Dokeshi March ~ 25!

The first few rounds of the poker game went to a man with a thin pencil mustache. He always seemed to have cards just barely good enough to win, and his bets and grin both started to grow larger as time went on. Grant waited quietly on the sidelines, watching as Suki steadily lost chips. He was getting concerned that she would lose everything, but the corner of her mouth occasionally twitched upward into a knowing smile when none of the other players were watching.

<She’s got him right where she wants him.> Sarge let out a low whistle in Grant’s head, which always made him cringe. <Any moment now, she’s gonna start clearing the table.>

“You’re sure about that, Sarge?” Grant grabbed the hilt of February Twenty Nine as he leaned against the railing of the pagoda. He shifted from foot to foot nervously as another Day went to the table favorite. “It looks like she’s going to be out in another two or three hands.”

<Just watch.> Sarge waited for the dealer to start gathering the cards to shuffle again, then highlighted the mustachioed man’s hands a deep orange, leaving a trail of light as the man moved. <There. Did you see that?>

“I see it!” Specifically, Grant had watched the man palm a card from the last hand instead of passing it to the dealer to be reshuffled. “So that’s what cheating looks like?!”

<I’m pretty sure he’s got two or three cards already saved up his sleeves from earlier hands.> Sarge was practically buzzing in excitement. <Yep, here we go. Suki is about to come out on top.>

Grant wasn’t sure what he was talking about, considering she had the least amount of chips at the table. There were four other players—not counting the cheater—and although they barely had more than she did, Suki was in last place. Just as the dealer leaned forward to start passing out cards, she stood slightly and placed her hand up in a stopping motion.

“Excuse me sir, but it looks like the deck is a little thinner than it should be.” Suki was talking loud enough to ensure everyone in the small observing crowd could hear her. “Would you be so kind as to count them quickly to ensure we have the full amount?”

The whispers about whether or not she was being a sore loser quickly swept through the spectators, but the dealer only raised a questioning eyebrow before deftly counting out the cards on the table. Grant carefully watched the man with the mustache, and he could swear a thick bead of sweat was running down from his temple.

“...Forty-six, seven, eight, and nine. See? There are a full fifty-two-” The dealer did a grand double-take down at the cards. “Wait, what?”

His surprise was clearly forced, as was his anger. A poor actor, but certainly not about to let himself take the fall. The dealer barely paused for a breath before shouting for the uniformed members of House Tuesday stationed in the market. “Guards! We have another one!”

The cheater didn’t wait for the guards to come over and start searching sleeves. He jumped up and took off sprinting, leaping over the railing and disappearing into the deepening shadows, a bevy of furious men in the uniform of House Tuesday soon in hot pursuit.

“I must apologize for this disruption, ladies and gentlemen.” The woman who must have been the owner of the pagoda emerged from behind the counter where the boxes for the winners were displayed. She looked like she could have been the sister to the meat vendor at the pagoda that had swindled Grant. He couldn’t help but wonder if all the vendors in this market were from the same family. “To make sincere amends, I shall be increasing the prizes, as well as adding the cash reward to the first and second place contestants.”

She sent a sweet smile to the dealer, who appeared more than a little worried. “After all, it’s our responsibility to catch any cheaters before they become a problem, and it was our dealer that didn’t notice the smaller deck.”

<I would hate to be that guy right now. Look, these are terror lines. Oh, look at that! Reading an opponent counts as training for your sword, so I can do this without a problem!> Sarge highlighted several points on the dealer’s face for a split second, so Grant could see them clearly. <I bet he’ll be begging on the streets by this time tomorrow, if my guess is correct. Pairing up with such a terrible card player was a bad idea.>

The Lord inspected the dealer more closely as Sarge took a few moments to point out tiny facial expressions. The man did seem to be sweating a lot, considering the cool breeze of the evening air. “That’s so strange to me… why would he try to cheat in the same game that he was dealing?”

<There's no way a professional dealer in this District wouldn’t know he had a short deck. They practically sleep with a deck of cards in their hands.> The sword spirit sighed and sent along a mental shrug. <As for why, sometimes there’s no telling why some people do the things they do. But, this time it’s pretty obvious. He needs more food than what his job allows him to afford, so he schemed with the other man to win first prize. Like I said, I wouldn’t want to be him.>

After things had settled down and the cheater’s pile of chips were evenly distributed among the remaining players, the game quickly resumed. The next ten hands went by in a blur, the dealer speeding the rounds up to the point that it seemed the players barely had time to place their bets. Just as Sarge had predicted, Suki completely turned the tables on the other players.

Eventually, it was down to just two people—Suki, and a man so old and hunched that he needed a cane to walk. The old man was eyeballing her much larger pile of chips, and the sweet young lady picked up on his concern.

“It’s getting late, and I’ve somewhere I need to be.” She shoved her pile of chips into the center of the table while the dealer shuffled his cards. “How about we just do ‘winner take all’? Second place still earns a profit, since that bad man had to run off. It’s a win-win for both of us.”

After a few seconds of deliberation, the old man proffered a cracked smile and a vigorous nod of agreement. The dealer laid out all the cards face-up, revealing Suki’s defeat of the old man’s two-pair with a straight. Even though she held her composure, it was obvious she was fighting down a smile. This was a woman that liked winning.

“The generous newcomer wins first prize!” The owner of the place herself approached the table with a pair of small purses, playing to the crowd with the voice of a practiced orator. “Make sure to return tomorrow for another chance at great prizes!”

Grant and Suki quickly gathered their winnings and made their way toward the exit. Their initial concerns of being followed proved to be simple paranoia after they took a twisting path through the surrounding streets and couldn’t detect anyone following them. The excitement of the man who had been caught cheating must have helped to keep any potential thieves from trying their luck, considering the increased presence of the guards hunting for the escaped card shark.

“You have to tell me how you did it.” Grant had been trying to hold in his curiosity ever since they had left the marketplace. “How did you know you would win the last hand?”

“Sometimes, you just have to let the cards fall where they may.” Suki gave him a knowing smile. “And other times, you just have to trust your luck.”

“Well, I need to figure out how to do that.” Grant scratched his chin, where a light beard was trying to come in. “Before that, I need to remember which hands beat the others. It’s too much for me to remember all at once.”

<No, it isn’t. You just haven’t applied yourself to it like you have other things, like fighting.> Grant tried to ignore the rude sword spirit, so the sarcasm in Sarge’s voice thickened. <You just find it boring and don’t want to try. You do understand that I know you better than you know yourself, yes?>

“I’ve got a plan to change that, Sarge.” The pair finally stopped at the edge of a narrow street, hesitating under the bright light of the rising moon. They also just so happened to find themselves next to the line forming to enter the casino. Suki pulled a card from her pack and handed it to Grant. “This is a card that shows which hands are the strongest. I wrote this up for you, and no matter what anyone else says, you are allowed to have them at the table. Most people don't bother with them, since they're usually only given to children when they're first learning how to play the game.”

“Technically I’m only five years old, so I’ll just call it good.” Grant was extremely thankful for the card, although his non sequitur and cheerful attitude in obtaining it made Suki roll her eyes. “Just to be sure, I can just look at this while I play, and it’ll let me know if I’ve got good cards or not? If people tell me their cards are better, this proves if they’re lying?”

“Not exactly.” Suki took his hand and placed a thick leather bracer along his wrist. It looked like the ones Grant had previously seen archers use to protect themselves from the bowstring slapping against their forearm. “From now on, never take this off.”

“Why?” Grant tried adjusting the straps to get it to fit better, but no matter how he tugged it, the leather was rough and lumpy against his skin. “I don’t use a bow, and this thing is uncomfortable.”

“Because you need it if you are going to win.” Suki slapped his hand away. “Let me see the card I gave you.”

Grant handed it back to her and was shocked to watch her sliding it into the hidden slit in the edge of the bracer that ran along his forearm. “There you go. Now you can check it without everyone knowing how inexperienced you are. Later, I’ll show you some sleight of hand to help you out of a tight spot.”

“But… that would be cheating.” Grant practiced slipping the card out of the hidden pocket while he talked. “I don’t want to be a cheat. I’d rather take my chances by cutting my way through.”

Suki opened her mouth to argue, but they were distracted by a commotion farther up the street. The people waiting in line by torchlight were all pointing at something farther up the road, just out of eyesight.

<Back in the shadows, now!> Sarge’s shout thundered through Grant’s mind, and he quickly jumped to obey. <Hurry, crouch behind those piles of garbage!>

Suki let loose a quiet squawk when Grant pulled her back against the nearest building, but quickly went silent as the sound of stomping boots echoed down the dark streets. They watched, wide-eyed, as a double-line of over forty guards came stomping into view, headed to the entrance of the casino they needed to enter. Bringing up the rear was another of Dokeshi March’s Vassals, and the House Saturday assassin they had seen before. The light of the torches glinted off the dangerous censer that the professional killer kept swinging at her side.

“How could they have possibly found out where we were trying to go?” Suki breathed soft, tickling words into Grant’s ear, and he tried to pull away, but she gripped his arms and held him tight. “Don’t run! We’re just going to need to change tactics and try again at another entrance tomorrow. Whatever you do, don't draw their attention. One glance this direction, and we’re caught.”

Unable to shake her off in time, Grant failed to block the enormous sneeze—which any father of four would have been proud of—from exploding out of his mouth.