Carnival Herald
*
For people who have read 'Take a Thief' really well; my main character did, apparently, exist. She is mentioned on the bottom of page 306.
DISCLAIMER: (I normally forget disclaimers, so just mentally add them to all my work.)
Valdemar is the sole intellectual property of Mercedes Lackey; I can take no credit for any of the ideas represented in this story.
*
Cassa looked around the tent in satisfaction. It really was impressive; the black-painted canvas darkened the inside; none of her customers would be able to tell that she was only an adolescent. And as for the glowing potions that lit the room -
Who needs glowing potions, when a dye filled glass jar with a candle behind works just as well?
Cassa was particularly proud of that addition to the 'witch's' tent. It had been her own idea, when she took over after old Saltra died.
all right, tent, check. Black clothes, check. Hair dye - Cassa wrinkled her nose; privately, she hated the artificial black color that she used to hide her angelically fair hair - check. Nose wart - no.
Cassa hurried through the fair, still in various stages of preparation, to find the tent for the dancers. Her mother would be there, painting the faces of dancing girls and tuning her instruments, and Cassa's mother knew how to make the most convincing facial disfigurements as well as her skill with beauty enhancements.
Cassa joined a queue of fluttering dancers. She did not envy them their supposedly privileged position; Cassa got stage fright in front of an audience, and anyway, she was too tall, thin, and definitely not graceful enough to be a good dancer.
"One nose wart, please, mother." Said Cassa, having reached the front of the queue. Ceara grinned at her daughter and rolled the flesh-colored plaster between her fingers before applying it skillfully to the side of Cassa's nose.
"You look awful, darling." Ceara smiled. "Now, shoo. The fair opens in less than half a Candlemark." Cassa smiled in reply before slipping out of the crowded tent and returning to her own, dark enclosure.
Inside her tent again, she checked the candles again and placed some of the strong incense on to burn. Then she fastened the tent flap shut, allowing the candles and incense to fill the tent with warmth and smoke.
*
Cassa surveyed her first client shrewdly. The girl wanted her fortune told. She looked as though she would like to be a housewife and a mother - so, would it be a tall, dark, stranger, or something else?
She stared into the clouded glass ball that was her crystal globe, still calculating the girl's personality type.
A flash of sapphire filled her vision, and she saw this girl as a woman, older, plumper. She had a young girl holding her skirt, and beside her a man - with curly, pale brown hair, and tanned skin.
Well, why not?
"You will marry a young man, not much older than you." Cassa said, pitching her voice low and speaking slowly. She could feel the girl's attention. "He will have light brown, curly hair, and tanned skin, and you will be very happy together."
The girl gasped. "Oh!" she exclaimed happily. "That sounds like Gregori the cookshop boy!"
Cassa smiled to herself as the girl left the tent. She must have unwittingly described someone the girl was sweet on.
Then the next girl came in. She was thin and sour looking, a description that was proven after she spoke her first words.
"It says on the sign that you are a witch." The girl said. "Could you do a curse on someone for me?"
"I could." Cassa said. Well, I can't really, but I will have been long gone before you realize that! "Who do you wish cursed, and why?"
The girl opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when she saw the cat that jumped on the table. "Is - is that your familiar?" she asked eagerly.
Cassa looked at the cat. In the dark light, the cat's two white paws were not visible, and the green glow from one of her dye-jars had fooled many people into thinking Mitt a familiar spirit. Even though she's just some kitten I adopted two years ago.
"Yes, this is my familiar spirit." Cassa lied. "He has sensed your wish and come to help me in casting this curse."
The girl looked a bit frightened, but she continued. "I want to curse that insufferable little Jeserlyn. She dared to seduce away my Michel." The girl paused, presumably deciding on a suitable punishment. "I want her to be ugly, so no one will ever like her again!"
"Such a thing can be done, with enough power." Cassa replaced the glass ball with a bowl. She crushed some of the pungent leaves at the bottom, and blew stealthily onto the fine powder also in the bowl, causing a delicate white mist to fill the air.
The girl was obviously impressed, and Cassa began to chant quietly. From long experience, she knew to stop when the powder began to disperse, and her 'spell' was very effective in appearances.
"Remember -" Cassa warned as her client rose. "- such a spell will not work all at once. The results will take time."
The girl nodded eagerly, and poured the two pennies that Cassa charged for a curse into her hand.
Cassa smiled, and stroked Mitt. It was amazing how much fun being a carnival witch could be!
*
For people who have read 'Take a Thief' really well; my main character did, apparently, exist. She is mentioned on the bottom of page 306.
DISCLAIMER: (I normally forget disclaimers, so just mentally add them to all my work.)
Valdemar is the sole intellectual property of Mercedes Lackey; I can take no credit for any of the ideas represented in this story.
*
Cassa looked around the tent in satisfaction. It really was impressive; the black-painted canvas darkened the inside; none of her customers would be able to tell that she was only an adolescent. And as for the glowing potions that lit the room -
Who needs glowing potions, when a dye filled glass jar with a candle behind works just as well?
Cassa was particularly proud of that addition to the 'witch's' tent. It had been her own idea, when she took over after old Saltra died.
all right, tent, check. Black clothes, check. Hair dye - Cassa wrinkled her nose; privately, she hated the artificial black color that she used to hide her angelically fair hair - check. Nose wart - no.
Cassa hurried through the fair, still in various stages of preparation, to find the tent for the dancers. Her mother would be there, painting the faces of dancing girls and tuning her instruments, and Cassa's mother knew how to make the most convincing facial disfigurements as well as her skill with beauty enhancements.
Cassa joined a queue of fluttering dancers. She did not envy them their supposedly privileged position; Cassa got stage fright in front of an audience, and anyway, she was too tall, thin, and definitely not graceful enough to be a good dancer.
"One nose wart, please, mother." Said Cassa, having reached the front of the queue. Ceara grinned at her daughter and rolled the flesh-colored plaster between her fingers before applying it skillfully to the side of Cassa's nose.
"You look awful, darling." Ceara smiled. "Now, shoo. The fair opens in less than half a Candlemark." Cassa smiled in reply before slipping out of the crowded tent and returning to her own, dark enclosure.
Inside her tent again, she checked the candles again and placed some of the strong incense on to burn. Then she fastened the tent flap shut, allowing the candles and incense to fill the tent with warmth and smoke.
*
Cassa surveyed her first client shrewdly. The girl wanted her fortune told. She looked as though she would like to be a housewife and a mother - so, would it be a tall, dark, stranger, or something else?
She stared into the clouded glass ball that was her crystal globe, still calculating the girl's personality type.
A flash of sapphire filled her vision, and she saw this girl as a woman, older, plumper. She had a young girl holding her skirt, and beside her a man - with curly, pale brown hair, and tanned skin.
Well, why not?
"You will marry a young man, not much older than you." Cassa said, pitching her voice low and speaking slowly. She could feel the girl's attention. "He will have light brown, curly hair, and tanned skin, and you will be very happy together."
The girl gasped. "Oh!" she exclaimed happily. "That sounds like Gregori the cookshop boy!"
Cassa smiled to herself as the girl left the tent. She must have unwittingly described someone the girl was sweet on.
Then the next girl came in. She was thin and sour looking, a description that was proven after she spoke her first words.
"It says on the sign that you are a witch." The girl said. "Could you do a curse on someone for me?"
"I could." Cassa said. Well, I can't really, but I will have been long gone before you realize that! "Who do you wish cursed, and why?"
The girl opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when she saw the cat that jumped on the table. "Is - is that your familiar?" she asked eagerly.
Cassa looked at the cat. In the dark light, the cat's two white paws were not visible, and the green glow from one of her dye-jars had fooled many people into thinking Mitt a familiar spirit. Even though she's just some kitten I adopted two years ago.
"Yes, this is my familiar spirit." Cassa lied. "He has sensed your wish and come to help me in casting this curse."
The girl looked a bit frightened, but she continued. "I want to curse that insufferable little Jeserlyn. She dared to seduce away my Michel." The girl paused, presumably deciding on a suitable punishment. "I want her to be ugly, so no one will ever like her again!"
"Such a thing can be done, with enough power." Cassa replaced the glass ball with a bowl. She crushed some of the pungent leaves at the bottom, and blew stealthily onto the fine powder also in the bowl, causing a delicate white mist to fill the air.
The girl was obviously impressed, and Cassa began to chant quietly. From long experience, she knew to stop when the powder began to disperse, and her 'spell' was very effective in appearances.
"Remember -" Cassa warned as her client rose. "- such a spell will not work all at once. The results will take time."
The girl nodded eagerly, and poured the two pennies that Cassa charged for a curse into her hand.
Cassa smiled, and stroked Mitt. It was amazing how much fun being a carnival witch could be!