Delilah frowned as she considered the news her mother had brought. It was troubling that Micheline was so insistent about those three words, especially as they had no obvious connection. The four of them—Montgomery, Lilia, Delilah and her consort, Rafe—were in a small garden courtyard in the official residence of the Oracle. Delilah and Rafe’s son, Thomas, was proud to be the center of attention and moved between his mother and grandmother with excitement.
It was chilly in the late afternoon, as if there might be a hard frost that night, but none of them seemed to be in a hurry to move inside. They’d have to go in for dinner and after that, she imagined, Thomas would quickly fall asleep.
She closed her eyes, trying to summon a vision. All she could see were showers of gold dust, which ma
