Before Primrose could say anything the woman was rushing off to see to refreshments. She looked at the people whom Bened called cousins and with whom he obviously shared a comfortable intimacy. She prayed she did not embarrass him before these people he had such regard for and tried very hard to smother the nervousness that might cause her to stumble.
“Congratulations on your honors,” said Argus. “Knighthood and a baronet as well. Very good. Heard that earl gave you a little piece of land.”
“Aye, not far from Modred’s castle.”
“Pretty around there and good land.”
“Glad to hear it. Have not yet seen the place for myself. It could be something impressive or just a cottage for some farmhand but the acreage is a good amount. I am certain I can think of something to do with it but it is not what troubles me at the moment. Just what did Chloe have to say about me and trouble?”
“Just that you were in trouble, evil follows, and that you were headed this way. If you stopped to ask for help, the cloud of doom hanging over you would ease.”
It was the way Penelope began to giggle and Bened grinned that kept Primrose from being alarmed by the man’s statement of doom and evil. As far as she could tell a lot of these people had gathered here because the woman named Chloe had told them to and to help Bened. Even with that touch of strangeness she began to think might be a deep-set part of the clan, this was the way family should be, she thought, and had the odd urge to cry.
“Chloe says it is you the woman truly wants to hurt,” Penelope said to Primrose.
“Actually, she wants me dead and she wants my brother dead, too,” Primrose said. “That way her husband, my uncle, will become the baron and she will be the lady of the manor.” She looked at Argus. “Did she have anything to say about my brother?”
“Only that he is in danger. Bened being with you made what she saw concerning him more clear. She has no connection to your brother, although she thinks that will be changing. Something about one of us we have missed.”
“Another surprise child?” asked Bened.
“I think she would have said so. She knows us all well enough not to be too shy of saying it bluntly.” Argus shrugged and fixed his gaze on Bened. “You know we lost some of our connections when we had to destroy so many of our own records just to keep people out of the hands of the witch hunters or the church.” Bened nodded. “Well, from time to time another pops up. Could be that is what it is. Another lost connection appearing.”
Lorelei appeared with several maids who efficiently served everyone tea or coffee and set out all manner of little sandwiches and cakes to eat. She then sat down next to Argus whose harsh features softened into a manly beauty when he looked at her. Primrose suffered a pang of jealousy and worked to kill it.
“So one of us is already helping?” asked Penelope.
“Chloe said one of us would lead him to safety so that we should be ready for her. Said she has been alone too long which I take to mean that she has a gift she cannot really share with anyone or has trouble from those who see what she is. But all this trouble will, in the end, lead her to the rest of us.”
“But whoever this is will lead Simeon, my brother, to safety?” Primrose asked, needing to be sure that good news was really what she had heard.
“That is what Chloe said and she has never failed us yet. Now, one cannot just sit back and think it will happen just like that. Chloe does not see everything that happens or everyone who is involved. She sees a possibility and might see one step that is very important for things to change. So, we respond as if someone has just delivered us some information and we act on it.”
Primrose slowly nodded. “Which is probably what is already known and that is why she sees what she does. For you not to help would be out of character and thus change the fate she saw.”
Argus glanced at Bened and grinned before nodding in agreement with Primrose. “Precisely. It does make life difficult, though. She sends out a warning and then you have to think carefully so that you know you are acting as you would normally and not as you think you ought to, which could change the whole. Our cousin Alethea sees things more precisely but also just small parts of the whole. Chloe implied that the one helping your brother is one of them but more. Not sure what that means.”
“I sometimes think our Chloe likes to play at being mysterious,” said Penelope.
“Could be,” agreed Argus. “She can have a puckish sense of humor. But I believe what she does is try to be far too careful about putting her own interpretation on what she sees. We get a perfect description of what she saw. She doesn’t want us to know what she thinks because it could change what she saw.”
“So Simeon is still alive and will be safe,” Primrose whispered.
“He obviously does not have people shooting at him from the roadside,” said Bened.