The Philosopher muttered to himself as he scattered the coins, scooped them up with practice motion, and cast them again and again. I leaned in to hear, “...Strong-unbroken-line, another-unbroken-line, a-third-unbroken-line…”

  Someone beside me heard the same and whispered to her companion, “Her first sign is Sky. That is good for her. There are many auspicious readings that begin with so strong an essence.”

  I have to admit that I was a bit jealous at the time. Sky is one of two manifestations of the Silver star’s power, my father and Uncle’s own. It often lent a sense of refined power to any reading.

  Twice, thrice more the philosopher flicked and collected the coins, moving up and down the floor as the final lines of Stallion’s reading came into focus.

  “Sky-Leaf,” the philosopher rasped, though the room was so deathly quiet, he might as well have been roaring it to the heavens, “Forty-fourth-hexagram. Coupling.”

  Many of the lords and ladies within the hall snickered, and White Stallion, for the first time since I had known her, turned bright red. I was suddenly so furious at the others’ lack of maturity that I myself turned red.

  I knew the hexagram, I had read the Book of Changes more than once, and I had studied the best-known philosophers’ interpretations of the many hexagrams. Though it was often the sought-after reading for a young lady with a beau she hoped to ensnare, there were many more ways to read it. And yet, White Stallion – one of the few women in the Land under Heaven who dared lead her armies herself, who dared risk the ire of the old guard by speaking for herself in matters of state – had been embarrassed by the way some coins fell.

  No matter what the Philosopher said next, all that these giddy fools would remember was that the confident female leader was soon to be bedded.

  I almost couldn’t hear the prophecy through the snickering and jabs, the Philosopher’s voice was so weathered and low.

  “Impulses-and-emotions-seek-to-control-you-and-turn-your-momentum-aside. Seek-reflection-and-inner-balance-or-auspicious-beginnings-turn-to-inauspicious-ends.”

  There, I thought, nothing about being bedded. It was a good reading all things considered, and in time, perhaps the others would come to see the value in an ally such as Stallion, who only needed to keep a cool head in order to succeed.

  But then Golden Goat launched to his feet and stumbled out onto the floor, drinking bowl still in hand and still miraculously full. “I’m next! I’m next! Heaven knows I could use a good coupling! Heaven please send me such a prophecy!”

  Uproarious laughter.

  I couldn’t help but feel that Stallion’s years of success and stalwart leadership on the field of battle had been undone in a single flippant comment. As Stallion held her head high, beat-red though she was, and yielded the floor, I thought that the only way for her to salvage the situation would be to draw her sword and slash any man to death who dared make a joke at her expense. It was a rampant thought, and I was surprised at myself for spawning it, but the more I turned it over in my head, the more I found it to be true. It was cold but correct, and I wondered if I had the temerity to take such drastic action should I get a similar reading.

  Unfortunately for White Stallion, she did no such thing, and I watched how her standing within the crowd of young lords and ladies began to crumble, with looks of pity or muted comments. I wanted to cross over to her and show her that not everyone had changed their estimation of her based on so inane an interpretation, but any consolation would only make her appear that much weaker in the eyes of the others.

  “Sky-Mountain,” the Philosopher rasped. I had almost missed Golden Goat’s reading. Sky-Mountain was one of the many that sounded good but… I smiled at the instant, divine retribution.

  “Thirty-third hexagram. Retreating. Forever-a-follower-should-you-seek-to-lead-the-charge-of-destiny-you-will-bring-wrath-and-ruin-upon-your-own-head.”

  The room was stunned into silence. By Heaven! I had heard inauspicious readings before, and thirty-three was certainly an inauspicious tile to begin with. But never before had I heard such doomsaying from a philosopher. And for the oldest son of a great clan? Golden Goat was finished. He may as well retire to his family’s estates and forsake any claim to his birthright then and there. But…

  “On my head you say?” He sipped from his bowl and squinted drunkenly at the Philosopher. “Then on my head be it!”

  He placed his bowl atop his head, and stumbled, tripped, and hopped from the center of the floor, appearing for all the world like the cup atop his head didn’t stand a chance, but when he reached the edge of the room he showed that his drinking bowl was still full to the brim. Many of the lords and ladies were delighted by the trick and applauded, his horrible reading quickly forgotten by many, no doubt. He had flouted his fate the only way possible – by continuing to play the court jester.

  “I,” said Noble Lion, in mock nervousness, “think this is as good a place as any for a nice stable reading. Anyone care to guess the result?”

  “Fortress!” “Fortress!” Many of the lords and ladies had apparently been to plenty of readings with Noble Lion before, and, if the woman whispering in front of me was to be trusted, the consistency of Noble Lion’s readings was uncanny. Lion strode out to the center of the room, barely paying attention to the Philosopher, but plying the crowd as much as the board.

  As the first coins rolled, the crowd suddenly went cold. Noble Lion scowled and turned to see what had come up. A solid line to start. The old man casting the coins paused long enough to smile a wicked smile up at Noble Lion, and the bright young man looked suddenly ashen.

  Despite my own words from earlier, fates rarely changed. And when they did, they often changed for the worse. Coins rolled, lines were drawn, and everyone gasped at the final result rippled throughout the crowd.

  “Mountain-to-the-Sky. Twenty-Six. Great-Accumulation-of-Power!”

  The color drained even further from Noble Lion’s face, but now, those at the edges of the room had gone from deathly silent to erupting with cheers. As Noble Lion stumbled from the floor, the crowd began to clap him on the back, shake him by the shoulder, and hoist him on their shoulders like a king. It was perhaps the single best outcome for a reading, and the interpretation was all but self-explanatory. Noble Lion would harness significant power, he would overcome great barriers, and his creativity would eventually lead to stability throughout the land. The Philosopher’s mumbling confirmed as much.

  Everyone in the Hall of Sixty-Four, including myself and River, chanted deafeningly as if we had all just won a great battle together. Toasts were raised to Noble Lion’s health and the success of the Empire, and after that, every person in the room was suddenly clamoring to go next. When such vaulted heights could be attained through so simple a process, who wouldn’t risk the converse? But I did my best to stick to the edges of the room, and after a few more readings failed to impress or mortify, exalt or degrade, I found myself losing interest, as did many of the lords and ladies who retreated to the edges of the room to drink and eat and socialize.

  After that, I had a chance to find Stallion at the edge of the room sitting with one of her retainers, one of the few people who were honorbound to stay by her side for at least the rest of the evening. Though there was no guarantee the bond between lord and bannerman would last much longer than that, based on the younger retainer’s ugly gazes at the woman he was sworn to.

  “It seems I’m meant to be no more than a wife after all,” was all she said when I went over and tried to cast a more positive light on her reading. She seemed inconsolable. Yet, when Noble Lion managed to win free from his newfound admirers, and approached, there was a spark in her eye that I couldn’t read.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “The man of the hour,” she said and slurped.

  “I…” Noble Lion began, a little flushed with drink, but seeming to sober as he held her gaze. And held it. And held it.

  “I think we will take our leave,” River said hurriedly, grabbing my arm. Noble Lion finally broke Stallion’s stare and seemed to notice me for the first time. “Oh no, my friend. Every lord and lord-to-be needs to have their reading done at least once in the Hall of Sixty-Four. It's a rule!”

  He threw an arm around my shoulder and began herding me through the crowd.

  “A rule? Surely not a palace rule or I would have read about it,” I laughed nervously. “No one wants to hear any nonsense about me.”

  “Oh, I think we do,” said Lion, leading me out to the middle of the floor where some lady of minor rank stood confused by a reading of “Converting the Maiden.” Lion raised his voice to the crowd that was now rising from their seats at his return to the floor. “Right, lords and ladies?! Don’t we want to hear what’s in store for our favorite little Sparrow?!”

  “Really, Lion, it's always such a jumble. There’s no need to get them so excited.”

  But what River had said earlier was true, and it was a double edged sword. The more I deflected, the more interested they got, and in moments I was standing alone, before the Philosopher’s intense stare, the room having gone silent.

  The Philosopher was muttering something as he looked into my eyes, though I could barely hear him, or discern anything from what he said. His typical jumble was now an unbroken string of ominous croaking.

  “...dualnaturesforkingpathsflameandashesgfloodanddarknessfatedestinydoomprophecy…”

  The coins clattered on the tiles. Again and again they fell and spun, bronze whirring as the Philosopher grabbed me by the arm and led me across the board with each addition to my fate, as if I were a prisoner of destiny and he my gaoler.

  “Solidlinebrokenlinesolidline,” the Philosopher chanted. I couldn’t remember which essence that outlined. Had I drank too much, or was it the combined attention of so many of my peers that had the blood rushing to my head? Was I getting dizzier or was the Philosopher getting so loud that his voice was now booming through every fiber of my being, rattling my mind? “BROKENLINESOLIDLINE…”

  The Philosopher had one more cast to make and he gave me a long puzzling stare as he held the coins back for a moment. He looked… frightened. He threw them down, as if he didn't want to but couldn't help himself.

  They clattered, bounced, spun…. And finally stopped.

  He looked up to me with eyes so wide that it seemed as if I had committed some ghastly crime before his very eyes. “BROKEN LINE,” he finished, voice perfectly clear to my ears at least.

  “What?” I stood rooted to the spot. I truly hadn’t followed his insane mumbling, and the hexagram I now found myself standing on was one that didn’t come up very often, nor had it stood out to me in my studies.

  “Sixty-four,” the philosopher whispered, though his voice seemed to cut through me. “The final hexagram. Destiny on the verge of completion.”

  “That’s a hexagram? Really?” I said. I didn’t think I had ever heard of it, or at least never heard the sixty-fourth hexagram called by that name.

  “You will be an able follower in times of peace, but a heroic villain in times of chaos.”

  There was no sound but the Philosopher’s panting breath for a long time. The first voice to break the quiet was my own but I listened to myself speak as if it were someone else controlling my tongue.

  “See? Nonsense,” I laughed. No one laughed with me. The room remained completely silent as I wrenched my arm free from the Philosopher and retreated from the floor. His eyes continued to follow me, accusing or perhaps disbelieving.

  If the poor youth who went after me had hoped for his moment in the spotlight, he would have been sorely disappointed, because as the Philosopher’s eyes finally released me and locked onto him, no one else seemed quite ready to move on from my strange reading. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck crawl as, even after I returned to the shadows at the edge of the room and my place at my beautiful escort’s side, eyes still repeatedly flicked toward me, or, worse yet, never left me.

  “That was perfect,” whispered River.

  “I didn’t do anything,” I hissed back.

  “You did, and the coins fell perfectly. Flaming water. Let them puzzle that one out.”

  “I’m still trying to puzzle that one out.”

  “Oh, it's all nonsense.” She said it a bit too casually, and I found myself looking down at my attire. My reading had indeed included water, which was the essence of the Black Star I had been born under. But I had never gotten a reading that included fire before. The purple on the hem of my robe suddenly seemed, in some odd way, to fit.

  “Did you know?” I asked River, who had chosen to include the extra color.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. Pure chance.”

  “Then I don’t suppose you’d mind submitting to your own reading?”

  She laughed, “Not a chance. But… I think I know someone who might.”

  Windstopper was standing directly behind us, his distinctly heavy breathing less than a span from our ears.

  We both turned and gave him pointed looks at the same time.

  “I Am Sorry. Am I Supposed To Be One Hundred Paces Away Now Or Just Two.”

  “Oh,” I said as if just noticing him, “How lucky you’re here actually. We were just wondering if you would like a reading.”

  “But…” the big man seemed to shrink. “I Am Not A Lord. I Can Not.”

  “Are you sure? You might not get another chance to be in a room with a real Philosopher. In the very Hall of Sixty-Four, no less.”

  Still he seemed to equivocate. I dragged him by the shoulders as Noble Lion had done with me, though it took considerably more effort to move my mountain of a friend.

  “Come on Windstopper. You don’t even know what star you’re born under. And no one ever gave you a proper courtesy name until recently. If you don’t find out your destiny now, you might never know until it happens.”

  “Oh. Kay. Oh Boy. I Have Never Gotten My Fortune Told Before. I Am So Excited.”

  I pushed the big man out onto the floor before anyone could object.

  Windstopper got “the Sky Rooted,” as powerful a combination of elements as there could be, but the name of its hexagram…

  “Twenty-five. Innocence.”

  Windstopper beamed. For him, it was perfect.

  The remainder of the night passed in a joyous blur. Windstopper ate and drank in copious amounts. I tried to keep up with him and quickly realized that I was far outmatched. Time after time I looked over toward River and found myself lost in her eyes, her face so gentle, so sweet on the surface, but dark and depthless when she turned her gaze upon me. Noble Lion, perhaps the greatest among us before tonight and now exalted even further beyond, chose me of all people to spend the rest of his night with, and we fell easily into a friendship that could have gone back decades. White Stallion, when she had finished her self-imposed exile, finally decided to join us once more, and she alone gave Windstopper a challenge in the game of cups and bowls.

  Windstopper’s innocence was infectious, and though many lords kept distances between their bodyguards, their allies, their concubines, and themselves, I found that, for this night at least, we were as free as we had ever been. Looking back on it, it may have been the happiest night of my life.

  But it would not last. It wouldn’t even last until dawn.

  ***NEW FATE!*** ***NEW ALLIANCES!***

  SPARROW

  RANK 7: Distinguished Knight

  WORTH: 350 dan

  CLAN: Silver Falcon | STAR: Black | FATE: Fire-Water "Verge of Destiny"

  MANDATE: None

  BONDS: Windstopper | ALLIANCES: Shadow River, Noble Lion, White Stallion

  DISTINCTION: Heir to the Imperial Protector of the Falcon Plains, keen with systems and puzzles, received an uncommon reading and a strange prophecy from the Philosopher.

  ***SILVER FALCON CLAN MISSION STATUS UPDATE: INTERBELLUM***

  Primary Objective: Prepare the Silver Falcon clan for general war among the clans.

  Secondary Objective: Ensure the Silver Falcon clan ends up on the right side of Imperial favor.

  SUCCEEDED x2 Bonus Objective: Gain an ally in a province North of the Silver Falcon clan's holdings.

  Bonus Objective: Gain an ally in a province West of the Silver Falcon clan's holdings.

  Bonus Objective: Gain an ally in a province South of the Silver Falcon clan's holdings.

  SUCCEEDED Secret Objective: Gain an ally in the Imperial household.

  Though the system of prophecy isn’t explained in Romance, the character Sparrow is based upon also gets his fortune told, and he also laughs at the outcome. The “hero at peace, villain at war” line is inspired by that scene in the original texts.

  White Stallion: Sky-Leaf, Coupling

  Golden Goat: Sky-Mountain, Retreating

  Noble Lion: Mountain to the Sky, Great Accumulation of Power

  Some other lady: Root-Iron, Converting the Maiden

  Destiny on the Verge of Completion

  Windstopper: Sky-Root, Innocence