The artist had managed to capture the intensity of the moment so perfectly, Effie could feel the tension in the bowstring, the heat of the flame, the bite of the water. It was stunning.
“We can go inside,” Lucian drawled, when she had craned her neck back to keep looking as they started to pass it.
Giving him a wide grin, Effie rushed into the little shop. The walls were filled with similar paintings, the afternoon light glinting off them and making them come alive. Blinding seascapes, crumbling castles, a city in ruins—each painting was more achingly beautiful than the last. The artist’s attention to detail was unmatched. As her eyes darted hungrily from one to the next, she felt like she was stepping foot into a new world.
“Can I help you?” a sweet rasping voice called from the back of the shop.
So focused on a painting of the night sky, Effie jolted, lurching into the table behind her and sending the small odds and ends flying.
Wincing, she turned toward the shopkeeper in the back with an apology on her lips.
The older woman’s hands were raised. “There’s no need. My Angus does worse when he comes to visit. No harm done.”
Noting the paint stains on the lady’s fingers, Effie asked, “Are these your paintings?”
The shopkeeper let out a startled laugh, her eyes darting to Lucian who was hovering near the door. “Goodness, no.”
“You will have to pass on my love for the artist’s work, then. These paintings are exquisite, truly.”
Still looking at Lucian, a sly smile grew on the woman’s face. “Consider it done. Have you seen the rest of his work? Painting is the least of what he can do with his hands.”
Lucian let out a strangled cough, and Effie shot him a curious glance.
“No, I haven’t. I’ve been too distracted to get much further than these.”
“I don’t blame you, dear. He’s got raw talent, that one.”
Effie nodded her agreement, stooping to pick up a few hand-painted cards that had fallen to the floor. Each one was the size of her palm, the thick cardstock cool in her hand. The back of the cards were the same; each a deep green that brought to mind the forest floor, with metallic gold embellishments curling along the edges like flowering vines.
They glittered as she moved them in her hand, lifting them into the light to better make out their details. A hint of color along the bottom caught her eye, and she flipped the first card over. It was a snarling wolf; its eyes narrowed in red slits, saliva dripping from its yellowed fangs.
Effie shivered, shuffling to the bottom and lifting the next.
This one was swirls of blue and white. It took her a second to realize it was a pool of rippling water, sunlight glinting off its surface. The last card finally clued her in to what she was holding. A woman surrounded by five pillars, runes emblazed in their surface. She was stunningly beautiful; her chestnut curls flying around her, smoldering flames at the tips. Her dress was the palest lilac at the top, blending into a deep eggplant at the hem, and a sparkling pendant glittered at the base of her throat.
Effie knew this woman. It was Helena, as perfectly rendered as if she’d posed for the portrait.
“It’s a castle deck,” she murmured, a low buzz of premonition zinging through her. What were the odds she and Lucian would stumble across a deck of cards after just talking about the game?
Effie twisted to the table beside her, more of the playing cards strewn across its top, the wooden box that held them laying open on its side. Her breath caught in her chest as she picked up more familiar faces, each so achingly familiar that a pang of homesickness overtook her.
There was the Palace; its circular towers standing proud against a sunny blue sky. A Talyrian in flight; her obsidian wings flung wide as molten fire spewed across the horizon. But the five that caught her eye were the ones with the symbols from the pillars in the Kiri card—Helena’s card. The men they contained were as familiar to her as her own reflection. Kragen, the Sword. Ronan, the Shield. Timmins, the Advisor. Joquil, the Master. And the last, with silver eyes and a dark brow scowling up at her, was Von, the Mate.
“Would you like it?” Lucian asked, moving to stand beside her.
“Oh, I couldn’t possibly afford something so beautiful,” Effie protested, tearing her gaze away from Ronan’s mocking grin.
“My dear, you must have the deck. It was clearly made for you,” the shopkeeper insisted, startling Effie with how close she was standing.
Jumping, one of the cards slipped, slicing open the tip of her finger with its edge. She hissed at the sting of pain and dropped her gaze to the bead of scarlet as it dripped.
“Oh,” she cried, trying to shove the cards below to the side, not wanting to ruin them with her blood.
She wasn’t fast enough. Her blood splashed over one of the images, obscuring it and sending the buzzing inside of her to a full-blown alarm. Gasping, she toppled to the side, barely managing to cling to Lucian before hitting the floor. Eyes rolling back in her head, Effie’s vision pulled her under.
She could tell before the images even appeared that something was different about this vision. It was as if her senses had been heightened, but also blocked.
Blurred faces surrounded her as inhuman wails filled her ears. Effie spun, trying to find the source of the screaming, but the faces moved with her, not letting her out of their sight.
She tried to focus, but none of the features that should have been present were visible and things were spinning too fast around her to focus on any one picture for long. She could feel the frantic pulse of her power spiraling within and tugging on her inner awareness. It felt almost desperate as it tried to relay its message, but her brain struggled to make sense of what she was Seeing. The harder she struggled, the more disjointed the sensations became.
Fire licked up her legs, but ice ran down her spine.
Laughter replaced the screams; keening and filled with malice. It was more terrifying than anything else. The booming laughs grew so loud the sky shattered, raining ash down upon her skin. When she tried to brush the ash away, it caught on her fingers, sticky like blood.
Her stomach swooped, bile burning her throat as tears fell from her eyes and made the ash bloat and swell. Images formed on its mottled surface, turning once more into the blurred faces that surrounded her.
Again and again the images looped. Fire, ice, ash, screams.
But nothing was more terrifying than the laughter.
Effie came back to herself and immediately rolled to her knees, her stomach heaving. The images had been so frantic, so disjointed, it hurt to try and follow them. Between the spinning and swooping, she felt like she had been flung about like a feather caught in a storm.
“I’m sorry,” she gasped, tears still streaming from her eyes as her stomach convulsed.
Lucian pressed a cool cloth to the back of her neck, the shopkeeper standing to the side with a concerned frown.
“What did you See?” Lucian asked in a low voice, his other hand running over her back in soothing circles.
Effie shook her head. “I-I don’t know. I couldn’t really make sense of anything.”
Lucian frowned. “Nothing?”
Gulping, Effie shook her head. “Faces with no features. Laughter. Ash. Tears.” She was struggling to pluck out any concrete moments from the vision, but they were blending together. The harder she tried to focus, the more confused she became.