Page 58 of The Awakening of Essensia

“What?” Vaelira’s face grew hot. “I didn’t even know who he was until the other day.”

“He seemed to know you,” Ressa muttered under her breath.

Fang laughed so loudly that a few people turned to look. “I thought you said no interrogations?”

Ressa waved a hand at him. “Alright, fine. Shall we go in?”

Vaelira looked back at the dresses. She had no use for something like that. “I’ll catch up. I need to post a letter.”

“Sure. Meet us back here?”

She nodded, turning back the way they had come, towards where she’d seen someone salting the steps of the post office earlier.

Spoken for. She scoffed. Her entire relationship with Elijah had started as a lie. She could never trust him completely after that, and what sort of relationship could they build without trust? Besides, he was the Crown Prince. Whatever fleeting feelings she may or may not have felt for him, they didn’t matter now.

Ressa could think what she liked. Let her imagine some midnight tryst.

The thought made her cheeks heat and she hated it. Hated that she’d allowed herself to become so distracted. She was here to learn about her magic and what she could do with it. How she could fight what had taken her brother from her. Elijah was her way into the Royal Library, and nothing more.

After slipping her letter into the metal slot outside of the post office, Vaelira headed towards the silk shop, her pace slower now. She couldn’t help but peer into each window she passed. The shops were bright and immaculate, their shelves lined with silver jewellery, glossy boots, and plump golden pastries that glistened behind the glass.

She stopped short outside one that was unlike the others. Thick curtains were drawn across the window. The sign above the door was crooked, the name spelt out in red chipping paint. Madame Noctra’s. Light flickered inside.

Before she thought it through, Vaelira pushed open the door. It swung inwards silently, the soft click as it closed behind her making her jump.

The air was thick with sweet smelling smoke that curled its way down her throat and made her head swim. The walls were crowded with sagging shelves. Crystals clustered in bowls beside bundles of dried plants bound with twine. Books lay in crooked stacks, some half crushed beneath carved boxes that leaked curling trails of incense. At the back of the room, a low table was surrounded by plush floor cushions. Something rested in the centre beneath a shroud of shimmering black cloth.

Vaelira coughed, waving a hand in front of her face. “Hello?”

Silence.

She eyed the closed door beyond the table and crossed the threadbare rugs, ducking under the tapestries that hung from the ceiling. She knocked.

Nothing.

She turned back, letting curiosity get the better of her, and crouched beside the table, reaching for the cloth.

“No touching,” said a voice.

Vaelira jerked back, her hand flying instinctively to the empty dagger sheath at her waist.

A woman stood in the doorway. Her layered green skirts skimmed the floor, a bodice cinched tight over a loose white blouse. Thick black hair was twisted up beneath a red velvet band. Gold glinted from her ears and fingers, her lips and nails lacquered a deep, glossy red. Dark kohl ringed her eyes, which were blue and rimmed with gold around the pupils.

“I am Madame Noctra,” she said in a raspy voice, sweeping into the room with a rustle of fabric. “Have you come to seek your future?”

She hadn’t, but Vaelira nodded anyway.

They took seats on opposite sides of the table. Madame Noctra drew back the cloth, revealing a glass orb resting on an ornate golden stand shaped like a feline mid pounce. The woman raised her hands and began to move them in wide, slow circles over the orb, her eyes closed, head tilted back. She paused and held out her hand across the table, palm up.

Vaelira reached for her pouch and placed two coppers in Madame Noctra’s palm. The fortune teller opened one eye, sighed, and the coins vanished. Her fingers resumed their motion, slower this time, and more deliberate.

“Ah yes,” she murmured. Her hands stilled atop the orb. “A long life.”

Vaelira leaned closer, but the orb revealed nothing but her warped reflection staring back at her.

“You will live a long life,” Madame Noctra repeated, voice soft. “I see a great love in your future.”

Vaelira studied her, unimpressed. It sounded rehearsed, like something she said to every girl that came looking for answers. She sat back. “What can you tell me of demons?”