Autumn Rose walked in and felt her soul expand. This was her realm, hers again. She belonged here. If she’d needed that little extra bit of confidence, the room gave it to her.
Three men stood beside the table talking in low voices, two hooded, the third, Jao juhFeyn.
He crossed to her, held out a silver brooch, a full-blown rose on a circle. “Autumn Rose.”
As she pinned it on, Jao stepped back, gestured. “Sun-hawk.”
A tall paunchy man nodded. His brooch was a raptor on a rayed circle.
“Hiu-shark.”
The second man inclined his head. His brooch was a leaping shark on a plain circle.
One by one the others came, each by his separate door, received his brooch and was introduced by his use-name. Snowcat. Tanduk-viper. Direwolf.
The last man was tall and solid, a crackle to him when he moved. His brooch was a barracuda arching openmouthed across a silver circle. When he saw Rose, he jerked his head up, turned to juhFeyn. “A woman?”
“You object?”
“If I did?”
“You’re free to leave.”
“I see.” He shrugged, pinned the brooch on, and stood waiting for juhFeyn to seat them.
Kikun squatted in the corner and watched the Players roll for order. He smiled when he saw that Rose got the lead; it’s where she wanted to be.
Grandmother Ghost pinched his ear. Get your mind on why you’re here, lazy boy.
He forgot about the game and looked at each of the men.
Oozing out of the wall, feathers rustling, brushing against him, small distracting tickles, Gaagi bent over him, whispered in his ear:
This is catalog of men.
Sunhawk: the High Vaar Tidak Beruba
Hiushark: Overleader of the Metug Pirates
Tanduk: Vaarlord of Haemunda Pamina
Snowcat: Zly Zlostin, the Vamcac of Dama’tvedd
Direwolf: Attata Marteau, exec of Cazar Company
Barracuda: Enfilik Abrusso, Grand Chom of the Mimishay Foundation, a Power in Omphalos
Gaagi came whirling out of the wall, leaping high into the air, landed on the table, shook his behind in Barracuda’s face. Xumady giggled, dived from the dark, and joined Raven on the table, doing a Mock-Shock Dance, a satiric curse on the target. They finished with a howl and a swirl and dissolved into the dark.
Kikun ignored them and watched Barracuda.
The Omphalite was angry. Every time he looked at Rose he clenched his gut. He was going to go after her any way he could. Kikun smiled. Good. That was stupid and it was likely to break him fast. Yes. The sooner the better.
##
The game started. The fine blonde hairs on Rose’s forearms shimmered in the light from the chandelier as she dealt the cards.
At the end of the first Chapter, she was a net winner, having avoided the Grid for the moment, lost two Pen wagers but won the Holse.
Despite his irritation, Barracuda played cautiously; he won one table wager, lost the other, came close to breaking even.
Sunhawk played a meticulous game, had fair cards but bad combinations. That didn’t seem to bother him. He was deeply content, his mind humming with the calcs that let him finesse a small win.
Hiushark was a plunger though he kept the lid on until he had the measure of the other players.
Tanduk was a fusser, but either his intuition snapped to with every card or he could beat a kephalos at calcs. He spread his bets over the number grid in carefully plotted patterns and ignored the Holse during the first Chapters.
Snowcat was slow, refused to be pushed; he played his cards with heavy slaps, threw the dice with a force that nearly took them off the table. He played the Holse and the Pen, ignored the Grid until the last Chapter before Break.
Direwolf played quickly, spread his bets on Grid, Pen and Holse, depended on instinct for the proportions.
##
The play was slow at first, the Players feeling each other out, setting down their personal minimums.
Black feathers brushed around Autumn Rose, black scales glittered over her head. Her cards were good, her throws brought fine combinations. Gaagi was her Luck, though she didn’t know it. Kikun could feel her confidence growing, but she kept her caution until she knew the other Players and had a feel for the flow of the game, then held back still until the Break.
Kikun squatted in his corner, bored to stupor. He didn’t play gambling games, he liked watching them even less. There was no talking, no witty or even unwitty exchanges to distract him from the soporific slap-click of the play.
His NO-SEE-ME ratcheted as high as it would go, he dozed, confident no one could discover him. He knew the man now, the target. Now all they had to do was take him. All I have to do, he dreamed, yes, Rose is out of it. I will take him. When the time comes.
He shifted from the squat until he was sitting with his back against the wall, let his eyes droop, and slept.
10
The stirring for the first Break woke Kikun.
The Players moved to the tables, filled plates with finger-food, handing these to the nearest Dasuttra to hold for them, pointing out what they chose to drink and waiting while Dasuttras poured these liquids into the special glasses juhFeyn provided, delicate flutes with angled glass straws so they could drink through the mouth slits of their cowls.
Kikun got to his feet, slid around to the eighth wall and collected a glass of wine, retreated to his corner where he sat sipping and watching the Players circle round each other trying to find some way to pry information out of the others without revealing anything about themselves. The idea of that snoopdance was mildly amusing, the actuality was boring.
Direwolf wandered over to Rose. “Autumn Rose,” he said, sucking on his straw. “It’s a name that resonates.”
“Oh?”
“There was a game on Cazarit some decades ago. A woman who was also Autumn Rose played in the Prime seat. Blonde woman. Attractive. Very. Good player. Very good. Stylish.”
“Oh?”
“Yes. Stylish. Had a way with the cards. Never forgot it.”
“Ah.”
“Going to be an interesting game, once it gets started.”
“Ah.”
He raised his glass to her, the straw tinkling against the sides, then went strolling off.
##
Barracuda stood close to his door, his eyes fixed on Rose. Kikun winced at the malice steaming off the man.
Grandmother Ghost pinched his arm and muttered in his ear: Black bile man, he stinks, baby. You watch him, you hear? He’s up to something and it’s nothing good, you hear? Listen to your ol’ gramma. You get over there. Stand in his shadow, baby. You let him get away he’ll wreck everything, you hear me?
Gaagi danced behind Barracuda, great black beak threatening the man, black scales glittering, wing feathers shuddering around him.
Abruptly, Gaagi froze.
Then he beckoned urgently to Kikun.
Kikun set, his glass down, slipped around to stand behind the man.
Barracuda took a babi slin from the plate the Dasuttra held, ate it, held out his hand to the other attendant; she cleaned it with a lightly scented cloth. “That woman,” he murmured. “Who is she? Why was she invited to this game?”
“You haven’t heard?” The kneeling Dasuttra (a very young, very lovely girl) looked up at him, her eyes wide, glowing. “Ah, Senhuan, she is accursed of god and blessed by the Lady. She has won thirteen days running.”
“That seems… unusual.”
“No, Senhuan.” The Dasuttra at his side had a deeper voice. She was older, surer in her beauty, sure enough to venture a small contradiction. “Jao juhFeyn certifies her, she is blessed by Luck, not by her fingers.”