The Star of Morcyth_ Book Five of the Morcyth Saga - Brian S. Pratt [77]
“Why?” James asks. “What’s going on?”
“Before summer, she had been a simple fortune teller who gave bad advice,” he says. “Everyone knew she was a fake but as she was very nice, we didn’t say anything. One day that all changed.”
James glances to Illan as the man continues.
“As the story goes, and let me tell you it’s different depending on who tells it to you, a man came to her and asked for a reading. He was a stranger in town so didn’t realize she was a fake. What happens next no one is sure about, but the next morning her crystal ball is shattered and she has this streak of white hair where the day before it had been black.”
“She begins telling this story about how some demon showed up and tried to take his soul but that she fought him away. Now those of us who knew her didn’t believe it for an instance. I mean really? What a wild tale. But as time went on, she continued telling it and some came to believe in it. I think even after awhile she did too.”
“Up until about a month ago things were fine. She had her little following and most of us were rather amused by the whole thing. Oh sure, for a lark we would at times go and listen to her but none took her serious. Most of us still don’t.”
“What changed?” James asks.
“Things started happening,” the man says. “People who went to hear her talk all of a sudden became ardent believers. Those who became believers would entice travelers passing through to go and listen to her. Then they too, became believers. Before we knew it, she had amassed hundreds of people and one day that large pavilion and the big tent sprung up.”
“Interesting,” Illan comments.
“This city is falling apart rapidly,” he tells them. “People are afraid to be on the streets for fear of being ‘asked’ to attend one of her talks.”
“Why should that be a problem?” James asks.
“If you refuse, sometimes they go away, sometimes not,” he replies. “One man refused and a pack of her believers fell on him and beat him to a pulp right here in the center of town.”
“Didn’t the guard try to stop them?” Illan asks.
“Some were in the vicinity, but word has it they’ve been bought off by someone, maybe her. Now they patrol the streets but do nothing to stop her people if they get violent.” Leaning closer and lowering his voice even more, he says, “I’ve even heard that some who spend too much time within the tent go mad.”
“Really?” prompts Illan.
“Really!” he says. “A friend of mine became a believer and spent a week straight within her tent, listening to her talk. When he came out, he wasn’t himself and all he could talk about was her and her mission to thwart the demon that walks the land.”
James glances to Illan who nods. They both remember how that man who they encountered on the road here had acted.
“Anyway,” he says. “Stay here in the inn, maybe in your rooms and don’t go out until dawn. Her people are most active at night though can be encountered anytime.”
“Thanks for the information,” James says.
“Do you still plan on staying?” the man asks.
Nodding, James says, “We have to.”
“It’ll be three coppers per room,” the man says. “How many will you require?”
“Four,” he tells him as he counts out the coins. The man hands over the room keys and says, “If you’re hungry, I can send something up.”
“That would be good,” Illan says. “Maybe in about a half hour, there are seven of us.”
“Very good,” he says. “The stable is around back.”
“Thank you,” James says as he and Illan turn to leave the inn.
Stepping outside, he comes to a stop when he sees the others engaged in conversation with three other individuals.
“…come, the wisdom of the lady is great.”
Jiron hears him leaving the inn and turns toward him. Indicating the two men and woman standing next to him, he says, “They’ve just invited us to hear her speak at the pavilion.”
The lady turns to him and says, “Yes, she welcomes all to hear her words of wisdom.”
“All who come are filled with the