Poppy blinked as a stream of dusty light entered her tent. She sneezed. Her father stared down at her where she perched on a crude stool.
"Poppy, my darling, people have lined up all down the way for an audience with you. You're quite the commotion, girl."
Poppy smiled and brushed back her hair. She was really quite pretty, with hair that kissed her sun-kissed skin like a raven's wing. Her eyes were a grey like a charged thundercloud, always active and pulsing with light. Her smile lit up even the darkest of rooms, and her voice lilted and sang the words she spoke. A combination of her true Sight and her picturesque looks were what people traveled kingdoms to see, what they came from far and near to get a view of.
   When Poppy brushed her hair back, she gave her father a view of her Seer's Mark- the blue symbol of an eye as if tattooed behind her ear. She smiled.
"Send them in, Father. I am ready now."
   Everyone in the caravan spoke to Poppy's father with a sort of reverance bordering on outright fear. He was their self-professed leader, and he did not feel at all guilty about spying- or setting spies- on anyone he thought untrustworthy. If you spoke about him in an unflattering manner or even looked at him the wrong way, he would always find some way to survey you. Her father was a tall man with large muscles. He had very little hair and beady eyes that seemed to stare a hole right through you.
"Yes, darling. I'll send them in."
   Poppy arranged her red skirts about her stool in a way that made her look fittingly mysterious and beautiful. She was to do readings for anyone who had lined up- or rather, anyone who had enough gold or jewels to pay. Her readings were the most demanded because she was a True Seer. The rest of the gypsies sold cheap, good food and gay entertainment.
   The first person to enter the tent was a red-haired youth about Poppy's own age. He wore a tunic the color of mustard seed and breeches that were several inches too short. He thrust a small nugget of gold into her palm and then sat upon the stool opposite hers. Poppy gazed deeply into his eyes. She felt herself enter a familiar trance, spinning off into a world that only she could see.
"I see that you have a troubled past. A turbulent future lies before you, but with the right decisions it can be a happy one as well. Value your integrity and never make your choices quickly."
   Poppy snapped from her trance to see the boy gazing at her as though she had just offered him a fresh pasty. She laughed inside and reverted to a curt tone as brisk as autumn wind.
"That will be all, young sir."
   He scampered off, happy and excited. The next few hours were blurs for Poppy. A small mountain of treasure piled up in the corner, but Poppy knew the rules. She was not to take anything from the payment stack. She always followed that rule. Until the girl came in.