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The idea had occurred to me to seek out the oracle before now, but I’d dismissed it because I had no clue how to reach her cave Noas here, delivered right to her doorstep

Maybe she can help shed soer afraid of her predictions--after all, h her door, expecting to see the oracle standing, or perhaps sitting, in her usual solitude But as I entered, I was ht

I did find the oracle--perched on a rickety stool--but gathered around her were the three wo spirit has arrived," the eyeless oracle announced, alazed anxiously at the pale faces of ured it out Due to the host, and perhaps it was River who’d suggested that they come to consult with the oracle River was the only one of the three who had been here before But how had they gotten here? How had they found her?

It didn’t matter They were here And I was here

I knew that if I failed to find any kind of solution for myself, I would return to The Shade and find a way to communicate the truth to them The full truth, not just dribs and drabs, so that it would be easier for them to move on But I hadn’t been ready to tell theht be able to return in some way, even if not in my own body

Now, I had no choice in the matter From the looks on their faces, it was clear that the oracle had already told theement in the center of the dim room There was a low, circular wooden table, upon which stood a rusted, ree angle The dagger had a large, ornate handle and a thin blade whose tip was dug into the table’s surface, though it was hard to tell whether this positioning alone hat ic I couldn’t even begin wrapping my mind around what this was exactly, but whatever it was, I was sure that it had so me here

"Hoe know that Ben is here?" River asked, her voice slightly shaky, as she furrowed her brows

Hortencia whirled on her "Do you suggest that I lie to you, girl?"

River pursed her lips in response

"What reason would I have to lie, pray tell? You are the ones who disturbed me here and requested me to call a communion with your lost boy I have frankly no interest in whether or not you believe et out ofuncertainly at the oracle, a reen eyes as she took in her appearance Thiswould have been the first time Rose had ever encountered an oracle before, and for thatdoubtful, Rose placed a hand over River’s knee and squeezed it

"I think we should believe her," Rose whispered, as the oracle crossed her arms over her chest and headed to the other side of the roo? If she just wanted to get rid of us, she could’ve just said that she couldn’t call Ben, or heck, just forced us out of her cave with herin it for her"