Free Across the Universe by Raine Winters Page A

The Seer on duty sits there, wearing long white robes that caress the floor as her chest falls up and down in tandem with her breaths.
    She sees me and scowls. “You’re not supposed to be here. I didn’t call on you.”
    “I know,” I say, “but I need your guidance. Something is going terribly wrong. Watchers and universes are dying.”
    “That’s part of nature’s plan. We’re cast into the void and new members of The House come to be. Hasn’t your mentor taught you that?”
    “Of course. But this time it’s different. In the past few days, two universes have died. Dena’s, and now Oman’s.”
    The Seer frowns, shifts in her throne. “I don’t stay up to date on the goings on around me. My head’s already full of too much of the future. The present can’t fit inside.”
    “Well, then, you might be able to tell me what’s going on, can’t you?” I needle.
    She purses her lips together, mulling over the idea for several moments before beckoning me forward. “Come, dear. Give me your hand.”
    I shuffle over to the throne and hold out my palm. She wraps her cold fingers around mine and I feel a shock course through my body. It isn’t the same kind I felt when Noah touched me. This one is painful and makes my bones shake; my hands and feet go numb and I topple back onto the floor, slipping from the Seer’s grasp. She herself crumbles onto the throne, breathing hard.
    “This—this can’t be,” she gasps.
    “What is it? What did you see?” I ask, staggering to my feet.
    She rolls her eyes upon me and they are haunting, fearful. “I saw you, Amara, Watcher of The House. I saw the future that surrounds you.”
    “Tell me. I need to know.”
    The Seer takes in a gulp of air before answering. “You’re right. There is something wrong with the order of things. They’ve been disturbed. And it’s you who must put this place back the way it was, or remove the pieces until The House falls apart.”
    Her reply is cryptic at best and I’m about to ply her for more information when a booming knock echoes from the other side of the door.
    “Come out this instant, Amara! I know you’re in there!” Nim’s muffled shout roars.
    I can’t decide what to do as my gaze switches back and forth between the exit and the Seer—between the lies of The House and the truth—but Nim decides for me when she bursts through the door and drags me out by the arm.
    Once we’re in the hall she resumes her yelling again. “You think no one would find out? Someone saw you slip into the Seeing Room and alerted me at once. Just what do you think you were doing in there?”
    “I was asking her about Dena and Oman, about why universes are suddenly being destroyed all at once. And I was right to. She told me—”
    Nim holds up a finger to silence me. “Don’t you dare repeat a word of what the Seer said. Whatever they utter is bonded to the individual who hears it. To repeat a prophecy to others is sacrilege.”
    “But I—”
    “This is a rule of The House, Amara. To defy it means automatic casting into the void.”
    I clench my jaw and glare at Nim with all the condemnation I can muster, but she dwarfs it with a look of disappointment she reserves only for me. Finally I relent, letting my shoulders bend in and my head fall. Nim grasps me hard by the arm, her nails digging into my skin as she leads me back to my bedchamber.
    “Two days locked in your room,” she says. “No watching in the meantime. And no visiting Elli.” I look at her with mutiny and she adds, “That’s right, you heard me. You shouldn’t be spending time in the Archives Room as it is. Maybe the next several hours will give you time to learn how to obey the rules for once.”
    I let her voice drown out into a dull murmur while I think of more important matters. My mind is focused the image of Oman lying sick on the floor of the Watch Room, and the words of the Seer. Her prophecy repeats over and over in my ears.
    It’s you who must put this