Beginnings (Cont.)

“I have absolutely no intention of going anywhere with you,” Kara replied as she began to gather up her cards. “I have no idea who you are and you know entirely too much about me without having ever met.”

                The man reached over and grabbed her arm, “You can pretend all you like Kara not to realize how bad things are getting with the curse, but I can see the truth of your feelings in your eyes. My name is Marcus and you are going to help me.”

                Kara pulled at her arm trying to get free of the man, “Just because you know my name and you think you can read me doesn’t mean I am going to help you, Marcus, if that is even your real name. Yes I can read the fear in the people who sit down here but that doesn’t mean I can be of any help in getting rid of the curse.”

Marcus resisted as she continued to pull on her arm, “Your name is Kara which is short for Karanna. Your mother’s name was Elsabeau. You father’s name was Aaron. You have not seen him since you were two year’s old. Your mother died when you were twelve and you were raised by her people on the outskirts of the city. Your mother had a minor talent for reading the future in the cards but amongst her people you are believed to have a major talent which you barely tap when reading the fortunes of the rich up here in the Place. I have done my research well enough to know that you are the one whose help I need. Do you have any further questions or will you agree to help me?”

Kara continued to pull on her arm and noticed that they were drawing the attention of the gendarmes who worked the Place. They had no problem with the fortune tellers who worked there but one of the gendarmes coming their way had no love for Kara and she knew that he would take great pleasure in aiding anyone who meant to cause her trouble. Kara needed to think fast or she would be at his mercy and she had no intention of that happening.

“Why do you care about trying to stop the curse? No one else seems to care and you are not marked. Who is it?” Kara queried in hopes of distracting him. “Your mother, father, sister, brother… It must be someone you are closed to.”

Marcus did not relinquish his grip on her arm as he replied, “I have been fortunate in that no one I am close to has been marked yet. My interest in the curse lies in doing what is right for the people of Verrioun.”

“I am supposed to believe that you have the best interest of the people of Verrioun at heart? Why? Because if the people flourish, you can make more money?”

“No. It is because if this spreads beyond Verrioun than all of Xennatos could fall.” Marcus replied ominously, “And if that occurs then we have no hope. If you help me, we have some small hope. But without your help, I have no faith that I can find a way to stop this.”

Kara had become distracted by this bit of revelation from Marcus and did not notice the gendarme standing next to them until he asked, “Is the fortune teller causing you trouble, sir?”

Kara held her breath as Marcus looked at the gendarme and replied, “Oh no. There is no problem. The young woman merely stumbled and I was trying to help her. Isn’t that right, my dear?”  

Kara knew that if she agreed with this statement, that she was also agreeing to help Marcus with his mad quest to end the curse. She debated a moment but there was really nothing to debate. She didn’t trust Marcus, but the cards thought he had a chance to stop the curse and she could not let that go. Kara looked him directly in the eye and smiled, “Of course. He was just helping me. And I shall be happy to help him in return.”

Beginnings

                Kara sat at her table shuffling her cards. The sprits were not speaking to her today but that would not matter. These desperate dilettantes would still come to her table here in the square hoping to learn what the future held for them. If the future was false all the better. They believed that by hiding behind their masks they were safe from detection, but Kara could still see into their eyes and still read whether they had been marked by the curse or not. Kara had learned long ago that even the rich showed fear in their souls and everyone in Verrioun was afraid of the curse.

                Days when the sprits were not speaking through the cards were easier for Kara. They allowed her not to be as troubled by what the spirits were showing her. The curse was spreading and if it was not stopped soon everyone would be affected. Kara had been so immersed in these sorts of thoughts that she had not noticed the man who had been watching her through most of the day until he sat down across from her.

                “You wish for a reading, sir?” Kara enquired of the gentlemen.

                “That would depend on whether the sprits are speaking to you today,” the man replied. “I would hate to pay your exorbitant price, Kara, only to be fed a pack of lies.”

                Kara was instantly put on her guard at this statement. Most of the fortune tellers in Verrioun just moved the cards around and told those seeking a fortune what they wished to hear. No one truly cared. Fortune telling was just another way to con those with too much money into paying the price of being rich.

                “I am afraid you have me at a disadvantage, sir. I do not believe we have been introduced and yet you know my name. I think it would be best if you sought out a different fortune teller. Carlotta is rather good and she is only across the square,” Kara replied hoping to be rid of the stranger.

                “Oh, yes. You are correct. Carlotta is rather good at playing the con man’s game,” the man said with a smile spreading across his lips. “But you on the other hand, have an actual talent. I need an actual talent for my purposes. Perhaps you could see if the cards are ready to speak?”

                Kara stared into the man’s eyes and realized that for the first time she was speaking with someone she couldn’t read. She decided it would be best to just shuffle the cards a bit and then admit the truth that they were not speaking today in hopes that he would go away. But as she was shuffling them, she realized she could feel the spirits moving through them. She began laying them out for the reading.

                As she looked up from the cards, the man caught her eyes. “I see the cards have finally chosen to speak to you today. I will take that as a sign that the spirits wish me to succeed. That is the best news I have had in some time,” Kara saw him relax a bit with this statement. “Tell me. What do they say to you?”

                Kara looked back down at the cards and began to interpret what the spirits were saying. “They tell me you are a dangerous man. Not that I needed that message from the spirits. They also say that what you seek is not far away. You will need help though to find it. They also say that I am that help,” Kara flipped a few more cards and continued. “Ahh. I see now. You seek to end the curse. Hmm. But you are not marked yourself. Ohh. That is interesting.”

                The man leaned in, “What is interesting?”

                “The cards say that this is only the first part of your journey. That what you seek to do will take much longer than the time you have already given to it.” It was Kara’s turn to smile now. She had a feeling that a man dressed so expensively would not like what she was about to tell him, but the spirits were saying that he would do it. “The cards say that what you need to find can be found where all foul things lie down.”

                As Kara predicted the man frowned at that statement, “And where exactly would that be?”

                Kara’s smile became a bit of a smirk as she proclaimed, “Why in the Red Light District, of course.”

                Kara’s smirk quickly vanished as the man responded with a statement she should have seen coming, “Well then. Since the spirits have said that you will help me out, we shall have to go to the Red Light District together.”