the truth in tarot

Avalon school of ballet  
  hesper's office - Friday, June 7th  
  Constance Leysa Mountbatten   

Hesper was having a difficult time with her sight. Prophecies fell off her tongue helter skelter. She'd spouted off in several Wizengamot sessions now. It was annoying at best and embarrassing at worst. The loss of control over her connection the Inner Eye was most difficult to endure...as were the migraines that pierced her skull both night and day. But she bore every hardship with the grace of a true lady--because that was what she was. She was The Lady Hesper Gamp, heiress of the Gamp line, true seer, and unremitting survivor. 

Still, she had to retreat from the Ministry sometimes. Today, she had chosen to hideaway in her office at Avalon. It wasn't so much actually hiding away since the door stood wide open. She was not even tucked away behind her desk. The seer was seated instead at a small table. It was just like one she had at home and at the Ministry. She read tarot at these little tables. 

The witch had her cards out. She still consulted them constantly. Even with her Inner Eye out of control, she could still read the cards. She understood them. She knew the nuance of interpreting their meanings. The truth could still be discerned within them. Hesper had been shuffling for a moment. Intuition told her someone would pass by shortly. She waited for them. She waited to read for them. 

Hesper did not know who she was waiting for until she saw the prima ballerina floating down the hallway. Perhaps coming from Isidore's office. Or just arriving for rehearsals. Either way, the Gamp meant to detain her for a moment. She lifted a hand to wave at the young woman. "Might you have a moment to spare, Lady Mountbatten?" The Lady Gamp phrased the words as a question, but they were more than a request. Not quite an order, it was still more than just a suggestion. Hesper had a good amount of influence at Avalon, considering she was president of the Endowment Fund. A great deal of the funding for the ballet came from the Gamp and Selwyn vaults.

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School was officially out for the summer and Constance thought that she’d look forward to the break. She didn’t know that for sure, though. Sometimes, she thought that keeping busy helped keep her mind more occupied. It was when she had the time to overthink that she tended to do just that, and that was the last thing that she wanted to do. There was too much on her mind as of late. Without classes to focus on, she definitely thought there was a good chance that she’d have enough free time to make herself miserable.

Constance didn’t want to be miserable, obviously. And she wasn’t. That was such a harsh word. She was just… conflicted. Confused—and about a million other emotions at any given moment. The epidemic had just produced its fair share of complications. Moving in with Liam had added to that by making her feel like the chasm between her and the rest of her family was getting bigger. Nobody had time for each other anymore. She didn’t feel like she ever had any clue what was going on. She visited Temperance and felt like she was in her way, she visited Ella and felt like her mind was somewhere else. Even her matka had so much going on now with work at the Ministry that she hadn’t even known about until someone else had brought it up.

If she was busy, then she didn’t have to think about all that. She didn’t have to think about her family, or the fact that the epidemic had made all wedding planning unpleasant and uncomfortable, when it was supposed to be fun. She knew that she had to actually do some planning, but she was dragging her feet on making any actual decisions. Most of her free time was spent trying to plan. She talked to caters or florists, she just didn’t get around to actual decisions being made.

Having more time to focus on that this summer would either help or hurt. She didn’t know. There was no way to really know how she would feel until it happened. Constance was just putting on a good face and moving forward like everything was normal. That just seemed like the best thing to do in these circumstances.

She had been in speaking to Isidore, and unfortunately now had a good chunk of the rest of her day free. Apart from a visit to her piano instructor’s house later, she had nothing else to do. It was on her way back out of Avalon that she heard a voice and came to a stop before passing the open doorway fully. “Of course, Lady Gamp,” she smiled, before coming through the doorway and into the woman’s office. “Can I help you with something?” Constance didn’t know necessarily what Hesper could need from her, but she supposed she’d find out.

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