Making a Tinderbox (The Tinderbox Tales Book 1)

by Emma Sterner-Radley

  The barkeep removed her hand from Nessa’s shoulder, seeming disappointed to not have gotten more than a muttered order.

  When asked if he wanted another drink after his shot of vodka, the dye-works man huffed and stood up. He swallowed the shot down in one go and put some coins for it in Leighla’s hand. Rubbing his bloodshot eyes with dye-stained fingers, he said, “No. Bugger this for a start. I'm bloody tired of losin’ me coin an’ just tired. I’m goin’ home to bed an’ the better ‘alf.”

  He took his few remaining coins and stumbled towards the door. The moustachioed man rubbed his bald head and looked at his handsome friend, who was shuffling the cards.

  “It’s lookin’ like we’re down one player, Jayk. Reckon the three of us should carry on? Or rifle aroun’ for a fourth?”

  The handsome man, apparently called Jayk, looked around the room. Nessa joined him. Quite a few of the people who had been standing around chatting or flirting seemed to have dropped off. Left were the hard-core players and the hard-core drinkers.

  Jayk clicked his tongue. “Seems to be some folk around that have lost their playin’ mates. We should be able to get a fourth, I reckon.”

  Nessa saw that his gaze had stopped surveying and was fixed on one person. A tall, slim woman in a dark purple dress, who was walking from table to table seemingly looking for a card game to join. The woman was impressive in her stature and the elegant way she moved. Confidence and poise dripped off her, and Nessa swallowed a quick bite of envy.

  In a quick move, Jayk was on his feet. He sauntered over to her and, with two fingers, lightly tapped her shoulder. Nessa couldn't help but notice that he had tapped exactly where the dress had stopped and the shoulder was bare. Nessa rolled her eyes. Cheeky ape.

  The woman turned unhurriedly and looked at him with the kind of inquisitive air one would give a new breed of animal. Nessa could see him give his swindler smile and stand to full height, jutting out his chest and planting his feet wide. Trying so hard to impress, while this woman didn't even need to try. Nessa saw him speak to the woman, her give a regal nod, then they walked together back to the table. The woman in purple sat down next to Jayk.

  Nessa took another drink of her brandy, wondering when her next glass and the nuts were arriving. Still with his eyes on the newcomer, Jayk explained what they were playing. Once more the impressive woman merely nodded, while taking stacks of coins out of a small bag that matched her dress. Nessa wondered if the woman was mute or just didn’t think them worthy of hearing her speak.

  Jayk picked up the deck again and shuffled the cards once more for good measure. Then he dealt them. Nessa picked up her cards and was thrilled to see that she was starting off with three of a kind in eights. All she needed was the eight of sapphires and she’d have four of a kind. She kept her face blank, making sure not to show how lucky she had been.

  When it was time to place their bets, the woman in purple pushed a stack of silver coins to the middle of the table.

  “We’re bettin’ smaller amounts than that, lady. Coppers. Not silvers,” said the bald man.

  “Well,” said the newcomer slowly, “then that should change. The night is wearing on, and none of us are getting any younger. It is time to bet like adults and set this game alight.”

  Her voice was melodic, in a way that spoke of years of practice more than a natural ability. The accent sounded Highmere and Noble in every syllable. It was so much like the accent that Elise had been failing to hide ever since they came to Nightport that Nessa felt yet another stab of longing.

  Nessa found the woman watching her. She wasn’t surprised. When the newcomer sat down, she had surveyed first Jayk, then the bald man, and now it was clearly Nessa’s turn. She stared right back, trying to learn what she could from her new opponent.

  She had plenty of time while the bald man toyed with his moustache and grumbled while counting his coins, taking his time placing his bet. Jayk was busy drinking down his half-brandy, half-vodka mix. So, Nessa indulged her curiosity, not even caring if the woman caught her. The Nessa who left Ground Hollow almost two weeks ago would have worried about that, but the Nessa who would return there soon didn’t care at all.

  The newcomer’s dress was lavish, fitted like a second skin, and the deepest purple imaginable. The woman wearing it was pale, in fact she had the whitest skin Nessa had ever seen. It should have made the woman look ill, pallid. Instead, she looked like she was made of porcelain.

  Out of respect, for the woman and strangely enough for Elise, Nessa tried not to look too much at the woman’s slender body. Instead she focused on the face. This lady wasn't exactly beautiful, but she had a daunting — almost commanding — face with a straight, slim nose; such high and protruding cheekbones that they could cut someone; and a heart-shaped mouth with purple-tinted lips that she kept tightly shut when not speaking. Her eyes were big and dark with kohl-black lashes so long they seemed to brush the tops of her cheekbones. Nessa wondered if such eyelashes could be real or somehow manufactured.

  As she watched, the woman cocked her head, birdlike. Those tightly pressed lips briefly quirked into a smile. Her eyes widened, looking strangely eerie. For a moment, she reminded Nessa of the white raven she had exchanged looks with at the bar.

  Finally, the bald man pushed a stack of coins into the middle of the table. Jayk didn't hesitate. With a flourish of his hand, which Nessa now noticed had a small tattoo of a skull, he pushed a tower of coins to join the other two.

  Nessa looked back at her three eights, counted out the coins, and pushed her own stack onto the table.

  Why not? Most of the coin I have now, I won tonight, anyway.

  They were dealt another four cards, and Nessa didn’t get her fourth eight. No matter, three of a kind got you quite far in this game. The bald man who had been playing with his moustache now rubbed his face, leaving streaks of moustache oil on his dark skin.

  “This is oxen-shit. I’m out,” he muttered and dropped his cards on the table.

  The tall lady in purple made no comment. Instead, she pushed another stack of coins to the middle of the table. Jayk did the same with a smile and a wink in the lady’s direction. Nessa barely kept herself from laughing at him. She matched their bets, still confident in her eights.

  Now it was time for the reveal. Jayk, unsurprisingly, offered to go first. He put his hand down, showing a pair of tens. Nessa sighed in relief. If it had been three tens, they would have beaten her eights. The rules stated that the bigger number would always win.

  The tall lady reached out a hand towards Nessa in a gesture that offered her to go next.

  Nessa put her cards down. It was gratifying to see Jayk run his hand through his unruly hair at the sight of the three eights.

  “Ah. Bugger. I thought you were bluffin’, country girl,” he said under his breath.

  Nessa looked at the other woman who, while keeping eye contact, placed her cards on the table. She had separated them. The first four had no match, but Nessa did see that one of them was her missing eight of sapphire. The lady's other four cards were laying snugly against each other and happened to be the two of sapphires, the two of rubies, the two of onyx, and finally, almost hidden by the other three, the two of emeralds. Four of a kind.

  Jayk groaned, but Nessa gifted a generous smile to the winner.

  “Well done, milady,” she said, waiting to see if the woman would deny the title.

  The woman’s purple-painted lips twitched into a smirk. “Shall we chalk it up to beginner’s luck as this is my first hand with you?”

  Nessa was going to reply but found herself strangely tongue-tied. Something about this woman made her feel like a skitter-beetle in the presence of a grand ice bear. Perhaps it was the way that she looked at Nessa, as if she could see right past her skin, muscles, her whole body in fact, and into her every deepest thought and dream.

  This is what Hunter aims to be like. I’m glad he doesn’t quite manage it.

  The bald man replied inste
ad. “Aye, let's do that. Now deal another bleedin’ hand before I sober up.”

  The cards were dealt. Inwardly frowning, Nessa looked down at the one of onyx, the queen of sapphire, and the seven and eight of emeralds. No hope there. Normally she would bet a little just to see her next four cards and if she could make anything of them. But as she watched the lady in purple push another stack of silver coins to the pot, that choice faded away. The game had changed to an all-or-nothing approach. Nessa folded and so did the bald man. Only Jayk matched her bet with a look of determination on his face. Nessa had a gut feeling he was about to lose again.

  * * *

  A while later, the fortunes had changed. Nessa and Jayk were no longer the clear winners. In fact, Jayk had lost most of his coin. Nessa was faring better as she had folded quite a few of her hands, only playing the cards that were safe bets. The bald man was at the same mid-level coinage he had been all night. The woman in purple was winning big. And to Jayk’s chagrin, the one who now had most of his coin.

  Another hand was dealt. Nessa took a sip of her drink to hide her excitement when she saw her cards.

  Through some stroke of luck, close to divine intervention, Nessa saw the knaves of onyx, sapphires, and emeralds looking up at her. All she needed was the knave of rubies and she’d not only have four of a kind, she’d have a high four of a kind. One that could only be beaten by four queens or four kings.

  This was the hand she had been waiting for.

  The lady in purple placed her bet. It was as high as ever. That was no surprise, everything about this woman dripped wealth. Nessa matched the bet but didn't go any higher. There was no way she was going to tip off this woman about her great hand. She ate some dammon nuts and watched the bald man twirl his moustache and then fold with a sigh. Jayk looked like he was in physical pain. Gone was the swindler smile and the flirty gleam in his eye. He slapped the cards down on table without a word.

  “There we are. Looks like the gentlemen are out. It is just you and I now,” the lady said with amusement.

  Her gaze bored into Nessa, as if she could see the cards if she looked deeply enough into Nessa’s eyes.

  Nessa gave her a smile which she hoped was vague enough. She sat forward a bit and suddenly her inebriation popped up to remind her how many drinks she had enjoyed. She wasn't flat-out drunk, but she certainly wasn't sober either.

  “Then let's have our next four cards and see what the gods have given us to play with,” Nessa said.

  The lady in purple gave a brief nod and dealt the cards. Nessa picked hers up.

  There he was, the knave of rubies. She also had two fives, which could be used to split the winnings if her opponent had a foursome higher than her own but no side pairing. All in all, Nessa was in an exceedingly comfortable position here. This was the hand to bet it all on. If she, against all odds, did lose, she would weigh up just how dangerous it would be to walk back to Ground Hollow tonight. If she won, she would have another couple of drinks and go find herself a room for the night. One that didn't contain the ebony-haired beauty who haunted her heart.

  The lady in purple gave a theatrical sigh. “Well? Are you going to place your bet or sit there ogling your cards? They are not going to improve by you staring at them, cherished.”

  Her voice sounded bored and condescending. That helped clear Nessa’s preoccupied, drunken mind. She hadn't even noticed that the lady had placed her bet. Unsurprisingly, it was high again. What was surprising was how high it was. Almost double the usual amount. Either this lady had an astounding hand or she thought Nessa a good victim for a big bluff.

  Nessa scoffed. “Oh, I'm sorry. I just wanted to drag out the suspense a little. Make you wait to lose,” she drawled.

  She counted out enough coins to not merely match her opponent’s bet but to surpass it. She expected the lady in purple to put up enough coins to match the raised bet. Then they would reveal their cards. To Nessa’s surprise, her opponent gave a chilling, far too high-pitched giggle instead. Right before pushing all the coins she had stacked up in front of her into the pot.

  The bald man gasped. Jayk mumbled, “I didn't see that comin’, mate.”

  Nessa measured out her own response and decided on a casual shrug. She didn’t even have to fake the nonchalance. All her feelings and thoughts seemed to reach her through a fog of numbness. Everything about this evening felt surreal, like it was happening somewhere else. To someone else. The stacks of coin in front of her hadn't been hers at the beginning of the evening. She had walked in here with no more than a few silvers and coppers. What did it matter if she spent these strangers’ coins? She didn't even bother to count them, she simply tried to match the size of the opponent’s stacks, and pushed them into the middle of the table.

  Jayk sat up. “Careful there, country lass. Ye sure ye want to do that? She seems to ‘ave the coin to burn, ye do not.”

  Nessa arranged her face in a snarl, hoping it looked more scary than silly. “What do you know about what I have? What do you know about me, you prancing cock? Stay out of this. I make my own choices, and I say that no stakes are too high tonight.”

  It wasn’t Jayk who replied but the over-the-top voice which belonged to the lady in purple. She tittered and said, “What delightful news! In that case, how about higher stakes than mere coin? How about we bet for who gets to spend the night in Elisandrine Falk’s bed? Would that be acceptable, Nessa Clay?”

  Suddenly the surreal, numb feeling shifted. Like a landslide. Everything was wrong now. Like seeing through a cracked window. Confused as she was, Nessa felt instantly sober. She stared open-mouthed at the woman in purple.

  The lady just laughed as if they were sharing a joke.

  “Do you still not know who I am, farm girl? I am your queen, and I want my toy back. Now then. Where is Elisandrine?”

  Chapter 29

  Making the World a Tinderbox

  The next place Elise, Cai, and Fyhre searched was the Scarlet Crow. Only after having scoured it from top to bottom did Fyhre point to the black door leading down to the basement. Down to the White Raven.

  Elise didn’t think Nessa would go there, but as they were already in the tavern, it didn’t hurt to have a quick look. Cai opened the door, and they walked down the narrow stairs, Elise praying to gods that she didn’t believe in.

  Now she found, in this musty room with white-washed walls, the woman who held her heart. Nessa was standing by a table. She was facing a handsome man in braces and a woman in purple. There was a familiar scent lingering in the air, under the smoke, liquor, and powder-stench. Elise breathed it in deep to fathom it out. It was a mix of lavender and purified alcohol, a perfume that Elise hadn’t smelled in a while.

  Except… I have. That night on Core Street. Was she following me that night? Has she been one step behind me this entire time?

  As Elise got closer, she heard the man in braces say, “The gods-cursed Queen? Ye can’t be. Ye don’t have the royal paint on yer face.”

  The woman in purple sniggered. “Oh, silly boy. The royal make-up is put on when I am officially the Queen and ready to rule. If I am incognito in Nightport to fetch my favourite toy home, then I obviously would not put it on. Especially not if I take the night off to gamble and drink your disgusting, cheap brandy.”

  Elise knew that voice as well as she did her own. Just like she knew the lavender and alcohol scented perfume. She didn’t need that woman to be wearing the royal mask of blue, grey, and white to recognise her. It was the Queen all right. And she knew that she was the toy the Queen was talking about.

  Elise stepped forward. “Get away from her.”

  The haughty, imperial woman turned on her heels. It was such an unnatural move that she looked like an automaton. That fitted her well. All cogs and clockwork instead of nerves and heart.

  “Mm. My beautiful Elisandrine. Well now. I have been talking about you and then you saunter in. I should have known that this farm girl of yours would act as a flame to a moth. I suppos
e she is a somewhat fetching flame, in an unassuming way. Albeit, not all that clever, it would seem,” she drawled.

  Unbidden, Elise’s lips drew back into a snarl. “Do not dare make comments about Nessa! She is more intelligent than you, with your limited imagination, could ever fathom and much more than ‘somewhat fetching.’ You are here for me. Leave her alone.”

  The Queen looked unperturbed. “As you wish, my little tinderbox maker.”

  Tinderbox maker.

  If she hadn’t been convinced before, she was now. It had been the Queen’s men asking about her and Nessa. They had just been disguised to not raise suspicion. When they found the runaway and her travel companion, they had reported back to the Queen. Who had begun to send mystery packages. There was only one question left to answer.

  “My Queen,” Elise began, “as you are answering questions honestly for once, can I get a real answer before we start playing games again? Why did you start sending me tinderbox parts? Why did you not simply barge into our room and demand I come with you to marry your brother? Or whatever it is you want with me?”

  The Queen tutted and shook her head. “Oh, you know nothing of what I want, little fire-starter.”

  Elise ground her foot into the sticky floor. “Answer the question.”

  Her former mistress held her hands up in surrender. “I wanted some fun, Elise. You know how regimented my life is. For once, I had time to hunt and play, and I took it. Arclid is at peace, no wars and none of those pesky revolts. Oh, and one of my other ladies of court has been chosen to be Macray’s wife. Remember Kelene? White hair, thin as a rake? No childbearing hips, but I am certain she can squeeze a Royal brat or two out for my brother. Then they can both start mounting villagers to their hearts’ content. Everything is under control right now, so I took some time to play with my prey.”

  The Queen’s face lit up with cruel glee. “By the way, my guards found your hidden satchel on the path to the city. With your family crest? You really should have burned it. Would you like it back? There was a hair clip in it which you can have back, too. Although I see you no longer need that. I like your hair shorter. Suits you. Is it still long enough for a lover to pull? I think it might be. Should I come over there and try?”