“When a choice appears before you, always take the left-hand path and your life will be full of good fortune. Take the right and you’ll regret it until the end of your days.” Daezin Amarantin released the sweaty palm and sat back. She needed to stretch her back, but such an action might ruin the image of wise old fortuneteller she was shooting for.

“But I live to the right of town.” The adolescent blonde teared up and her lower lip pushed out into a pout that on a scale of one to ten rated an eleven. Clearly, Wynnethe had a lot of experience with the pout maneuver.

“Then you don’t have a choice, do you?”

“I don’t know. There is more than one way to get home.”

The skin around Daezin’s eyes tightened as she barely restrained herself from slapping Wynnethe. “Then take three lefts and head home. That’ll be three silver.” Daezin stood and nearly dragged Wynnethe to the tent flap.

“But—“

“My dear Wynnethe, Madame Idzina has an appointment to consult with the spirits and she cannot be late.” Daezin hustled Wynnethe out into the sunshine and sent her on her way three silver lighter. When Wynnethe disappeared behind a rickety cart (to the left),  Daezin straightened from her hunched posture and stretched. “Ahh.”

“Miss Daezin?” A boy of fifteen years ducked out of the shade of the wagon behind the tent. His eyes were gray, his hair blonde, and Hefler could easily pass for a child of ten if needed, before he hit his growth spurt last year. More importantly, he had a talent for shopping.

“Hey Hefler. Success?”

“Aye. Though I was only able to get one tin of the Korrian tea. It’s getting harder to find.” He handed over a canvas sack.

Daezin looked inside and shrugged. “It would be. Thank you for this.” She passed Hefler one of the coins. “Pack up the tent while I’m gone. I can’t stand this heat anymore. We’ll head north in the morning. We’ll look at the maps tonight.”

“Yes, miss.” Hefler tugged his forelock, but his eyes twinkled. He knew the role to play in public.

Daezin slipped into the wagon. Once inside she pulled the scarlet scarves and wig of long gray hair off and threw them on her bunk. Hefler would cluck his tongue at her for the mess she made—sometimes he was more mother than assistant—but Daezin was too hot to care. She ran fingers through her sweat slicked hair, raising it into short brown spikes. That taken care of she started in on removing the layers of her costume, including the padding that added extra pounds onto her body. In just her undershirt and drawers, Daezin flopped onto her narrow bunk and dug out one of the sugar-glazed pastries Hefler had bought. She held it to her nose for a moment and savored the sweet scent before sinking her teeth into the confection and a blissful smile crossed her face.

Daezin had short brown hair, blue eyes, and a talent for lying. A dagger or sword were useless in her hands but if you need someone to invest in mines in the Elthora Archipelago, Daezin was your girl. Never mind that there were no mines nor people in the archipelago.

Daezin didn’t believe in anything and took advantage of those who did. The gullible were born daily and Daezin was there to reap the benefits. Her favorite con was the seer. It allowed her to travel around in relative anonymity and empty wallets on her way. Need to talk to the dearly departed? Find out if your spouse is cheating? If an investment will pay off? Madame Idzina, at your service.

As a sideline to the seer gig, Daezin dealt in information. Liars and con artists are good listeners, and she had a knack for putting her ear to the ground with lucrative results.

In an hour, Slim Banthel had a meeting at the Blue Aurochs Tavern near the riverfront. Rumor had it the meeting was with someone from Charkneth about some contraband coming out of the empire. It might be nothing but then again, most information was worth something. If you could find the right buyer. And if she couldn't find a buyer, she could always use more info to sell her seer act.

Daezin savored the last bite and then licked each finger clean of the sugar. Slowly. Who knew when she would have another sweet pastry. Especially one as good as this one.

When the last granules of sugar had melted off her tongue, Daezin pulled herself from the bed and used water from the cracked clay jug to wash sweat from her hair and the stickiness from her hands. She threw on a not-white-anymore tunic worn through in its left elbow and only torn in two places—neither Hefler nor Daezin knew how to use a needle—and a pair of mostly clean, mostly new breeches and soft leather shoes in good repair. Daezin ended up running or climbing from a client or a ‘source’ enough that she spent extra coin to keep her footwear in good repair.

If it wasn’t so hot she’d slip the good old cloak on to hide beneath but as it is, in this weather, Daezin chose a broad brimmed hat and stepped out of the wagon and joined the foot traffic on the main street of Livikta.

Slim Banthel clearly earned his name when he was much younger and not as round. Or someone was being ironic and Slim just went with it. Rolls of fat hung over a stretched leather belt that worked overtime to hold his pants up. A patchy beard and two missing front teeth completed his debonair look.

He waddled into the tavern and took up a spot near the cold fireplace, facing the front door. When the barmaid came by, he put one sausage-fingered hand on her ass and smiled when she slapped it away.

“Your bet.”

Daezin turned back to the sharp-nosed man she diced with. Waiting alone in a tavern was a sure-fire way to be made and besides, she hoped her on-again-off-again luck stuck with her tonight. Maybe she could earn some extra coin to get more pastries before they left town tomorrow.

When her purse weighed half of what it started at, a mountain of a man took the bench opposite Slim with a sharp creak of the worn wood. Daezin wasted some time wondering which one of the two were most likely to break their seat and crash to the floor. She waited long enough for them to exchange opening pleasantries and then excused herself from the game and found a spot nearer the pair. Settled in, she ordered an ale and a trencher of stew. This conversation better yield valuable information or Hefler would laugh when Daezin returned so much poorer than when she left.

Daezin sipped at the greasy stew and listened. Let's be honest here and call a spade a spade. She eavesdropped, one of her more popular pastimes. 

“You got it?” Slim Banthel spoke in a gruff voice that would probably be a lot smoother if he had some of this stew. Yeesh. She pushed the trencher away and took a long draw of the ale.

“The payment. Do you have it?” The other man had a faint Ydari accent. Charkneth conquered Ydaria early in its empire building days. Ten years under the thumb of an outside nation and their accent remained strong. It was probably their last rebellion against the invaders. Daezin understood. If she still lived in Korria when Charkneth annexed the country of her birth, an accent would be the least of Daezin's resistances.

Coins clinked when they hit the table-top. Daezin stood with her empty ale mug, under the pretense of heading to the bar for a refill. Mostly faking the stumble of a drunk, Daezin passed their table and laid eyes on the item the man-mountain pushed across the table.

A disk twice the size of a man’s palm gleamed in the iffy light of the tavern. A thumb-wide ring of silver surrounded a smaller disc of copper. Several unfamiliar runes marched around the silver metal and a large spider lurked on the copper center. Not an actual spider but a raised etching of a spider made entirely of angles. Daezin leaned closer to study the symbol in the center of the spider's abdomen and Slim snatched the disc off of the table and shoved it inside his tunic.

“Sorry. Just getting some ale and that thing looked real interesting.” Okay. When Daezin claimed her only talent was lying, she may have been lying. It’s more of an on-and-off again kind of skill.

She hurried to the bar, gulped down another ale, paid her tab and rushed out. No sense staying around to eavesdrop anymore. The Brothers Big would be watching her now. Too bad. Daezin didn’t see enough nor hear enough to make any sort of coin off of tonight’s work. Well, she did see that disk-thing but had no idea what it meant or who would pay to know where it was. Hefler will laugh and shake his head when he found out about this evening. Maybe she would take a walk along the river. A long, long walk after which she could drop into her bunk and avoid Hefler’s amusement for at least another twelve hours.

It was cooler along the river. The sun had set, clouds had rolled in, and a breeze blew in off the water. Tomorrow, they’d head north to the coast and hit several of the small villages along the way. Village folk were always much easier to fool with the seer act. In a month’s time, they’d be in Corethe for the winter.

Corethe is a large city-state that Daezin liked to call home. If any place could be called home. A port town with a mix of people from around the world, Corethe had a personality reminiscent of a Korreian mother and housewife. It took care of its own and put up with no nonsense from the outside world.

A noise out on the river drew Daezin's attention to her surroundings. It was dark, by the docks, a moonless night. A row of deserted warehouses were the only buildings around. Her efforts to avoid the mocking from her assistant had led Daezin into a situation that could be hazardous to her health. She shrugged. Oh well, it wouldn’t be the first time and besides, maybe the activity on the water, after dark, could turn into some coin. And if it did, maybe, just maybe, it would save her from some minor embarrassment.

Hefler has been Daezin's assistant for almost five years. Four years younger, he was like a little brother to her. No, there is no like about it. He was a little brother and they were a family. As such, he felt free to tease Daezin as only a brother could. Of course if her real brother ever showed up, she’d slap him or stab him — haven’t quite decided which — before he could open his mouth to let out a smart-ass remark. Less said about him, the better.

Daezin went into stealth mode. Or her pathetic imitation of it. She slipped behind a pylon and squinted through the darkness toward the river. A tiny lantern gleamed on the black water from the prow of a small boat. Huddled inside were two black lumpy people. The two lumpy people struggled with a third lump.

She stepped closer to get a better look just as they stood up and, with two synchronous grunts, threw the lump into the water. Splash. Then the two lumps clapped each other on the backs and began to row to shore.

Murder. Visions of large monetary rewards lured her forward. Daezin jumped into the black water before she fully thought it through. Blind in the dark, she kicked off her boots and swam in the direction she hoped the bundle sank. Slimy unseen things brushed against her arms and feet as she moved through the water. Daezin tried to keep those bags of coins in her thoughts and avoid the worry about what was floating in the river that she now swam in.

Daezin took her bearings from the streetlamps and cut across the surface of the water. Did she mention her skill at swimming? She wasn’t the best but every kid in her village grew up swimming in the local lake. Swimming didn’t usually result in a payday, but this time she hoped it would.

Bubbles foamed to the surface and Daezin dived below the water, arms outstretched. Deeper and deeper she swam, lungs and muscles burned from the unaccustomed activity. Fingers brushed against sodden linsey-woolsey. One more blind grope and she grabbed hold of the rope that held the bundle closed and lugged it back to the surface.

Daezin hauled the bundle to the ladder and got nearly fell back in dragging it up. When she reached the top and swung the bundle onto the pier, two pairs of boots entered her field of vision.

“What do you think you're doing?”

Daezin looked up. “Two black lumpy people?”

“What?” A man with a bird's nest beard spoke.

The dumpling-shaped woman standing next to him thumped him in the stomach with the familiarity of the long-wed. “I told you we shouldn’t have dumped her here.”

The bundle wasn’t moving and Daezin was afraid she was too late. She pulled her eating knife from her belt and sawed at the ropes. Over her head, the couple bickered and once the man grabbed for Daezin's knife hand. Daezin pointed the blade at him. “Stand back or I’ll gut you like a fish.”

The man must have believed her—he had no way of knowing that Daezin was more likely to cut herself sawing on the ropes than hitting anything she aimed for with a blade—and stumbled backwards and went back to arguing with his wife.

Soon enough, and with only one small slice to her index finger, the ropes fell apart and Daezin yanked apart the water-logged cloth to reveal the body inside.

“A dog? It’s a cursed dog?” The money bags in her imagination began to pop like soap bubbles on laundry day.

The woman knelt down on the deck and stroked the long narrow head of the animal. “Our dear Olli. She died this morning. She’s been with us for many, many years. She was the child we never had.”

“What about our son?”

“What about him? He was never as well-behaved and sweet as little Olli.” The woman sniffled and the man yanked out a mostly clean handkerchief and handed it over. She blew her nose loudly.

Daezin looked from the grieving woman to the long-suffering man. Daezin took a deep breath and rolled her eyes back in her head and addressed the woman. “I see your dear Olli. She has moved on to the Great Beyond. She is happy there except for one small sadness. She misses you. For five silvers, I could pass along a message to Olli on the other side, comfort her in her afterlife. Send her along to that great meat bone in the sky.”

Ten minutes and five silver later, the couple was on their way and the dog back in the river.

“At least, tonight wasn’t a total bust.” Daezin sighed and then wiped river slime from her clothes and skin. After several moments of ineffectual wiping, she gave it up as a lost cause. Her pale toes reminded Daezin to have Hefler pick me up another pair of boots. She shook her head and stepped off the dock to head for home and stepped right into the man-mountain.

“Hey. Just had myself a late night swim. And now I need to head back home. Change my clothes. You know. Dry off.” She knew she was babbling, but Daezin couldn’t help it. She didn’t think any story she thought up would change this fellow’s mind. If a man in his line of work — which she still wasn’t completely clear on what that was — took the trouble to track a body down, getting away wasn’t going to be easy. But still, she had to try. “What’s that over there?” Daezin pointed and then ducked under his arm and ran. Two strides away and he caught my tunic in his meaty hands with a sharp tear. Ah hells. I’m going to need a new tunic too.