“Nay. Only I can touch it.” She didn’t know what real difference it made, but it was something that she’d heard her mother say through the years. It was the reason her mother never let her try to scry. Or so she thought. Right now, she wasn’t sure of anything. Persimmon hurried after the orb, bending down to scoop it up just as it stopped at the edge of the pit. When she hunkered down to get it, something caught her attention from the bottom of the oubliette. She slowly turned her head and looked down into the water that had settled at the bottom of the deep pit, probably from rain.
There, shimmering in all white was the ghost of her mother!
“Mother,” she whispered, feeling her heartbeat pick up. She’d purposely left her homeland of Lornoon because she wanted to stop seeing the ghost of her mother. It was something that started happening right after the woman’s death. It frightened Persimmon and also made her miss her mother deeply. To her surprise, it seemed that her mother’s ghost had followed her here to Mura.
“What did you say?” Stone stopped right next to her, staring down into the pit. “Did you see something down there?” His hand was immediately on the hilt of his sword. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
Even though Stone stared directly at the ghost of her mother, he couldn’t see her.
“Stone, look hard. Tell me the truth. Do you see anyone down there?” Part of her was hoping that he could see the ghost, too.
“What? You see a person down there?” He stretched his neck to look. “Mayhap King Rhys has imprisoned an enemy. No one could escape such a deep pit. And since there is water in there, they could drown.”
Persimmon, you are not alone. You have people who care about you, came her mother’s voice from the pit. This surprised Persimmon. The ghost of her mother had never spoken to her before now. But she’d also heard the voices in her head of the old Lithum couple, so mayhap this was some sort of power she had and it was growing.
“Can’t you hear her?” asked Persimmon, feeling anxious, frightened and worried.
“Her?” Stone made a face and continued to try to see the bottom of the pit. “I hope to hell Rhys didn’t imprison a girl. I’ll have to ask him about it.”
You have to unleash the crystal orb’s power in order to use it. Persimmon saw the ghost of her mother slowly disappearing. You must help the others get the gemstones back where they truly belong. Their magic is powerful and cannot fall into the wrong hands. The apparition disappeared and then the pit was dark again.
“Is something happening, Persimmon? Please, tell me what it is.” Stone placed his hand on hers and stared deeply into her eyes.
“I did see something. Someone, Stone. But I am not ready to speak about it yet.” She stood up with the orb in her hand. “Please, don’t say a thing about it to the others.” She needed to think about what her mother just said. She had no idea how to the power of the gazing crystal or what her mother meant by saying the king’s gemstones held magical powers.
“Hey, the orb seems to be glowing now,” said Stone, his eyes fastened on the gazing ball in her hand. “Fast. Look within and tell me what you see.”
“Huh?” She hadn’t even noticed. Her attention dropped to the ball in her hand. To her surprise, once again she saw those swirling colors of blue, pink and orange. “Oh, I see those swirling colors again. They are so pretty.”
“You must mean the portal, right? What else do you see?” Stone looked over her shoulder eagerly wanting to know more. You can scry, right?” he asked her again, sounding as if he wasn’t sure if she could really do it.
Persimmon’s excitement grew as the swirling colors started to part and the silhouette of a person actually started to appear but it was only a shadow. And then it all quickly disappeared as fast as it came.
“She doesn’t see a thing. She’s a liar, just like her mother.” Elric’s voice next to her only broke her focus and shook her nerves. Persimmon looked next to her to see her father with his rain of disappointment washing down upon her.
“Father, don’t say that. Mother wasn’t a liar.” Her mother had been a good person and she wouldn’t let anyone say otherwise.
“She was a liar, and so are you. I knew it all the time. Just admit it. You can’t see a damned thing in that gazing orb, can you?” Elric crossed his arms over his chest and tapped his toe on the ground, waiting for her to answer.
“Don’t speak to her that way,” spat Stone, coming to her rescue. “Persimmon is a good and kind person and deserves respect. Quit calling her a liar. She has seen things in the gazing crystal and also sees something right now. Tell him, Persimmon. Tell him what you see.”
By now, the rest of her new friends had hurried over to her, and crowded around her.
“What’s going on, sister? Are you all right?” Lira was the first to get there.
“Shhhh, Persimmon is about to tell us what she sees in the gazing orb,” said Stone, raising a hand in the air. “Please, sweetheart. Please, let this be true,” he said to her in a mere whisper.
“Hrmmph! She sees nothing and has been deceiving all of us this entire time.” Elric shook his head. “I’m not going to stay here and listen to any more lies. I’m leaving.”
“Wait! I need my king’s gemstones,” said Stone, trying to stop him.
“The gemstones are not your king’s and I will never let you have them.” Elric dashed away in a blur.
“What did he mean by that?” asked Aithrod, hurrying over with the hound at his side. “The stones belong to our king. Why would he say otherwise?”
“What’s happening?” asked Zann, walking up with his brother, Darium. Talia-Glen approached with Medea at her side.
“Quiet, everyone,” Stone told them. “Persimmon is about to reveal to us what she sees in the gazing orb.”
“She is?” This came from Medea. “Persimmon? What are you doing?”
“Oh, tell us, quickly,” begged Talia-Glen. “I can’t wait to hear.”
Persimmon looked back down to the orb but now she couldn’t even see the pretty colors or that strange shadow of a person. There was nothing there at all.
“Please, tell us,” said Stone. “Everyone is counting on you.”
“Yes,” said Aithrod from the center of the group. “We need to complete our mission and return to Taelgonoth. Our king is depending on us to save his kingdom and we are depending on your visions to help us do it.”
“We also need to find the elderly couple’s son, don’t forget,” said Talia. “My herbs don’t seem to be helping them. Alaina is with them now but said they probably won’t live to see the morning.”
With all the pressure building up inside her, Persimmon felt her head spinning. This was too much for her and she felt like she was about to snap.
“My father is right,” she finally said, blurting it out before she could change her mind about doing it. “I am a liar,” she admitted softly.
“Persimmon, no.” Stone closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “Please, don’t say that.”
“It’s the truth,” she told the group. “I have no power to scry, and never have. I wanted to impress all of you and especially my father. I wanted to feel special. To make you all like me. That is the only reason I pretended to be someone I am not.”
