Page 3 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

‘It’s my pleasure, Esta. This won’t be very different to the chats we’ve already had about herbalism and tarot, for example, except I’ll ask you to do some homework now.’

I smile at her. ‘Will there be a test, ma’am?’

Her smile grows more mysterious, and I get the feeling that the test has already begun. I don’t know what will happen if I fail. Maybe whoever sent the Dreamcatcher after me will kill me after all? I have no idea who’s really behind all this, only that the Dreamcatcher and Mara were hesitant about going behind her back. That’s all I know—that someone who identifies as female is scared I’ll destroy the balance the Veiled have created. It’s not much to go on, but if all I need to do to stay off her shit list is abide by the rules we set in my living room that night, then I can do that.

We take our dogs into the park. They nearly fall over themselves and each other in their excitement, and I feel some of it, too. Or a lot of it, actually—I’ve been looking forward to these lessons since Kate promised them.

‘How have you been feeling?’ Kate asks as we cross the road. ‘Are you sleeping better again?’

‘Much better,’ I say. ‘It really helps that the nightmares are gone.’ Funny that. Of course, these weren’t regular nightmares, either. These were horrors controlled by the Dreamcatcher. ‘It took me a few nights to feel... safe... to fall asleep again. Mischief helped.’ My kitty dream guide’s sarcasm could get me through just about anything. Seeing her “alive”—sort of—and well helped, too. The Dreamcatcher knew my fears and how to get to me through them, but nothing he did was real. That I can hold Mischief and cuddle her again is soft, purring proof of that.

Kate and I begin to follow our dogs towards the other end of the park. Still no forests in sight though.

‘I’m glad to hear it,’ Kate says. ‘I can’t imagine how jarring it must have been to have your unconscious invaded, even violated, like that. How are you feeling overall?’

‘I feel fine,’ I say, just as I trip over my own feet. ‘Been a bit clumsy, maybe. More than usual, I mean. I broke a mug this morning.’

The truth is, I’m usually a little clumsy anyway, but I haven’t broken a mug in... I don’t even know how long. I know it’s nothing unusual to drop things, least of all for me, but after everything that happened, I have this stupid paranoia that grows stronger every time something goes wrong... which has been three times in the last week: one dropped mug, and tripping over my own feet twice, once just now and once three days ago as I was walking down the stairs. I could have fallen and broken more than pottery.

Okay, so maybe I’m overreacting. I’m not exactly on edge, but after what the Dreamcatcher did to me and how badly his employer seemed to want my mind destroyed, I can’t help wondering if someone has cursed me.

‘It’s only natural to feel out of sorts after what you’ve gone through,’ Kate says. ‘If it helps ease your mind, I can’t sense any negative energies on your home.’

I asked her to check the day after the Mara and Dreamcatcher left. I wonder if she would have sensed them if she’d tried before that, though. They are both ancient beings. What’s to say they can’t mask their presence? I adore Kate, but the woman isn’t a goddess or something equally powerful. She’s one human witch. She grows herbs and sometimes does prosperity rituals under the full moon or... something. I don’t think I’ve ever asked her for details. Maybe it’ll be part of my curriculum now she’s officially teaching me?

‘That’s a relief,’ I say. ‘Thank you for checking. So, what should we talk about?’

I’ll take anything that distracts me from the few Veiled around this morning. There aren’t many people in the park and most look perfectly human to me, but the fairy family I saw before is here again. My heart warms slightly. The two mothers and their children were the first Veiled I noticed. I’d thought the heatwave got to me then. I want to help all the Veiled, but I feel especially protective of them since they were the first I identified as not human. It’s silly, but there it is. They’re special to me.

Of course, they can’t know that I know unless it somehow comes up naturally in conversation—which it won’t, because why would it?—or they choose to tell me. I have no reason to talk to them or become good enough friends with them that they might tell me, so that’s not going to happen either. So, I’ll do what I promised I’d do and protect them from a distance. Not that anyone seems to be threatening them. Would I even know? I’ll do a pretty bad job if I can’t tell, but I don’t think supernatural spy training is part of Kate’s lesson plan. Shame. It sounds awesome.

‘Why don’t we start with scrying?’ Kate asks.

My heart beats a little faster. ‘Yes, please!’

I picture myself going crystal ball shopping with Kate.

‘There’s not as much to it as you might think,’ she says. ‘You could even start right now.’

I look at her like I’m expecting her to pass me a scrying mirror or something.

‘Don’t I need, I don’t know, a crystal ball?’

I blush. I must sound like a terribly naïve pupil, but I honestly don’t know.

‘Don’t feel bad,’ Kate says. ‘It’s a common misconception I imagine some of us put in place, though I can’t imagine why.’ The way she says us tells me she means all the Veiled. Technically, she isn’t part of that community herself since anyone can learn witchcraft, but it’s the easiest way to hint at who she means without saying it out loud. I’ll have to be careful with this, too.

‘Isn’t it dangerous?’ I think I read something along those lines once, or I saw it in a movie, probably.

‘Another misconception. Most scrying is perfectly safe and easy to practice. You’re an air sign, are you not?’

I nod. ‘January Aquarian.’

‘Then perhaps you would take best to cloud scrying to start with. Smoke scrying can work well, too, since the slightest air currents affect the shape.’

I squint at the sun. ‘You mean... you want me to watch clouds?’

‘Yes, exactly.’

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