AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Perhaps she had become an agnostic who didn’t want to think about the question.
“Now that’s very interesting,” Kenna mused, studying Lila’s face.
Lila’s eyes flitted back to the other room. “I didn’t know the oracle met with anyone inside her compound.”
“It’s rare, but this is a favor for a very dear friend. The little girl desperately wished to see the oracle’s house before she died. She’s going on a tour of the compound today, for as long as she can manage it. We don’t want to tire her out too much.”
“I didn’t know the oracles granted wishes.”
“Everyone grants wishes. Few of us are lucky enough to know the wishes we grant.”
“Fortune cookie?”
“A proverb from the oracles’ archives. Some tended to be overly impressed with themselves. Luckily, Mòr has never been like that. I suppose that I gave her too many wet willies as a child.”
“Wet willies?”
“I guess the highborn really are different. Look it up. You can practice on him.”
Dixon licked his finger and stuck it in Lila’s ear, rubbing a trail of cold spit on her skin.
“Ugh!” Lila wiped at her ear and smacked him in the arm.
“Friends, then, not lovers.” Kenna grinned. “I’m glad to see it. I imagine you need a good friend now.”
“You got all that from a wet willie?”
“No, I got all that from the fact that you slapped him like a little brother. Your pupils didn’t dilate, either. Neither did his. Who is he?”
Dixon flipped his notepad over. Dixon Leclair had been written in large block letters on the back.
“I thought so. The oracle speaks well o
f you and your brother. Connell, too.”
In the other room, the oracle drew their attention. She helped the mother pick up her child in a bundle of blankets and thin limbs. “Delilah will take you back to the cart and drive you around the compound. You’ll have to wear your coat, though, Sarah. She might even let you steer the cart if you are very good and eat your lunch.”
The little girl gave a weak but happy squeal as Delilah whisked them both away.
Kenna led Lila and Dixon into the other room.
“You did well, Mòr,” she said.
“Not well enough. I nearly had Sarah pegged as a two. Rambling on about how it wouldn’t hurt would have only frightened the girl.”
“It’s difficult with children that age. You were right to wait it out. Their parents often influence their thoughts.”
Mòr smiled at Lila and Dixon. “My sister has always been better at this than me. We nearly had an agreement when we were younger. Kenna would play oracle, and I would have the visions. I never wanted to be famous, and she never minded so much.”
“I couldn’t sing, so it was either that or voice lessons,” Kenna said. “Of course, it obviously didn’t work out in the end. Mother was against it. She said we shouldn’t thwart the gods’ decisions. She said that if I was supposed to play oracle, I would have gotten the visions instead.”
“Of course, now that we’re older, we play with the gods’ decisions all the time.” The oracle sat back down in her sofa chair and gestured for the others to join her. Chair legs scraped against the wooden floor as they dragged their seats closer.
“You lie to people,” Lila said.
“I’ve already admitted as much. Life is frightening enough. When the world is dark and paints you in shadows, you need a light. We try to provide that.”
“No one comes here for a theological argument,” Kenna said. “They come for assurances. My sister gives them that.”
