They met Tansy in the back room of the brothel. She had just got out of bed and the place wasn’t opened for business yet. Tansy was twice as heavy as Daezin, three times as chesty, and four times as gullible. At least when it came to men. She had her heart broken by clients at least every other week but she continued to believe in their promises to take her out of the business, one way or the other. She filled up her purse with promises and wound up broke at the end of the day. Yet somehow, she always managed to scrape enough coin together to pay for a visit from Madame Idzina.

She rushed forward and embraced Daezin. “Tansy knew you’d come. I just knew it.”

Did I mention she had an annoying habit of talking about herself in the third person?

“Hefler, come here my dear lad.” She hugged Hefler and Hefler hugged her back, his face resting in her exposed cleavage. “Now when are you going to leave the seer here and come stay with Tansy?”

Hefler sighed dramatically. “As much as I’d love to stay with you, Madame Idzina needs me. I have no idea how she would get on in this world without me.”

Daezin pulled him out of the embrace—her fingers may have pinched him a little bit in the process—and sent him from the room. “Madame Idzina needs privacy for the visions. Wait in the other room.”

Hefler disappeared into the second parlor. Daezin seated herself carefully. She still felt a bit clammy from her earlier episode but after this she could go back to her rooms, change, and get some food. And Tansy was an easy client. Predict some handsome gentleman would sweep her off her feet and she was happy.

“Now what can I do for you today?”

“Tansy would like the usual. I want to hear how my love life will turn around. I always feel so much better after a visit from you and lately Tansy has been very unhappy and lonely.” Her round painted face crumpled around the edges and a single tear trickled down her cheek.

Tansy was a better faker than Daezin was. Daezin's stomach rumbled, and she decided to skip the melodramatics. After her morning, she needed a meat pastry from Caniloren’s, her favorite street vendor, and a fruit pie so hot the juices still bubbled. All washed down with a large foamy mug of ale. Or something stronger. A lot stronger.

“Give me your hand.” Her gloves must be somewhere between Lady Chadell's and Tansy's. Another thing Hefler would have to replace.

“But what about the lights, and the chanting, and the breathing? Tansy has been working on her breathing, just like you said I should.”

“Today the visions are exceptionally strong. Those exercises could overwhelm my sight and I’d be no good to you at all. Now give me your hand.” Please let's just get this over with.

“All right. If you’re sure.” Tansy held out her right hand, nails bitten to the quick.

Daezin took it and turned it over to look at the palm. And it happened again. The paralysis, the splitting headache, and the blind visions, only this time the visions were of a decidedly unromantic nature.

...Tansy freed herself from the tangle of sheets that barely covered the bed. She laughed and stroked the chest of the man who reclined against the pillows, face hidden in shadows. Tansy chattered away as she sauntered to the dressing table and peered into the mirror above it. Obviously not liking what she saw in it, she started pulling her curls into some kind of order. The man on the bed stood and walked naked to a chair where his clothes lay. He pulled something from inside the pile that glinted in the candlelight. He stalked Tansy. She smiled at his reflection in the mirror. One arm went around her waist, and she lolled her head back onto his shoulder. When her neck was exposed, he raised his other hand and slashed her throat with one efficient stroke. Blood splattered across their reflections. When he turned towards his clothes, an angular spider glowed briefly on his lower back...

A flash of pain across her cheek released Daezin from the vision. She sagged into her chair. Tears streamed down her face. Tansy’s hand was still raised from the slap she had delivered in Daezin's oblivion.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” Daezin forgot the persona of Madame Idzina in the aftermath of a dream so real she still smelled the scent of cinnamon from the candle that burned in the dream.

“You’re sorry? You are sorry?” Tansy’s voice grew softer with each syllable. “Sorry because you scared me with tales of my murder? Sorry because you didn’t answer the question I asked? Sorry because, no matter how often I asked, you wouldn’t shut up with your tale of doom and gloom? I just bet you’re sorry.” She stood up and straightened her silk robe with a jerk. “And Tansy’ll make sure you are. I’ll not be paying you one cent for that pack of lies you told me.”

“Tansy, please. I’ve been sick lately. Maybe an evil spirit decided to have some fun and sent that vision. I don’t know what happened. Let me have another chance. Maybe next week. When I’m better.” Daezin didn't know why she was trying so hard to salvage the situation. She didn’t want to lose a second client in one day. She had gone through the hells today and no profit to show for it. Or maybe she just wanted to deny that something was wrong with her. Her thoughts were scattered. Her muscles trembled. Her soul hurt. She had to fix something.

“I said out.” Tansy gripped Daezin's upper arm and dragged her towards the door.

Daezin didn’t mean to fight. I swear I didn’t. But after everything that happened, the dreams both waking and sleeping, the weird ritual with the tattooed man, something snapped and Daezin pulled back. Her throat already raw, she screamed and yelled. The noises emerged cracked and broken until they little resembled what they started as.

“What is going on here?” Hefler barreled through the door from the other room. He saw Daezin wrestling with Tansy or to be more accurate trying to wrestle with Tansy and failing to do more than muss her hair. Fighting is not one of my talents. Hefler rushed over and pulled her away from Tansy and wrapped his arms around Daezin. He murmured over and over again, “It’s all right. It’s all right.” He rubbed circles on Daezin's lower back, and she stopped fighting him.

“When did you get so tall?” Daezin spoke with her nose buried in his shoulder. He laughed and led her from the brothel.

On the street, a couple of blocks from Tansy’s shouted insults, Hefler asked, “What happened back there?”

“It’s a crazy story. And to be honest, I am not exactly sure what is going on. I’d feel better talking about it back at the inn. In private.” Truth was, Daezin needed more time to recover from whatever it was that happened back there. Besides, her stomach said something loud and clear, and the sweet bread in her pocket would not even begin to quiet it. “Let’s get something to eat.”

“Shingee’s?” Shingee was from Pin Yanzhi, a small island nation across the Middle Sea, and he served the most delicious food. He blended spices together with the hand of a master artist. He came to Corethe ten years ago and nine years ago opened an eatery near the docks. It was one of their most favorite places to eat.

“Sure.” Daezin gave Hefler the once over. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that your shirt is askew, and your hair is mussed. The blond who followed you into the room was very pretty.”

Hefler blushed, ran his fingers through his hair, and straightened his clothes. “And if we’re not talking about your thing until we get home, we’re not talking about my thing at all.” He swallowed. Noticeably. “Except you should know I am going out again tonight. On a personal errand.”

“Oh. Okay. Hope you...umm...have fun.” Now it was her turn to blush. When in the hells did Hefler get old enough to want to spend time with a lady friend? Daezin was just glad her darker complexion and the Madame Idzina make-up hid her blush from the world.

We ate our fill at Shingee’s, a fish and vegetable mix served in a paper bowl, and paid with coin from Hefler’s wallet. Daezin's was still lamentably empty. Back in her room, she changed out of the many layers of Idzina, some of which were only fit for the rag bag after her ‘fight’ with Tansy, and removed her face. Back in her own clothes, Daezin collapsed on the bed to think and within two slow blinks, she was dead to the world.

Daezin struggled up out of the deep well her consciousness had retreated to the bottom of. The room was shrouded in darkness. Cold stars twinkled through the window. On the table next to the bed rested a leaf with an acorn on top. This was a code Hefler and Daezin developed a few years ago after a particularly sick man tried to use her to lure Hefler out. It seems he had a thing for young boys and Hefler was better than average. Daezin shook the memory away, it wasn’t one she wanted to dwell on. The acorn was Hefler and the leaf meant he went out willingly. Probably on that personal ‘errand’ he mentioned earlier.

Daezin pushed herself up against the headboard and pulled knees and the blanket up to her chest. A month ago, in another city, she sees something that gets her noticed. And not by nice people or even the kind that were interested in a semi-fair trade. The people that noticed Daezin, nab her and treat her to the insane attentions of a tattooed tribal madman. During the last ditch efforts to free herself, she is splattered by a mixture of blood and the madman’s spit and somehow blinded. Then she's rescued by a spicy-smelling stranger with an allergy to talking and the next morning her sight comes back and all returns to normal. Except for the dreams.

Daezin thought the dreams were a result of that trauma but maybe someone tried to mess with her mind. Setting her up for a con or a fall. She still had no idea why though. Why her? Why now? What was so important about that copper disk?

Daezin sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Aetran.” Somehow he knew about the dreams. He’d coincidentally had the ‘cure'. He had to be a part of it. Or knew who was. If she found him, she’d find answers.

Before Daezin could poke holes all through her plan, such as it was, or remember that she had no idea if he was even still in Corethe, Daezin pulled on the boots Hefler had replaced, stomping to settle her feet in the stiff, new leather. And went outside.

In the inn yard, the lack of leads caught up to her and she opted for checking on the horses. She’d run into Aetran once outside the stables, maybe she’d run into him there again. At the very least, she could say hello to the horses.

“Hey there, Luck and Lies.” Daezin greeted the horses. They nodded their heads and then went back to the extremely tasty contents of their feed bins. Daezin entered Luck's and ran her hands along her neck and under her chin to the spot Luck liked scratched. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen a tall, dark, and annoying stranger around here tonight. Have you?”

Luck snorted and bits of masticated hay stuck to the front of Daezin's tunic.

“Don’t judge me. He has answers to my questions. I really, really want those answers. But after the day I’ve had today, I find I’m afraid to go out. I’m afraid if I talk to my contacts, I’ll have more of those strange paralyzing dreams. I can’t handle another of those today. What do you think I should do?”

Luck flicked an ear and Lies ignored her.

“Just so.” Daezin nodded. “I’ll quit being such a baby. I’ll go to a few taverns, start slow, maybe someone has seen him or knows where I can find him.” She gave one last pat to each horse, threw a dried apple into each of their feed bins, and left.

“Daezin” Her name a whisper in the darkness pooled beside the stables.

“Who’s there?”

A demon stepped into the edge of the light. The demon being Aetran and Daezin launched herself at him and shoved him back against the wall of the stable.

He smiled.

“Stop it. This isn’t funny.” She punched his leather-clad chest. Repeatedly.

After the first two punches, he caught her wrists and then flipped their positions. Her back now to the wall, he crowded in, trapping her against the rough wall. His scent filled her nostrils.

“You.”

“Me?”

“You. You’re the one who rescued—. No, you’re the one who pulled me from that warehouse that started all this craziness.” Daezin struggled to hit him again but her arms were still restrained. She settled for kicking him in the shins. “I want to know what’s going on. Why are you following me? How did you know about the dreams?”

“Calm down, Dizzy.”

She had forgotten how much she hated that nickname. Her dislike must have shown on her face because Aetran used it again.

“Dizzy. The answers are simple. I am following you because I was told to. I know about the dreams because I was told about them.” He released her wrists and stepped back. He watched Daezin like he expected her to attack him again or something.

“Told you? Someone told you about me? That's all so very clear. Of course, you were told.” Daezin shook her head and crossed her arms. “Try again, mister. Why are you following me and how did you know about my dreams?”

“Read my lips. I. Was. Told.” He stepped to the side and leaned against the wall next to her.

“You were told. By who?” Daezin shifted away and waited. This would be good.

“I was told by a seer.”

She laughed. She couldn’t help it. The laugh burst out before she could stop it and once out it took several moments to cage it up again. The whole time Aetran watched her with one eyebrow cocked.

“Done?” He asked.

“A seer told you about me?” Daezin cleared her throat and schooled her lips into a more serious expression. “Are you sure they didn’t tell you about Madame Idzina? I’m just her granddaughter. Not one for seers to worry about.”

“She told me about Madame Idzina too. And that you are she.” He watched her with eyes that glittered in the darkness.

“Right. I am my grandmother and my grandmother is me. What are you? Some sort of philosopher? I thought you were a woodcutter.” Daezin's heartbeat pounded in her ears. Her secret identity was fast becoming unraveled. She did not want to have to find a new one. Madame Idzina had clients, loyal and well-paying, all across the continent. It took a lot of hard work and time to cultivate them. For all of that to go out with the wash water... No. Daezin couldn’t let that happen.

“Daezin. I know.” His gaze didn’t waver. No blinks. No wobbles in his words. Crap.

She sucked in a deep breath. “What do you want? I don’t have much money.”

He grabbed her arms and shook her just a little. “I am not here to blackmail you. I am here because a seer saw what would happen to you and sent me to help you.”

“Let go of me.” When he did, Daezin put more space between them. “So a seer sent you here to help me. A seer like Madame Idzina?”

“Not like Idzina. This one really has the gift of sight.” He went back to leaning against the wall. He had a sword on one hip, a dagger handle peeked from the top of his right boot, and the leather jerkin was scarred and well-worn. Whatever Aetran did now, it certainly wasn’t cutting wood.

“Really has the gift of sight? How gullible are you? Wait. Don’t answer that.” Daezin chewed her lip. “Which seer?”

“You wouldn’t know her.”

“Try me.”

“Alsinaedian on the Island of the Oracles.”

Daezin heard of the island, of course. As a ‘seer’ herself, folks talked about it. She always thought of it as a strange cult who worshipped the stars and blind people with good intuition. And the people who made pilgrimages there were suckers. Duped into wasting their time and money for a bunch of pretty words.

Aetran didn’t look like a sucker and certainly didn’t act like one. But sometimes appearances were deceiving. Daezin wanted to poke holes in his story but she needed information and he seemed to have it. She’d figure out how useful the information was later but for now she’d play along.

“Alsinaedian. You’re right. I haven’t heard of her. What did she tell you about what’s happened to me?”

“The ritual the Allindai shaman performed on you was suppose to induce you to tell the truth and let him see the truth in your thoughts—“

“Allindai shaman? What’s that?”

“The tattooed man who was brought in to your interrogation. They’re the mystics, magic-users of the Allindai people. One of the first people absorbed into the Charkneth empire when it began its expansion a century ago.” He explained.

“This Allindai shaman performed a ritual on me...?” Daezin would get the rest of the history lesson later and she wouldn't touch the ‘magic-user’ part of his explanation. Not in this lifetime.

“Yes, a truth-spell. It was suppose to make you tell the truth to any question they asked and open up your mind to the shaman. He could look inside, see anything you had seen in relation to the questions. That way, for example, if someone had given you a false name or no name, they could still get a description of that someone.” He scratched at the stubble growing on his chin.

“That’s not what happened.” Daezin watched his calloused fingers, trying to control her expression. He believes in magic for gods sake.

“Of course not. You interrupted the ritual with your flailing about.”

“Flailing?” Her eyes narrowed.

“All right then. Your oh so effective attempts at escape.” He grinned. “Better?”

“Barely.” His sleeve slipped, something was wrong with his wrist. It was too dark to see the details but some sort of marking encircled his wrist.

He noticed the direction of her gaze and quickly lowered his arm and pulled the sleeve down.

“I interrupted the ritual and you came in and got me away. End of story right?”

“Wrong. You were splashed with the fully magicked blood and it had an unexpected side-effect.”

“Bad dreams?”

“Visions of the future.”

Her jaw dropped open. Inelegant, yes. This intelligent, handsome man believed little old me could see the future.

“Miss Daezin?” The innkeeper hurried across the yard.

“Yes, Tyrin, what is it?”

“A messenger just came for you. Young Master Hefler needs you. Immediately.” His lungs worked like a pair of bellows.

“Where?”

“The brothel.”

Daezin turned back to Aetran expecting to find an empty spot like last time. “I’ve got to go but we’ll finish this conversation later.

“Of course. But I’m coming with you.”

“Why?” Sometimes these kinds of things just ask themselves.

“Do you really want to waste time asking questions? It sounds serious. Hefler needs you now. It could be an emergency.”

The dream she had that first night after the ritual flashed into her mind. Hefler, bleeding and slumped against a wall. Daezin's heart raced. “Fine. Come with me or don’t. I don’t care. And I don’t suppose I can stop you.” She turned and hurried across town to the red-light district.