On the day of the wedding, Kro hadn’t been difficult to find for Nadira. Pretty much the exact hut that they had woken up in a few nights ago she found him. He was laying back on a cushion with a pipe. He hadn’t been hiding and had laughed when he saw her. “Oh, Orphan girl! Back again, How was the wedding? How’s Sadie doing?” asked the bride's twin.

“They’re coming.” She told him.

The young man with purple braided hair and piercings arched an eyebrow. “The Bheorse still? Well, listen, I can’t help.”

“What? Please, I don’t know anyone! I haven’t a chance.” She didn’t know how long it would be until they found her. All that man had said was that he would find her soon. She was breathless having run all through the market to find him. “What about those potions! Or the charms!”

“Those aren’t cheap for one. They aren’t giving them away. And I’m not specialized to make defensive charms. I already gave you one of the best in my collection, and I’m not giving you another one." He started to laugh at the concept, “I hardly know you.”

The fact didn’t deter Nadira in the slightest. “But, what do I do? Kro, you must have some idea of where I can go, who can help?”

He took a long drag from the pipe in thought, closing his eyes either to savour it or to think, it wasn’t clear which. “Well,” he said finally, “you can start by helping yourself.”

“What do you mean?” The statement didn’t make sense. As far as she was concerned, by coming here she was helping herself. “Should I run off into a random tunnel?”

“Oh no, that would just be stupid,” he replied. “…You’re gonna need help, aren’t you.”

She didn’t answer. He brought himself slowly to a stand. He dressed in a loose silk lilac tunic that hung loosely, almost off a shoulder. Black trousers and high black leather boots adorned his legs. He picked up his heavy amethyst cloak that he’d kept around him on the floor like a blanket. His mannerism and position confused her. She wondered what he even did in this room all day. What was his job with the Sot? There were many shelves in the room, maybe he was a shopkeeper here?

Kro laid out a plan. “You’ll need some more luck, ancestors know you’re in short supply, and then we’ll see what happens, alright?”

“More luck?” She realized that he probably meant a deal with the Eazu. She didn’t have any money with her. She was hesitant for a moment, but she knew she might not have any other options. “Alright,” she said, “I’ll do it. Where do I go?”

He walked over to the door and pulled aside the cloth hanging at the door. Beyond the market, the blue banners and healers were closest to the Sot side of the market. He lifted his hand to try to point through the mess of buildings, but soon lowered it again. “You know what, I’ll just take you there.”

Nadira was pleased with this turn. She had hoped she wouldn’t have to go it alone. “Alright,” she said.

Being outside with all the Bheorse regularly shopping made her exceptionally nervous. She was still wearing the clothes of a Sot servant and her disguise was still functioning. Her walking along with him did not get any looks. It was only a matter of time though that the man who could go through her charm would be back. She had a feeling the only reason he didn’t take her by force was because of the crowds and Leliana’s orders. Perhaps the market was the safest place for her right now. She tried to think that but found it hard to believe. There were too many corners and ramshackle alleyways to be pulled into. If he did work around the charm, she wouldn’t make a peep either while following commands. Getting luckier could be enough to avert him and stay in the clear.

“You can jinx people, right?” she asked him as they moved through the crowded streets. “Isn’t that kind of luck manipulation? Couldn’t you take bad luck from people and that would be good luck?”

“Of course not! That’s not how that works. We have completely different energies to the Eazu. Our ancestors respond to our being confident and courageous. So it’s obvious then that we would see our enemies as lesser and weaker, and see ourselves as impenetrable. Our ancestors just carry that vision out. The Eazu instead, they’re not confident or courageous. They’re ambitious about helping people. Pretty much the worst kind of person. So self-righteous.” Kro commented, just as they arrived at the tent. A few people in blue heard his comments and upturned their noses at him. “Anyways,” he concluded cheerfully, “in you go.”

From the sound of them, Nadira didn’t think the Eazu sounded that bad. At least, not how Kro had described them. But she had heard of them from others as well. Leliana had always said that they were all con artists. But then, Leliana had such a negative view of everyone, even Nadira. What did she know?

She entered the tent. Inside was a strange sight. There was a large bronze cauldron on a pedestal with two wooden stepladders, one on each side, to loom over it. On the other side of the construction was a desk, with a few comfy chairs across from it. Behind that desk was a woman with curly black hair and manilla skin. Her eyes were a light blue and stared at her with a fresh fascination.

“Hello, welcome, come in!” she said, getting up from her seat and coming to greet Nadira at the door. “Dear, how are you? My name is Mulienne, what is your name?”

“I’m N... Nioma?”

“Nioma. Beautiful name. And you’re so pretty!”

“Thank you,” Nadira said, knowing that her appearance was also a lie.

“What can I do for you? No, let me guess, let me guess!”

Nadira could not help but allow the woman to guess, she was never given any other option.

Mulienne walked around her in a circle. “You’re here to change your fortune. You’ve been having a rough time. You’re looking for something, but you don’t know where to turn. So you’ve come here. Am I right?”

Nadira was mesmerized, “Wow, Yes!”

The woman nodded, rounding back to the front of Nadira again and looking deeply into her eyes, “Of course. Now, I can change all that for you. But you know that. It’s why you’re here. But it isn’t something we do for nothing, I’m afraid. We operate on a win-win basis. We help you, and you help us. Everyone is happy. Do you want to be happy?”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“I, yes? I know, I’m willing to- “

“What might it cost you, I’m sure you must be wondering.” Mulienne twirled a curly strand of hair around a finger with a long glossy nail, shaped to a sharp point. Her eye contact was enormous. “I’ll tell you. I can see you don’t have money with you. You see, luck is something that can be moved, reorganized - but it will always balance out in the end. Perhaps not your end. But an end. We have to trust the process. But, I like to organize that process into ways that suit my life. And I can do that for you. All it costs is some down the line.”

“Down the line?” Nadira was starting to figure out why Leliana had called the con-artists. This didn’t sound great. But she wanted them to spin it for her. “Whatever that means, know that I’m willing to do this, it’s my only hope.”

“Yes,” Mulienne didn’t seem to notice her urgency and carried on as normal. “You see, we all have the shot at so many happy moments. Occasionally, we don’t take them all. Some of them are taken from us by others. Sometimes, the shots we get aren’t happy, but important. Necessary. We can’t move those, you understand. But we can move the happy opportunities closer for you. And all you have to do is share.”

“Share?” Nadira repeated.

“We get a percentage,” Mulienne confirmed.

“What percentage,” Nadira pressed. That information seemed important.

“18%.”

“18% of my… happiness opportunities?”

“Yes. Less than one-fifth of the time, the Eazu will also get a happy opportunity,” she explained. “It’s like bonding our fates. I know it seems like a big commitment, but trust me,” Mulienne said, “We have only the best wishes for you. We want a mutually beneficial partnership.”

Nadira didn’t know what to say. That seemed like a bit too much of her life to share with these strangers in mysterious ways. She liked her privacy, and it seemed somehow invasive of that. Was fate a personal property? Some growing fears needed quelling before she could move forward. She was still in a rush though. “You need me to agree, for this to happen, Correct?”

Mulienne giggled, “Nioma, stealing is not kind. It would go against Eazu ethos to force you into an agreement against your will. We want to benefit you as well. You came here because you needed us. And we’re happy to help.”

She was right. Nadira did need the Eazu here. “Alright. Where do I sign?”

Mulienne almost skipped over to the desk and pulled out not a pen, but a pair of scissors. “Cut off a lock of your hair, and we can get started.”

Nadira took the scissors and lifted a lock. Her hair wouldn’t have been that black hair that she was displaying. Instead, when she cut the black hair, it turned back into its mousy brown in her grip. Mulienne noticed this change but said nothing about it.

“Will you be keeping this?” Nadira asked her.

“No, no, silly. That would be unhygienic. We put it into the cauldron!”

Nadira would hate to be the servant that cleaned the cauldron.

Mulienne led Nadira up to the top of the steps on the left side, while she took to the steps on the right. They went up, and at the top, Nadira looked down to see the cauldron was already filled with clear water. Thankfully, nothing had been floating in it, that she could see.

“Drop it in, and then place your hands on the rim of the cauldron, and don’t look away.” Mulienne cut off a few strands of her hair, but not more than a hairbrush might have taken.

“This will change my luck?” Nadira had to ask.

“Yes, and as a bonus, since you seem to be having it rough, I’ll throw in a prophecy.”

She was in too deep now. She threw in the lock of hair. Mulienne added hers as well. Nadira leaned down and gripped the sides of the cauldron to stare into the water. Except the smell hit her and she realized it wasn’t water at all. The cauldron liquid smelled putrid, like getting sick mixed with the earthen scent of clay.

The hair started to sizzle as it sank into liquid. She held herself over it. She was not to look away, Mulienne had said. She’d sounded quite serious about it, so Nadira didn’t want to press her luck.

The Eazu on the other side looked into it too. Nadira could tell the woman was staring not at the water, but Nadira’s reflection in it. Even though the reflection was sometimes interrupted by strands of dissolving hair.

Nadira tried to focus. She stared at the awful liquid for what felt like a long time. Her arms started to feel a bit tired after a while, but she was afraid to move them away. How long would this take? She wondered what would happen if the Bheorse had just burst in there while she was doing this. What if it was too late? She didn’t think Kro would let them walk in so easily, though. Surely he’d give her some kind of a warning that they were on their way. She tried to take comfort in this thought, to distract her from her limbs discomfort.

Then her reflection started to change. She barely noticed it at first, but her hair was back to normal. Her face shape changed back to its original form. She didn’t look away to see if it was something to do with her bracelet charm falling off or something else. This, she told herself, could just be part of the magic here. She watched herself change.

Mulienne’s voice cut through the silence, “Ahh,” she began as if it was a great relief. “You seek so much, Nadira.” Nadira, at hearing her name, almost looked up at the woman, but instead, she kept her eyes laser-focused. “You seek where you come from. You will seek justice for another like you. And an end to a force of balance. A girl you have hurt. Dancing.” Nadira knew she spoke of Daress, and could almost see a figure like her in the liquid.

Mulienne continued without pause. The vision in the liquid reflected her words in dream-like ways. Nadira felt tunnel-vision. She could feel her blood pounding through her body, but her skin was cold. “Dancing. There was and will be dancing. There is a fear of falling, but let its certainty free you. Guilt, shame, destruction... irresistible urges that control their owners. Bonds will and have meant little but everything. You will find your answers. Answers will and have not brought joy, but they will bring an end to asking. Turmoil, freedom, and mourning. You want to know what life is, and was? This is what awaits you.”

Nadira was overwhelmed by the number of images she received. None of them made any kind of clear sense. It seemed more like a warning than a prophecy. It could be about anything, she realized. “Can I look up now?”

She didn’t particularly feel luckier. But she heard an affirmative and brought herself upright.

“Now, how are you feeling? Do you want some tea?” Mulienne asked.

“No, I’m feeling fine,” although she was actually quite tired and thirsty from the experience. “I should, uh, go.” Nadira climbed down from the steps. Her arms were going to be sore from the amount of holding herself up over that cauldron she had to do. “What’s even in that thing?”

“The venom of an ancient worm,” Mulienne replied, calmly.

Nadira shuddered in disgust. “Well, that’s kind of gross.”

“It’s traditional and has many interesting properties to help in the magic. Now, that should do it, Nioma.”

Nadira was suspicious. She had been called by her real name during the cauldron bit. “Do you remember saying the prophecy?”

“Not a word. I do hope you were paying attention, I am not able to do it again without another 18%.”

“I’ll remember, thanks though.”

“My pleasure,” Mulienne said with unsettling honesty.

At least being creeped out was a distraction from the Bheorse she thought. She pushed aside the fabric to leave.

“How did it go?” Kro asked. He had been standing not far from the door. Presumably as the lookout. Nadira smiled that she had been right. He did stick around to stand guard.

“Oh,” she said, uncertain how it did go, in the end. “Good I think? I should be lucky now.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear it. I could use a good luck charm around,” Kro said as if it was a statement in passing. Nadira couldn’t help but read into it.

“Around? As in, I’ll be around?” She started to feel a bit excited. Maybe this luck thing was going to work out.

“Sure, you can stay at the shack another night. Might be able to find a Sot more suitable for barriers as well that could help you out, but that’s a maybe.”

“My odds are looking good though,” she added, hoping that might be accurate.

“Sure, maybe.” Kro was non-committal.

As they walked back to the Sot Market, Nadira noticed a poster slapped onto one of the bulletin boards in the middle of the market. The coming ball host this season at the Dar Yi Home, it read. On the poster, two figures were dancing. The echoes of the prophecy repeated in her head.