Page 139 of A Winding Wave of Magic
“Only because of what you’ve brought with you,” was her playful retort. “Now then, Cassie, let’s see what you can do, eh? Rob’s got no secrets, unlike the wee kitty over there.”
Jonathan rolled his eyes at the remark, but he perked up as I placed a hand on Robbie’s shoulder. Immediately, his thoughts started to flow.
“What do you See, then?” Caitlin asked. “Just let it come natural, and try to narrate it as you go. I can See your conscious thoughts, but not what you feel.”
I closed my eyes, so as not to be distracted by the three pairs of eyes focused squarely on me.
“Right now he’s just wondering what I’m going to be able to do. He’s curious about whether or not I’ve inherited any of Penny’s abilities, and what I might have gotten from Ciarán…whom, judging from that flare of irritation, you weren’t too fond of, Rob. And that makes you uneasy, for some reason, that Icould sense that, which is why you’re looking at me with those crazy wizard eyes. Surprise now, with the ‘What the bleedin’ hell is she doing?’ Shock that I can See what you See, feel your power—” I pulled my hand away and opened my eyes. “I’m sorry, Robbie. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
He didn’t respond, just looked at his wife. The knitting needles had stopped, and Caitlin was watching me closely.
Jonathan sat up. “What is it, Cait?”
“Robbie,” she started, oddly casual in her tone, though she didn’t move her gaze from me. “Tell me, were you searching her? Looking at her energy?”
“Yes.” His smooth tenor was oddly hoarse. “I was. And she could—she could See it all.” He offered a kind, nervous smile, which I couldn’t help but return.
“And you, Jon?” she asked. “Have you had that same experience?”
“Yes. The times we’ve had, ah, contact. She can See what I do, but much more than my literal thoughts. If I look as a sorcerer, she Sees that too. Though I don’t know what she would do if I cast any real spells while she was touching me.”
“But I’m a seer.” I looked between all three of them for answers they didn’t seem to have. “That’s what we do, See what’s in others’ minds. Emotions and thoughts and everything else. Right?”
“I’d say it’s a bit more than that,” Caitlin said slowly. “Magic is in the heart, Cassandra, not just the mind. And it seems you know that. You can feel their abilities. Their power.”
“But…isn’t that normal?” My worst fears loomed. Not only was I dysfunctional in that I had to touch something to See, but now it looked like I Saw far more than I was supposed to.
“No. It’s not.” She reached out a kind hand as if to tap me on the knee, but politely refrained from doing so. I was obviously in no condition to be touched. “But it is extraordinary. To think I’dever see this…” She trailed off, her expression having morphed from concern to one of pure wonder.
“Caitlin, what is it?” Jonathan repeated. “What is she?”
“Well, at least we know now why Penny didn’t teach you a damned thing,” she mused as she went back to her knitting.“She couldn’t have done so, or else you may have lost your powers completely had they no time to grow. Don’t you see it, Robbie?”
“See what, Cait?” Robbie asked gently.
Caitlin’s eyes shone like newly polished silver. “The girl is an oracle.”
41
THE ORACLE’S LESSON
What horror will invade the mind,
When the strict Judge, who would be kind,
Shall have few venial faults to find!
— THE EARL OF ROSCOMMON, “ON THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT”
The house exploded. Robbie and Jonathan both started shouting questions, and the three girls shot down from the upstairs, from where they had apparently been listening through the iron vents. Caitlin continued to knit as if nothing were happening while I sat numbly in my chair, waiting for the commotion to die down and for Caitlin to explain just what the hell an oracle was.
“Now then,” Caitlin said, once the men had quieted and her daughters had settled at her feet. “Iona and Enda have just finished learning about all the types of fae in the world, so perhaps they might help us explain. Girls, what are the four kinds of seers? In English, please, for Cassandra.”
Iona looked pointedly at me down a short, stubby nose and recited obediently: “There are four types of seers that every fae should know. Telepaths, who know what a body thinks in the present—they’re the most common ones.Fílid—I mean, bards—can see the past and so sing us songs about it. Prophets can see the future, like banshees who see death. And oracles, who can do all threeplusthey channel other fae powers. They’reveryrare.”
“One for each generation!” piped Enda, her round face shining with excitement. She clearly let Iona do most of the talking, but wasn’t about to be left out of the lesson completely.
“And which are you, lovies?” Caitlin asked with a gleam of motherly pride.
