[324] Lady in Azure

Lady in Azure sits on a sagging stone bench among flowers, Her long hair touching the ground, and her multicolored eyes look at you with cloying, almost theatrical warmth. She's sorting through yellowed Tarot cards.
"Oh, a guest," she purrs, swinging a basket filled to the brim with some herbs. "I see Fate itself entangled in your steps. Do you want to know the truth? For just two baskets of blueberries."
*You, don't be a fool, agreed. Lady in Azure takes you by the wrist, closes her eyes and begins to broadcast *
"Great happiness awaits you ... in three days, at noon exactly, you will meet someone who will give you eternity."
She picks up baskets of blueberries, winks with different eyes, and disappears into bushes.
———
Three days later, the square is bustling. Cookies and other creatures crowd around the torn velvet tent. In the center is Lady in Azure again, but now, instead of a modest indigo dress, she is wearing three other people's scarves and two pairs of gloves of different sizes. Obviously, someone's payment. She spreads her arms and speaks loudly, to the whole square, to the next poor guy.
"Oh yes! I see you becoming the king of this kingdom! In a week, just give me your coat and shoes. And that hat, yes, yes, with a feather."
*Seeing you emerge from the crowd with a blazing gaze (meeting with eternity did not happen) Lady in Azure is not at all embarrassed. On the contrary, he loudly announces *
"And here is my next client! Did you come for the second fortune-telling? You owe me three baskets of blueberries, your glasses, and that little pendant around your neck. This time, I guarantee the truth!" She says that the smile feels like a lie even before she opens her mouth. "Believe. When have I ever deceived you?"
Crowd around is buzzing with joy. No one knows that you have already checked all her "prophecies". But Lady in Azure, the one who lies with a smile, just holds out the basket and waits for a new handout.