already know what the future is then don’t they know what decision I’m going to make?”
“But you still have the free will to make that decision,” countered Milli.
“If they know what the decision is then isn’t it already decided? The same with Petra telling your fortune. If she can actually tell the future doesn’t that mean that the future is already decided?”
“No, not at all,” said Brogus adding his voice to the melee.
“Why not?” asked Dol his eyes beginning to get a little fiery.
“It just doesn’t,” said Brogus while Milli stood with her hands on her hips and a puzzled expression on her face.
“I kind of see what Dol is saying,” said Milli after a long pause. “I mean, if anything I decide is already known then am I really making a decision at all?”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” said Brogus. “Let’s say we go into to town. Then everything would be different than if we didn’t go into town. Every decision we make changes the way the world works.”
“By that argument,” said Dol. “Wouldn’t every decision everyone makes lead to some different… I don’t know, different reality?”
“Exactly,” said Brogus with a smile and he clapped Dol on the back. “Now you’ve got it.”
“So, if that ant down there,” said Dol pointing with his boot to a line of ants marching through the dirt towards where they were just laying out the food, “turns right instead of left that leads to a different reality?”
“Well,” said Brogus and put his hand to his beard. “I’m not sure animals count.”
“What if you’re killed by a bear? Doesn’t that decision make a different world? What if a pack of wolves eats some pilgrims or something? Those all have to make differences.”
“Animals don’t have free will like people,” replied Brogus. “It’s different.”
“How is it different?” asked Dol insisting.
“It just is,” said Brogus and shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s why I didn’t want to start this conversation at all,” said Dol turning to Petra. “It just leads to headaches.”
Petra nodded her head, “I’ve always had doubts about the fortune telling business to be honest. I sat in on my sister and my grandmother for years when they gave them. Usually they sized up a person, a young girl was usually looking for love, and a young man was usually looking for… well, love. That sort of thing. You could usually tell what they wanted to hear and that’s what you told them.”
“That’s not really fortune telling then,” said Milli. “I’ve read that some people are in better touch with the Gods and they get visions of the future. Even the dwarves have people like that.”
“Yeah,” said Dol. “We call them insane.”
“Shut up, Dol. You’ve always been a spoil-sport. I thought maybe you were getting better now that you seem to have a sense of humor but I guess some things never change.”
Dol pursed his lips, gave Petra a sour look, and then went about helping get the camp organized.
“You said your sister had the touch,” said Milli almost tugging on Petra’s arm like a little girl who wants a pony. “You might have it in you if you try.”
“You might be right,” said the woman with a small smile. “You never know unless you try.”
“That’s the spirit,” said Brogus. “Do you use cards, tokens, what?”
“I have a deck of cards around here somewhere,” said Petra and went over to her horse and began rummaging around in the saddle bags for a while.
“Can we help?” asked Mill in a voice that was more high-pitched than normal.
“Just get the fire going,” said Petra, “and put on some hot water for cooking. We’ve got those rabbits Brogus bagged yesterday to cook before they go bad in this heat. Meat won’t last long down in these southern climates.”
“There’s nothing else we can do?” said Milli almost dancing with excitement.
“Just get the camp ready,” replied Petra with a snort like laugh the came out of her nose. “You’re like little children.”
Twenty minutes later the four of them sat around the now blazing campfire with Milli and Brogus eagerly watching Petra clear a patch of ground and lay down a black piece of cloth that had stars and crescent moons stitched into it. The old woman took her time and carefully smoothed the cloth until it lay perfectly flat, or at least as perfectly flat as the ground allowed, and then began to unpack a heavy deck of cards that more than filled her hand. Their backs looked like a starry night with a full moon rising near the upper right hand corner; the edges were worn and frayed, and the few glimpses Milli and Brogus caught of the cards themselves displayed colorful characters of various sorts, little fields of swords, and other fantastical scenes. Despite Petra’s caution she almost spilled the heavy cards as she tried to shuffle them, as they did not fit easily in her small hands. But, after what seemed an interminable period of waiting she finally looked up and smiled at Milli and Brogus, “Who’s first?”
The two looked at each other and sat on the edge of their seats, “You go ahead,” said Milli to Brogus.
“No,” replied the broad-shouldered dwarf, “Ladies first. Unless Dol wants to have a chance.”
Milli and Brogus looked over at the tall dwarf but he pretended not to hear them and occupied himself with the rabbits that were cooking over the small fire on a thick little wire grill.
“Ok, I’ll go,” said Milli with a smile and all but bounded over to where Petra waited. “What do I do?”
“Just sit down right here,” said Petra as she riffled through the card deck. “Now, after I deal there will be three piles of three cards each, the first three represent what has past and the three possible interpretations of that. The next three represent the present, and…”
“The last three the future,” interrupted Milli bouncing up and down as she sat. “How do you know which of the three cards is most important?”
“I was getting to that,” said Petra with a little smile at the girl.
Brogus moved in close, getting down on his haunches as he eagerly watched the proceedings in utter silence.
“Now, in each group of three there is an evil, neutral, and good position. The cards themselves have a nature. Let’s say you pick a good card and it goes in the good position of the past pile. That means it is matched with its position and has greater meaning. Likewise, if you pick an evil card and it goes in the good position it is mismatched and we should probably ignore it. Does that make sense?”
Milli nodded her head in quick little motions and stared at the cards in Petra’s hand. “Yes, that makes sense. Suddenly, I’m not so sure I want to do this.”
Dol started to say something but then thought better of it, closed his mouth, and returned to the rabbits which were coming along nicely.
“The first thing to do is to think about what’s troubling you. Some sort of problem that you face. You have to really concentrate because this is about you as much as it is about me. Keep that question in your mind.”
Milli closed her eyes and her upper lip covered her lower as she sat in silence for what seemed to be a long time but was probably no more than four or five seconds. Brogus stared at her while Dol busied himself by the fire although even he couldn’t keep from taking a look over to the group now and again. Eventually Milli opened her eyes, “I’ve got it.”
“What is your question?” said Petra her voice suddenly lowering and becoming rather monotonic.
“Will Dol kill Gazadum?” said Milli.
“The next thing is to pick a single card from the deck,” said Petra. “This represents your overall position in the matter.”
“Ok,” said Milli and reached forward with a hand that shook slightly and picked a card from the middle of the deck. She flipped it over and it depicted a young boy bent over a wooden platform. He was shirtless and there were a number of red welts on his back. Around the border of the card were whips and scourges. “Oh no!” gasped Milli. “That’s bad, isn’t it?”
“It is The Beating,” said Petra. “It is an evil card but can have many different meanings. It generally involves being attacked from all sides but it can also represent either going insane or finding strength when being assaulted.”
“Oh well, we were attacked from all sides,” said Milli and looked to Brogus to confirm this statement and he quickly nodded his head up and down while watching with wide eyes.
Petra said nothing while Brogus nodded his head in the affirmative and Dol shook his in quick little shakes and muttered something under his breath that the others could not hear.
