“Can I tell the others about this invitation?”

“That’s up to you,” Brendan answers. “Out of respect for their privacy, I’ll have you wait outside while each of them exits. I don’t know if they’ll emerge through your Guided door, but at the very least they’ll be invited to join as members, in the designations that feel most vital to them. Then it will be time for you all to recover the Queen of Swords.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, feeling that familiar tension return.

“You’ll learn in a moment, but it basically means a hike. The Queen has been here all along, waiting for you and your friends to arrive.”

Brendan then turns, wheeling toward another doorway across the sun-drenched room, where I’ll wait while the others exit.

“So you all have one last peak to reach—literally. As it has been said, the journey of self-discovery is like spiraling up a mountain, returning to the same points over and over, just from higher perspectives.”

Brendan turns back to look at me as I follow, another grin creasing his face.

“I cannot wait to see what this new perspective brings, now that we’ve all found one another.”

I can’t help but smile back at Brendan. Whatever the future holds, I’ve learned this much by now: sometimes decisions that seem to affect the least in the present have the greatest ripple effects on the future.

Click here

I take The Star from Brendan and he sighs. I don’t want to disappoint him, but I know that the paths ahead of me lead elsewhere. Especially because, despite what Brendan believes, I don’t think The Lianist Way has changed all that much from Perillianism. I don’t want to judge—I haven’t exactly seen myself clearly for a long time, either. But if I’m going to evolve, I need to forge some new ways.

“I’d still be interested in keeping up with the work you’re doing here,” I say.

“Right you are,” Brendan replies, reaching out his now-empty hand to shake mine. “You’ll find The Lianist Way is incredibly flexible, so I do hope you’ll stay in touch. It’s rarer than you might think to meet bright young people who show such insightful commitment, especially to the tarot.”

“Can I tell the others about this invitation?”

“That’s up to you,” Brendan answers. “Out of respect for their privacy, I’ll have you wait outside while each of them exits. I don’t know if they’ll emerge through your Guided door, but at the very least they’ll be invited to join as members, in the designations that feel most vital to them. Then it will be time for you all to recover the Queen of Swords.”

“What does that mean?” I ask, feeling that familiar tension return.

“You’ll learn in a moment, but it basically means a hike. The Queen has been here all along, waiting for you and your friends to arrive.”

Brendan then turns, wheeling toward another doorway across the sun-drenched room, where I’ll wait while the others exit.