Chapter 8

Quentin saw the golden bird come towards him. He ducked, remembering what he had been told of such golden birds, and what had happened to Amy and David. He did not think it would come for him. It had to be Chris or Oriana. Or Angelique...

He had to warn them.

The bird came closer and Quentin could see how beautiful it was. Beautiful, yet deadly.

It moved closer and closer. He looked around. No one seemed to notice that it was there. There were not screams, no comments, nothing...

Only he could see the falcon, Because the falcon had come for him...

He screamed as the falcon crashed against him. And then he did not scream anymore, even thought the falcon's claws dug into him.

A face rose in front of him. A woman's face.

"You will do as I tell you, Quentin Collins" Hallie said " You have no other choice."


The Page of Wands was next in the spread. Tonight she would see if Jessica had chosen well for this, or if she had made a dreadful mistake in not trying to escape with David.

They could have made it, the two of them. Why had she thrown the opportunity away?

She knew better than to believe it. It would have been a disaster if she had gone along with David. But her body screamed differently. She had been beaten later because of her clumsiness, and she could not help thinking that she would have been spared this if she had run away with David.

Finally her self-control took over. She had to enter the region of dreams, where her eyes beheld the figures of the deck once more, where she was free and a priestess, and where she directed the thread that dictated events around her.

Tonight Jessica would bring the Page of Wands. And again the deck spoke to her. For the Page of Wands meant steadfastness, and so she must remain. She must keep to the course that was traced to her, no matter what the temptation."


Jessica snuck in from the kitchen where she had added the herbs to two more vials that Zeb had brought in. One marked C. and another O. , and the older one was marked B... That done she could lie down on the bed and try to bring the true Page of Wands to Amy.

Like all the others who came before her, she worried as to her ability to recognize the one that she must summon. What if she chose wrong? What if it was her who wrecked the spread that Amy was laying on the table?

She had been reassured that knowledge would come to her, and that she must welcome it.

She thought of Zeb with pity. He was involved, even unwittingly, and he had ever wanted was to protect her. Her and the baby, who would be born soon.

She did not think anymore. She floated upwards, and entered the region of dreams in search of the Page of Wands.


Edmund slept uneasily. There was a sense of danger, of waiting, that he could not shake. And it had to do with Eliot, and the way he felt about it...

He was too old to be jealous of baby, but he was...

He was supposed to grow up, everyone told him...

He drifted in and out of dreams, the dreams escaping before they took shape...

At last there was a knock at the door.

Mrs. King - Doctor King, rather, was there, smiling at him.

"Doctor King..." he said "how..."

"You must come with me, Edmund Collins."

"But..."

"Come with me. We need you."

His objections, if he had any, were gone. And he was following her. They were now in a long corridor which was full of mist, so much that you could not see where you were putting your feet.

And at last there was a door, which began to open slowly as he approached it.

"You must go in, alone." Jessica said "she is waiting for you."

"She?" Edmund asked. He went in willingly and took the card that Jessica gave him.

The door closed behind him.

"Edmund" Amy said. "Come closer."

Edmund did.

"Show me your card."

"This card Dr. King gave me?"

"Yes. Lay it on the table."

Edmund did, next to the Tower.

"Do you claim in?"

"It was given to me, so it must be mine."

"On what grounds do you claim it?'

"Well, it is a young man. And he is sort of standing guard, as if he does not know what is going to happen, but still he expects it, and wants to know what he can do about it."

"As you are. You know that there is evil gathering at Collinwood, and you want to know what you can do about it."

"And it is also me, because I will no longer be a child, and I wonder what the years will bring, but I am willing to meet them. Wands stand for living, growing things, and the wand that the boy has is now tall enough that he can support his weight on it without bending."

'Very good, Edmund. Now, if you are to be steadfast in the evil that threatens those around you, there are two things that you must do."

"Which are they?"

"Tonight, by moonlight, go to the nursery where Eliot sleeps. You will snip a lock of his hair, you will also clip one or two fingernails, and then take two or three drops of blood."

"He may wake up when I do that."

"I will teach you the words that you must say so that he will keep sleeping until you are done. Staunch the blood with this linen.." She gave it to him. "And use it to wrap the hair and fingernail clippings. Those you will keep till I call on you to give them to whoever I point to you,."

"I will do it, though it makes no sense."

"You are young, Edmund." Amy smiled. "But don't worry. Before long it will make sense."

"I guess so. What is this other thing you want me to do?"

"You must take a card from the deck."

Edmund pulled out the Queen of Coins.

"Now what?"

"Now you must go back carrying it. Tomorrow you will know who this card represents, and you will do with this person as Jessica King did with you."

"Who is it?"

"You will know when the time comes."

"It is crazy..."

"But it will work."

'Yeah. So you say..."

"You must do it in your dreams. You must enter the dreams of the Queen of Coins and bring her here."

Edmund grumbled, but Amy was not there anymore. He was back in his bed,. And he had a linen in his hand.

He still did not believe it, but still he snuck out of bed, and went to Eliot's nursery.

The baby slept quietly. For a moment jealousy flared un in Edmund. Then it was gone. Eliot was just a baby that deserved projection. And he was here to protect him... He was a grown up and should behave like one...

Getting the lock of hair was not hard at all, but there might be problems with the fingernail parings and the blood. He hummed the words that Amy had let him know.

"Sleep, sleep, now pretty baby.

Sleep, baby bunting

"Sleep, sleep, my pretty baby,Sleep and dream my small child.

The evil one has been a-hunting

But you are safe here, so sleep now."

Eliot did not change position. He seemed to sleep more deeply. Edmund pared a couple of fingernails. Then used a pin to prick the finger. One drop, two, three...

He kissed the finger, and wound closed...

It was done. Eliot had now awakened. Now he would taken the linen and its contents, and wait until Amy asked it of him.

And tomorrow he would beckon the Queen of Coins, whoever she was.