Selena noticed that over the course of her reading, the woman’s accent had all but vanished and she spoke the Tradespeak with perfect ease.
“My god cannot see if the Two-Faced God does not wish him to see,” An-Lan said in a gentler tone. She took Selena’s hand. “Your god…it has shrouded you. This is true, yes?”
Selena nodded. “It is.” I should have known. But still, the disappointment bit deep, which surprised her.
An-Lan patted her hand and released it.
“Shaizan has spoken more today, for you, than he has all week. I pray you will find answers in his words, when the time comes.”
Selena nodded and the two left the small alcove. She was drawn again to the table where the Zak’reth coin rested.
“Why does it fascinate me so? Because of the war, I suppose.”
“Perhaps,” An-Lan said. “Or perhaps Oshkat is speaking to you as well.” She took up the coin and pressed it into Selena’s hand. “If that is so, it is not my place to silence him.” She gripped Selena’s hand. “You keep that coin, child. You keep it and maybe Oshkat will be able to help you in a way that my Shaizan or your big moon cannot.”
“I shouldn’t. It’s not right. The Two-Faced God…I have pledged my service to it. I wear the Aluren blue and silver.”
An-Lan guided Selena to the door. The shop was still empty. Outside, the clouds were fat and dark, and the air smelt of more rain.
“What you consider the ‘lesser gods’ are gods nonetheless. Their power still exists in this world, child. And it is yours for the taking should you wish to use it.” An-Lan indicated the coin curled in Selena’s fingers. “They are there. Waiting.”
“What does it do? How do I use it?”
An-Lan inhaled deeply and when she exhaled, she opened her eyes. “My god tells me that things will become bad for you. A time when you will think all is hopeless and that your death or defeat is certain. I do not know how Oshkat will help you but I can tell you this: do not spend this coin. Not ever. “
Selena shook her head. “I don’t understand.”
“Go now, Selena Koren. A voyage awaits you. You are a beacon in the dark, child. The smoke spoke true and I see it with my own eyes. Be careful. In the night that is falling, we will need light such as yours.”
Selena turned to go. “Oh! But I haven’t paid you for the reading. Or the coin.”
“The coin of Oshkat is yours. It always belonged to you. It was waiting for you. I cannot charge for what was never mine to begin with.” She grinned. “For the reading, one doubloon, if you please. One gold doubloon. A lady has to keep shop in these rough times.”
Selena turned over the doubloon to An-Lan, though had someone told her she’d pay so much to an Uago seer that morning, she would have laughed at the notion.
“Thank you,” Selena said.
An-Lan touched her cheek. “Be safe, child.” The door closed behind her.
Selena stepped onto the boardwalk and glanced down at the coin in her hand. The rough edges bit into her skin. Whatever An-Lan had said, it didn’t feel right to carry it. Not now. Perhaps someday or perhaps never. She almost let it slip through her fingers, to let it land in the sand beside the boardwalk. Instead she tucked the coin into an inner pocket in her tunic and began to walk.
The more distance she put between herself and An-Lan’s shop, the more unreal it all seemed and she began to feel foolish again. The Two-Faced God has been generous to me, even if I bear its wound.
Selena sighed. The only voyage she would be taking, it seemed, was one back to Isle Lillomet. She strode toward the scriveners.
She didn’t hear the footsteps closing in behind her until it was too late. Rough hands grabbed her from behind, dragging her into an alley that smelt of piss and refuse.
Selena’s hand went to the sword at her hip, but her attackers slammed her into the rough wooden wall that formed one half of the alley. The back of her head struck hard.
“Luxa—”
A filthy hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her before she could weave light. A face pressed in, and Selena saw it was the captain she had humiliated several night’s past. Mallen. One other pirate helped pin her to the wall, while a third stood behind Mallen, a lusty grin on his face and a dented cutlass in his hand.
“Hello, lassie,” Mallen hissed. “Remember old Mallen? We got some unfinished business, you an’ me.”
Selena forced herself to remain calm, but she was held fast and Mallen’s hand on her mouth made spell-casting impossible.
He nodded. “Aye, that’s right. You’re trapped, little mouse, and this time no dragonman to stand between me an’ what I’m hungerin’ for.”
He let go of her mouth long enough to slap her so that her teeth cut her lips, and then his hand clamped down again.
“You stay put, now, and this’ll go easier.”
Selena felt a real pang of fear cut through the pain. She prayed for a passerby to help but just then a bolt of lightning sliced open the sky and the downpour drenched them all instantly. It did nothing to dampen Mallen’s intentions; his rough hand squeezed her breast through her Aluren tunic.
And then Selena saw him.
The tall man in the black long coat. He was standing at the mouth of the alley, partially obscured by a stack of crates. As then, he was smoking a cigarillo but the driving rain doused it. Selena watched him toss the butt aside and then he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. The rain seemed to bother him not at all. He settled in to watch, and anger burned Selena’s fear away.
Mallen saw her watching something behind him and it was enough for him to loosen his guard. Selena felt the weight of him pressed against her ease a bit. She hadn’t the room to drive her knee into his groin, but she twisted and kicked her heel into Mallen’s kneecap. His roar of pain drowned out the grinding sound of bones breaking, and the pounding rain drowned out both. He stumbled backward and fell hard on his rump with a splat, clutching his shattered knee.
The other pirate holding Selena was smart enough and quick enough to deliver a quick jab into her throat. The pain was swift and jagged. She gasped for air even as she twisted her arm free of the pirate’s grasp, ducking a second blow that would have caught her full in the face.
Her sword was in her hand even before she had found her breath, and she leveled it at the two pirates who now both held cutlasses. She spared a glance at the man in the black coat, in case he was another enemy to be faced. But he only observed, a small, crooked smile on his lips, as if the whole situation amused him.
“Cut her bloody head off!” Mallen screamed from the ground, flailing in dirt and filth that was fast becoming mud.