The Throne Legacy: An Incasta Novel (co-written)

The Throne Legacy ~ Chapter 7

Now that they were sat she could see the Soothsayer better. He was skinny, the dressing gown he was wearing hanging from his bony body. His face was long and narrow, pale skin stretched across pronounced bones. One of his eyes was incredibly bloodshot and the other was such a dark brown it was almost black. What Nikita found most unnerving about his appearance, though, was the lines of black ink tattoo that covered the right side of his face. She couldn’t distinguish what they showed in the meagre light, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“And what brings a lady of such stature to my humble abode, and at such a late hour,” the Soothsayer said, resting his hands in his lap. “I assume you came seeking my services.”

“I was told by a friend that you would be able to help me with something,” Nikita began. “She said she had her suspicions, but that you would be able to tell me more than she.”

“Well then, speak up, I should like to get some sleep tonight,” the Soothsayer said a little harshly.

She told him about the person in the street, describing the symbol they had held in as much detail as she could. The Soothsayer listened silently, a thoughtful expression on his face. He was silent some time before he stood.

“Follow me.”

The Soothsayer led her back out into the hallway and opened another door, through which a wooden staircase descended into darkness. It was down the stairs that they went, each holding one of the lamps to light the way. When they emerged it was into a room much larger than the space of the house above them: it must have been the basements of the row of three houses, all knocked together to make one room.

Nikita gasped as she took in her surroundings, her lamp didn’t even light the room from one end to the other. Row upon row of tightly packed bookshelves ran up and down the length of the room, each as high as the ceiling and overloaded with books and scrolls. This must be the Soothsayer’s underground library Shards had told her about.

She followed the Soothsayer through the rows of shelves, he seemed to know exactly where he would find what he was looking for and began to climb one of the ladders to get to a high shelf. He ran a finger along a row of bound books before heaving out a particularly thick volume, almost falling from the ladder due to its weight.

“This should be the one.”

The Soothsayer took the book to a small wooden table, pushing an inkwell and parchment out of the way to make room. He placed his lamp next to it and slid a pair of spectacles onto the bridge of his nose.

The book was bound in a rich, dark leather; Nikita had never seen such a dark shade of blue before. Silver letters and patterns adorned the front cover in a language she did not recognise. The Soothsayer opened the book before she had a chance to study the cover closer, turning the yellowed pages delicately.   

He stopped on a page and pointed to a drawing. “Is this the symbol?”

Nikita leaned in closer to study the diagram. It was the symbol she had seen - a triangle with a shape on each of the inside sides. “What does it mean?”

“This is the Wrailmora, a symbol used by witches many years ago as a sign of judgement and of seeing,” the Soothsayer explained.

“Seeing?” Nikita echoed.

“Seeing of the individual the symbol is directed to,” the Soothsayer expanded, though Nikita was still not entirely sure what it meant.

“Well, what does it actually mean?” Nikita asked, frowning.

The Soothsayer ran his finger over the diagram as he spoke, indicating each part as he described it. “The three sides of the triangle represent past, present and future. And each of the objects joined to the sides represent something from these.”