Just as I say that Tatum comes walking in with the hand cuffs I asked him for.
"Whats this?" He asked motioning toward the girl
"I do not know yet, I have yet to get answers. I will need you to cuff her." I say
"Your arm!" He points at the cut she gifted to me earlier. "Ah yes, she is dangerous so be careful with her, also how many keys are there to those?" I asked
"Only one set." He said.
"Good, lock her legs and her hands. Give me the keys. Im going to see the oracle." After you are done here I do not need people wondering around and catching wind of this. You will need to end the ball and tell people I had business to attend to outside the pack so they dont come looking for me."
"Okay but Dana is not going to be happy, shes been looking forward to the ball for weeks." He says
"I know, I'll have to make it up to her, just get it done." I say a little more firmly this time.
"Yes, of course Ceallaigh." He bowed
And handed me the keys after he secured the cuffs.
"I'll be back in a few hours."
Time to see the oracle to figure out what I am missing here.
The oracle still lived on my lands but she lived on the outskirts on the other side of the pond. I offer her protection from other magical creatures and she will make time for me to ask questions at my will. She's been on the land now since before my father. I remember my father coming to her as a little boy. She was always creepy and when she has visions her eyes turn white.
I never got her name, she wouldn't allow anyone to know her name. She would say, to have someone's name is to have power over them. I will not give power where it is not needed. Most of the time when she spoke I rarely understand her, but typically her visions always came true. Though the one time they didnt come true my father died. I know its not her fault but when I was blind in my raged and greif, I came here and beat down the door. Its a good thing she saw me coming cause she skipped town until I calmed down. I can not believe I lost control like that, and if she didnt see me grow up as a boy or knew I was grieving she would have retaliated. She is the oldest oracle in the land that I have ever met, and the strongest. I would not want to get on her bad side. She was quiet and reserved but this old lady was dangerously insane.
The outside of her house was very self sufficient with a garden, a rubble built stove, a smoker to help meat last longer and strings with pots and pans hanging throughout the perimeter. If someone triggers the string it clacks the pots and pans together letting her know someone's arrival. It was also bewitched to be invisible except a handful of people in the royal family.
I knock three times, and wait patiently.
She opens the peep hole "Yessss?" She asks. "I am in need of answers."
"But do you have the right questions?" She asked her voice has a guttural tone to it.
As she opens the door slowly.
I step through the threshold. I am massive compared to the door, I even have to duck a little to get in.
"My, my you've grown since our last encounter. " she bows slightly and motions for me to have a seat at the dinning room table.
"I will do a tarot reading first then I will open myself up for a vision." She says. She goes into another room for a moment before reappearing with cards in tow.
"Would you like some tea?"
I just nod slowly.
"Green or black, any preference?" She asked
"Black."
"Very well"
She returns shortly after.
The tea is a wonderful mixture of herbs that is probably the best part of coming here.
She sits down slowly and sips her tea.
"So why have you come and what questions do you think I may have the answers to?" She presses.
"Well, I smelled this strong intoxicating smell and followed it to a woman, when I got to her she was bound and determined to kill me. When I looked in her eyes I felt the bond snap in place... for me atleast. She didnt even twitch an eye, no reconciliation nothing. When we touched there were sparks and she did seem to notice that but quickly dismissed it and carried on her pursuit to kill me. She is well trained, and before I announce my mate to anyone I want to make sure I'm not mistaking it for something else, my mother would be devastated." I say
"Thats quite the story boy." See say as she shuffles the cards placing, one, two and three cards down.
"The empress, the hanged man upside-down, and the lovers upside-down ."
She closes her eyes for a moment.
"This woman is your mate and has the potential to become your queen and mother of your children one day, the issue here is she does not want a new beginning in love, she either does not believe in love or she has a deep rooted hurt in love, I also believe she does not know you are mates."
She scoots closer to me, putting her hands on my head closing her eyes, then opens her eyes and they appear glassed over white irises. "You will bare the burden of love with a compelling magic to kill, if you find the heart of your maiden, do not bend it to your will, when she comes to, you will know, you will feel an overwhelming urge to move."
Then her eyes return to normal.
"What does that even mean?" I asked her
"There are powerful magics at play here... dark magic. Even I have a hard time understanding the complexity. I will say she may have been bewitched so she doesnt come into her magic, whether there is a time limit or it is of indefinite means, when her magic is suppressed she will not feel the bond, this magic I feel was done with love. There is a dark magic done here mended into not just her magic but her very soul, be careful this magic was done with hate. In the vision I see her sneaking out of the pack, do not confine her this is not what fate wants, you must let her go and when the time is right you will go after her in her time of need, your Lycan will feel the urges." She patted my hand "fate is testing you at this moment and you have got to choose right." She stands "you must go now."
"Wait, I have more questions" I start to stand too and she puts her hand up and I become blinded by a bright white light. When the white fog clears, I am in the forest closest to the castle near the infirmary.