The Unsuspecting Mage - Brian S. Pratt [127]
Return the lost, stones to dust,
The table begins to vibrate, the pulsing becomes more pronounced, actually bathing the entire tent in an eerie pulsating red glow. In a voice that sounds as if it’s being stretched to its limit, she cries:
Remember… in all… your heart... to trust!
She screams as the crystal ball explodes, sending shards in all directions. Several score along his arms and face. At the shattering of the ball, she falls backward and releases the iron grip she had on his hands. Her chair tips over backward and the woman hits the floor where she lies unmoving.
James comes around the table to her and sees that she’s still alive, but unconscious. Amazed, he discovers a streak of white going through her black hair that hadn’t been there before. Droplets of blood begin to well out of the many spots on her arms and face where she was struck by the shattering of the ball. He lifts her from the floor and carries her over to a pile of pillows lying in the corner of the tent and tries to makes her comfortable. When he has her settled, he looks around the tent at the mess the shattering of the ball has caused. Shards of crystal are everywhere.
He begins to remove the shards from her skin when her eyes fly open. “Who are you?” she asks him.
“You were telling me my future,” James replies soothingly so as not to alarm her. “You must have gone into a trance or something. Then suddenly the ball exploded and you fell over unconscious.”
“That has never happened to me before,” she says, frightened. She looks around her tent at the scattered pieces of shards and breaks down into tears. “What am I to do?” she wails. “I have no ball! How am I going to get people to come in here? How am I to live?”
“I am sure you could still make it work,” James assures her. “There are many different ways in which to tell people’s futures.”
She doesn’t look convinced. “But seeing in the ball is what I am known for. They won’t believe in me if I try another way.”
“Can you get another one?” he asks.
“They are hard to come by and expensive. This one cost me over fifteen golds,” she says, breaking down as sobbing comes over her again.
Reaching into his pouch he pulls out fifteen golds and gives them to her. “Here, take this and get started again.”
Taking his coins, she again starts to cry only this time in gratitude. “Oh thank you, how can I ever repay you?”
“Just help others, that is all I ask,” he replies.
He comes to his feet and looks around at the shambles that is her tent. “When the tale gets around that while you were reading someone’s future, the ball shattered and that white streak manifested itself in your hair, you may have more business than ever before.”
She reaches up and touches her hair. “A white streak?” she asks incredulously.
Coming over, he touches her hair above her forehead and says, “Yes. It starts here and goes all the way back. Kind of makes you look mysterious.”
She pulls some of her hair down before her eyes and looks at the white strands. “Mysterious?” she says and starts to calm a bit.
“Will you be alright now?” he asks.
“Yes,” she says. “I think I may.”
“Then I must go,” he says. “Thank you for the telling.”
“You are welcome sir,” she replies. “Was it helpful? I don’t remember.”
“It didn’t make a lot of sense,” he says, “but who knows with such things?” He then turns and walks out of the tent, pushing aside the curtain that had blocked the entrance. Outside he finds Miko still watching the performing monkey who is now riding a wagon being pulled by a small dog to the laughter of the bystanders.
When he reaches Miko’s side, Miko turns and sees his face in the torchlight. “What happened to you?” he exclaims.
“Oh, I just had my fortune told and there was a little accident,” he explains. “I’m okay, nothing to worry about.”
Turning back to watch the monkey, Miko says, “This little guy is amazing, he can do all kinds of tricks.”