I was lost in his eyes…warm brown filled with golden flecks that glowed in the night, rivaling the stars in the sky behind him. A primal urge to press my naked flesh against his bare skin started to burn inside of me. My clothing itched against my hot skin…the silk and linen a prickly obstacle to unending pleasure. Nothing mattered but the scorching sensations sinking into me as his fingertips whispered over me. I craved his searing touch on every part of me to the exclusion of all else.
Something…wasn't…right...about…this.
That thought skittered through my mind as I tried to catch it and pull it closer. I bit the inside of my mouth hard and tasted blood, the pain giving me a small moment of clarity. My heart pounding, it took every ounce of determination I had to close my eyes against his luminous gaze. The delicate wisps of my self control coalesced as I reached deep into my psyche for even more discipline over my jumbled thoughts. Finally I was able to focus, although somewhat shakily, and I murmured the spell for influence shielding that Pritkin had taught me. I could only manage a red power level at first, but upped it to green as my mind cleared. God dammit! The rat had been using influence on me! I pulled out of his arms and opened my eyes.
"You tried to influence me into your bed," I accused him with steely calm as I backed further away from him. "Stay right where you are or I will shift," I warned him as he reached towards me. He stopped, his face getting that hooded look that meant he was being particularly guarded. I didn't know if I could shift faster than he could move to me and grab me, but the threat seemed to work.
"I am sorry. I have made inquiries. The bond can have unexpected…er…consequences. Please know that I mean you no harm."
"Mircea!" I spat angrily. "Don't manipulate me…ever!" I gritted out over the pounding headache that had just started behind my eyes.
"I am sorry," he tried again, soothingly. "The bond is new for me. I do not have as fine a control over it as I would like."
I wasn't having any of that from him. "Don't you try to blame everything on the bond. I know exactly what you were doing when you first brought me into your court in front of all those vampires!" I complained as I buttoned my blouse. "Stop treating me as though I am your wife…or your possession!"
He was silent, then inclined his head to me. I felt a small thrill of triumph. He turned and gripped the guardrail, once again contemplating the night sky strewn with stars. After a few moments he turned his head towards me so I could hear him.
"Cassandra…please understand. If the Consul believes you are not under the control of the Senate, then she might have you replaced. Can you at least attempt the appearance of compliance…for both our sakes?"
First the Circle and then the vampires...I wonder if the Were Clan Council also planned to replace me with their own seer. Did this one-upmanship ever end?
"Does she have a replacement ready now?" I demanded.
"I do not think so. The Circle has been very complete in their efforts to identify and obtain custody of all suitable candidates while they are still young and, shall we say, malleable." And had them locked away if they were not suitable…like Jeannie, I thought bitterly.
"Then I'm not going to worry about the Consul just yet. Can I trust the vampire guards you have sent to the Court…or do they work for the Consul? Marlowe vetted some of them, didn't he? And I know who he answers to."
"They are all mine, Cassie. They follow my orders…and I have ordered them to protect you with their lives if necessary." He turned to face me. "However they cannot protect you if you continue to shift without taking a guard along," he told me frankly.
"Now you sound like Pritkin and the rest of the Pythian Guard," I grumbled.
"As much as the mage vexes me, I know he wishes to keep you safe…as do I," he told me kindly.
"I can't fight all of you. I will try to tell a Guard before I shift," I acquiesced. "But I insist on privacy in my rooms at Court," telling him the same thing I had told Peter earlier. He smiled. Let the master manipulator think he had won a concession from me after all.
He tilted his head as he silently regarded me. "Will you consider coming to New York with me tomorrow? The mages are hosting the annual World Championship of Ley Line racing," he invited. "And…I can introduce you to my daughter, if you wish," he added haltingly. Aha…a concession from the master manipulator. Too bad I couldn't take him up on it.
"I have three appointments with supplicants in the next three days. The only place I am going is to my Court. But thank you just the same. Perhaps I can meet your daughter at a later time," I offered. "And the mages are insane," I muttered to myself. My phone rang with a ring tone I did not recognize. I pulled the phone from my skirt pocket. The caller ID displayed 'Sr Staff'. "Hello?"
"My Lady, the senior staff wishes to meet with you tonight as soon as possible," said a disembodied voice.
"Tonight? Why?"
"Your vision, My Lady," came the terse reply. Earlier that afternoon I had created a new vision form, filling in the details of my vision about the attack on my Court. I wished I could provide a better time frame, but at least the senior staff had been warned.
Mircea looked at me quizzically as I left the terrace and returned to my suite.
"Alright. I'll shift as soon as I round up my Guard," I replied and hung up. I considered shifting to Peter, then I remembered the stored numbers in my phone. I pressed the number for 'Guard' and my call was answered before the first ring ended.
"I am shifting to my Court," I told the disembodied voice. "Does one of you wish to accompany me, or should I ask one of the vampire guards?" I queried.
"Please standby, my Lady. We are contacting your Guard now." Oops…I guess I had called my Court rather than the local contingent of Guards.
"My Lady, Mage Tremaine will meet you in your suite in five minutes. Is that agreeable with you?"
"Yes. I'll be here." The voice clicked off. That wasn't so bad.
"Anna…where are my clothes?" I called, looking at an almost empty dressing room.
"Good evening, my Lady. Your luggage was sent on ahead to the Court with your staff. Mage Pritkin's luggage was on the plane as well. He suggested you would want to shift rather than fly out with your guards." Hah. He just wanted to be sure none of his stuff was left at Mircea's court. Still, he would have to show up at my Court at least once more if he wanted to collect the rest of his belongings.
"Please pack the rest of my things. I will be leaving shortly," I informed her. She bobbed her head and started gathering my remaining clothes at vampire speed. I returned to my sitting room and found Mircea waiting for me.
"I heard. Are you not happy here, Dulceata?" he asked, warm brown eyes looking hurt.
"Stop it, Mircea. This isn't about you. I need to be back at Court," I explained as I pulled on my suit jacket.
"I was eagerly anticipating spending this night pleasuring you," he told me in a sultry voice as he draped himself seductively over my sofa.
"I am so not in the mood," I said, exasperated. I started packing my laptop into its case, looking around for any other items. Anna came out with my one suitcase and handed me my purse. I stuffed the remaining items into the half-empty suitcase along with the laptop. There was a knock at the door and Anna let Peter in. His hair was wet and he looked rumpled.
"My Lady," he greeted me with a slight bow. I grabbed Peter's hand with one hand and my suitcase with the other.
"Goodbye, Mircea. Thank you for the lovely ceremony," I told him. He smiled at me ruefully as I shifted to my residence at Court.
Peter stumbled when we appeared in my living room.
"You'll get used to it," I told him distractedly as he righted himself. I wheeled my suitcase into my bedroom and headed to my bathroom.
"My Lady, your tracer is not registering," he told me, confused.
"Privacy spell…remember?" I called to him before I quickly swallowed some aspirin, washed my face and brushed my teeth, trying to remove the scent of vampire. I needed to focus in the next few hours. "Let's go," I ordered. We headed for the senior staff conference room.
"I asked a question of my power and that is the vision I received," I told my assembled staff as I finished explaining the vision I had submitted.
"My Lady, why were you asking this question?" asked my Circle liaison querulously.
"I was helping a friend with a career decision," I told him placidly.
"That is an entirely inappropriate use of the power," he complained peevishly.
"I wasn't recognized as Pythia yet," I pointed out. "And Mage Marsden had encouraged me to practice. Would you prefer that I not mention such a vision?"
"None of the current initiates would dare talk to us this way!"
"I'm Pythia. Deal with it. What are we going to do with this warning?" I asked Robert, ignoring the Circle dickhead.
"The Pythian Guard has requested reinforcements from the Corps, although they prefer more detailed data. They are in the process of casting stronger wards on all the nearby ley lines and reinforcing the shields. Do you think you can identify the child in your vision? Or what she was wearing? It might help us get a better understanding of the timeframe of this potential assault."
"Potential? Do you mean it might not happen?" I asked, not bothering to hide my excitement.
"The Pythia's visions are a preview of what might happen…but the path the future takes can be adjusted if we change the underlying parameters. You saw the Guards being wiped out in a surprise attack. You have just modified the 'surprise' parameter, so the outcome may be different," he explained with a smile.
"The child was about 4 or 5 years old. It's late. Do you want to wake up the 4 and 5 year old initiates?" I asked.
"Let's start with what the child was wearing. Perhaps we can narrow it down to a season," suggested the Were Clan Council liaison. "Was she dressed for hot weather? Cold weather?"
"She was in a green outfit with tights," I answered after a few moments of concentration. I had not mentioned Jeannie's presence in the vision, since Pritkin had decided to send her somewhere else other than my Court. The second child in the vision was more likely to provide answers. After I had responded to all the questions I was able to, I returned to my rooms and went to bed. Although I tried asking my power more questions, I did not have any visions that night and I slept fitfully. The next morning, Robert met me at my door.
"My Lady, this morning you will tour the school and see if you recognize the child."
He led me through the compound and introduced me to Hannah, the Head Mistress of the Court's school for the initiates.
"My Lady," she curtsied, "It is an unexpected honor to have you here this morning," she told me. "Robert tells me you are interested in the pre-K and Kindergarten classes. Come this way, please," she indicated as she led us down the hall. I met the shy little girls in the pre-K class without recognizing the child from the vision. Hannah led me to the next class. We found her there. Robert passed a list of questions to Hannah to ask the child, all designed to find out what green clothing she owned and when in the year she would wear it. The small girl answered no to all the questions, so Hannah started over, asking them slightly differently. It did not sound promising. I sighed and looked around the classroom. I noticed a display board with colored cutouts of fall leaves, winter snowflakes, spring flowers and the summer sun; all constructed around drawings of smiling little girl faces.
"Hannah…are the girls ever in costume?" I interrupted, hiding my excitement. Robert looked at me appraisingly and I nodded my head towards the display board.
"Why yes they are. The girls put on skits all year long, and we have a few pageants that the entire Court is invited to."
"Is there a skit being planned that includes a little girl dressed as a spring flower?" I asked eagerly.
"Yes, that is the children's pageant to welcome the new school year. We start rehearsals next week." Although the initiates spent all year at the school, the summer months were traditionally filled with less academic projects. September heralded the return of classes.
"It looks like we have time to prepare," murmured Robert close to my ear. I silently nodded as I waved goodbye to the class and left with Robert.
I held my first visit as Pythia with a supplicant. A young Guild member wanted to know how his future marriage would affect his family's business. I asked the questions my staff had prepared for me.
"Why is the Pythian Court being asked to provide a vision?" I asked Robert, somewhat confused. This seemed sort of trivial.
"His family is paying a very large gratuity to the Court. We do have expenses, you know," he answered. "This way we are not so dependent on the Circle for our living costs, and we can pay for staff and equipment without the Circle being involved."
Once again, I was reminded of how independent-minded Agnes had been. I returned to my rooms and ate my evening meal, then settled down to meditate. I asked my power about the young man's marriage, and received a distorted vision that did not answer the question. Maybe I needed to re-phrase the question, I thought as I filled out a vision form and submitted it. I went to bed and I did not dream that night.
The next morning I followed what was quickly becoming my routine. I breakfasted in my morning room, walked with my Guard to my office and met more of the Court staff as I attended to whatever was in my inbox, had my usual lunch meeting with Robert, and later I had a visit with another supplicant. This time a young witch wanted to know how her upcoming marriage would affect her family's business. Again, I asked questions, ate and meditated. This time I asked my power a more pointed question. The vision I received showed the woman, now older, with two happy children while a smiling blond man held her in his arms. I wrote up the vision form and submitted it. I did not see how either of these visions answered the questions the supplicants had asked. I was wondering what the senior staff would make of the visions, since I thought they seemed almost random. That night I slept soundly.
The next morning I woke to the thought that today Pritkin was due back at Court, if he was coming back. I called the Guard and asked to be informed if Pritkin showed up. I read my email as I breakfasted in my rooms. The senior staff had weighed in on the visions. The staff had decided that the vision for the young man showed an early end to his life. I choked on my coffee and re-read the analysis. I wondered how the Court informed supplicants of such a vision. The staff had also rendered an opinion on the vision I had for the young woman. They decided the young woman would have a happy marriage with a different man than the one she currently intended to marry. I was finishing my breakfast, deep in thought, when my Guard knocked at my door.
"My Lady…you asked to be informed…Mage Pritkin is in the Infirmary. He arrived during the night and went directly there."
"Is he hurt?" I demanded right before I grabbed his hand and shifted to the Court Infirmary. He stumbled as we appeared in front of the small white building.
"You'll get used to it," I told him absently as I ran inside and found a medic mage to direct me to Pritkin.
I peeked into the infirmary room. Jeannie looked so tiny, lying in that hospital bed and hooked up to multiple monitoring devices. The medic mage stood next to me, glancing at her chart.
"Are you sure she isn't an initiate? Her condition is very much like the post-vision catatonia we see in older initiates after a powerful vision. Has she experienced visions prior to this incident?"
"Not that I know of," I answered uncertainly.
"The good news is that they usually recover fully in time. The younger ones seem to bounce back quicker, and this one is the youngest I have seen." She smiled reassuringly and gave my arm a friendly pat before she left to check on her other patients.
Pritkin was sprawled on the visitor's chair he had dragged close to the bed. He was asleep, although the twitching and uneven breathing led me to think he was not resting comfortably. I left quietly and returned to my rooms.