Black Oceans: Crane Maiden

She stared at it’s the back of the card, as though she had already flipped it over. Her features were schooled into intense concentration. She flipped them over, slowly, one by one. Each card held scenes drawn in black and gold, with more precision than I’d ever seen. She couldn’t have gotten these cards anywhere. They were expensive, more than anyone working underground could afford. I wondered who she’d been before she’d come here.

“These seven cards,” she said, licking her lips. “I’ll use them for the interpretation. Past, present, and future. I’m not always good at specifics, but I’ll try. Is that all right?”

“I suppose.” I’d never really had a reading before. They were a common way of earning money back home, but I’d never had to resort to it. I wouldn’t be able to, anyway.

“I might see some things that you don’t want me to. Are you sure it’s all right?”

I hesitated. There were some things that I didn’t want to remember, but I wasn’t sure they would matter to others so much. And whatever she found out about me, I was sure she’d keep it secret. I had the feeling that there were some things I couldn’t remember, or didn’t want to. If she saw them, I hoped she’d keep them to herself. I nodded.

She gave me a faint smile. She touched the cards carefully, not like she was handling china, but like she was handling something old and well-loved. These cards were still a part of her. She tapped the first card. On it, a man was impaled by two swords. One through his chest, the hilt against his breastbone, the other sword was thrust through his back, the pommel perpendicular to his spine. I couldn’t tell if his face was twisted in agony or ecstasy. She closed her eyes. “There’s a man. Someone important to you, though you don’t know him well. This is your past. Perhaps you know him better now. He doesn’t mean you any harm. It’s possible that you are one of these swords.”

“My brother,” I said.

“You’re trying to get him to go somewhere. He doesn’t want to. He’s busy. You can see that. You’re starting to panic.” She frowned and drew her fingers across the card’s surface. She came to the second card. It was the world, upside down. I saw America, and Europe, far away. They were golden continents in black oceans. The card was bordered with gold. Without opening her eyes, she traced it. “Someone made a promise to you,” she said. “They said everything would be all right.” Quickly, her hand moved to the next card. King of swords. “They lied.”

Art by Anonymous

Text by Lucie MacAulay