by Amy Reece
“Jessamine Elizabeth Addair is my full name. I go by Mina. What do you mean you’ve been hearing my name for months? I didn’t know you two existed until today; Fionnuala and the rest of the Council told me nothing.” In addition to being extremely pretty, she had an enchanting lilt to her voice. Ughh!
“Well, when Rémy and I found out we were both Seers—” I began.
“How did you find out? Did you know when you met? How long have you known each other? I don’t know any other Seers, except the Council,” Mina broke in, grabbing my hands. She seemed so alone and confused, but I hardened my heart, determined to dislike her. I know—I’m a horrible person.
“We’ve only known each for about six months. Rémy went to the United States to find me because of a vision his grandmother had, but we didn’t know about each other being a Seer until he, w-well, um, actually, w-when we—” I stuttered.
“I kissed her and we were instantly inside each other’s mind, both of us hearing the word ‘Jessamine,’” Rémy finished. I rolled my eyes at his brusqueness.
“Oh. Ohhhh,” Mina said, looking between the two of us and dropping my hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were together.”
“We’re not,” I said firmly. “It was a mistake. Rémy is like a brother to me. An annoying, much older brother.” It was his turn to roll his eyes at me. “But I didn’t read anything from you, Mina, when we touched. Did you, Rémy?”
He stared at her, an intense look on his face. “I did. I felt you in my mind, as well. Did you feel me?” he asked her.
She nodded, smiling slightly at him. “I did. I couldn’t tell anything really specific, just a general presence. But Ally, what I felt from you was just, well, power. It was quite shocking.”
Her comment made me feel more of that unreasonable dislike toward her and I turned away. “What does this mean, Rémy? What does this ‘binding’ mean? What is ‘the power of the three’?”
“I don’t know, chérie, I don’t know. Perhaps we—”
Luc’s shouting interrupted him. “You can’t be serious! She can’t leave! None of them can! We must keep them close to find out what this prophecy means!”
The three of us stared at each other, wide-eyed, before returning to the rest of the group.
“Did you not hear what the Oracle prophesied?” Luc continued. “The time of the Seers is at hand. This is what we’ve been waiting for. This is our call to action. Do you not see that these young people are developing more powers than our kind have seen for a thousand years? This must be a sign! A sign that we are meant to rise up and claim our true place in this world!” The entire room listened to his rant as if under a spell. “Ally, Rémy, and this Mina are clearly the key to a new day for Seers. We must keep them here in Rouen, to test them, to find out what they can do together. That demonstration of power they just gave may be just the beginning. Think of the possibilities!”
“I can’t stay here!” I objected, breaking away from the charisma of his voice. “I have to go home! My mom and my grandma need me there. I need to be back when my boyfriend gets home from boot camp.” I looked frantically around at the Conseil members to see if anyone might be sympathetic to my plight.
“Your silly teenage romance is unimportant.” Luc waved his hand dismissively. “We are talking about changing the power structure of nations! You are the next Oracle and should be above such petty romantic entanglements!”
“You have no right to say anything about my love life!” I sputtered.
“What can a child possibly know about love?”
“Luc, that’s enough!” Kate’s voice shook as she rose from the couch. “We don’t know for sure that Ally is the next Oracle. We don’t know anything for sure yet. What you are saying is crazy! Seers have always kept to themselves, stayed behind the scenes. Changing the power structure of nations? What are you talking about?”
“Oracle, can you not see the future? Your short-sightedness will be our downfall,” he sneered.
This clearly made her angry. “No, Luc. Your blind ambition may be, however.” They stared at each other, eyes narrowed, until Luc turned abruptly on his heel and left the room. Kate stared after him.
“I want to go home,” I whispered.
She turned back to me, clasping my hand in hers. “Of course you do, my dear.”
“So, you won’t keep me here?”
“Of course not! You are free to leave whenever you like. However, I think Rémy should go with you. I believe the prophecy means that you are the Oracle and he is the Shield. I think it is important that the two of you remain close, for your protection.”
“What about Mina? Is she the Heart of the Oracle? What could that mean? Should she stay close, as well?” Rémy asked.
Kate shook her head. “I don’t know. That is the confusing part of the prophecy. I don’t understand it at all. Perhaps it would be better for the three of you to remain close to each other.”
“So, we’re all going back to Albuquerque? Does Mina have any say in this? What about her parents? Is she in school? What about her friends? What if she has a boyfriend? My God, what if she’s married or something?” I started to blather as I panicked.
Mina stepped forward and put her hand on my shoulder. “It’s all right, Ally. You have family and friends back home that you need to return to. I actually don’t. I can go wherever I need to go. After what happened earlier, I think it might be a good idea for us to stay together.”
She had been nothing but nice, and I realized that my unreasonable dislike of her had to go. How old was I, anyway? I was acting like a bratty child. And since it looked like we were going to be together for a while, it would be a whole lot easier to be friends.
***
We spent two more weeks in France, dividing our time between training with Kate and exploring the countryside around Normandy. We spent much of our time practicing reading each other’s thoughts. Rémy was unstoppable, clearly the most talented of the three of us, but Mina came in a close second, able to read anyone with only a few seconds of intense concentration. It took me much longer, and when either Rémy or Mina really tried to keep me out, they were mostly successful. It really made me feel like a complete loser compared to the other two, let me tell you. I was supposed to be the next Oracle, and here these other two were exhibiting more mental powers than me! Neither of them had anything like my ability to break things, however, which made me feel nominally better. Kate worked with me to concentrate and focus my power without me having to be completely pissed off. She was still baffled by my ability since there was no evidence that any Seer had ever had anything like it.
Luc skulked around the estate, staring at me and making me feel extremely uncomfortable. He had apologized to me the day after his outburst, but I could tell Kate had forced him to do it. He seemed to come and go from the estate frequently and Rémy told me he lived in Rouen, as did many of the other Seers. I kept hoping he would go back to his home and leave us alone, but he always returned.
One afternoon, as I paced in the back garden, trying to work off the frustration of a particularly difficult training session, I stumbled upon Luc and a man I had never seen before, deep in conversation. Although I understood nothing of the French they spoke, I got the unmistakable feeling it was secretive, a feeling reinforced by the fact that they stopped as soon as they noticed me. The strange man melted away into the garden as Luc came forward to talk to me.
“All alone, Mademoiselle Moran? Your guard dog dares to leave you alone for even a second?” He obviously attempted to tease, but I didn’t like the undertones. This guy seriously gave me the creeps.
“You know, I don’t really think I need a guard dog. If someone tried to hurt me, I could always explode something,” I answered and walked away. I didn’t have time for his crap. I returned to the living room where we had been working earlier to find Rémy and Mina sitting together on the couch, laughing quietly, and Kate missing.
“There you are,” Rémy said. “Fe
eling better?” He was surprisingly understanding about my frustrations, often advising his grandmother not to push me too hard.
“Yeah, I guess.” I blew out a breath. “Where’s Kate?” I asked, looking around.
“She went upstairs to take a nap,” Mina answered.
“Is she okay?” I asked Rémy, worried about Kate’s health; she was an old lady, after all.
“She’s fine, chérie. She’s just feeling her age, although she would never admit to it. Why don’t we take advantage of this extra time and go to Les Andelys for the rest of the day? It’s only 40 or so kilometers from here. We could take a picnic.”
“Really? I would love to get out of here for a while.” I was desperate for a break from all the stress. I looked at Mina hopefully.
“I would love to go,” she said quietly.
“Then it is settled. I’ll get the kitchen staff to pack a lunch while you two go do whatever it is that takes girls so long to get ready.” Rémy said the last part as he exited the room.
We had a wonderful afternoon climbing to the top of a steep hill and exploring the ruins of the Chateau Gaillard, a castle built in the twelfth century by Richard the Lionheart, then eating a delicious lunch while resting in the shade. After we ate, we headed down the hill toward the picturesque town of Les Andelys where Rémy let Mina and me shop to our heart’s content along the Promenade des Pres and admire the half-timbered houses on the Rue de Remparts. I took lots of photos of everything, but for some reason I especially fell in love with the Church of St. Saviour, with its flying buttresses and tall spire. Maybe I loved it because it was a cool, calm respite in the midst of a stressful period in my life. I could have stayed all day. I wandered around looking at the dozens of beautiful statues staged throughout the sanctuary until Rémy and Mina dragged me away, claiming they were dying of thirst. We had cake and cidre (Rémy had a beer) at the Fort de Thé, a lovely teashop we spotted in town.
“Mina, you mentioned you don’t have family or friends to return to in Ireland. What did you mean?” I was curious about this quiet addition to our group and she had been frustratingly tight-lipped about any personal details. “Is it a deep, dark secret or something?”
She smiled softly. “No, of course not. It’s simply not very interesting. My parents died three years ago, as I was finishing secondary school. I didn’t have any relatives to rely on so I had to quit school and get a job. I found work in a small dress shop in Galway, which is where Fionnuala found me. When I accidentally touched her hand she sensed my power and, well, here I am, I guess.” She shrugged and picked up her glass of cidre, but found it empty and set it back on the table awkwardly. Rémy motioned the waiter to bring another round.
“So, are you really okay about coming with us to the U.S.? What about your friends? You don’t have anyone special back home?” I found it hard to believe that someone so beautiful didn’t have a guy in her life.
She shrugged again. “I work a lot. I don’t have much time for friends. What little free time I have I like to spend in my apartment with my cat.” She bit her lip as she said the last part and I got a horrible feeling.
“Mina, what happened to your cat?”
“I gave her away,” she whispered miserably. “I didn’t know when or even if I would be going back.”
“God, Mina, that’s awful!” I clasped her hand and squeezed. I would never give Wicky away for stupid Seer crap! A girl’s bond with her cat should be sacred! Rémy rolled his eyes as he read my thoughts, but when the waiter delivered the new round of drinks he put the beer in front of Mina, taking the cidre for himself, obviously feeling she needed something stronger. “What are you going to do in the U.S.? I mean, are you going to work? Or do you want to go to school? Where are you going to live?”
“I don’t know.” She shook her head. “Fionnuala said not to worry, that we would work it all out, but I can’t help it. I guess I will need to find a job, but—”
“But what? What do you really want to do?” I pressed.
She shrugged yet again, as if her desires were not important. “I excelled at computers in school. At the dress shop, I created a website—a simple one, for sure—but I liked it. I had thought maybe I would try to get some computer training. I managed to get my Leaving Cert last year so I thought maybe—”
At my confused look Rémy spoke up. “A Leaving Certificate is similar to a high school diploma or a G.E.D. Mina, I’m sure we can make that happen if that’s what you would like. There should be something beneficial in all this for you.” He forced her to meet his eyes and they stared at each other for a long moment. I started to feel like a third wheel when they finally looked away and Rémy signaled for the check.
We ended our perfect afternoon with a dusk walk along the Seine before heading back to Rouen.
CHAPTER THREE
“All three of them are desperate.
Their great guilt,
Like poison given to work a great time after,
Now ’gins to bite their spirits. I do beseech you
That are of suppler joints, follow them swiftly,
And hinder them from what this ecstasy
May now provoke them to.”
—Shakespeare, The Tempest, 3.3
Fionnuala broke the news over dinner: it was expected—no demanded—that we spend several weeks in Ireland with the Seer Council before returning to the U.S. I can’t say I was terribly surprised, so I just sighed and made it clear that I would be home before the beginning of August, when Jack was due back from basic training. Nothing in this world would keep me from being at the airport to welcome him home. Absolutely. Nothing.
Rémy also remained stoic about our upcoming trip. “It is to be expected, chérie. Your Seer Council wants equal time with the chosen ones.”
I saw Mina smile into her water glass, but I took exception to everything he said. “It is not my Seer Council! We are not the chosen ones! And why is it that you never call Mina ‘chérie’?”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know it bothered you so much.” He held his hands up in surrender. “In the future, I will be sure to not call you anything nice. Perhaps you would prefer if I called you—”
“Rémy! Ally! Stop your infernal bickering!” Kate banged her hands on the table, rattling the china. “You are giving me a headache.” She pinched the bridge of her nose.
“Sorry, Grand-mère,” Rémy said contritely.
“Sorry, Kate,” I echoed.
“Now, Ally, I’m afraid Rémy is correct: the Seer Council does view you three as the chosen ones. So do we, for that matter. The prophecy is clear about that, at least. The three of you have been chosen to usher in this new age of Seers. We are all trying to figure out what this will mean. I’m sorry. I know it is not what you want to hear.”
“I never wanted any of this! Why would the prophecy choose me to be the Oracle? I’m going to be the worst Oracle ever!” I whined.
Rémy got up, came over to my chair and pulled me up into his arms. “Shh, chérie.” We both laughed at his unconscious use of the endearment I despised. “You are going to be a great Oracle. I’m going to make sure of it.” We might fight like cats and dogs, but he was always there for me. I hugged him back and felt slightly better.
We left two days later. We flew from Paris to Shannon, Ireland, approximately 85 kilometers from Galway. We rented a car and Fionnuala kept up a running monologue the entire way, telling us we would be staying with her a short distance from Galway. Long car rides always made me sleepy, so although I tried to stay awake so as not to seem rude, I eventually gave up and fell asleep on Rémy’s shoulder. I didn’t wake up until we were pulling into the circular driveway of a lovely gray stone house surrounded by a wild-looking garden, huge trees, and rocky fields. It wasn’t nearly as large as Rémy’s palatial estate, but it had an untamed charm that appealed to me. “This is your house, Fionnuala? It’s gorgeous!” I enthused.
“Oh, thank you, Ally. My husband and I bought it after the birth of our fi
rst son. I hope you young people will enjoy your stay here. I’ve always loved living here.”
I tried to wrap my mind around the fact that there was a Mr. Fionnuala, much less little Fionnualas and didn’t reply. Rémy snickered as he read this last thought, but said, “Thank you. I’m sure we will be very happy for our short visit.”
“I don’t understand why you are in such a hurry to get back to the United States. I really think we deserve the same amount of time you gave to the French Council. It’s only fair,” she said huffily.
“Fionnuala—” I warned. “We have talked about this. Two weeks is plenty of time. Stop bugging us to stay longer!”
“Fine, fine,” she mumbled. I noticed Mina smiling to herself during the exchange. She didn’t say much, but she noticed everything.
We unloaded our luggage and followed Fionnuala into her house. She showed Rémy to a bedroom at the top of the stairs and then took Mina and me to the bedroom across the hall, which we would share. It was different than the luxury I had experienced in Rouen, but I actually felt more comfortable; it was much more like my real life. Fionnuala told us to unpack and make ourselves at home until dinner, so I heaved my giant suitcase on my bed and flopped next to it, not wanting to face the chore of unpacking yet. Mina, of course, had already opened hers and begun unloading piles of clothing. Ugh! Why did she have to be so industrious and perfect?
“Mina! Stop working. Let’s explore!” I begged. “We’ve been cooped up in a plane and a car all day! Come on!”
She smiled slightly. “Give me ten minutes. I want to unpack first.”
I threw myself back on the bed, blowing a breath out. “Whatever.”
Rémy poked his head in the door. “Come on, you two. Let’s get some fresh air while we have a look around the grounds.”
I hopped up eagerly. “I’m ready, but Mina is being a busy little worker bee. Make her stop, Rémy.”