the crossroads you find yourself upon
Amphital: a fantasy novel project
-- first -- previous -- next --
Tea was a quiet affair, since the young man did not feel like talking yet, and Rosyl was pleased but still uncomfortable to be drinking tea with company. The cards sat in the middle of the plain oak table, though covered now with a large square of silk cloth. The tea kettle and a plate of biscuits sat safely out of the way on the sideboard; one of the first things Rosyl learned from her mistress was a respect for the cards.
Jesca smiled to herself, but did not talk. She took these moments to study Trey. Trey, for his part, was silent and sitting with his head down while only occasionally sipping at his tea, but perhaps out of politeness more than anything else. He had a lot on his mind, Jesca could tell, since the churning emotions seemed to play across his face like waves on a choppy sea.
Jesca poured herself a second cup, and reached for a small biscuit from the offered platter. �Thank you, Rosyl. Won't you take one as well, child?�
Trey shook his head without looking up. �No, Lady, thank you,� he barely mumbled.
Jesca waited a long moment, several slow heartbeats.
�At least your mother taught you to be polite,� she finally said, �and what else did she teach you?�
Trey winced. He looked up, his eyes both pleading and angry as his gaze met hers. Tears stood at the corners of his eyes. �Lady, I don't...� The words were strangled as the young man struggled with grief, memories, and how to speak what lay so heavy on his heart and mind. �Can't.� Trey shook his head strongly. From his face he seemed about to speak, but no words came.
He hung his again, again silent. Suddenly an animal-like growl came from him and he pounded the table with his fist. He was close to sobbing now, but Trey still tried to reign in his emotions. He lowered his head to the table, cradling it in his hands as he tried desperately not to cry.
Rosyl was decidedly more uncomfortable now. She quietly got up and sketched a quick curtsey, and left. Jesca acknowledged her with a nod, but did she not look away from Trey for a single moment.
Finally, Trey looked up from the table, his eyes once more pleading as he finally met her cool gaze. �Lady?� This last last came out as a question.
Jesca stood, and began clearing the cups and napkins to the sideboard. As she worked, she spoke. �Child, the cards are a good tool, but are not necessary. My herbs and what some around here call my 'potions', those can help as well. But I have helped most of my clients just by providing a ready ear. My regular patrons, perhaps they buy the herbal teas and medicines each week because they think it helps, but more often then not it is our weekly chats over tea that ease their minds and souls.�
When she was done with the table, she did not return to her chair. Instead, she knelt next to Trey, and put her arms around his shoulders. �Now, child. Cry. There is no need to carry this all by yourself.�
And Trey buried his head on her shoulder and cried.
##
�A month, no, now six weeks past. From fever, my mum and little Alben, who was only six� It had taken Trey more than an hour to speak, finally, and a fresh pot of tea. �We were all real sick, the family and the weavers, and the 'prentices and even the neighbours, but it was only...� He choked a bit. �They were the only two who died.�
Jesca handed Trey a napkin, which he took but placed in his lap, instead wiping away fresh tears with the back of his hand. �I miss them, but Father, he seems so,� Trey searched for a word, �hard. Cold. He gets angry when anyone mentions them. He even had all their clothes locked up in trunks, and their rooms cleared. To him, it's like they'd never lived.�
�Losing a beloved wife is a great loss, child. It breaks many men. I'm sure your Father is grieving in his own way,� Jesca said.
Trey shrugged. �I don't know.� He picked up his cup, discovered it empty. Still, he held it absent-mindedly rather than ask for more.
�Were you happy at home, before they died?� Jesca asked.
Again Trey shrugged. �Even before that, my Father was a hard man. But he has a lot of responsibility. He wanted me to take over the shop and the trade, but I was not his first choice. He would rather have one of my older sisters run things, but both are now married and live in other cities.�
�He's always telling me that he hates leaving the shop to me. Nothing I did was ever good enough for him. He used to have me beaten, when he thought I failed. He would never raise a hand against me himself, but my lessons have been hard ones, Lady.�
�I loved Mum, and little Alben. Even though,� Trey's brow furrowed. He had not given voice to this thought before, �Even though nothing I did would ever be enough for that man, I would have stayed for their sake.�
�So this is the crossroads you find yourself upon,� Jesca said. �And so perhaps, let us return to the cards.�
The tea service was cleared away a second time, and Jesca removed the silk that covered the cards in the middle of the table.
�A typical spread is five cards, though there are many Readers and at least as many ways to arrange the cards. Some use more, some use less, and many rely on a pattern to hang meanings on. A simple reading is best, in my mind, though not as clear. Five cards, in order, each colouring the meaning of the others.� She picked up the deck and held it in her left hand. With her right, she moved the two face-up cards across the table and presented them in front of Trey.
�The first card represents the seeker, or the problem, or the sought object, or many things. It depends on the Seeker, and the question. You might think of it as a Focus. Here, we have the Ace of Flames, a card of origin and potential. You stand at the cusp of something, child.�
�The second card is one of division, or change, or a decision point. The cairn, the Sixth of Stone, seems to have a clear meaning for us today.� She touched Trey's arm to bring his attention up from the tabletop, and waited until he again looked her the eye before continuing. �And I thank you, for sharing with me. It is your trust in me that may enable me to help you today.�
Trey blushed, and quickly looked down to the cards at the table.
Jesca smiled. �And that brings us to a third card,� she said. �The Coins. An odd symbol, at this point.�
Trey examined the card. It wasn't marked with number or suit, and so had to be one of the trumps. But all the trump cards he had seen used in tavern games had a person on them, and were often numbered. This card had an odd symbol in the corner rather than a number: a cross inside a circle, or perhaps a four-spoked wheel. Trey hadn't seen it before. The depiction on the card was simple enough: Two coins, that might have been Imperial designs though he did not recognise the profiles depicted. One was of silver, the other slightly overlapped the first and seemed to be gold, though the gold was flaking on one edge. Gold leaf over lead? Trey couldn't tell.
�The third card can be a barrier, or an opponent, or an unseen obstacle. In this case, the Coins may represent a debt.� Jesca held a hand over the card and closed her eyes, but quickly shook her head. �I can get nothing further from it. So, let's continue.�
Jesca took a moment, touching each card lightly in turn, before pulling another card and placing it next to the others on the table.
�The Fifth of Wood. The Arrow.� The card actually showed five arrows, bound in a loose bundle with a red cord. The arrows had feathered flights but lacked proper heads; the tips were plain wood, though sharpened and fire hardened. �The fourth card is an action to be taken, or a decision, or a way to overcome the obstacles spelled out earlier. In this case, perhaps it should be remembered that an arrow once loosed can not be recalled.�
Trey looked puzzled. He almost asked Jesca a question, but she saw the look on his face and spoke first. �I told you, child, the cards have guidance, but not answers. Let's take a look at the final card before we try to read the whole meaning. The fifth card of a drawing is not an answer, or the only possible outcome, or the future. It is a way to tie the other four together.�
She repeated the odd procedure of touching each card in turn, before adding the last one to the spread. �The Raven. The Steward of Wind.� Trey had wondered how the Ranks of each suit in the Lady Rowan's deck might differ from those he had seen in other's. Rather then the generic Lords and Ladies, this one depicted the black bird in flight, about to alight on a limb.
�My Ranks are different,� Jesca explained. �Instead of men and women, the Ranks here are animals and forces of nature, each from the element on the Suit. A Guide, a Steward, and a Lord. The Lord of Winds, to use this suit as our example, is the Eagle. I think that better for readings than the typical usage, which changes depending on ruling princes, and from town to town. Though flags and simple figures are easier for most artists to draw, and often say something about current politics. Tell me, down at the Three Sheets, who is on the Wind cards.�
�I don't remember the Knight or Lady, ma'am, though the Lord is the Prince of Halys,� Trey said.
�Interesting that they should choose the Grey Prince, rather than the rulers of Cathon or Gracene,� she said. �Hm. I don't know if that is a comment on our city, or just the patrons of the Three Sheets. Perhaps I should play at cards there sometime soon. But my point is that the temporal rulers depicted on cards has little to do with the meaning of the card in a reading such as this.�
Jesca looked down. �A Spark. A Cairn. The Coins. An Arrow. And the Raven.� She closed her eyes, and took in deep breath, much the way she had taught Trey just hours earlier. �I think the potential in the first card is a potential to be found in you. The second card seems plain now also. The fourth and fifth card both involve flight, but the third...�
She paused, then asked, �What is your father's trade, child?�
Trey was startled and the sudden change in subject, but answered quickly enough. �Wool and cloth. We trade in both, and have a small shop with our own weavers, and deal with others both in town and out.�
�You were taught the business? Weaving?� Jesca asked.
�Some, when I was younger. Since, I've been taught my letters and ciphers, how to read and write and figure,� Trey said.
�So. Not just an honest trade, but commerce, and money. It would be a comfortable life, child. And still you would leave it, if you could?�
Trey nodded. He seemed determined.
�You owe your father two debts, it seems to me,� Jesca said. �And one very nearly cancels out the other, oddly enough. You could leave now, with few hard feelings. But learning is a great gift, and will take you far. This is the greater debt, and you should pay your father back for it.�
Jesca took more than a few minutes to get paper and pen, and to write three short letters. She did not tell Trey what she was doing, so he was left to sit across from her at the large table, and to take in the five cards still arranged there. Shortly, though, she finished sealing the last letter with a dollop of blue wax, and her seal.
�Since you can read child, it makes this task a bit easier. Take each letter to the person it is addressed to. And see me again before you leave town.� She stood and left by the curtained doorway that led to the back of her shop, without saying goodbye. Trey sat for several minutes before finally standing to pick up the three letters, just as Rosyl entered to finally clear the remains of the tea from the sideboard. She curtsied, but said nothing.
Trey thought, Leave town? Yes... but where, and when, and how?
Trey was at least as lost as he had been when he entered the shop. But now at least, with these letters, he had a mission. He wouldn't break any of the seals, but he hoped that the people who received these letters would be able to tell him something of what was in them, and what the letter had to do with his questions.
[to be continued]
-- first -- previous -- next --
Tea was a quiet affair, since the young man did not feel like talking yet, and Rosyl was pleased but still uncomfortable to be drinking tea with company. The cards sat in the middle of the plain oak table, though covered now with a large square of silk cloth. The tea kettle and a plate of biscuits sat safely out of the way on the sideboard; one of the first things Rosyl learned from her mistress was a respect for the cards.
Jesca smiled to herself, but did not talk. She took these moments to study Trey. Trey, for his part, was silent and sitting with his head down while only occasionally sipping at his tea, but perhaps out of politeness more than anything else. He had a lot on his mind, Jesca could tell, since the churning emotions seemed to play across his face like waves on a choppy sea.
Jesca poured herself a second cup, and reached for a small biscuit from the offered platter. �Thank you, Rosyl. Won't you take one as well, child?�
Trey shook his head without looking up. �No, Lady, thank you,� he barely mumbled.
Jesca waited a long moment, several slow heartbeats.
�At least your mother taught you to be polite,� she finally said, �and what else did she teach you?�
Trey winced. He looked up, his eyes both pleading and angry as his gaze met hers. Tears stood at the corners of his eyes. �Lady, I don't...� The words were strangled as the young man struggled with grief, memories, and how to speak what lay so heavy on his heart and mind. �Can't.� Trey shook his head strongly. From his face he seemed about to speak, but no words came.
He hung his again, again silent. Suddenly an animal-like growl came from him and he pounded the table with his fist. He was close to sobbing now, but Trey still tried to reign in his emotions. He lowered his head to the table, cradling it in his hands as he tried desperately not to cry.
Rosyl was decidedly more uncomfortable now. She quietly got up and sketched a quick curtsey, and left. Jesca acknowledged her with a nod, but did she not look away from Trey for a single moment.
Finally, Trey looked up from the table, his eyes once more pleading as he finally met her cool gaze. �Lady?� This last last came out as a question.
Jesca stood, and began clearing the cups and napkins to the sideboard. As she worked, she spoke. �Child, the cards are a good tool, but are not necessary. My herbs and what some around here call my 'potions', those can help as well. But I have helped most of my clients just by providing a ready ear. My regular patrons, perhaps they buy the herbal teas and medicines each week because they think it helps, but more often then not it is our weekly chats over tea that ease their minds and souls.�
When she was done with the table, she did not return to her chair. Instead, she knelt next to Trey, and put her arms around his shoulders. �Now, child. Cry. There is no need to carry this all by yourself.�
And Trey buried his head on her shoulder and cried.
##
�A month, no, now six weeks past. From fever, my mum and little Alben, who was only six� It had taken Trey more than an hour to speak, finally, and a fresh pot of tea. �We were all real sick, the family and the weavers, and the 'prentices and even the neighbours, but it was only...� He choked a bit. �They were the only two who died.�
Jesca handed Trey a napkin, which he took but placed in his lap, instead wiping away fresh tears with the back of his hand. �I miss them, but Father, he seems so,� Trey searched for a word, �hard. Cold. He gets angry when anyone mentions them. He even had all their clothes locked up in trunks, and their rooms cleared. To him, it's like they'd never lived.�
�Losing a beloved wife is a great loss, child. It breaks many men. I'm sure your Father is grieving in his own way,� Jesca said.
Trey shrugged. �I don't know.� He picked up his cup, discovered it empty. Still, he held it absent-mindedly rather than ask for more.
�Were you happy at home, before they died?� Jesca asked.
Again Trey shrugged. �Even before that, my Father was a hard man. But he has a lot of responsibility. He wanted me to take over the shop and the trade, but I was not his first choice. He would rather have one of my older sisters run things, but both are now married and live in other cities.�
�He's always telling me that he hates leaving the shop to me. Nothing I did was ever good enough for him. He used to have me beaten, when he thought I failed. He would never raise a hand against me himself, but my lessons have been hard ones, Lady.�
�I loved Mum, and little Alben. Even though,� Trey's brow furrowed. He had not given voice to this thought before, �Even though nothing I did would ever be enough for that man, I would have stayed for their sake.�
�So this is the crossroads you find yourself upon,� Jesca said. �And so perhaps, let us return to the cards.�
The tea service was cleared away a second time, and Jesca removed the silk that covered the cards in the middle of the table.
�A typical spread is five cards, though there are many Readers and at least as many ways to arrange the cards. Some use more, some use less, and many rely on a pattern to hang meanings on. A simple reading is best, in my mind, though not as clear. Five cards, in order, each colouring the meaning of the others.� She picked up the deck and held it in her left hand. With her right, she moved the two face-up cards across the table and presented them in front of Trey.
�The first card represents the seeker, or the problem, or the sought object, or many things. It depends on the Seeker, and the question. You might think of it as a Focus. Here, we have the Ace of Flames, a card of origin and potential. You stand at the cusp of something, child.�
�The second card is one of division, or change, or a decision point. The cairn, the Sixth of Stone, seems to have a clear meaning for us today.� She touched Trey's arm to bring his attention up from the tabletop, and waited until he again looked her the eye before continuing. �And I thank you, for sharing with me. It is your trust in me that may enable me to help you today.�
Trey blushed, and quickly looked down to the cards at the table.
Jesca smiled. �And that brings us to a third card,� she said. �The Coins. An odd symbol, at this point.�
Trey examined the card. It wasn't marked with number or suit, and so had to be one of the trumps. But all the trump cards he had seen used in tavern games had a person on them, and were often numbered. This card had an odd symbol in the corner rather than a number: a cross inside a circle, or perhaps a four-spoked wheel. Trey hadn't seen it before. The depiction on the card was simple enough: Two coins, that might have been Imperial designs though he did not recognise the profiles depicted. One was of silver, the other slightly overlapped the first and seemed to be gold, though the gold was flaking on one edge. Gold leaf over lead? Trey couldn't tell.
�The third card can be a barrier, or an opponent, or an unseen obstacle. In this case, the Coins may represent a debt.� Jesca held a hand over the card and closed her eyes, but quickly shook her head. �I can get nothing further from it. So, let's continue.�
Jesca took a moment, touching each card lightly in turn, before pulling another card and placing it next to the others on the table.
�The Fifth of Wood. The Arrow.� The card actually showed five arrows, bound in a loose bundle with a red cord. The arrows had feathered flights but lacked proper heads; the tips were plain wood, though sharpened and fire hardened. �The fourth card is an action to be taken, or a decision, or a way to overcome the obstacles spelled out earlier. In this case, perhaps it should be remembered that an arrow once loosed can not be recalled.�
Trey looked puzzled. He almost asked Jesca a question, but she saw the look on his face and spoke first. �I told you, child, the cards have guidance, but not answers. Let's take a look at the final card before we try to read the whole meaning. The fifth card of a drawing is not an answer, or the only possible outcome, or the future. It is a way to tie the other four together.�
She repeated the odd procedure of touching each card in turn, before adding the last one to the spread. �The Raven. The Steward of Wind.� Trey had wondered how the Ranks of each suit in the Lady Rowan's deck might differ from those he had seen in other's. Rather then the generic Lords and Ladies, this one depicted the black bird in flight, about to alight on a limb.
�My Ranks are different,� Jesca explained. �Instead of men and women, the Ranks here are animals and forces of nature, each from the element on the Suit. A Guide, a Steward, and a Lord. The Lord of Winds, to use this suit as our example, is the Eagle. I think that better for readings than the typical usage, which changes depending on ruling princes, and from town to town. Though flags and simple figures are easier for most artists to draw, and often say something about current politics. Tell me, down at the Three Sheets, who is on the Wind cards.�
�I don't remember the Knight or Lady, ma'am, though the Lord is the Prince of Halys,� Trey said.
�Interesting that they should choose the Grey Prince, rather than the rulers of Cathon or Gracene,� she said. �Hm. I don't know if that is a comment on our city, or just the patrons of the Three Sheets. Perhaps I should play at cards there sometime soon. But my point is that the temporal rulers depicted on cards has little to do with the meaning of the card in a reading such as this.�
Jesca looked down. �A Spark. A Cairn. The Coins. An Arrow. And the Raven.� She closed her eyes, and took in deep breath, much the way she had taught Trey just hours earlier. �I think the potential in the first card is a potential to be found in you. The second card seems plain now also. The fourth and fifth card both involve flight, but the third...�
She paused, then asked, �What is your father's trade, child?�
Trey was startled and the sudden change in subject, but answered quickly enough. �Wool and cloth. We trade in both, and have a small shop with our own weavers, and deal with others both in town and out.�
�You were taught the business? Weaving?� Jesca asked.
�Some, when I was younger. Since, I've been taught my letters and ciphers, how to read and write and figure,� Trey said.
�So. Not just an honest trade, but commerce, and money. It would be a comfortable life, child. And still you would leave it, if you could?�
Trey nodded. He seemed determined.
�You owe your father two debts, it seems to me,� Jesca said. �And one very nearly cancels out the other, oddly enough. You could leave now, with few hard feelings. But learning is a great gift, and will take you far. This is the greater debt, and you should pay your father back for it.�
Jesca took more than a few minutes to get paper and pen, and to write three short letters. She did not tell Trey what she was doing, so he was left to sit across from her at the large table, and to take in the five cards still arranged there. Shortly, though, she finished sealing the last letter with a dollop of blue wax, and her seal.
�Since you can read child, it makes this task a bit easier. Take each letter to the person it is addressed to. And see me again before you leave town.� She stood and left by the curtained doorway that led to the back of her shop, without saying goodbye. Trey sat for several minutes before finally standing to pick up the three letters, just as Rosyl entered to finally clear the remains of the tea from the sideboard. She curtsied, but said nothing.
Trey thought, Leave town? Yes... but where, and when, and how?
Trey was at least as lost as he had been when he entered the shop. But now at least, with these letters, he had a mission. He wouldn't break any of the seals, but he hoped that the people who received these letters would be able to tell him something of what was in them, and what the letter had to do with his questions.
[to be continued]
Posted by enchiridion at 02:13 PM in Fiction | your take on it?