"How very strange."
"What's that, darling?"
Mazikeen, hunched over her teacup and saucer, glanced up at her mother. She'd not even lowered the book she was reading. Mazzy didn't answer, and Priscilla didn't seem to notice. The drawing room fell back into silence and Mazzy turned her cup again. Nothing. The dregs were just... a mass at the bottom of the cup.
"I think I'll go for a walk." she said, standing and moving toward the door.
"Lovely, darling. Some fresh air..." her mother mumbled after her.
Stranger and stranger. As the sun marched from morning to noon, Mazzy could sense... nothing. She'd watched the clouds, the flights of birds; her pendulum crystal felt useless. Even the rooster's pecking in the yard told her nothing. Even on the most mundane of days she would feel her gift whisper little secrets, however inconsequential. But today... nothing. By late afternoon, she was practically at her wits end. So, as she always did when feeling stuck, she took a carriage into the city to visit Auntie Leonora.
While Leonora was a wealth of knowledge, as she shared a strong connection to divination magic like Mazzy, she was too real a reminder of what her own future might look like. Leonora was a recluse. Agoraphobic to the extreme, she'd not even peeked out the windows of the Felinus townhouse in decades. Lucillius had never found a man who'd take her, and so the top floor of the townhouse had become her spinster refuge. Some of Minranthous' older noble women still called on her from time to time for a reading. But Mazzy was her only regular guest.
What sort of mess is this, child?" Leonora said by way of greeting as Mazzy was shown into Leonora's sitting room. "Your aura keeps shifting. Sit down, sit down. It's dizzying."
Several hours later, Leonora was snoring on her chaise lounge as Mazzy shuffled and reshuffled an old deck of tarot cards. Huffing out an exasperated sigh, she focused on clearing her mind. She'd spent the day trying to force the cosmos to explain itself. Perhaps she just needed to listen. With closed eyes, she laid out three cards, then opened her eyes as she set the deck aside. She'd assigned no meaning to the placements. No past, present, and future. No love, money, and home. Just pure, unfiltered truth.
She turned over the first card. The four of cups. "Stasis." she murmured. Then, the next card. The nine of swords. "Anxiety.". She turned over the third card and her breath caught in her throat. The Chariot.
"Hope is well and good for some, my love. But you know me better than that."
She'd known just where to find him. This secret place of his, away from all others. Of course he would come here when he needed her. She only regretted not realizing sooner what the cosmos was trying to tell her. She hadn't been able to read anything that day because she had not been the one in need. She'd been too far from him, for too long. But fate led her to where she needed to be, at precisely the right time. Indeed, was the rooftop window in Leonora's attic not right on the secret path to this spot?
Mazzy picked her way toward him carefully. He'd brought her here before, but she was still fearful of the height. "Won't you take that off?" she asked, holding onto him as she settled herself down at his side. "I'm here now. You needn't hide."
"What's that, darling?"
Mazikeen, hunched over her teacup and saucer, glanced up at her mother. She'd not even lowered the book she was reading. Mazzy didn't answer, and Priscilla didn't seem to notice. The drawing room fell back into silence and Mazzy turned her cup again. Nothing. The dregs were just... a mass at the bottom of the cup.
"I think I'll go for a walk." she said, standing and moving toward the door.
"Lovely, darling. Some fresh air..." her mother mumbled after her.
Stranger and stranger. As the sun marched from morning to noon, Mazzy could sense... nothing. She'd watched the clouds, the flights of birds; her pendulum crystal felt useless. Even the rooster's pecking in the yard told her nothing. Even on the most mundane of days she would feel her gift whisper little secrets, however inconsequential. But today... nothing. By late afternoon, she was practically at her wits end. So, as she always did when feeling stuck, she took a carriage into the city to visit Auntie Leonora.
~*~*~*~*~*~
While Leonora was a wealth of knowledge, as she shared a strong connection to divination magic like Mazzy, she was too real a reminder of what her own future might look like. Leonora was a recluse. Agoraphobic to the extreme, she'd not even peeked out the windows of the Felinus townhouse in decades. Lucillius had never found a man who'd take her, and so the top floor of the townhouse had become her spinster refuge. Some of Minranthous' older noble women still called on her from time to time for a reading. But Mazzy was her only regular guest.
What sort of mess is this, child?" Leonora said by way of greeting as Mazzy was shown into Leonora's sitting room. "Your aura keeps shifting. Sit down, sit down. It's dizzying."
Several hours later, Leonora was snoring on her chaise lounge as Mazzy shuffled and reshuffled an old deck of tarot cards. Huffing out an exasperated sigh, she focused on clearing her mind. She'd spent the day trying to force the cosmos to explain itself. Perhaps she just needed to listen. With closed eyes, she laid out three cards, then opened her eyes as she set the deck aside. She'd assigned no meaning to the placements. No past, present, and future. No love, money, and home. Just pure, unfiltered truth.
She turned over the first card. The four of cups. "Stasis." she murmured. Then, the next card. The nine of swords. "Anxiety.". She turned over the third card and her breath caught in her throat. The Chariot.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Hope is well and good for some, my love. But you know me better than that."
She'd known just where to find him. This secret place of his, away from all others. Of course he would come here when he needed her. She only regretted not realizing sooner what the cosmos was trying to tell her. She hadn't been able to read anything that day because she had not been the one in need. She'd been too far from him, for too long. But fate led her to where she needed to be, at precisely the right time. Indeed, was the rooftop window in Leonora's attic not right on the secret path to this spot?
Mazzy picked her way toward him carefully. He'd brought her here before, but she was still fearful of the height. "Won't you take that off?" she asked, holding onto him as she settled herself down at his side. "I'm here now. You needn't hide."
07-30-2024, 11:31 AM
