Yes

You lead Steelheart to the trough where the Roma boy is pouring water from a large bucket. "Young man, may I have your name?"

"I am Hanzi, Your Majesty."

"Hanzi, it is important that no one try to take Steelheart's reins while I am absent. He is trained to follow no one except me or my Kingsguard unless I give him the signal, which I have not done. He will rear and kick if someone besides myself or Lady Trina attempts to lead him elsewhere. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. He is the most magnificent horse I have ever seen!"

"You may scratch his neck if you like; he will appreciate that. And there is an apple in the saddlebag, in the pouch with the red flap, which you may offer him. Just do not take the reins or the bridle."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"I should not be more than an hour," you say to Trina. "Feel free to visit among the Gypsies - excuse me, the Romani - as you will. I will need some coin, no doubt."

Trina passes over your coin purse, with the Kingsguard usually carries for you so that you need not be bothered with monetary transactions. You hand a silver coin to Hanzi, and say to him, "I am ready to see Talaitha now."

"Thank you, Your Majesty! She is this way."

Hanzi leads you up the short path to Talaitha's wagon, and you can see that her "tent" is not really a tent at all, but rather a canvas partition which has walled off a part of the campsite, all the way back to the forest. The top remains open to the sky. Hanzi taps a small metal gong which hangs by the flap, then pulls it open for you. "I cannot enter, Your Majesty," he explains. "Even my presence will disturb the spirit energies."

The heady aroma of incense surrounds you as you pass into Talaitha's domain, and something else as well which reminds you of the bathing pools. You realize that Talaitha has established her camp near an old, crumbling path which led to a natural spring, and her tent walls have captured the steam within, giving her camp an almost otherworldly atmosphere. You can certainly see how one who was not educated with the skepticism of your advisors could believe that they were entering a spiritual realm... the effect must be particularly powerful on visitors who are unaware of Elyssia's hot springs.

"Welcome, King Xavier, to this place where spirits have gathered," says a low and sensual voice. From the mist emerges one of the most beautiful women you have ever seen. Her hair is long and dark, tied back with a glittering scarf, and her well-sculpted body is more revealed than concealed by scant garments. Her full lips are painted a deep red, and her eyes are darkened and mysterious.

"Lady Talaitha," you say by way of greeting, bowing your head slightly.

"I am simply Talaitha, without titles or adornment," she replies. "You have come to seek my wisdom, but my understanding is that you do not believe in my power. I wonder, then, why you are here?"

"We have had fortune-tellers in Elyssia before, who have been exposed as mere tricksters," you tell her. "My first advisor, in particular, dismisses the claims of mystics and far-seers. I have high regard for his wisdom, but as King I must maintain an open mind, and acquire my own wisdom through my own experience. Is your power of the sort which works only if one believes in it?"

"To believe IS a power," Talaitha says. "If the people did not believe you to be King, you could not rule. If you did not believe in yourself, you could not summon the will to command. If you do not believe in the power of spirits, it will not affect the truth or falsehood of what they say... but it will mean nothing to you."

"Then, the spirits do not always speak true?"

"Life is the source of the spirits. Men and women will not always speak true, and so the spirits do not either. My power is not merely to hear them, but also to listen and know what the truth is. And, to focus their energies upon you, so that what they say is what you would wish to know."

"And what payment do you ask for this service?" you ask, opening the string on your purse.

"The King of Elyssia is a man of honor," Talaitha says. "I know this not only through the spirits, but through the common words of the people. You may feel my power, hear my words, and only then offer what seems right to you in compensation. I ask for nothing now.

"You may have heard tell of my methods, King Xavier," she continues. "What you have no doubt heard is both true and false. To focus the spirits upon you and to better serve as the conduit between the two worlds, I will touch you in intimate ways, and of course this will invoke pleasures of the flesh. I may even be compelled to take you inside me. It is but a means to an end. There have been those who seek me out because they think me an exotic whore, one who may realize for them a wild sexual fantasy of a magical encounter with a sensuous Gypsy witch. Such thoughts and intentions will disturb the spirits and arouse their anger; it reminds them of the pleasures which are denied them in their ethereal form. I sense you do not truly believe in their power... but their wrath is something no man would wish to face if they knew the consequences, and I would implore you, King Xavier, not to tempt fate in this manner. Do you understand?"

You clear your throat slightly, and say, "Talaitha, if you speak of what I imagine you do, there will be... certain reflexive reactions that I cannot easily control."

"It is not reactions which trouble the spirits, but intentions," Talaitha says. "If you are here to seek a connection with the spirits and gain the knowledge which they may impart, you have nothing to fear. If you are here to fuck a woman who pretends to be a fortune-teller... then on your head be it.

"Now... shall we begin?"