The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

Author:Julie Leong [Leong, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2024-11-05T00:00:00+00:00

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When Tao grew hungry during the night, she ate the apple first, for she knew that the dried fish and small cookie would keep for longer. The sweet tartness of the fruit was like a sudden burst of sunlight in the darkness of the cave, and Tao tried to savor it for as long as she could, taking small bites and eating even the core of it around its seeds. She followed it with just a small swallow of water, although she was thirsty enough to have more, and tried to assess her situation with a cold rationality.

The magefinder would still be searching for her. If his orders had dragged him all the way to Craghorn, he would not give up so easily now. Sneaking back into the city wouldn’t be safe, for somebody would certainly spot her, and word of a runaway Shinn girl-mage would spread like wildfire. She assumed that he would have sought assistance from the city watch already; the guards would have complied once they’d seen his official writ from the Guild.

It was theoretically possible to travel back west past Craghorn by going around the mountain city, avoiding its gates on either end—but it was a perilous option, as it would mean climbing up through the sheer rocky cliffs and back down again on the other side. Tao was no experienced mountaineer; and besides, she lacked any of the equipment and supplies that would have been necessary to attempt that. She quickly eliminated the idea from consideration.

So it seemed that she had but two viable options before her: one, to remain in her cave just outside Craghorn’s northern gates and hope, somehow, for rescue by her friends. She did not know how they could possibly find her here, but she also dared not venture out herself to seek them.

The second option was to forge on alone through the mountain pass and hike on to the next outpost, where she could do…something, she supposed.

Without her wagon or tent, her tea or fortune stones—not even Laohu, she thought with a pang—she would have to start anew. The coin she had in her purse would buy her a few weeks in a cheap inn, or transportation with a caravan to an eastern city. But after that…she doubted she could make a living reading fortunes in the street like a vagabond. Or that it was worth the risk of the magefinder tracking her down again. She could seek ordinary work, maybe—find an innkeeper willing to take on a Shinn girl to clean and serve drinks. Failing that, she could beg, although the thought was a heavy pit in her stomach.

Neither option was especially heartening. Weighing her situation, she knew that she should likely give up hope of rescue—Why would they even bother risking themselves to find you? asked a small and terrible voice in her head—and begin heading for the outpost now, while she still had food and water. It was certainly what she would have done in the past.

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