Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic #1) - Rin Chupeco Page 0,115
it’s good luck to have eyes like mine.”
“And you’re not worried?” Tala asked. “That you might wind up marrying a corpse, anyway?”
“Way I figure it, I’ll have better chances making my own way out here than back there. They all mean well, but in the end, it’s my decision to make. And why should I be limited to anyone in the village? Why marry at all if I don’t want to?”
“Is a doom all that important?”
“It’s not uncommon among the nobility,” Zoe said. “Mainly because a lot of seeresses charge an arm and a leg for those readings, and they’re the only ones who could afford the price.”
“What would they do with an arm and a leg? Why not two arms, or both legs?”
“Loki. Figure of speech.”
“One of my ancestresses did lose a hand over it,” West said, shuddering.
“Not everyone has a doom, though, but for those with exceptional, or even infamous, predictions, a certain privilege comes with it. The right kind of doom can open doors for an average commoner. Sometimes it leads all the way to the crown, like morganatic marriages. Aladdin did it, and the Maiden Bay-tree, and Ye Xian of the Glass Slipper.”
“The first Ivan Tsarevich’s marriage to Queen Vasilisa,” Alex supplied softly.
“That too. I’ve heard of mothers inventing some for their children so they could get more chances at finding better work, at living better lives.” Zoe squinted at the horizon, trying to gauge how long they’d been riding.
“What was your doom, Zoe?” West asked.
Zoe paused. “It’s not an exciting one.”
“Liar,” Ken challenged. “You have to tell us. Or is it too embarrassing to say? Like you’re doomed to have permanent nose zits or a back hump?”
“Great-Aunt Elspen said something about a hawk,” West said.
“That has nothing to do with it.” Zoe’s hands trembled slightly. “Anyway, West’s the one with the ancient family lineage. He’s probably got all the creative ones.”
“Well,” West said, looking sheepish. “Great-Aunt Elspen did mine when I was born. She says I’m getting married.” He paused. “That’s it, really. Mum was disappointed, of course…she expected something grander, like rescuing a princess or slaying a monster.”
“Better than mine,” Ken said, regaining some of his usual cheerfulness. “They said I was gonna marry some kind of horrible sea monster from the deep. Scales running through her veins and stuff like that. I don’t really remember most of it. Mum laughed it off, but I think it’s been worrying Dad ever since. And when the Dame told me I had to learn to swim a few nights ago, on top of everything…I gotta admit, it made my hair stand on end.”
“I’m glad my bag’s waterproof, then.” Zoe patted her sling bag, earning her a huff from his direction.
“At any rate, Rapunzel, I don’t think it’s likely we’re gonna find any corpses along the way to Lyonesse, unless you consider the Deathless as one of the undead.”
“Stop calling me that,” Nya protested.
“I’ve never had anyone tell me my doom,” Loki said thoughtfully. “What the Dame Tintagel said was the closest I’ve ever gotten to one.”
“The Ikpean priestess mentioned dooms too,” Tala said, with a wince. “I didn’t understand much of it either.”
“That’s what dooms are supposed to do—drive you up the wall with all the things you think they’re saying, except it usually turns out to be the exact opposite of whatever it was. You still think it’s a good idea to come along?” Ken asked, turning to Nya. “That might not be the last time we encounter ice wolves—or worse.”
“I’ll follow you all to the ends of the world if I have to,” Nya said happily. “Anything to get out of that wedding.”
“It must have been lonely,” Zoe sympathized.
“A little. We searched for survivors for a couple of months after the frost, but…” She lifted her hands helplessly. “I did learn from the best healer in the land, though.”
“Zoe,” Tala said. “Nobody can foretell dooms for the Makilings, right?”
“Yeah. I think the whole point of your curse is to be unpredictable so no one can ever get the upper hand of you, even when they have the sight.”
“No, I mean if we Makilings could do the same thing? Make predictions?”
“I’ve never heard that before, but don’t take my word for it. You’re going to want to talk to an Avalonian or Filipino historian. Why?”
“Just wondering out loud,” Tala said hastily.
“When anyone has a vision of us finally arriving in Lyonesse, let me know,” Ken said. “So I can count down the days till I