Chapter 96: Twisted Reflections

After dinner that night, the attendants took Devin to bathe and get ready for bed while Cedric went back to work with his advisors and attendants. It would be the perfect opportunity for Sibyl to begin training her daughter in the art of witchcraft.

Sibyl took Tarot and Talia to a quiet and secluded courtyard to begin Talia's first lesson on night visuals. Although the courtyard was surrounded on all sides by palace walls, it only kept the worst of the winter gale from blowing through.

The air was frosty and the temperature had dropped along with the last rays of sunlight causing their breaths to stream out in fleeting misty clouds.

Talia and Tarot stood waiting within the semi-darkness of the royal courtyard, waiting for Sibyl to begin her lessons.

Several lanterns had been lit within the courtyard, revealing a mostly empty space. The myriad of grasses and shrubs were strange macabre melted shapes, covered by the snow and ice that was the result of the previous blizzard.

Somewhere above in the partially cloudy night sky, they could hear the sound of a hoot owl. It seemed to be watching them from somewhere above the courtyard area.

On one end of the barren courtyard was a bronze birdbath that was set on top of the intricately laid stone pavers. It was fairly large, as far as birdbaths were concerned, spanning approximately 4 feet in diameter and it was filled with snow.

"This way." Sibyl pointed towards the direction of the birdbath.

They walked along the pavers that led from the doorway to the birdbath with careful treads. It was still mid-winter and there was frost on the ground making the stones fairly slippery.

"Tarot. Melt the snow in the birdbath for me."

"Yes Mother."

He raised up his hand and pointed at the snow within the birdbath. A ray of light flew from his fingers and focused itself onto the center of the mound of snow that had built up within the bronze basin.

In less than a minute, the snow had melted into water and settled at the bottom of the birdbath.

"We need more water." Sibyl determined.

"Let me help." Talia used both hands, scooping up the clean virgin snow that had piled up near the birdbath.

She went back and forth a couple of times, filling the basin with more snow as Tarot continued melting it with his magic. By the time Sibyl was satisfied with the amount of water that had accumulated, Talia had gotten warm from the physical exertion.

Once the birdbath was adequately filled with water, Sibyl held out her hands.

"Come, my children." She reached out and gathered both Tarot and Talia.

"As you can see," Sibyl pointed to the sky. "The moon is mostly full."

They all looked up into the sky and saw a moon that had been partially obscured by the low-lying clouds that had begun to gather on the horizon.

"Unfortunately, that does not help us much because storm clouds are starting to gather from the distance."

Talia and Tarot looked towards the horizon and shivered as the chill in the air intensified. Another winter's storm would descend on them soon.

"We are called seers because we use what is known as scrying to do our divination. It is not the only method of divination, but when combined with other methods, it helps corroborate information that is given to us."

"Scrying involves staring into a reflected surface. When we use water, it is called hydromancy. We do most of our seeing at night because sunlight is too strong and causes the visions to be too washed out."

"Now," she held out a hand. "There are ways to be able to scry during the daytime, but it is simply easier to see the reflections at night."

"In order to 'see' at night, we need adequate light. That light source must be more reliable than the moon, which is not only simply reflected light from the sun but also notorious for being unavailable when you need it to shine."

"Tarot." She pointed to a shepherd's hook stuck into the ground on the far side of the courtyard. "Bring that hook over here and place it next to the birdbath."

Tarot went and, after much yanking and pulling at the shepherd's hook to work the staff out of the ground, he brought it back to Sibyl.

"Where do you need this, Mother?"

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"Right here, Son." She pointed to the area in front of her.

Tarot began shoving and pushing on the staff to impale it into the ground but the soil was frozen solid.

He stopped and blew a puff of air, dislodging the long hair that had fallen over his eyes.

"I need to melt the ground a bit so I can get the staff in, Mother."

"There is no need. Save your energy, Son." She pointed to the ground next to her. "Stand here and hold the shepherd's hook upright."

Then Sibyl turned back to her daughter.

"See this, Talia?" She took a garden lantern and placed its handle on the shepherd's hook. Then she lit the lantern using a touch of her finger.

"If we place a lantern above a shallow basin of water, that will adequately mimic the light from the moon shining from above."

"Let me warm the water up a bit." Sibyl chuckled. "The surface is starting to freeze over because it's so cold out here."

She reached into the birdbath with a finger and warmed up the water slightly, melting the thin film of ice that had begun to form.

"Talia. Look into the basin." Sibyl based.

Talia looked down into the basin and saw the light from the lantern reflecting nicely inside the stilled water of the basin.

"Now. I need for you to cast everything from your mind. Calm your thoughts and make your mind as blank as possible."

Talia took a deep breath and began concentrating on her mother's soft gentle voice.

"Good girl." Sibyl gave an encouraging nod and began to gently stir the surface of the water with a wand that had been hanging from a chain at her waist.

"Continue to focus on the surface of the water and the reflections you see from the lantern. Do not think about anything. Let the visions come to you."

Talia stared into the water, not sure what it was she was supposed to be seeing.

The lantern's light had become distorted with her mother's disturbance of the surface, causing all sorts of strange shapes to appear.

"What do you see?" Sibyl asked gently.

Talia shook her head. "All I see are twisted light reflections from the lantern."

"You are looking too hard, Child. Do not strain your eyes to see anything. Relax and let it come to you."

Talia continued to stare at the reflections, trying to make some sense in what she saw but seeing nothing more than warped reflections.

"I still don't see anything." Talia closed her eyes and heaved a sigh.

"Keep trying." Sibyl encouraged. "Remember, you are a witch and this is second nature to you."

"Second nature?" Talia shook her head. This did not seem like second nature. It seemed so foreign to her.

"Yes Child. It is like learning how to walk. If you are a normal human child with two healthy legs, you will be able to walk because you were designed to walk on two legs."

Sibyl indicated at the water.

"Again."

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