“The thumbprint of Isis”

The thumbprint of Isis is the fortuneteller’s image of a protective mark on Theodosia’s forehead, a sign that Isis will guard her amid surrounding danger. The prophecy joins a promise of divine protection to an immediate warning: as Theodosia listens, the fortuneteller announces that pursuers are coming, and three men in black robes appear in the street.

The Fortuneteller’s Prophecy

The encounter begins when the fortuneteller offers to tell Theodosia’s fortune for free because she is marked by the gods. She shakes out a small black bag, scattering shells, pieces of wood, and what appear to be bones onto the dirt. Rocking as she studies them, she watches one bone roll; her eyes glaze, and she begins speaking rapidly in heavily accented English.

Her words describe chaos as a jackal dogging Theodosia’s heels, then set that threat against the thumbprint of Isis, glowing on her forehead. The sign is presented as a promise of protection, accompanied by an instruction to seek help from the ancients, who, the fortuneteller says, smile down upon her. The complete prophecy is: "Chaos swirls around you. It dogs your heels like a jackal. But the thumbprint of Isis lays glowing on your forehead. Isis will protect you. Look to the ancients for help. They smile down upon you."

Warning and Immediate Danger

The prophecy changes the emotional tenor of the encounter. Theodosia feels a sharp thrill, uncertain whether it comes from fear or excitement; when the fortuneteller says, "They are coming," that uncertainty gives way to icy fear. The warning makes the dangers Theodosia has sensed all morning seem less like ordinary curiosity from the merchants and more like a real pursuit.

Theodosia backs away from the doorway, half expecting to see giant serpents, but the threat takes a human form: three men in billowing black robes, their faces partly wrapped in turbans and scarves. They pass the shops without stopping and keep moving toward her and Nabir. The prophecy’s image of chaos and its promise of protection thus arrive alongside a concrete warning of imminent danger.

Meaning of the Image

The thumbprint makes protection intimate and personal: the fortuneteller describes Isis’s favor as a mark carried on Theodosia herself, not merely as a distant force. Yet the narrative does not establish that the mark is physically visible; it is part of the fortuneteller’s pronouncement. Its force lies in the contrast between the claimed protection and the approaching men, leaving Theodosia both warned and exposed to a threat she cannot yet explain.