Dennis McKiernan - Once upon a dreadful time

And right behind came Raseri and Rondalo, and even as the Dragon took in a breath to burn wizard and witch to cinders, and Rondalo drew to the full for a shot that could not miss, Orbane twisted about and gestured at the Drake and shouted arcane words, and a roaring, whirling, ebon wind enveloped Elf and Dragon alike and bore them off through the Black Wall of the World and into the Great Darkness beyond.

Lisane bolted upright in her bed.

What wakened me?

She peered out through the window of her chamber. Beyond willow branches dangling down and gently swaying in the breeze, she could see Thale cropping grass, his lustrous horn gleaming in the early morning light.

Lisane slipped out from under the covers and padded to her small kitchen, where she set a kettle on to boil above the tiny hearth fire.

Something dreadful is afoot, I can feel it. I must see what I can see. First I’ll lay out the square-four and four-for it is the most stable of all, and speaks of the here and now.

She opened a small cedarwood box, and removed a taroc deck wrapped in blue silk cloth. She spread the silk upon the oaken plank that served as her table, then took up the taroc deck and began to shuffle, all the while concentrating upon the question as to what the day might bring. She dealt out cards, sixteen in all, four across and four down, their faces hidden. Then one by one she began turning them up: first the upper left corner, the Hierophant droit ; then the upper right, the Naif, also droit; then the lower right, the Lovers, this card, too, facing her; and finally, still moving deasil, the lower left, the Sun, droit.

Oh, my, four of the major arcana, and all upright, all facing me, all droit. The Hierophant: at times she represents me.

The Naif: perhaps someone I know, or perhaps not. Lovers: two paths; a time for choice, the outcome of which is vital. Too, it could mean- Ah, but wait, the Sun: happiness, joy. This is an odd configuration. Let me see the other cards.

Swiftly Lisane turned the remaining cards over.

Oh, Mithras, so many swords. Conflict. And yet-

In that moment the kettle began to whistle, and Lisane stepped to the fire and took the vessel from the hook and poured steaming water over the waiting leaves in the teapot.

When she returned to the table and looked at the layout, of a sudden she said, “I see. I am to get visitors today, on an urgent mission and peril follows. Oh, my, what’s this? One of them will steal the heart of the Hierophant. Is it my heart the arrangement speaks of?”

Lisane shook her head to try to clear it of these fey thoughts.

Perhaps I’d better try the wheel.

She took up the cards and once again began to shuffle, this time concentrating upon seeking events to come near and afar.

Cutting the deck thrice, she began laying out a pattern upon the blue silk. When she was done, a great circular array of cards lay, rings within rings, concentric, the cards facing oppose , away from the center; or inward, droit, toward.

Once again there are so many swords, so very many swords, here about the center. It could mean great conflict, and even combat, fighting, bloodshed. It can also mean confrontation, a great physical effort, a testing of wit, any number of things: conflicts of the heart and mind and body and spirit and soul; conflicts from within and without.

Long did Lisane study the pattern. Finally she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, then circled her left hand widdershins above the wheel of cards, followed by her right hand, circling deasil. She then opened her eyes and said, “This is what I see.” And, to increase her focus, she began speaking aloud the meanings of the cards and their relation to one another, and as she spoke, she touched each card: her right hand for those upright, droit -facing inward-and her left hand for those reversed, oppose, inverse-facing out.

“Here nigh the beginning sits the Tower, reversed. I can but think the card bespeaks of the inevitable breakdown of present circumstance. But flanking are the upright three of swords on one side and the upright four of swords on the other. Taken together they mean separation, isolation, and disaster. Immediately at hand is the three of cups, oppose, signalling a reversal of circumstance, and what was good now causes pain. It is directly followed by the nine of swords, and droit it means despair, anxiety, misery. This is either what has been or signifies what is happening now.

“Here is the two of cups upright, flanked by the Hierophant and the Naif; it indicates harmony between two souls.” Liaze frowned and thought of the previous four-by-four spread. “Does this represent me and someone I’ve yet to meet? Its position in the layout might signify that.”

Finally, Lisane shrugged. “I cannot say, yet these cards flanking, this one droit, the six of cups, signifies friends, while in this ring the three of cups reversed speaks of a test or tests, the double-edged nature of intuition, and since it is oppose, my intuition, or mayhap my first thought, may be wrong.” And on Lisane spoke aloud, touching cards, explaining unto herself, as she moved ’round the layout, coming ever closer to the center. “Here are the four Chevaliers-of cups, wands, pentacles, and of swords-and they all are arrayed against the Magician, and he is at the center of things. Oh my, we have Justice inverse, as is the Wheel of Fortune: together they seem to spell doom.” Lisane paused, her brow furrowing. “This trouble seems centered on the Magician, and the nearby Priestess, who, in this pattern, appears to be but an acolyte of the Mage.

“But in opposition are the four knights. -Oh, and here we see the Hermit, who is flanked by the threes of wands and pentacles. Three Hermits also aiding? Whatever might that mean?

It is a strange configuration. Yet there is something familiar about this spread, and it spells great disaster. Where and when did I last see-?”

Of a sudden, Lisane gasped. “Ah, I remember: it was when Orbane and his armies marched across Faery. Although this arrangement is not the same, there is a great likeness. Can it be that Orbane is somehow involved with whatever jolted me awake?”

Lisane frowned. “But he is imprisoned and cannot get free, and so I think this must be a spurious reading. Perhaps I’d better try again.” She reached toward the layout to take up the cards, but hesitated. “What if it’s not spurious? Perhaps I’d better continue.” Again she began touching each card. “If Orbane somehow again threatens Faery, there seems to be hope, given the Chariot as well as the Star. Yet by their positions, it is such a slim hope.”

On she spoke, reading the wheels-the rings within rings within rings-but at last she reached the center of the circles.

Even so, she was not finished, for four cards were yet to come.

Lisane looked at the remainder of the deck, the cards not yet dealt, and said, “Now for the four primes, first the two which speak of things to be nigh the end.

“Cardinal premier ,” said Lisane, and she turned up a card and laid it directly before her, just below the wheel; the card pointed toward the center. Even so, she sucked in air between clenched teeth, saying, “Devil, upright: a terrible omen, for it means ravage, violence, vehemence. It could be a dweller without, someone not permitted within.” Lisane glanced at the Magician in the center of the array. “Can it be Orbane?” Lisane took a deep breath and dealt the second card. “Cardinal deux ,” and this time she laid it directly opposite and just above the wheel. “Death, reversed. This can mean death just escaped, partial change, or transformation. Even so, it can also suggest great destruction as well, and coupled with the Devil upright, I deem it signals a disaster none can avoid.” Lisane turned up another card and placed it just outside the left of the wheel. “Cardinal trois , Judgment, droit. Follow guidance to forge ahead. Yet, with the array laid out as it is, the guidance is most obscure. And here it is adjacent to the Naif, which would indicate one must think wisely and make the right choice. Ah, me, I wonder whether the destruction can be avoided if the choice is wrong and the guidance remains unresolved.”