“Lovely lady, come inside and learn the secrets of your future.”
“This is Madam Nadya. She is going to read our fortunes.” Dash led Ambrosia into the darkened booth before she could protest. The idea of letting a stranger attempt to read her future was nothing she ever would have considered back in Rockford Beach. Winifred would have deemed it the work of the devil. Even knowing it was all in fun, as Ambrosia entered the darkened tent, she shivered.
“She feeds her grandchildren this way,” Dash murmured low, his gaze flicking toward three small children huddled in the corner. His voice was a quiet rumble meant for her alone. “She will not take charity, non. But she accepts coin, eh bien, in exchange for telling fortunes.”
Then, louder, with a smile that tugged at his mouth: “So, princesse, what do you say? “Shall we see what fortune has in store for us?”
Although the heavily made-up woman in the tent, with her flowing scarves and exotic perfume, seemed utterly foreign, there was nothing to fear. Any magical powers would be nothing more than an illusion.
Ambrosia looked over her shoulder at Dash and smiled. “Yes, please.” It would be something else she could remember in the days, in the weeks, possibly years, to come.
“Your… husband is very kind. Come in, please, and be seated.” The woman spoke with an accent Ambrosia didn’t quite recognize. “We shall see what the future holds for you both.”
Ambrosia and Dash lowered themselves onto a bench set before a table covered with red velvet. Flames flickered from several candles placed there, creating dancing highlights and shadows along the canvas walls.
A pot of hot water sat on a small stove, as well as a dish of burning incense that sent up a thin line of smoke, permeating the space with a spicy and unfamiliar scent.
When the woman closed the flap of the tent, muting the noise from outside, the silence in the room caused Ambrosia to sit up straight.
Shifting the dishes with deliberate care, Madam Nadya’s bracelets chimed softly in the gloom. Her voice rose low and lilting, as though carrying some ancient cadence. “Fix your minds upon a single question. Call it forth, and let your thoughts reach out… to the powers that stir in all living things.”
Dash flashed a grin in Ambrosia’s direction. Of course, he did not believe in fortune telling. Ambrosia didn’t either and yet, the temptation to have an answer, any answer, to some of the questions in her mind was strong. Ambrosia closed her eyes and thought of her question.
Madam Nadya turned and approached them carrying two empty teacups, each resting in a saucer. After placing them on the table, she then brought over a tray with a spoon and a canister of what Ambrosia presumed to be tea.
“While thinking of your question, spoon the tea into your cup.”
Ambrosia could feel Dash’s stare on her, and she knew he found the whole exercise terribly amusing. Still, she did exactly as Madam Nadya instructed. Then, with all due seriousness, she handed the spoon to the smirking man beside her.
She met his eyes and frowned. “Please, do not make a joke of this.”
His eyebrows shot up, but he nodded. “Of course. My apologies.” He then carefully scooped a spoonful of tea leaves into his own empty cup.
“I will pour the water. When it is cool enough to drink, do so, but leave enough to cover the remaining tea leaves at the bottom of the cup. Now, hold the handle of your teacup with your left hand, please.” The fortune teller carried over the kettle of water and steam swirled out of the cups as she poured into each. “Set the power of your mind upon the answer to your question. The leaves will find the answer as you drink.”
The tea was weak but had been blended with spices Ambrosia couldn’t quite place. She gave the water a moment to cool and then sipped carefully from her cup.
“Just one question?” Ambrosia asked, making certain she understood. She wanted to know the answers to so many things. Will I be happy in London? Will I be accepted? But she could not deny the one that burned in her mind as the most vital.
After we part in London, will I ever see him again?
Madam Nadya nodded, and so she ran the words through her mind, over and over again. Occasionally she slid a sideways glance in his direction. He was being serious now. They sipped the tea silently. The quiet was only broken by the sounds of the children as they quietly played on the floor.
“Now tip the last of the water onto the saucer,” Madam Nadya instructed. “After a moment turn it upright again and I will read your leaves.”
Again, Ambrosia did exactly as she said. Looking into her cup with the tea leaves plastered against the porcelain, she continued chanting the question in her mind.
Will I see him again?
The woman’s streaked hair spilled forward as she took Ambrosia’s cup and stared into it. She seemed to be nodding to herself before she set the cup down and met Ambrosia’s eyes.
“The answer to your question is not as simple as you would like.” She pointed into the cup. “See the heavy clusters of leaves here, near the handle? That is the immediate, the now. It is strong. But then around the rim and all along the sides—nothing. But in the bottom, another cluster, even stronger than the first. And so the answer to your question is yes, but then no. And then again, far into the future, yes.”
“How far into the future?” Ambrosia asked, despite feeling his curious stare on her.
“That, my child, I do not know. It could be as short as a dozen new moons, but it could also be in another life.”
With that answer, Ambrosia slumped back onto the bench. It meant nothing, she knew. It was foolishness.
