The Emperor

476 77 271
                                    

The querent set a small bag on the table. I sighed in affectionate frustration. "You don't have to keep doing this," I chided. "You've done enough."

He started pulling the bag back. "Then do you not want the gift for little Meadow...ugh...I still can't believe you named her Meadow."

I took the bag from him and tried to resist peeking in it. "Hey! What's wrong with the name Meadow?"

"It's a fine name―Meadow Destiny isn't," he teased.

I ignored the insult to my daughter's beautiful name. "You can give your daughter any name you want when you an Ashley get married," I told him. "Amy or Elizabeth or..."

"I like your name."

I felt my face heat up. I had known him for four years and we now met on a monthly basis―but he never used my first name.

"I don't think Ashley would like that," I mumbled.

"You don't?" He gave me an intense look―his dark eyes were such a mysterious vortex. "Why don't you draw my cards?"

While shuffling, I offhandedly mentioned a coworker had abruptly quit and the wannabe police detective tried to 'solve the disappearance.'

The querent was the type of person who couldn't abide a mystery. That was why his vision haunted him. Answers were his addiction―and he couldn't get his fix.

"I don't need the cards." I smiled wearily. "I know Alicia. So did you and Ashley find a bigger place?"

"I like my apartment." He shrugged. "How about you and Meadow?"

"We're fine staying with my mother."

"The mother who judges you for dropping out of high school and becoming a New Age nymph?"

"'New Age Nymph'?" I resisted the urge to fling the cards at the querent. "Yes, it's fine with my mom. She loves Meadow. So did Ashley forgive you for taking her to Hannibal for Valentine's Day?"

"What?" He held up his hands. "I thought it was a great movie. You are just sour you couldn't go see it. Maybe you could if that Tony would spend a day with his own daughter."

"He's visited," I said defensively.

"How many times?"

"Christ! Give it a rest. You're not a detective yet and this is not an interrogation." I exhaled. "This is my business. I don't tell you how to live your life."

"Yes, you do!" he objected. "I pay you for that information."

Once again, this man made me laugh. I had no idea how he could be so annoying and still coax joy from me.

"All right." I pushed my long, straight hair back so I could see the cards. "Let's see your past."

I flipped the card and froze. It was the Two of Cups―reversed.

"Did something happen with Ashley?"

"What do you see?"

"Do you see the man and woman exchanging the cups?" I pointed at the card. "It symbolizes deep love and commitment. But this is reversed. This union is not happy. You are fighting with your partner. Your relationship is on the way down."

I looked up at him and saw that he wasn't meeting my eyes.

"I warned you about Hannibal," I joked weakly.

He looked up at the ceiling. "Ashley...she never makes things easy. She doesn't like that I work so late. She doesn't like when I don't spend all of my time with her..."

"Maybe she doesn't like that you meet with me and share things with me?" I interjected. "Things that you won't tell her?"

He placed his hands on the table. "She would never understand. She thinks psychics are a bunch of bullshit."

"And your vision...you are afraid that she'll think the same thing about it?"

"She won't believe me," he said flatly. "I tried to tell her―she thought I was talking about a nightmare. She didn't want to listen. The most I got from her is that I should pray or see a psychiatrist so I can get past it."

I fiddled with my bracelet. "She's not wrong..."

"But I do come to you―that should be enough."

My body stiffened. "I think we both know that might be part of the problem. The Two of Cups doesn't necessarily mean that you relationship is over. You've had these problems in the past, but now you can get past them."

"Does that mean you want me to stay away?"

"I'd never refuse a customer―but I don't know if I'm helping you."

"You are," he insisted. "You made me realize how important it is to fight this future. That's why I turned to the law. I can be more prepared for anything that is coming...and maybe do some good along the way. I'll never know if you have any real supernatural insight, but I know that you've helped me."

"Then you are going to have to explain that to Ashley," I said softly. "If...if you want to save the relationship."

A look came over his face that reminded me of when we first met. "Why should I bother saving a relationship that has no future?"

My heart sank. I thought that he was getting better.

But nothing had changed.

I forced myself to appear more professional. "Present," I said sternly, revealing the card.

"So I'm now going to be a badass king?"

"The Emperor," I said evenly, not willing to joke this time. "This is a very strong card. You will face challenges and succeed. You have the strength to achieve your goals. You are very strategic."

He nodded. "That sounds like me. Should I grow a beard like the Emperor?"

I refused to fall into a pattern of banter. "The beard indicates wisdom."

"So you think I'm wise?"

"This card can mean that someone will assist you right now while you need them." I sighed. "You shouldn't ignore the people that want to help you."

"Is that all that you see? Usually you babble more."

"I think it's enough."

Of course I wasn't telling him everything―and he seemed to know. "You might as well tell me―I am paying."

"This card could mean that someone is romantically interested in you," I said woodenly. "They're the type to carefully consider the consequences of a relationship. They may not want to damage their existing relationship with you. But this person...they won't make a move while you are in a relationship―they don't play games."

"That's a lot for a guy just sitting on a chair looking like king of the world."

I tried to keep my foot from shaking. "That's what you wanted to know―that's how it is," I said. "You can do what you want with the reading. But my advice is to make things better with Ashley."

We were both quiet. I wished I had kept my mouth shut. I owed him the truth―but it didn't do us any good.

"Ashley and I are on a sort of break," he finally admitted.

I looked at the Two of Cups. "You should still try," I said. "Some things aren't worth throwing away."

"I don't think we're right for each other," he said firmly.

The future card still hadn't been revealed. "I think there's a reason that you feel that way―and it's the reason that directs everything you do in life."

He flipped the card before I could do it. This time I couldn't look at the Hanged Man.

"No matter what I do, that's my future," he said. "There may be no fighting it. I'll keep fighting it. But is it fair to put someone through that kind of hurt?"

I still couldn't look at it. "That's for them to decide―you can't control everything."

The Emperor captured my attention and I realized that he would never accept that he couldn't control his fate.

The Last CardWhere stories live. Discover now