But onlyonewill lead you to what youtrulydesire.”

Maleine smacked her lips. “How impressive. Only one road to what he truly desires. Power and influence? Athrone, perhaps?”

Rowan jumped in his chair, craning his neck to look over his shoulder and fix Maleine with a blistering scowl.

But the Peddler jerked ferociously on his hand, yanking him back into place.

Her milky, blind eyes never once strayed from his face.

More than seeming thoroughly reprimanded without a word, Rowan looked terrified as he stared into her eyes.

“Freedom,” she added. “Follow that one road. Abandon all others, and their promiseswillbe kept. Do this, and the freedom you desire will be yours. But youmustopen the cage. Let all the captive birds fly. Release the hold you’ve been tightly clenching for so long.

“The birds will fly free, but they willnevercome back, I assure you. Then you will have everything in return. The bird’s freedom is your own. The bird is not you, and you are not the bird, but the bird’sfreedomis your own.”

Then she practically shoved his hand away from her.

Rowan launched backward into the chair with a heavy thump and grunted, stunned.

The Peddler returned happily to her knitting and rocking, gazing at the others as if oblivious to what fortune she’d just read. “Who’s next?”

Rowan scrambled frantically out of the chair, tripped, and tried to right himself with a desperate clutch at the crooked chair’s uneven frame. It wobbled dangerously beneath him, but he never stopped stumbling away from the Peddler as quickly as his stunned numbness could manage.

When he finally fell back in line with the others, the wobbling chair hadn’t yet stopped wobbling on the uneven stone floor beneath it. Then it finally stilled, and the only sound filling the hall beyond the creak of the rocking chair was Rowan’s quick, labored breath as he tried to straighten where he stood, looking uncharacteristically shaken.

That was more than just a reading. It had to be.

The old woman’s deceptive gaiety remained as her blind eyes settled on Maleine. “The eldest, I think.”

Rowan’s sister barked out a laugh and shook her head. “Oh no. I’m just here to watch.”

“Four have entered, four have approached, and four shall pay. Sit.”

The sternness in the old woman’s voice sent a shudder rippling through Rebecca.

Maleine clearly noted it as well. Her smile dimmed, but she shrugged and waltzed forward like none of this disturbed her in the least, still chuckling.

But her laughter now carried far more wariness than amusement.

“I can sit. Fine.”

Before Maleine had even touched the seat of the chair, the Peddler cracked up laughing again. “Youdolike to rock the boat, don’t you, Maleine?”

The elf woman froze, bent halfway toward sitting, and didn’t laugh again. When she settled in the chair, the rigid line of her back revealed all her casual amusement and callous joking had now been rendered flat and empty. Useless here, in front of the Peddler.

“You’renot even supposed to be here,” the old woman added. “More for me, I suppose.”

Then she extended her hand, waiting.

When Maleine slowly reached out, her own hand visibly trembled.

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