Tarot

by Marissa Kennerson

  Henry dropped Anna’s hand. He dipped his fingers into the water and ran them through his fiery locks. “There is nothing as good as the sea, Anna.” He paused. “Except maybe my bread. My bread is spectacular.” He smirked at her.

  Anna laughed. “I look forward to eating it!”

  The three of them stood like that for a long time with their feet in the warm water, the Moon reflected on the ocean’s surface.

  They didn’t speak, just stood in comfortable silence until James came pounding back down the beach, the moonlight gleaming off his horse’s silky brown mane. “Victor!” he announced.

  “Next time, James. Lucky ride!” Daisy called after him.

  “What is this? A fair maiden in the sea?” James said as he galloped toward them. Anna felt herself blush and was thankful for the cover of night.

  James jumped off his horse, patting the velvet of her muzzle affectionately. “Don’t go too far,” he whispered to her.

  There were at least twenty competitors dismounting their horses and making their way back to the starting line one by one. Anna watched as they strode down the beach, scanning the group for familiar faces. Terra noticed Anna watching them. “You’ll get to know everyone eventually.” She pointed out a small group breaking away from the crowd of spectators.

  “The one with the shaggy hair is Luke, and the guy next to him with the shaved head is Tanner. He’s really quiet.” Terra put her finger to her lips. “Oh, and the girl with the curly hair, the one who rode up with James, that’s Daisy. She hates losing.”

  “So I’ve heard,” Anna said.

  Anna felt the water lap her calves as James splashed up behind her. “It looks like you’re ready for a swim lesson.” His voice was like warm honey, and she felt her stomach flip. Anna glanced up at Ivy, who was making her way down to the water.

  “Tomorrow,” Anna assured him. He was so close to her now, his suntanned skin glistening with sweat from the race.

  He frowned. “Why not tonight?”

  Ivy swept past them, taking off her dress in one fluid movement and revealing her lithe, slim-hipped body. Anna tried not to look, but Ivy made no effort to cover her bare copper back. She flipped her curtain of long blond hair.

  “You seriously can’t swim?” Ivy smirked and dove into the black water, leaving a wake of uncomfortable silence behind her.

  “I’m going up to bed. It must be late.” Anna turned away from the group, her face hot with embarrassment.

  “I’ll walk you,” James offered.

  “No, it’s okay,” Anna said. “Enjoy the water.” All the other race contestants had joined Ivy, but Henry, Terra, and James stood there watching Anna, their eyes soft with sympathy. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” If she said any more, she knew she would cry.

  “See you tomorrow, Anna.” Terra squeezed her hand gently. James and Henry turned back to the water. Anna nodded and started to walk up the beach toward her washroom and the stairs to her patio.

  “Is she all right?” she heard James murmur.

  “She’ll be fine,” Terra answered.

  “She probably just needs a little breathing room,” Henry added.

  Thank you, Henry, Anna thought.

  Anna climbed the stairs and collapsed onto her bed. She struck a fist of frustration into one of her pillows, longing for the simplicity of the Tower and feeling sick at the thought of being back there. She wondered if isolation had ruined her chance at a normal life.

  All she wanted was to hear the advice of the Magician, the Hermit, and the Fool.

  She went to her loom, loaded it with yarn, and began to weave, starting with the Magician, recalling every detail she could of her aunt. At her feet, Anna wove a garden of white lilies and red roses, her favorite flowers. She pictured her red robes and the careful way she arranged her hair in a long braid down her back. Anna wove the shimmering gold of the Magician’s belt and the green of the snake’s glittering emerald eyes. She imagined what her chambers might be like and created the scene. A simple wood table would hold her few belongings. She added a sword, a cup, and a pentacle and depicted the Magician holding her wand up to the sky in a gesture of power.

  Anna placed a hand to her chest and lifted out the infinity charm the Magician had given to her. She squeezed it tightly, wishing her aunt were with her. Anna returned to her loom and, above the Magician’s head, she wove her own golden infinity symbol.

  Anna bound the threads and placed the small likeness inside her satchel. She walked the perimeter of her workspace, blowing out the lanterns and shrouding the room in darkness.

  “Anna, it doesn’t have to be perfect.”

  Rebecca and Anna were knee-deep in dirt, planting a new crop of pumpkins in the garden. Luke sat shirtless on the ground, banging rhythmically on a drum while Morgan and a boy Anna had met that morning, Thorn, were lying on their stomachs nearby, painting tiny star patterns on rocks.

  “Look,” Rebecca said. She scooped a shallow hole with her spade and dropped the seeds in. “Then just throw a little dirt on top, and make sure it has enough water.”

  Anna took her cue and poured water from the can beside her over Rebecca’s small mound of earth.

  “Good?” Anna asked.

  “Yes, that’s great. Now you finish this row.”

  Anna dug another shallow hole, faster this time. She couldn’t help but nod to Luke’s drumming as she planted. “I really like your music,” she said, tossing in another handful of seeds.

  “Thanks, Anna.” Luke looked up from his drum. “I think you might have a visitor.”

  Anna turned and saw James approaching from the villa.

  “You all got started early this morning,” James called as he walked up to them. He took a seat on the ground next to Luke. “May I?”

  Luke nodded and handed over the drum. James tapped out a slow beat and Luke snapped his fingers in time. Rebecca started singing, connecting words that fell in with the rhythm. Morgan and Thorn moved their heads to the beat while they painted.

  The sun is out and we are shining.

  Her voice rose on the last word, and she held the note like a bell. The boys jumped in with their own lyrics, riffing off one another.

  Shining so bright, feeling so strong and so light.

  The sun is on my mind and my mind is on that pumpkin over there.

  Your mind is in the dirt, that dirty mind of yours.

  The words were getting sillier, but Anna marveled at the others’ ability to keep up. Rebecca took her hand and, as Anna stood, Rebecca twirled her. Luke, James, and Rebecca looked to Anna for the next line.

  She froze.

  They were all bobbing their heads to the beat of James’s drumming. Anna stared at them blankly, holding her hands out by her sides. She shrugged and smiled.

  “I’m not sure what to sing.” Anna moved her head to the beat as she spoke. James laughed and handed the drum over to Luke. He picked up James’s beat.

  “How about a break?” James looked to Anna. “Do you want to walk down to the water with me?”

  Anna winced. “I said I would go in today, didn’t I?”

  James shrugged and raised his eyebrows. “You did. But I’m not going to hold you to it.”

  Anna looked to Rebecca.

  “Go ahead, Anna,” Rebecca encouraged. “I’ll finish up here. We’re almost done anyway.”

  “Okay.” Anna sighed.

  “Yeah?” James said, his lips turning into a hopeful smile.

  “But I’ll have to go borrow a bathing suit from Lara.”

  “Fair enough.” James smiled. “Meet me where the race started?”

  Anna set her jaw and nodded. She had escaped execution by a tyrant. She could learn how to swim.

  * * *

  Lara and Daniel were still asleep. Lara’s beautiful hair spread out red
and flaxen on her pillow like rays of sunshine at dusk. Daniel was shirtless, and his tattooed arm was thrown around Lara’s waist. The image of the two lovers took Anna’s breath away. They looked like a painting.

  Dragon slept at the foot of the bed, his head resting on his giant paws. Anna looked at him with trepidation and tiptoed toward Lara’s side of the bed. She didn’t want to disturb their peaceful sleep, but James was waiting.

  Anna gently shook Lara’s arm and said her name softly. Lara woke easily, opening her bright green eyes and smiling at the sight of Anna.

  “I’m so sorry to wake you,” Anna whispered. “Can I borrow a swimsuit?”

  Lara raised her light eyebrows and smiled. “Of course!” She carefully removed Daniel’s arm and planted a light, long kiss on his forehead.

  * * *

  “Do you have anything that would cover more?” Anna stood in front of a tall mirror in Lara’s bathroom. “I feel like I’m showing so much . . . everything.” Anna tried to pull the swim top down to conceal more of her stomach. “I’m not sure I can go outside like this.”

  “I’ll find a dress for you, but wow, Anna,” Lara crowed. “Maybe I should go with you. Someone needs to make sure he doesn’t get distracted and let you drown.” Lara grinned and ducked into her closet.

  “Drown?” Anna mock-wailed.

  Lara emerged, chuckling. “Okay, bad choice of words. Now go. Off with you.” She tossed Anna a short green dress to wear over the suit.

  Anna held it up and, where the light hit, she could see Lara straight through the fabric, grinning mischievously.

  * * *

  “Hey! You came.” James’s pale-green eyes twinkled.

  Anna laughed, crossing her arms over the dress that was doing absolutely nothing to cover her body. “I did. You’ve asked me what, three times now? I suspected I was going to have to get this over with sometime.”

  James narrowed his eyes. “It might have been four. So let’s go before you change your mind.”

  James led her down the beach toward the south end of the island. Anna took deep breaths to slow her galloping heartbeat.

  “Tell me about Pentacles,” James said, breaking the silence.

  “Pentacles?” Anna repeated, buying herself time to think of an answer.

  “I’ve never been anywhere else besides Cups. My friend Christopher is the only one who has ever left here to explore another land.”

  “Lara and Daniel told me about him. Why is that?”

  “He’s the one person who thought to do it, and Daniel let him go. This is his first journey.” James moved closer to the shoreline, the waves lapping over his feet wet as they walked.

  “Did you think about going with him?” Anna had to quicken her pace a little to keep up with James.

  “He didn’t ask. Maybe next time,” James mused.

  “He just went off alone?” Anna asked.

  “That’s Topper. You’ll see when you meet him,” James said.

  Anna smiled. James expected her to be there for Topper’s return. She followed suit and walked a little closer to the water, but she jumped when the tide reached her feet. James laughed.

  “How did he get there?” Anna studied James.

  “He sailed.” James looked out at the ocean. “Topper sent us a letter describing the place. It came to us on the leg of a small gray bird.” He turned to Anna and smiled. “We nearly missed it actually! So clever. He said it’s a very wealthy land of noblemen and noblewomen.”

  Anna thought of her Pentacles tapestry.

  “It is. Pentacles is an opulent kingdom full of riches.” While she didn’t like the idea of lying to James, the words came easily, and what else was she going to do? James looked at her, waiting for her to continue. “See, everything here is of the land, right? The farms, the sea, the beaches. There it is all man-made, but glorious.” For Anna, Pentacles was like the Hierophant’s Kingdom, but with joy and abundance and magic.

  James nodded for her to go on. He trailed his hand through the water and came up with a fistful of stones. He picked one up with his other hand and skipped it over the water. James handed Anna a few stones.

  “There are castles with walls eighty feet high, and turrets and flags made of the finest silks,” she continued. She threw a stone into the water, and it immediately plopped down into the sand.

  “It’s all in the wrist.” James tossed another stone and it bounced lightly four times before disappearing into the sea. “Pentacles sounds very grand,” he said.

  “That is a perfect way to put it. The castles sit on rolling hills of green, emerging from a vast forest of the tallest pine trees you can imagine. And the smell! A scent so green and fresh, it clears the head and the heart.” Anna could almost feel the land coming to life as she spoke.

  “It sounds amazing,” James marveled.

  “It is. For some,” she added, remembering her lie about being mistreated by a great lady.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” James said, his voice faltering. “You don’t have to say more if you don’t want to.”

  “I don’t mind,” Anna assured him. There was something comforting about describing her tapestry of Pentacles and sharing this piece of herself with James.

  “The kingdom is flanked by great rocky cliffs the color of a storm cloud and a violent gray sea. Very different from this sea,” she said, and nodded to the calm and translucent body of water before them. “The sea that borders Pentacles to the north is cold and angry and has taken the life of many sea captains and their crews.”

  “No wonder you’re afraid of the water.” James shivered. “It sounds so cold there.”

  “It can be,” Anna agreed, getting more and more caught up in her tale. “But fires blaze in stone fireplaces the size of small oak trees in nearly every room. Blankets are made from the softest, thickest wool, and rugs from faraway lands warm the cold stone floors. There’s always something wonderful cooking in the kitchens and wafting through the drafty halls.”

  “But you were not happy there?” James asked. He had stopped throwing stones and was studying her as they walked.

  “No.” Anna shook her head. “I was a servant. My room was cold and damp, and I did not have freedom to roam or explore. It was work and not enough sleep and more work.” She felt a tug at her stomach as she told this half-truth to James. He looked at her with an open, curious expression.

  “Topper should be back soon. He’s been gone two moon cycles already. You can compare experiences when he gets back.”

  Anna blinked. Or Christopher would catch her in a lie.

  “Look, we’re here!” James exclaimed.

  Anna gasped. In front of her stood a cove, where a tall wall of jagged black rocks formed a perfect half circle around bright white sand and the smooth deep-green sea. Palms stood like centurions at either end of the sheltered bay.

  But it was not the beauty of this place that had stopped Anna in her tracks. It was the black stone wall, the perfect half circle, the grouping of gently swaying palms, exactly seven of them. She had woven this very spot into one of her tapestries. Seven palms framing a lush, sparkling cove. She was sure of it.

  Anna turned to James, her eyes wide. “James, tell me about the night you found me.”

  “You’ll really do anything to get out of swimming, won’t you?” He cocked his head at her and arched an eyebrow.

  “No, I promise, I will. I just have this feeling as if I’ve been here before,” Anna said. She looked behind them, in the direction they had come from. The villa was a small dot in the distance.

  “I found you on the other side of this cove,” James began. “Ivy and I were out messing around.” Anna wondered what that meant. She brushed the thought away, frustrated at these new, recurring feelings of jealousy.

  “You were just standing in the shallow end of the water, which terrifies me now that I k
now you can’t swim.” James looked at her, wondering if he should continue. She nodded for him to go on. “There’s not much more to tell. It was like you came out of nowhere.” He paused. “I could tell you’d been through something pretty intense. You were all scratched up, and your eyes were wild. You looked terrified.”

  “But there was no boat or horse or anything?”

  “No, just you and your bag, which you refused to let go of. Are you remembering it differently?”

  Anna thought of the green bridge and the sticky sludge. She remembered that moment of feeling like she was suspended between two worlds—the Hierophant’s Kingdom and, she now knew, Cups.

  “I don’t remember anything,” Anna lied.

  “Can I make a suggestion?” James smirked. “One you might not love?”

  “Sure.”

  “Swim. It will take your mind off things. I can tell it’s getting crowded in there.” He tapped his head. “It always helps me to move.” James held his hand out to her.

  “Okay,” she said, taking it and letting him lead her toward the water. Maybe he was right. Her fear of the water would overpower the questions that had started firing from her brain. Anna decided she would come back later to examine the spot where James had found her. For now, she would swim.

  “Ready for this?” James asked. Anna managed a weak smile in response. “I brought you here because it’s shallow. You can walk out for a while before the seafloor drops. It’s the perfect place to learn.”

  James led her into the water. As it touched her feet and then rose up over her ankles, she held his hand tighter.

  “I’ve got you.” He turned around and smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners. “You’re not in danger—remember that. It’s just new.” They walked out farther, the water rising over Anna’s calves and knees. They stopped when it hit her thighs. Lara’s dress billowed around her.

  Anna was starting to feel like she might run for the shore at any moment. She looked up to the sky and closed her eyes against its bright rays. She took a deep breath. “The water feels so good.”