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‘The ace of pentacles symbolises a talent which, if tended carefully, will reward you with future fulfilment,’ Sky said. ‘It represents the first step to a goal. The first step in a journey of a thousand miles, so to speak.’
‘How on earth do you know that?’ Star said, sounding impressed.
Sky waved her mobile phone. ‘Just googled it.’
‘Why didn’t I think of that?’ Keely groaned.
‘That was it,’ Mrs Greenwood said, nodding happily. ‘I knew it was something like that.’
‘But what does it have to do with anything?’ Harley asked, puzzled. ‘Why would Lyrica leave those particular cards for us?’
‘When you decided to see her,’ Celeste asked Keely, ‘what was in your mind? What motivated you to visit her after all these months?’
Keely thought about it. ‘A few reasons,’ she said. ‘But if I’m being honest, the real motivation was finding the keys. You know, the keys to the dimension box where the dragons live? I want to surprise Wulfram when he gets home. He’s already got so much on his shoulders, and I thought, if we could just find the keys that would be one less thing for him to worry about. Well, two less things really.’
‘The keys,’ Celeste said thoughtfully. ‘It’s funny, because I’ve been giving a lot of thought to those lately, too. It’s like they’re in my head and I can’t shift them. Something I saw. Something I heard. It’s most frustrating.’
‘Wasn’t one of the keys a pentacle?’ Sky asked suddenly.
We all looked at each other.
‘It was! Is!’ Star nodded. ‘What was it again?’
‘The Silver Pentacle Key,’ Emrick said. ‘The key given to the fae. You think the Ace of Pentacles has something to do with that?’
‘It might,’ I said. ‘If we can just figure out what it has to do with the meaning of the cards.’
‘Maybe Lyrica knows where the key is,’ Keely said eagerly. ‘That’s what she’s trying to tell us! We just have to work out the clues.’
We all deflated, realising none of us had the first idea what the tarot cards meant in relation to that. No amount of looking it up on Google was going to help with that.
‘The thing is,’ Celeste said cautiously, ‘I keep having flashbacks to a memory I saw in Blaise’s head when I memory-walked. And the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it has anything to do with the keys.’
We all turned to her excitedly.
‘But, darling,’ Iliana said in surprise, ‘why didn’t you tell us that before?’
‘Well,’ she said reluctantly, ‘there has been a lot going on. And I might be wrong. It’s just a vague feeling, that’s all. But it connects with something Wulfram told us ages ago, about what he experienced in Avalon.’
‘Go on,’ Keely said eagerly. ‘Tell us.’
‘Well, I might be completely off track here,’ Celeste said reluctantly, ‘but this idea has lodged in my brain, and it won’t go, so I might as well tell you all. Remember when Wulfram was in St Michael’s Tower in the Avalon version of that place?’
Keely shuddered. ‘Do I! He was in such a state.’
‘Yes,’ Celeste said, ‘because he saw the death of Richard Whiting, the last abbot of Glastonbury Abbey. And he also saw, if you recall, a vision of a golden chalice, that changed form and became a key. The Golden Chalice Key. The key given to the witches by Arthur for safekeeping.’
‘Yes,’ Raiden said doubtfully, ‘but what does that have to do with anything?’
‘When I memory-walked in Blaise’s mind, I saw him as a little boy, sitting on Titus’s knee. Titus was talking to him, and I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but he was telling him something. Something important. Something Blaise needed to know. The next moment I found myself alone at Glastonbury Abbey, looking down at the plaque marking the site of Arthur’s grave.’
‘Arthur’s grave?’ Sky asked. ‘But I thought he was buried in Avalon?’
‘He was,’ Celeste said patiently. ‘But centuries ago, in 1191, monks at Glastonbury Abbey claimed to have discovered two bodies—the bodies of Arthur and Gwynnever, or Guinevere. It was hailed as quite the discovery, and their bodies were reburied with great ceremony in a magnificent tomb. In 1278 the tomb was opened for a visit by King Edward I and Queen Eleanor, that’s how important it was deemed to be. Now, of course, there’s nothing left of the tomb, or any bones, or anything else really. Except for this plaque which marks the spot where it’s believed the tomb was.’
We all waited for her to get to the point.
‘I can’t help thinking that whatever Titus told Blaise had something to do with the key. Do you think it can be a coincidence that those are the two visions Wulfram was given while in the Avalon version of the Tor? They must be connected—Abbot Whiting’s murder and the chalice key. What if Richard Whiting knew something about its whereabouts? What if he was killed so brutally because he refused to give up the information he knew? And what Titus told Blaise had something to do with Arthur’s tomb. What if that’s where it was buried all those years?’
