The Teller of Small Fortunes

by Julie Leong · 2024

Tao is an immigrant fortune‑teller who roams the dusty outskirts of Eshtera in a wagon pulled by her trusty mule, offering only "small" fortunes—whether it will hail next week, which barmaid a boy will kiss, when a cow will calve. She avoids big prophecies because she knows they bring big consequences, and her solitary life seems safer than the one she fled. That changes when a reformed thief and an ex‑mercenary enlist her in a desperate search for a lost child. Along the way they gather a daring baker with a "knead" for adventure and a slightly magical cat, forming an unlikely band of companions. As they travel through villages, trolls and tiny townsfolk, Tao’s new friends chip away at her guarded walls and force her to confront the shadows of her past. Faced with a choice between hard‑won freedom and a family she never imagined, Tao must decide whether to risk everything for the people who have finally become her own.