“Thank you.” Stone snatched it up and gave it to the dog under the table. Fang laid down, holding the bone between his paws and eagerly gnawing at it.
“Persimmon, come quickly.” Lira ran up to the table. “The old couple cannot be healed. It looks as if they will die. We need you.”
“Oh, no,” said Persimmon, getting to her feet. “Lira, what can I do? I can’t heal. You know that.”
“I do. But you have your crystal ball. Mayhap you can look into it and tell us what needs to be done.”
“What?” Her heart lodged in her throat. They were counting on her to help them, thinking she could really scry. Oh, why hadn’t she corrected the misunderstanding when it first happened? It was going to be so hard to do so now when they were all counting on her. “Nay, Lira. I don’t think so.” How could she admit to the others that she had never seen anything in the gazing orb besides quick flashes of swirling colors? Her new friends wouldn’t trust her if they knew. And her father would only hate her even more. Oh, what a mess she was in.
“Don’t be silly. Of course, she’ll do it.” Stone pushed away his plate and stood. “Aithrod, watch over Fang. I’m going, too.” He took Persimmon by the arm and started walking.
“No, wait,” she tried to protest, but Stone didn’t let her back out. He was holding her arm tightly and she had no choice but to go along with them.
“The solar is just through here.” Lira led the way.
“I told you, I cannot help.” Persimmon didn’t like this. She tried to squirm out of Stone’s hold, but he wouldn’t let her loose.
“Cannot or will not?” asked Stone as they continued to walk. “It seems to me you have powers that could be helpful but for some reason are not inclined to use them on those who need them. You are being selfish. Much like your father.”
“Nay, I’m not. You don’t understand. It’s not true!”
“Then prove it,” he challenged her as they reached the solar door. “Use your gazing crystal to see what these fae folk can do to ensure that this elderly couple will not die.”
“It isn’t as easy as you think,” she protested as Stone opened the door and gently pushed her into the room.
Persimmon stopped in her tracks when she entered the room to find both the old man and old woman standing at the foot of the bed dressed all in white. That would have been a miraculous recovery if they were well enough to stand. However, it wasn’t so. She realized that as soon as she saw the old couple peering down at themselves on the bed. It was happening again, even if she didn’t want it to. She was seeing ghosts, or spirits. This is something that started happening to her and it frightened her to no end. She didn’t want to see ghosts. She usually closed her eyes and told them to leave, but she couldn’t do that right now.
One of the main reasons she left Lornoon in the first place was because she kept seeing the ghost of her dead mother and it scared her out of her wits. She thought if she’d come here to find her father, the ghostly apparition would stay in Lornoon. Now it looked like other ghosts had found her here.
“What’s the matter?” asked Stone. “You look like you’re about to faint.”
“I…I…nothing.” She looked away from the ghosts, not wanting to see them, willing the images to fade from her sight.
“Sister, please. Help us,” begged Lira. “We no longer know what to do. Even with Alaina’s ministrations and also Talia’s, I fear it might be too late for these poor people.”
Persimmon looked over at the bed to see that Darium’s wife Talia had arrived as well. Darium stood in the shadows, silently watching.
“Go on. Get your gazing orb out.” Stone tapped the pouch at her side.
Not knowing what to do, Persimmon slowly reached for her gazing orb, sliding it out of her pouch. Nervously, she once more glanced up at the ghosts that only she could see.
We are near dead. This came from the ghost of the man. He spoke to her in her mind and Persimmon still couldn’t accept that she was really hearing him.
Tell her about the men who did this to us, said his wife. Tell her so they can catch them.
“Persimmon? What are you waiting for?” Stone dragged her from her thoughts.
“Huh?” Her head snapped around to see him staring down at her.
“What’s wrong? You look so pale and frightened. Almost as if you’ve seen a ghost,” he continued.
“Nay! Why would you even say that?” Her gaze flitted back over to the old couple again. Their images were fading in and out.
There were two men, said the old woman. They both had dark hair and beards.
They accused us of stealing some of their stones, but we don’t know why they said that, added the man. When we said we didn’t have them or even know what they were talking about, they robbed us and tried to kill us.
They weren’t from Mura. They looked different, said the woman. I am sure I’ve never seen them here before.
“Sister, are you coming?” Lira called to her from the bedside. “Please, hurry. It’s important. Their lives depend on it.”
“The herbs didn’t work.” Alaina hovered over the couple, feeling for pulses.
“They lost too much blood,” said Talia. “I’m afraid they’re going to die.”
“Yes,” said Persimmon, pretending to look into her crystal ball. “They are. There is nothing we can do to save them. I’m sorry.” She quickly replaced the gazing ball in the bag.
Fast, ask her, the old woman said to her husband.
We want the Sin Eater to tend to us once we pass away, said the old man. We don’t want to go to The Dark Abyss since we never had time to confess our sins.
“I wish we could do something for them,” said Alaina. “I tried everything, but it isn’t working.”
“What about the Elemental, Portia-Maer? The one with the healing kiss.” Darium stepped forward, looking down at the couple and shaking his head. “Couldn’t she help them?”
“Yes, she probably could,” said Alaina. “However, it is not right to ask my friend to use her healing powers every time someone is dying. If so, no one would ever die, and that would be a problem. It is part of the cycle of nature to die. Mayhap it is this couple’s destiny to go this way.”
“I no longer believe we have destinies, but that we make our own,” said Darium with a shake of his head. “But I suppose I understand what you are saying. Well, there is nothing more any of us can do then. I will take care of burying their bodies as soon as they cross over.”
