"Red apples and snow!" he repeated. “What is an Oracle, Sebastian?” “I’ve told you a dozen times. . But I don't look for peace on this side the grave. You don’t know the thoughts we have; the things we can do and say. ’ ‘Think Valade will come back here then?’ ‘Melusine thinks so,’ Gerald said, pausing at the top of the stairs. . ’ The questions that had long haunted her came out at last.