The Blinding Knife

Chapter 45

“So what’s your real name?” Gavin asked the Third Eye, coming to stand beside her on the beach. She had kept her vigil on the southernmost point of Seers Island, and the descending sun bathed the woman in gold. “Or what was it, before? Who are your people?”

The Third Eye was dressed in a yellow cotton dress that made her look merely mortal, though she was still a striking, radiant figure. She hadn’t sent for Gavin until late afternoon. Her associate, or servant, or friend, Caelia, told Gavin that seeing the future took time.

“Oh no you don’t,” the Third Eye said. “You’re probably one of those men who accuses women of being capricious, too.”

“Huh?”

“You ask me last night not to tempt you, to be more formal, and today the first thing you do is ask for greater familiarity. Uh-uh, Lord Prism. In your vanity you can take pleasure in breaking other hearts. Not mine.”

Vanity? That was a little offensive, a little blunt, a little… accurate. He made to speak, then found he had nothing to say.

“I’m sorry,” she said. “The aftermath of Seeing is… I forget myself. It’s hard not to be honest. My apologies.” She snapped open a handfan and fanned herself. “I’m afraid I’ve overheated, too. My skin doesn’t well tolerate so much sun.”

She did indeed look like she’d have a good burn.

“Seeing requires light, you said?” Gavin asked.

She nodded but didn’t seem interested in explaining her gift any more than that.

“Did you find it?” Gavin asked finally.

“Many times, and down many paths. It’s in the sea.”

“Pardon?”

“The bane is floating, somewhere in the Cerulean Sea.”

“That is…” Useless? Unhelpful? “… a large area,” Gavin said. She’d said three hours east and two and a half hours north-which would be in the sea from here, but somehow he was sure this wouldn’t be that easy.

“I’m aware of this. It is also fairly hard to find landmarks or time markers to tell you where to find it in the sea. It’s moving through the water.”

Gavin threw his hands up. “Where’s it going? Where’s it coming from?”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I think I can tell you it’s heading toward center. A center? The center… I’m not sure.” She looked apologetic.

“The center of the sea? Like White Mist Reef? Or the center like sinking?”

“Bane float, most of the times.”

Times, plural. “That doesn’t give me anything.”

“It gives you enough.” If the bane was floating toward White Mist Reef, then taking the calculations backward, it would be somewhere south of the Ilytian city of Smussato, perhaps floating in a line from the border between Paria and Tyrea. If he knew where it was going, and he could guess that it would go straight, and he knew where it was going to be at any one time, that should give him a line on which it must be.

“You mean I’m going to find it?” Sudden hope.

“Yes.”

He couldn’t believe it. There had to be a catch. This was going to take some figuring with a map and an abacus, but it seemed too easy. “How long is it going to take me?”

“If I tell you that, you’ll stop looking until the day I said you were going to find it.”

“No I wouldn’t-Yes, yes, of course I would.”

She sighed.

“Am I going to find it in time?” he asked.

“Even I don’t know what you’re asking by that.”

“You can’t do this to me,” Gavin said.

“Please don’t blame me for things I have nothing to do with.”

Gavin licked his lips. She was right. Of course she was right: she could see everything. Unnerving still. “What can you tell me?” he asked.

“That you’ll be here for a while, and that the Color Prince is looking for it, too, and that you better not let his plan come to fruition. It’s growing, Lord Prism, and the more it grows, the more blues will be drawn to it. Blue wights most of all.”

“Why, what happens? All I know is that the bane were tied in with the old gods’ temples.”

“You’ll see. There’s something else I should tell you.”

“There’s a thousand other things you should tell me!”

“If you take Karris when you go fight it, you’re much more likely to succeed.”

“I could have guessed that myself. She’s a useful woman.”

“And if she goes with you, she’ll almost certainly die.”

“Had to be a catch, didn’t there?” Gavin said.

“I’m not trying to give you a catch; I’m trying to give you a chance.”

He shrugged that off. “ ‘Almost certainly’ as in ninety-nine times out of a hundred, or as in two times out of three?”

“When I see her go with you, I watch her die in dozens of different ways. It’s not pleasant for me. Especially since I know that if she lives, we’re probably going to be friends someday. Assuming you don’t bed certain… you know what? I’ve already said too much.”

“You called Karris The Wife,” Gavin said. “But then you said it was wrong. What did you mean?”

“Knowing that if you know, it will change things… do you really want to know?”

Gavin scowled. “Well, yes.”

“Tough. I’m not telling you.”

“Some soothsayer you are,” Gavin complained.

“I’m not a soothsayer. I’m a seer. I see; sometimes I say what I see. I’m not interested in soothing your feelings.”

She meant it, too. Gavin could see the steel in her again. Doubtless it was the only way she could remain human and deal with her gift.

“Karris doesn’t like to be left behind when I head into danger.”

“You’ve brought me fifty thousand problems, Lord Prism. That, however, is not one of them.”

A good shot, and completely fair. He took a breath to riposte, and then thought better of it. “My lady, your wit is as sharp as your beauty is radiant. Since the light has so clearly blessed you with its presence, the most I can do is bless you with my absence. Good day.”

He bowed and left. He was only a few steps away when he thought he heard her murmur something. He shot a look over his shoulder, and swore he caught her staring at She pursed her lips, a quick look of consternation. “I can foresee the end of the world, but I can’t tell when a man is going to catch me staring at his shapely ass.”

Gavin could do nothing more than beat a dignified retreat, strangely aware of his ass with every step.