The Teller of Small Fortunes

by Julie Leong

“I can’t stay in one place and still be a fortune teller.” “Why not?” “Because my fortunes come true.”

“And the suspicion turns to fear, and the fear, as it always does, turns to anger.”

“The four of us here, we’re no mercenary troop, that’s for sure—but we are something. And so if there’s anything you ever wanted to talk about, with your fortunes and your magic and the Guild,” said Mash, “well, I reckon we could help carry the load.”

I am more than just what I do; I am a person, and I am alive, and that is purpose enough.

She lay among her bundles beneath her drying herbs, listening to Laohu’s soft snuffling snorts beside the wagon, and thought of the phoenix, and of Mash, and of the hope that had been offered to him and then snatched away, time and time again.

Cmon Tao read his fortune

Tao avoided his gaze, taking a swallow of her own ale.

She's going to turn herself over to the mages in exchange for help finding Leah?

There was no path that did not require her to make a choice, and no choice without cost.

There’s no such thing as greater good—there’s just good, and the more of it we can do, the better.”

He looked at Mash in befuddlement, who simply shrugged back—the universal symbol of men who have failed to understand something very important.