“Give me your hand, child.”
She hesitated, wondering if he would squeeze it too hard, but she extended it to him. He clasped it in between his hands. His skin was warm and calloused, rough as stone. With a piercing gaze, he looked into her eyes.
“I Gift you. With a glimpse at your future. Not to see it clearly, but to see the truth of it when it is time to know the truth of it. There is a Gift that you already possess, child, that you did not name. The Gift of Seering. Your father had it. You have experienced it already if you remember. Inside your mind, you have seen events unfold that happened in the past. Or were happening in that moment. The night before Winterrowd, you saw the king in his tent. That was the Gift of Seering. When the Aldermaston taught you about Idumea here in the Abbey, you saw the past and the fall of Ereshkigal. Use this gift well. Only the Medium can bring it to you. So now I give you a glimpse of the future that your gift may be complete. This hand – will impact the lives of millions of souls. Your name will be had for good as well as for evil. But to those who know the truth, they will always hold you in reverence for what this hand will yet do.”
She licked her lips, not feeling any differently. “What does that mean, Maderos?”
He grinned at her. “You will see when it is time.” He patted her hand. “Let me teach you wisdom, one of the hidden secrets of this second life, just as it was a secret in the first life. Surely you have already learned that men and women differ. Each has strengths and weaknesses. It must be so, for we are incomplete without the other. Here is wisdom, if you will hear it.” His hand squeezed hers gently. “The greatest power over a man is his desire to please a particular woman. This is crucial to understand. So much in this life hangs on it. It is this inherent desire which gives that woman power to make or destroy him. Most men will never confess that they are influenced…easily influenced…by the women they prefer. Wives, lovers, mothers, daughters, or sisters. Many have no idea that they are. This knowledge is the source of the hetaera’s power. It is powerful, child. So subtle and powerful. It can and does influence men to murder. It causes men to forsake their sworn oaths and duties. Even mastons. These feelings can shatter mountains into broken pebbles. They can break down the strongest man. Remember this teaching. It will benefit you in the future as you ponder it.”
Lia shuddered. “Is the Queen Dowager more powerful than the Aldermaston?” she whispered.
“Of course she is,” Maderos answered. “Because he is only a man. She is more powerful than Garen Demont because he is a man. More than your friend, the pethet, because he is a man. More than a dozen mastons together with all their fierce wills combined.”
Lia’s heart froze with fear.
“But,” Maderos said, wagging his finger at her. “Is she more powerful than you? That is the question, is it not?”
“Is she?” Lia pleaded.
“What does the Medium tell you?” Maderos asked pointedly.
In the silence of her mind, the Medium said nothing.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT:
Fall of Muirwood
The Aldermaston looked at Lia’s expression and his eyes wrinkled with worry. “Did you fail?” he asked her, his voice cracking into a hoarse cough.
She realized her expression was alarming him. She shook her head slowly. “I am a maston.”
He shut his eyes in relief. “For a moment, I doubted. I should not have. What troubles you?”
Lia swallowed painfully, her mind swollen with conflicting thoughts. “I…I did not realize it. The danger, Aldermaston. The Abbey is in grave danger. The war with Demont…it is just a disguise. I understand now like I have never understood before. She wants to destroy the Abbey. She wants to destroy you. This is not about Demont. This is not about Ellowyn. This fight is about Muirwood. She will kill you.”
She gazed into his eyes and saw the truth of it there. He knew it as well. She wanted to bury her face in her hands. What if she was not strong enough? What if Pareigis, the Queen Dowager, could breach the Abbey’s defenses? They would all be slaughtered.