"Oh, you truly do not believe?" The woman gave a knowing smile and reshuffled her deck," Then my dear, why do we not read your fortune now? Love, Life or Money, fate will always answer if you ask."
"No thanks. I love Bradley, that I know, my life with him will be perfect and he's rich, so money? Ha! Not a problem." I replied and Lucas gave me a deadpan look.
"You remember fifteen minutes ago?" He asked and my breezy smile deflated.
"You just had to mention it, how cruel, some best friend you are." I said with a pout.
"My job is to keep you in reality, so you're welcome." He replied dryly," Come on, try it. You've got nothing to lose, and it's free."
"Well... You had me at free." I smiled brightly as he looked at the cards the woman had spread while we talked.
It's as if she knew I was going to change my mind... As if! It was a lucky guess.
I picked my five random cards and placed them on the table face down, as soon as I placed the last card down the sky outside grew grim, the light around us seemed to dim as the wind picked up and ruffled my hair again. I took out a rubber band and tied my hair into a pony tail to prevent it from covering my eyes, when I looked again, the woman had already flipped the first card over.
An upside down beautiful woman sitting on a stone throne, a golden crown sat on her forehead and an emerald and golden sceptre in her left hand. She radiated an aura of dominion and her face was apathetic and calm, her eyes were hard as she gazed upon us.
You go girl, I thought with respect.
"The Empress reversed." She said softly," She represents emotional neglect and blocked love. You are a sheltered soul who doesn't believe you deserve to be loved the way you are. The love you have in your heart is blocked, sealed away from the world by fear, by pain or lies. I do not know why yet."
No, I thought, she couldn't know... not that.
"Next. You already read that, next, now." I said briskly.
"Sarah, are you okay?" Lucas asked me and I gave him a nod.
"The next card is this," She showed me the card and I felt a bit better.
A man and woman held each other in a bloody red and white background. The man had vibrant blonde hair and the woman had lustrous brown hair reaching her waist. The two gazed into each other's eyes with a passion so hot it would put stars to shame.
"The Lovers show your desire for a true connection with the one you love. You want a soulmate, one fated for you through and through."
Lucas gave a soft chuckle," That's so true. Absolutely true."
"Well, you know me, I want love like my mom and dad had, true love love story. That is all." I said softly," skip the details, what's next?"
The woman silently turned over the third card and my smile deflated again.
An old man wearing a dirty grey cloak holding a lantern and standing by a dark cave. The image was not pleasing and I didn't feel that would be anything I'd like to hear.
"The Hermit shows withdrawal and chosen isolation and this is when you will find love. Because your nature feels undeserving you might draw away from hard moments to feel safe and this will be hard on your relationship. The Hermit's lantern lights the road to loneliness, but can also be a beacon, to someone willing to wander the darkness to find you."
Huh, not so bad. Not great either, since it sounded like I'd need to be a depressed bum or something. But after the first card, things couldn't possibly get any worse.
"The next card is,"She flipped the fourth card over and sighed," The tower."
A stone tower with falling bodies and burning fires all around it, with a dark stormy background. I didn't need medium to interpret that whatever was said about this card was straight up bad news.
"The love you will find shall be earth shattering and the relationship will have an unknowable amount of loss and upheaval. Things you never knew will be known, secrets will be revealed and heartache will flux through your very being. You relationship will be hard, painful and devastating upon your life."
"Jesse, talk about laying it thick lady." Lucas chided softly and I chuckled.
I was a bit creeped out but this was just the ramblings of a crazy lady, so I would not take it to heart. All of her words would not be taken into account in my life, not now or ever.
The woman didn't seem to hear us though, her eyes were staring at the cards on the table with a frown. She tapped her index finger on the table, her face in deep thought.
"Ummm, how about the last card? We kinda have to go to try other stuff." I said softly and the woman raised her eyes and looked at me.
"Very well, the last card will be the nature of the man you love." She reached for the last card and flipped it over.
A chill wind blew into the tent and snuffed out some of the non-electronic candles, casting the room in a paler light. But light was still enough for me to see the card on the table and it had my mouth agape. If I had looked at the side I would see Lucas frowning with distaste at the card before us. He had good reasons to though as I would find out.
A skeletal figure walking amongst a group of graves, holding a scythe and wearing a drab black cloak. I didn't need anybody, priest or witch to tell me what and who that was. But I couldn't believe it, and I had no understanding of how that was linked to the man I would love.
After a few minutes I realised the woman had gone silent and pale, although it was impossible to tell with her ghostly makeup.
"Umm, hello? What does that mean?" I asked her and she seemed to snap back to her senses.
"Oh, right." She took a deep breath and an audible gulp," Death is unscrupulous, fair and transforming. The man you will love will be a reasonable and just man, but very hard to understand. He will transform your life in ways you will never know and something you cherish will die as a result of him."
The woman got up abruptly and went to a cabinet taking out some bottles and vials. She mixed and stirred something in a gourd bowl, while me and Lucas contemplated if we should leave or not.
I opted to leave and got up from my seat.
"The young man's fate is special as is yours my dear. Tell me, what are your names?" She asked us.
"Lucas Johnson." My best friend said simply.
"Sarah Bucklehim, and can we go now? We still don't have to pay right?" I asked and the woman gave a small laugh.
"No, no money. But I request a favor." She turned around holding a brown gourd bowl with white goop inside." The cards on the table, take them and keep them for me."
"Uh, our mothers' said to never accept things from strangers. And in this case I think it would be very true." I said crossing my arms looking at Lucas.
"Yeah, sorry lady, but we don't know you." He added softly.
"My name is Miranda Peagon." The woman gave a small smile," And it is alright, the world is a dangerous place, listening to wise advice from your mother's is good."
"Great, then we'll be out of here." I smiled happily.
"That will be 4 dollars for the double reading, with an added discount since you're my first customers." She said and I turned to her with a glare.
"Seriously? Petty much?" I said sourly.
"It's business, or you take the cards." She said with a soft smile.
"Fine, we'll take them. But mark my words lady, if they don't end up in a bin somewhere by mistake!" I said pocketing the tarot deck and me and Lucas left.
As soon as we left, Miranda looked at the white goop in the bowl and moved to where we had been sitting.
She placed the gourd on the chair where Lucas had sat and the goop started to change. Soft bubbles frothed inside the gourd as the white colour was engulfed by a bloody red, and a metallic taste filled the air.
"Huh, I knew there was something off with those eyes of his. Brown with a hidden crimson beyond the veil" She said thoughtfully and lifted the gourd up and put it on Sarah's seat.
The frothing red liquid started to bubble and warp in the gourd, turning from bloody red to a tar like black. A heavy smell of bones and a chilling air filled the tent. The woman looked around with a frown and lifted the gourd up.
"Well that is something else entirely, and I didn't even notice it. How odd that those two are together." She turned around about to walk back to the cupboard but the gourd started to shake in her hands.
"What in Avelon?" She threw the gourd away and it smashed between the two seats. The liquid inside slithered and rose up into the air, turning into a dull grey bubble.
The bubble frothed and convulsed once, then froze as if turning to stone. Intricate patterns appeared on its surface, with such high level details that any artist in the world would be filled with all. The woman stood near her cupboard, staring at the shifting thing before her with apprehensive eyes. This had rarely happened when she used the potion, and only very special people could illicit such a reaction as this.
Finally after a moment the patterns stopped forming and a stone carving floated before Miranda. There was the image of two distinct figures and words carved out underneath them. Having a very good linguistic talent, she tried to read the words on the carving, but as she started to, the thing started to crumble, before vanishing to a pile of white dust.
Miranda didn't look at the pike of dust as her eyes watered once more.
"Fuck," She swore bitterly," I was right. They shall come here for sure."
She waved her hand and the white dust crumbled upon itself and vanished from the floor. With a simple gesture she'd changed the molecular structure of the dust and rendered it's existence void. If I was there I would have backed away in shock and Lucas would have moved closer for a better look.
That was magic! Actual god damn magic!
Miranda walked outside as she reached for her headdress and pulled a piece of paper from under it. She put the paper to her lips and whispered a quick fraze before tossing it into the air. The paper lifted itself up high, vanishing beyond the trees.
Her eyes were sad and pained again as she looked at the darkened sky.
"I can only hope they will survive." She said softly and went back into her tent.