by T J Trapp
Erin came out of the bathhouse with her damp hair neatly combed back, wearing her new clothes – women’s trousers and a long tunic top with a V-neck and belt. The change from scavenged to fitted was amazing – Erin had converted from beggar to beauty.
Alec gave a low whistle. “You are lovely,” he said.
Erin was pleased. “You finally notice my looks after all this time.”
“I have always noticed your looks, but I have never seen you look like this.” He smiled. “I may have to fend everyone off you,” he said in jest.
“That won’t be a problem,” she said in a more serious tone than his. “Most men don’t like my looks. They prefer much more … rounded and softer women than me.”
For the first time, Alec could feel Erin’s deep vulnerabilities. Using the ring, he allowed his deeper feelings to swell up so that she could see them – the depth of respect, admiration, and appreciation that he had acquired for her, beyond his appreciation of her looks.
Erin almost blushed. She winked at him as she thought, My Great Wizard, thank you. I will see if I can live up to those feelings.
The next stop was the livery stable to procure a wagon. Erin wanted to purchase a wagon like the one she had lost to the caravan, and the stable had a used wagon that would serve the purpose. It needed a few modifications that would take the ostler a day to complete – he told them that they could have it mid-day tomorrow. The ostler also sold them two drungs to pull the wagon. Alec noted that they didn’t have fangs and were feeding on something that looked like oats – not meat and not people’s faces.
The rest of the day was spent obtaining supplies for the wagon and the rest of their journey. Foodstuffs, pots, blankets, feed for the drungs – the list seemed to run forever, but finally Erin looked satisfied. By the end of the day, the two of them had become proficient at working together while negotiating, sensing each other’s thoughts. Erin had doled out a portion of the coins she had taken from the Gryg camp to fund the day’s shopping spree; Alec noted that by the end of the day he had spent most of the coins that they carried.
Alec was tired as they came back to the inn but saw several ill-kempt men in the common-room who had not been there the night before. Erin led the way up the stairs to their room.
Erin thought I don’t trust those people. They don’t seem right.
Alec agreed. Should we stay up here and not eat?
No, we need to eat but be careful. Something isn’t right.
✽✽✽
Soon it was time for dinner. Alec again concealed the bag of coins beneath the floorboards of their room, taking only a few to the common room. The room was crowded; they sat in the far corner of the room and ate, quietly watching the assembled people. Some were travelers, like them, and some were regulars. The collection of inn-ladies milled about; Alec could not tell if they were the same women as the night before. There were many locals, some eating the stew, some just drinking beer, some gathered by the big open fireplace swapping tales, some joining in the loud card game going on in the middle of the room. After their meal, Alec and Erin made their way towards the stairs to their room, but before they reached the bottom step a large man stepped in front of them.
“You must play cards with us tonight,” he said.
Alec thought, Is this the same man who invited me to play last night?
I don’t think so, thought Erin back to him. Be careful.
“Not tonight. We are tired,” Alec said. “Maybe some other night.”
“Oh, you must join us tonight,” the man insisted. “We would be very insulted if you don’t.” He gestured broadly towards the other card players.
Watch out, thought Erin. They could both see the man’s knife blade flash briefly in the lantern light.
“Join us,” the man said in an oily voice, “or you might be looking for a new lady.” He laughed as if he had made a joke. Maybe he had. Maybe not.
Alec and Erin knew that they could handle the situation if it digressed into a knife fight, but neither wanted that.
Maybe it would be best to play along for a while, Erin thought.
Okay, but I don’t know the game, Alec thought to Erin.
I do, she thought back. I will show you what to do.
Alec could tell this was a set-up. They are after our coins. He was certain the men had searched their room for coins during the afternoon and found nothing; the men probably assumed the coins were on one of them. They know we have more coins somewhere, since we will need them to complete our purchases tomorrow.
You are a stranger here,” the man said. “I am Jitsu. Traveling through our little village?”
“Yes,” said Alec, not volunteering his name.
Alec sat at the table, Erin sat seemingly-meekly behind him. He looked at the rest of the table. There were four other players. Across from him was Jitsu, who looked like the ring-leader of the group. Behind him sat a curvaceous woman in skimpy clothes, like the inn-ladies, but with no locked belt. Alec gathered that her name was Lily. She didn’t seem to be Jitsu’s consort, but seemed to be with him. One of the other three players looked like a compatriot of Jitsu. The other two looked like slightly-tipsy rich kids, apparently local young noblemen, just here to play cards and get drunk and maybe purchase a moment with an inn-lady. They look like the undergrad students at the Institute, thought Alec, with a pang of nostalgia.
The game was straightforward. It looked like a local version of draw poker with one hold card to bet on. Alec was good at poker and knew how to calculate odds. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. The first few rounds went well. He won a few hands and lost a few, but something wasn’t right. The cards weren’t playing to the odds. The distributions of numbers and suits among the five players were wrong.
Alec was suspicious of Jitsu but couldn’t see him cheating. The night wore on, and with conservative play, Alec was keeping about even against the others. One of the young nobles was losing heavily, and the other youth was playing about even.
Alec thought, I wonder if I can sense the cards.
Focus. The hand was dealt, and the hold card was down. All he could sense was a fuzzy world. He thought to Erin, This guy is cheating, but I don’t know how. Somehow, he is changing cards.
Erin thought back, I can tell when Jitsu switches cards, and I can sense what he feels about the cards he has. Erin also mentally told him the feeling of the other players. Since Alec now knew what kind of hand each player held, he could rely on his knowledge of the other cards.
Eventually one of the young noblemen was out. Alec had already collected about half the youth’s money over the course of the evening. Alec was holding his own: the combination of playing the odds and closely watching Jitsu was working. Jitsu was too good for Alec to see when he switched cards, but Erin could detect Jitsu’s deception every time. Whenever Jitsu played the cards straight, Alec stuck with the odds. The others were playing based on whims and hunches. Playing the odds kept Alec gaining coins but let him lose enough not to look suspicious. Whenever Erin sensed the cards were switched, Erin would mentally tell him about the other players’ cards and he would play based on this knowledge.
After an hour or so of play, two gruff but well-dressed individuals sauntered into the room. Erin poked Alec to make sure he saw them. Those are the local marshals, she thought. If you break the law here, they will throw you in their dungeon and decide what you must do to get out. Not a good idea to get on their bad side.
How do we quit this game? Alec thought to her.
Try being tired and see what happens.
After the next round, Alec yawned, raised his hand, and said, “Jitsu, my friend, this has been very entertaining, but I am ready to quit for the night.”
“That is well and good,” Jitsu said with a toothy grin, “but you owe us your pot.” Alec looked puzzled. “We play until one person wins everything. That is the rule of the game.” Jitsu’s grin turned menacing. “Isn’t that right?” he said to one of the well-dressed mars
hals.
“That’s right,” the marshal said, obviously conspiring with Jitsu.
Alec thought about it. He hadn’t started with enough to be a loss to them. He didn’t want to lose the coins he had won, but they weren’t worth the risk of whatever trouble Jitsu intended if he continued playing.
“Ok, you can have my coins,” Alec said, pushing them towards Jitsu.
“Just a second,” Jitsu said. “Did you think that we would let you in for only those few coins?” He laughed. Then he suddenly leaned forward. “Your ante included her,” he hissed, pointing at Erin.
Erin gasped at that.
“You can buy her back in the morning,” Jitsu said, “and then finish your errands.”
“No way!” said Alec.
Erin poked him. “Don’t worry, I can take care of myself,” she whispered, then thought to him, If I must, I will go with them, kill him, and meet you later.
Alec shook his head. “No! She’s not part of it.”
The marshal laughed. “She was part of it when you started. Now honor your debt. Either toss her in or play on.”
Alec realized that they wanted this to play out to the end. Desperate to come up with a plan, Alec said, “Okay, I’ll play on.” He sat back down on his chair with a thump. He looked around. It was clear the marshals were with Jitsu and in on his scheme. They had the two exits covered, so running was not going to work. Others in the room had noticed the confrontation and began watching the card players, perhaps anticipating a good fight.
The marshal wasn’t satisfied that Erin wasn’t going to run, so he grabbed Erin’s arm and roughly pulled her to her feet. The second marshal came over and pulled out a pair of leather cuffs, put them around Erin’s wrists, and looked at Alec. “A little insurance to make sure your ante doesn’t flee. If she did it might cost you your life.” Then to the first marshal, “Where do you want me to tie the cuff rope?”
Before Alec could react, Erin spoke up, “Tie me over there with her,” she said, pointing to the woman behind Jitsu. I am tired of this loser anyway.”
The marshal obliged and pulled Erin over beside where Lily was sitting. He took the opportunity to let his hands roam over Erin’ body, and he whispered, “Maybe I will see you later tonight.”
Jitsu also looked at Erin. “You aren’t my type – too skinny – and I already have her,” he said, jerking his thumb towards Lily. “Don’t think you are buttering me up by coming over here. I am going to sell you to the innkeeper at the end of the game.”
Erin thought to Alec, I can see Jitsu’s cards from this side so that I can help you more.
Alec played mechanically over the next few hands while he considered the situation. Then he decided it was time to get this game down to the two of them and force a crisis point. Alec suspected a piece of the strategy all along had been to whittle the game down to the two of them – Jitsu and me.
Alec started aggressively playing his cards and quickly knocked Jitsu’s friend out of the game. Then, both Alec and Jitsu focused on knocking out the other player, the rich young noble, who was running low on coins. With their more-skillful playing and a little card knowledge thanks to Erin, Alec and Jitsu soon had the youth at bay. Now was the time to try the next piece of the plan. Alec waited until Erin told him that Jitsu had changed a card. Focus. Jitsu turned the card over, but instead of the changed card, it was the original card. Jitsu looked at it in slight surprise but then went on with the hand. It worked, thought Alec.
The young noble bowed out. Now almost everyone in the inn was watching the two of them: Jitsu and the tall stranger. Alec was on one side of the table and Jitsu, Lily, and Erin on the other side. The crowd could tell this was more of a match than usual but had no sense that the game was rigged.
Alec thought to Erin, be prepared: we may have trouble. They played several more hands, staying about even. Then on a hand where Erin told Alec that Jitsu felt he had average cards, the big man stroked his beard convincingly.
“I am all in,” Jitsu said. “Do you match, or do you concede?”
Alec knew he had the better cards. “I am all in,” he said.
Erin informed Alec what Jitsu’s last card was. Alec thought back, That is the same card as I have!
Then he must know what card you hold, Erin thought.
Erin could sense the scam. Jitsu was going to turn over the winning card and ask Alec to concede. If Alec did concede, he would lose Erin and be penniless but alive. If Alec did not concede and then turned over the same card as Jitsu, he would be accused of cheating. The marshals would determine his card was the fraud and haul him off to jail. Jitsu would get Erin and all the money and Alec would have an unfortunate fatal accident.
Alec met Jitsu’s gaze. “I will match,” he said evenly. Focus. The cards swirled, and Jitsu confidently turned over his hand. Then his jaw dropped in amazement – the cards he turned over were not the ones he expected.
Seize the moment. Alec laid down his winning cards. A murmur rippled through the assembled crowd.
Focus. A card appeared on Jitsu’s sleeve and drifted to the floor. “Did you drop something?” Alec said calmly and pointed to the floor. Jitsu’s winning card lay on the floor.
The two young nobles gasped. “Cheater!” they shouted. “This man is dishonorable! He is a cheater!” The two young men rushed towards Jitsu. Jitsu eyed his henchmen, the two marshals, but they were the local law. They could and would help Jitsu against outsiders, like Alec, but there were too many village people here for them to help against a serious cheating accusation by local noblemen. Jitsu saw the game was up, swept the cards off the table, and dashed towards the rear exit. Someone stuck out a foot and tripped him. The two youths were on him, kicking and gouging. Several locals joined in; Jitsu had cheated many. The marshals interceded to break up the fight.
Alec focused, and Erin's leather bindings shredded. The two of them backed to a corner and waited to find an opportunity to slip out of the fray. In the confusion, one of the marshals grabbed Jitsu as if to cuff him and then shoved him out the back door. Within a few moments, without Jitsu or any other reason to vent their anger, the fight broke up; one of the young noblemen wiped his bloody nose on his sleeve.
One of the marshals turned and saw them in the corner. “Cheaters forfeit their ante. Jitsu’s ante is yours,” he said to Alec. “Everyone else’s ante is returned to them.” The two nobles counted out their initial ante and left. Jitsu’s companion was nowhere to be seen. The marshal passed the remaining coins to Alec, slyly pocketing a handful as he did so. Alec scooped up the coins, then picked up the two changed cards from the heap on the floor. If anyone looked closely at these, they might be able to tell that they are not quite right, he thought, and casually tossed the two cards in the fire.
“What about me?” a plaintive voice whined. Slithering out from under the table was Lily. The marshal looked at her, licked his lips, and then stopped.
“You were part of Jitsu’s ante, so now you belong to him,” the marshal said, pointing at Alec.
Erin snickered.
Alec raised his hands. “I don’t want you. You can do whatever you want.”
In a little voice, Lily said, “I have nowhere to go and no coins. You must take me.” She looked at him pleadingly. Alec started to hand her some coins and send her off, and then remembered that women couldn’t hold coins.
“I guess we have no choice for the night, but we need to figure something out tomorrow,” said Alec.
The three of them made their way up to the room. Alec looked at the small bed.
“We won’t all fit in this bed,” he said.
“We will all fit fine,” Erin and Lily both said.
Lily turned to Alec. “Which do you want first, her or me?”
Alec blushed and stammered.
Erin interceded, “He has someone else he is trying to be faithful to. Climb into bed and don’t bother him.”
Both women undressed and burrowed under the thin blankets for warm
th. It was hard for Alec to come to grips with a society where people blithely and routinely slept nude with people they had barely met. Alec stalled around checking that the door and the shutters were latched and then decided to face the situation, stripped, and climbed under the blankets.
He suspected that being in a bed with one woman he might feel aroused, especially if the one woman was Erin, but to be in bed with two women would be worrisome, not exciting. The two women nested together, feeding off each other’s warmth. Alec slept poorly, feeling like he was constantly elbowed or kneed in all the wrong places by one or the other of the two women. He thought about sleeping on the floor, but Erin was right – in this land people slept together for body heat to ward off the night chill. As he finally drifted off to sleep, he again thought longingly of his home and his large bed.
6 – The Aldermen
The next morning Alec wanted to find out Lily’s story before they decided what to do next. After being freed from Jitsu, and a good night’s sleep, she was much more pleasant than the night before. She was fairly attractive, Alec decided, in the curvaceous way that the local people seemed to prefer, and about Erin’s age, but without the fire in her eye.
“So I guess I won you in a poker game,” Alec said. “Who are you, and where did you come from?”
“I’m Lily,” she said, “from a village about a four-day ride from here. But I left there about a year ago. I’ve only been in this village for about a month. I joined Jitsu a couple of weeks ago.”
“How did you wind up with him?”
“Like I said, I left my home village about a year ago – I was getting to be too old to stay there. There were no men in the village who interested me. Besides, I wanted to see what it was like outside my village. So, when a nice peddler-man came through, he asked me to go away with him, and I did. We snuck off one night, sort of as a lark, but we got on well, and it gave me a chance for some fun, and adventure! We didn’t tell my parents we were leaving, but they didn’t mind – at my age, I was a drain on them. They weren’t going to get any coins for me from any of the local boys. They were glad to see me leave, and it was a bonus that it was someone who would take care of me.