"I suppose I better start preparing for the testing, then," Connor said, realizing now that he couldn't get out of it. "I doubt I'll do well since I have no magic and they'll be using theirs."
"Maybe," Liam said. "I honestly don't see what happens there."
"So nothing drastic goes wrong."
"I'd like to think so, but you can't trust any vision of the future filled with blackness and holes. Anything can happen in those dark spots, and anything can change, so sometimes what I do see becomes only a path not taken. Too many variables."
"And they still want you to make predictions."
"I am all they have to see trouble coming. And yes, I do sense trouble coming, but then so do the rest of you with the increase in troll activity. Things are on the move, Connor. We have to prepare as best we can, and I might -- might -- be able to give some warning when something big happens."
"And you will without worrying about the consequences?"
"If I see that my words will cause worse problems, I won't --" he stopped and then shook his head, distracted for a moment. This had, in fact, been the longest conversation they'd had without such an interruption. Liam blinked and sighed. "I have to watch the paths carefully and try to trace what is done that brings about what result. It's not easy."
"Do you write them down?"
"No. All that I've read about other Seers make that point -- never write it down. Others can find the material and use it to shape things the way they think it should go."
"That's happened in the past?"
He frowned as though he didn't want to say, but then nodded. "Yes. At least 500 years ago. The last Seer was growing older, and he didn't trust his memory. He kept a journal for the last years and wrote down paths and even before he died it fell into other hands. And yes, things changed. It's when the trolls first became a real problem. The journal was burnt, though. We'll never know what might have been different."
"But you're sure we took a wrong path."
"We took a path that veered," he replied with a slight wave of his hand. "It's the path we are on now, for good or bad. It's not wrong; it's just what we have instead of what we might have had. However, I won't make that kind of mistake."
Connor had never had this long of a coherent discussion with Liam. His companion -- his friend -- clearly focused very hard right now on explaining to him this troubling situation.
"I won't ask you to say anything," Connor said. He leaned back in his chair. "You can trust me."
Liam looked up and gave an unexpected smile.
"Yes, I can. You are wiser than some."
Connor didn't ask for those names, though Liam obviously waited for the question.
They had a quiet afternoon, spending some of it out in the gardens just beyond the kitchen door. He'd only passed through here a few times and didn't realize how calm the place could be. Liam seemed far less pressured here. Oddly, Connor felt the same. He'd never realized how much he had worried about what others thought of him until now, and how much he had kept himself in check because he didn't want anything he did to reflect poorly on Lord Northgate.
Druce was at dinner that night, but he never glanced at their table. Nylia looked enraged, though, which didn't help. Connor finally reached over and tapped her hand, drawing her glare from the dinner plate which did not deserve such anger. The food had been excellent tonight.
"Let it go, Ny," he said softly -- something he'd never said to her before. "Let this go and --"
"You don't understand," she said, her voice so soft the others might not have heard. "This doesn't have anything to do with you --"
"I know. I am just ... convenient. Nonetheless, let this go for all our sakes. You don't want to make things worse."
She looked up, glaring -- and then stopped and looked shocked. "Gods of all, you're right. Others would take this up and make it into something against you, our human."
"I suddenly feel like a pet cat you've taken in."
She laughed, so bright a sound that the feeling in the room seemed to grow easier. They finished their meal in a much better mood, and Connor thought this might pass without any rupture of the relationships at Northgate.
Then, as dinner came towards an end, Druce stood and crossed to them. Connor found himself coming close to a curse, thinking Druce meant --
But no.
"I apologize," he said, and the words sounded sincere in a way only fae could mean them, hinting at emotions that were almost manifest with magic. "I apologize to you, Connor. And to all of you."
He bowed, not just his head, but a more profound action that showed contrition, and then he spun and left the room before any of them could speak.
"Nylia --" Connor began.
"I'll go talk to him," she said with a shake of her head. "I don't want this to get worse."
She hurried out after Druce, her golden red hair flowing in ringlets across her back. Tall, thin -- majestic, Connor thought. He could see why Druce had fallen in love with her.
Erlis and Rendon had watched them both go. Erlis glanced at him and nodded, having obviously understood the problem better than Connor had until Liam pointed it out.
Rendon looked at Liam, though, who was still nibbling at his food. He gave a slight frown and then looked at Connor.
"If Liam had told me, I would have been more careful about getting stabbed by someone who was just angry at the world."
Rendon looked shocked, then nodded. "Sorry. That was my imagination running away with odd ideas."
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