30 Day Image Prompt Competition - August

Day 16 Prompt 2 - Kadir

Jenna slipped down the steps into the alleyway that lead into the lower part of Tynan. Staying close to the walls of the buildings lining they alley she hurried along, casting fearful glances over her shoulder at regular intervals. She was wrong to leave the abbey but did not feel safe there after having seen the men talking to the abbess. For the moment, there was only one place she felt safe and it was there she was heading.

The oak door, with its intricate and mysterious carvings, opened with ease beneath her hand. The metal hinges uttered no sound as she opened the door wide enough to permit her entry into the small cottage. Closing the door behind her, she inhaled deeply of the familiar odour of herbs and spices that greeted her as she stepped into the main room. Her clear blue eyes scanned the room, passing over the benches laden with ancient volumes, the scrolls rolled up and secured with red ribbon and piled haphazardly on chairs. She looked for the familiar glimpse of silver hair falling down around a wise old head studying some text or other.

“Tarot?” she called out, her voice sounding unnaturally loud in the silence of the room. “Tarot? Are you here?” She stepped further into the room, her shoulders slumping as she realised her old friend did not appear to be in residence. A glance to the wall by the door revealed that his cloak and staff were missing.

“Trust you to be out when I am in need of your counsel,” she muttered to herself as she wandered over to his desk. Tarot was the one person who understood her and did not belittle or fear the magic she possessed. In fact, it had been he who had offered to teach her how to control and use this unexpected gift she had been born with. She had spent many an hour in his company, practising spells and learning more about her gift.

Of course, her visits had all but ceased when her father had sent her to the abbey to control her ‘wickedness’ as he called it. Maidens in training were not allowed to leave the abbey until after they had made their final pledges and had their vows blessed by the priest. However, Jenna was not one to allow confinement to stop her from doing what she wanted to do and had soon found a way out of the abbey to visit Tarot.

Today, though, she had used her escape route not for her normal meetings but to seek his counsel over the men who had called at the abbey and the sense of foreboding she had had when she had observed them talking to the abbess. For the first time, she was grateful of the abbey’s strict rules concerning those in training and the restrictions placed upon the trainees lives.

She prowled around the room, her finger tracing over the spine of a book lying on a shelf, turning a page on an open volume or studying a complicated chart of the stars. Tarot held such information in his small home and always seemed to know where to find the answer to any problem she had but he wasn’t here to help her on this one.

She stopped by the strange vessel on the corner of his desk. She had seen in many times before, usually on a shelf out of the way, and had often wondered what it was. A long spout emerged from a wide but not deep body with a long, narrow handle that curved out from the body, arching upwards before ending in a chain attached to a pinnacle on top of the body of the object. It stood on a wide base that narrowed as it reached its underneath.

In the flickering light, from the lanterns by the desk, it appeared to be made of gold and covered with strange etchings and a flowing script that she had never seen before and could not decipher. She wondered why she was puzzled by an object she had seen so many times before when she saw the small flame burning at its spout, something she was certain had never been there before.

Her fingers brushed the side of the jug, intending to pick it up to examine more closely, when the flame suddenly belched upwards becoming more of a fire than a flame. Had she been holding the jug then she would have dropped it for certain, as it was she stepped back from the fire and stared into it.

She felt the blood rush from her head as her eyes widened at the image taking shape before her. She was either going mad or there was an image of a man floating above the rushing flames. What sorcery was this, she wondered as she glanced around the room in search of something to douse the fire with.

“Do not be alarmed, my lady?” A voice spoke out from the apparition before her. “I merely sensed your magic and thought to see for myself the lady with such power. My name is Kadir and I am the spiritual advisor to Lord Tarot.”

“Lord Tarot?” she whispered, feeling as though she had stepped into an alternative world for the Tarot she knew was not a lord or any titled person, just an old sorcerer.

If an apparition could chuckle, this one did so, revealing eyes that crinkled at the corners of a face weathered by time. He looked to be of a similar age to Tarot although it was hard for Jenna to be certain as the image came and went as it danced above the flames. She could make out a face, neck and shoulders but that was all.

“He has not shared his true identity with you? Interesting but I shall leave it for him to tell you the story.” The face became serious as black eyes studied her closely. “You come to seek Tarot’s counsel?”

“Yes, how did you know?” She wondered whether this vision could read her mind and prayed that he could not when she thought of the acts of mischief she had carried out over the years, especially whilst staying at the abbey.

“I sensed your confusion when you entered the room,” Kadir replied before a guilty smile tugged at his lips. “I also heard you say it when you entered.”

“Oh,” she muttered, relief flooding through her for a moment.

“Whatever causes this confusion and anxiety, it troubles you greatly, and I would be honoured if you would accept my counsel in Tarot’s absence.”

“Thank you, but I do not know you. I know Tarot.” She glanced around the room and then back at the vision. “Or I thought I did.”

“Tarot is still the Tarot you know, he just possesses secrets he is reluctant to share. I can tell you that we share the same beliefs and that he seeks my counsel on matters just as you seek his. Please, trust me with your worries rather than allow them to eat away at your soul.”

Jenna stared at the vision who called himself Kadir. She had never heard Tarot speak of him before but that was not unusual for Tarot did not share much of his past life with her. He gave her snippets when he thought it useful but that was all.

“I have seen some men in the town, soldiers I think. They have been asking questions of me to the people. Today, they came to the abbey and I know they were trying to get the abbess to allow them access to me.”

“The abbess did not allow them entry?”

Jenna shook her head, her red hair flowing around her shoulders now that it was free of the cumbersome headdress. “No. We are only allowed visitors on the Day of Services until we take our final pledges.”

“You do not appreciate the attentions of these men? They could be seeking to offer for your hand.”

“I am not such an innocent that I do not know when a man makes enquiries about making a woman his bride to be. However, I do not think that their enquiries were of that nature. Besides,” she paused wondering whether or not to admit what she had sensed about the men.

“Besides what?” Kadir prompted.

“I sensed evil around them. Dark and insidious, like a black fog around their souls.” She stopped, amazed at her description of the feeling of unease she had had whenever she had seen the men.

“You think these men wish you harm?” At her nod Kadir continued, his voice no longer light and amusing but all seriousness now. “You are correct. These men do wish you harm.”

Jenna paled at his words. She stumbled backwards, away from Kadir towards the door. “I must leave and return to father and his protection.”

“No, Jenna. Your father cannot protect you in this,” Kadir’s harsh voice made her turn back towards him, her face so pale in the flickering flames. “Your father and his armies would be powerless against these men if they tried to stop them. You need a greater power to keep you safe.”

“And where do I find that? My own magic is minor, Tarot told me this himself. He said I possessed little more than mischief magic.” She could feel the cold fingers of fear brushing over her spine, chilling her to the very core of her being. She was not a woman who was easily feared but there was something in Kadir’s tone that scared her when he talked of her pursuers.

“Another group will come to Tynan and will seek you out on the Day of Services. Their leader is a fierce some warrior, a man whose name is uttered with both fear and respect. You will be reluctant to trust him for there is a darkness about him more terrifying than that of your pursuers. He will protect you from the darkness as you will lead him to the light.”

Who was saving who, Jenna wondered as she pondered over Kadir’s strange words. “How will I know my saviour?”

“Your saviour, your tormentor, your future. He will lift you to the very heights and plunge you to the deepest depths. He will fight you all the way to the end where you will both save each other.” The image started to fade as the flames began to die down. “Look for the man with the fire in his eyes and you will have found him.”

Jenna stared at the empty space where Kadir had been hovering moments earlier. Had it all been real? she thought to herself as her body started to calm. Look for the man with fire in his eyes? What was that about? The thought, so fresh in her mind, was replaced by the face of a man, his features harsh as though honed by years of conflict, with piercing eyes of amber fire that flickered with a lazy fire as they met hers. Within those fiery depths she could see the darkness Kadir mentioned yet she did not fear it as much as she did the men seeking her out.

If this was her rescuer, as Kadir had predicted, then she would need to keep herself safe until the Day of Services tomorrow. Whilst not ideal, the only safe place was back at the abbey, for she knew that no warrior would dare breach the doors to a holy place. She stiffened her spine in readiness for what was coming. Whatever the gods had predicted for her, she was going to be ready for it, she vowed as she once more slipped out of Tarot’s home and headed back towards the abbey.