Chapter 7

Persimmon sat at one of the long trestle tables in the great hall with Stone and his friend. She was too nervous around Stone to eat, and held her goblet of wine with two hands. She had never had the attention of a handsome man before. She wasn't even used to being so close to one and this was pleasing.

"Here you go, Fang." Stone bent over and gave a good part of his food to the dog. Fang sat under the table at his feet, begging.

"I asked one of the servants to bring a bone for your dog as well," she told him.

"Thank you." Stone picked up his goblet, taking a drink and looking at her with those intense grey eyes over the rim of his cup. His friend, Aithrod didn't even look up as he hungrily devoured his food.

"I'd like to know more about the—the portal," she said, whispering the last word, not wanting to upset anyone since Zann warned her not to talk about it. She lifted her goblet and drank as well, staring right back at him. Something about his gaze seemed to make her heart race faster as well as her body to heat up at the same time. It didn't make sense at all.

"We don't know anything about the portal," said Aithrod, picking up a baked chicken leg and taking a big bite.

"That's right," Stone said, slowly putting down his goblet. "We saw a portal and walked through it and ended up here in Mura. That's about it."

"And you're looking for a thief," she added.

"Actually, three thieves now. Two from my land, and the one from yours," he continued.

"You mean my father." She picked up the goblet and drank again.

"Yes. Rancor Ruse, we believe has another man with him from Taelgonoth. We need to find them and the king's jewels and bring the thieves back to King Helix so they can be properly punished."

"What about my father?" she asked. "Do you plan to bring him back to your king to be punished or executed as well?"

"I'm…not sure." Stone popped a piece of cooked carrot into his mouth and chewed. "Elric is a thief and cannot get away with taking the king's jewels. I won't allow it."

"How could he have gone through a portal to steal them? That is absurd to even think that."

"Elric said he found the gems in the cave, but we don't believe him," Aithrod told her between bites.

"Yes, he did tell us that," said Stone. "Then again, he also claimed the cave was his, so what does that tell you?"

"I don't know," she answered. "What does it tell you?"

"It tells me that he is either a liar, or if he really did find the stones in the cave, that means Rancor dropped them which is highly unlikely."

"Mayhap Rancor dropped them when he was trying to fend off those pesky gnomes." Aithrod bit into a crunchy apple.

"I suppose that could be true," said Stone. "Or another possibility is that your father stole them from Rancor when he came through the portal and zipped away before anyone could stop him. We've all seen how fast he can move."

"Yes, he does move fast," Persimmon agreed. She wanted to defend her father, but she honestly didn't trust him any more than Stone did, so she said nothing.

"Here is the bone for the dog," said a servant boy holding it out to Persimmon.

"Thank you." Stone snatched it up and gave it to the dog under the table. Fang laid down, holding the bone between his paws and eagerly gnawing at it.

"Persimmon, come quickly." Lira ran up to the table. "The old couple cannot be healed. It looks as if they will die. We need you."

"Oh, no," said Persimmon, getting to her feet. "Lira, what can I do? I can't heal. You know that."

"I do. But you have your crystal ball. Mayhap you can look into it and tell us what needs to be done."

"What?" Her heart lodged in her throat. They were counting on her to help them, thinking she could really scry. Oh, why hadn't she corrected the misunderstanding when it first happened? It was going to be so hard to do so now when they were all counting on her. "Nay, Lira. I don't think so." How could she admit to the others that she had never seen anything in the gazing orb besides quick flashes of swirling colors? Her new friends wouldn't trust her if they knew. And her father would only hate her even more. Oh, what a mess she was in.

"Don't be silly. Of course, she'll do it." Stone pushed away his plate and stood. "Aithrod, watch over Fang. I'm going, too." He took Persimmon by the arm and started walking.

"No, wait," she tried to protest, but Stone didn't let her back out. He was holding her arm tightly and she had no choice but to go along with them.

"The solar is just through here." Lira led the way.

"I told you, I cannot help." Persimmon didn't like this. She tried to squirm out of Stone's hold, but he wouldn't let her loose.

"Cannot or will not?" asked Stone as they continued to walk. "It seems to me you have powers that could be helpful but for some reason are not inclined to use them on those who need them. You are being selfish. Much like your father."

"Nay, I'm not. You don't understand. It's not true!"

"Then prove it," he challenged her as they reached the solar door. "Use your gazing crystal to see what these fae folk can do to ensure that this elderly couple will not die."

"It isn't as easy as you think," she protested as Stone opened the door and gently pushed her into the room.

Persimmon stopped in her tracks when she entered the room to find both the old man and old woman standing at the foot of the bed dressed all in white. That would have been a miraculous recovery if they were well enough to stand. However, it wasn't so. She realized that as soon as she saw the old couple peering down at themselves on the bed. It was happening again, even if she didn't want it to. She was seeing ghosts, or spirits. This is something that started happening to her and it frightened her to no end. She didn't want to see ghosts. She usually closed her eyes and told them to leave, but she couldn't do that right now.

One of the main reasons she left Lornoon in the first place was because she kept seeing the ghost of her dead mother and it scared her out of her wits. She thought if she'd come here to find her father, the ghostly apparition would stay in Lornoon. Now it looked like other ghosts had found her here.

"What's the matter?" asked Stone. "You look like you're about to faint."

"I…I…nothing." She looked away from the ghosts, not wanting to see them, willing the images to fade from her sight.

"Sister, please. Help us," begged Lira. "We no longer know what to do. Even with Alaina's ministrations and also Talia's, I fear it might be too late for these poor people."

Persimmon looked over at the bed to see that Darium's wife Talia had arrived as well. Darium stood in the shadows, silently watching.

"Go on. Get your gazing orb out." Stone tapped the pouch at her side.

Not knowing what to do, Persimmon slowly reached for her gazing orb, sliding it out of her pouch. Nervously, she once more glanced up at the ghosts that only she could see.

We are near dead. This came from the ghost of the man. He spoke to her in her mind and Persimmon still couldn't accept that she was really hearing him.

Tell her about the men who did this to us, said his wife. Tell her so they can catch them.

"Persimmon? What are you waiting for?" Stone dragged her from her thoughts.

"Huh?" Her head snapped around to see him staring down at her.

"What's wrong? You look so pale and frightened. Almost as if you've seen a ghost," he continued.

"Nay! Why would you even say that?" Her gaze flitted back over to the old couple again. Their images were fading in and out.

There were two men, said the old woman. They both had dark hair and beards.

They accused us of stealing some of their stones, but we don't know why they said that, added the man. When we said we didn't have them or even know what they were talking about, they robbed us and tried to kill us.

They weren't from Mura. They looked different, said the woman. I am sure I've never seen them here before.

"Sister, are you coming?" Lira called to her from the bedside. "Please, hurry. It's important. Their lives depend on it."

"The herbs didn't work." Alaina hovered over the couple, feeling for pulses.

"They lost too much blood," said Talia. "I'm afraid they're going to die."

"Yes," said Persimmon, pretending to look into her crystal ball. "They are. There is nothing we can do to save them. I'm sorry." She quickly replaced the gazing ball in the bag.

Fast, ask her, the old woman said to her husband.

We want the Sin Eater to tend to us once we pass away, said the old man. We don't want to go to The Dark Abyss since we never had time to confess our sins.

"I wish we could do something for them," said Alaina. "I tried everything, but it isn't working."

"What about the Elemental, Portia-Maer? The one with the healing kiss." Darium stepped forward, looking down at the couple and shaking his head. "Couldn't she help them?"

"Yes, she probably could," said Alaina. "However, it is not right to ask my friend to use her healing powers every time someone is dying. If so, no one would ever die, and that would be a problem. It is part of the cycle of nature to die. Mayhap it is this couple's destiny to go this way."

"I no longer believe we have destinies, but that we make our own," said Darium with a shake of his head. "But I suppose I understand what you are saying. Well, there is nothing more any of us can do then. I will take care of burying their bodies as soon as they cross over."

Ask him! Quickly, said the man, looking directly at Persimmon.

"I don't understand what you mean," she whispered to the ghost man, but Stone heard her.

"Who are you talking to?" he asked, looking around. "And what don't you understand?"

"I will make the proper preparations and notify the gravedigger." Darium started for the door.

"Sin Eater," she repeated the words aloud, still puzzled by what they meant. Darium stopped in his tracks. His head slowly turned and his blue eyes fixated on her.

"What did you say?" he asked in a deep voice, making her feel as if she'd somehow said something wrong.

Go on. Ask him. He's the one. The old couple huddled together, looking so lost and forlorn. She had to try to help them somehow even if she wasn't able to save their lives.

"They'll need a sin eater," she said, dropping her gaze to the ground and swallowing deeply.

"What the hell is a Sin Eater?" asked Stone, seeming amused by the words.

"I—I'm not sure," she whispered, staring at the floor now and wringing her hands together.

"I am a Sin Eater." Darium turned and scrutinized Stone now. "Or, should I say I used to be."

"Oh." Stone's smiled disappeared. "So, it is a real thing then?"

"My husband doesn't sin eat anymore, I'm sorry." Talia hurried over to join them.

Please. Don't let us go to The Dark Abyss, begged the old woman, but, of course, Persimmon was the only one who could hear or see the ghosts.

"He has to," said Persimmon. "If not, the couple might go to The Great Abyss?" She wasn't sure what any of this meant. They didn't speak this way on Lornoon. She just repeated the message, hoping someone would understand.

"The Great Abyss? What is that?" asked Stone.

"It's a place that no one ever wants to go. And that means me, too," answered Darium.

"I don't understand," said Persimmon. "What does this all mean?"

"My husband used to be a Sin Eater, taking on the sins of others at death," explained Talia. "However, by doing this, in exchange, it condemned him to spend eternity in The Dark Abyss instead."

"The Dark Abyss is what some people call Hell," explained Darium, seeing that she and Stone didn't understand.

"He eats…sins?" Stone ran a hand through his long hair, looking like he couldn't believe it.

"Yes. Food and drink is placed atop the chests of the dead who died before they were able to confess their sins," Darium explained. "I absorb their sins by eating and drinking the items from their bodies."

"I have never heard anything so absurd," said Stone. "You are not really going to do it?"

"Is that what you saw in the crystal orb?" asked Darium. "Is that what I'm to do?"

"Well I…yes, it is." Persimmon answered, not wanting the old couple to go to such a dark place for all eternity. She also didn't want to explain about her lack of power with the crystal orb or the fact she could see ghosts. She wasn't sure how others would view her if they knew the truth.

"But you weren't even looking into the gazing orb when you told us that," said Stone softly, but thankfully no one else heard him.

"Even if that is what the prophetess saw, you shouldn't do it, Darium," warned Talia. "Please, don't risk it again."

"Remember, I make my own destiny now, Talia." Darium told his wife. "Besides, I was given a healing kiss by the Elemental of the Air, Portia-Maer. She said, even if I did sin eat from now on it would be my choice. She told me I won't take on the darkness of others anymore, either way."

"There is no one here that knows this couple to mourn them or to ask you to sin eat for them," Talia pointed out. "I don't see the purpose in it."

"That's true," agreed Lira. "You usually do it to help the living of the deceased find solace. This couple have no one that we know of. It's not necessary."

We have a son, said the man.

His name is Gregor, added the woman. Gregor Lithum. He needs to know. Please find him and tell him what happened.

Persimmon quickly pulled the orb back out and held it in two hands before she spoke. "They have a son and they want us to find him," she told the others, seeing the sadness on the couple's faces.

"Really. What else do you see in the gazing crystal?" asked Stone, sounding suspicious of her. "And why aren't you even looking at it?"

Persimmon closed her eyes and released a deep breath. "It is important to the elderly couple that their son comes to them now."

"Ask the gazing orb where we can find their son," said Darium.

The woman answered, having heard the question. Our son resides at Macada Castle.

Gregor works for King Sethor, although we don't agree with it. We haven't spoken with him for years, added the man.

"I know his name and where to find him." Persimmon quickly put away her gazing ball once more before Stone could point out again to everyone that she wasn't even looking into it.

"Great," said Darium. "So tell me, and I will go and fetch him. Where can I find their son?"

"His name is Gregor Lithum and he resides at Macada Castle," she told the others.

"Oh, crap," Darium said under his breath. "Anywhere but there."

"What's the matter?" asked Stone.

"That is where the evil King Sethor resides. He is the enemy of all the magical beings of Mura," Darium explained.

"You can't go there, Darium. Please," begged his wife, trying to stop him.

"It seems important to this dying couple. We must do it. For their sakes. It will be fine," Darium told his wife, giving her a hug.

"It sounds like the exact place where a thief would hide." Stone nodded and rubbed his chin in thought. "Yes, it is. I will go with you to Macada Castle, Darium, because I am tracking two men from Taelgonoth that I believe could be hiding there. And I am sure Aithrod will want to join us, too."

You need to go as well, the old woman told Persimmon, but Persimmon pretended not to hear her.

They might not be able to find Gregor. We can guide you to him, said the man.

Please. He is all we have left in this world. The woman clung to her husband, looking as if she were about to cry.

"I guess I'll go, too," Persimmon blurted out before she could change her mind.

"Sister, nay. It is too dangerous," warned Lira. "Stay here at Kasculbough where you'll be safe."

Persimmon struggled with her decision, but realized both Darium and Stone were doing what they believed was for the best. She had done nothing to help save this couple's lives, but mayhap she could help bring about justice for their senseless deaths if they perished.

"It is my decision, and I want to go, too," said Persimmon with conviction.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Darium led the way out the door. "I will take Murk with us and send him back with word on what is transpiring. He'll let the rest of you know if we should happen to encounter trouble."

"Persimmon? Are you ready?" Stone's hand was on her arm again. She flashed him a smile and headed out the door, hoping that after this she would never have to see a ghost or a spirit or be asked to scry using her crystal ball ever again.