Page 20 of Virelai's Hoard
They each placed a bet into the pot, coins clinking noisily against its iron walls.
“It’s hardly fair for you to bewarningthem,” Sable said.
“Oh, shut it.” Nyxen gave her a half grin, his teeth glinting in the lantern-light as he dealt three cards each. As the others picked up their cards, he said to Riley, “You know the rules by now. Three suits make a Full Tide, three consecutive numbers a Star Map, and so on. If no one has a set, highest card wins. Last but not least,” he lowered his voice dramatically, “playing the Siren always comes with a cost.” Then he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms. He didn’t take part in the game itself, theonlypirate on this ship who refused to gamble his pay, but he still enjoyed watching. “It’s each pirate for themselves now.”
Sable studied Riley first, but her face was an even mask. Since they were sitting opposite each other, Sable couldn’t quite see what the rest of her body was doing, just her hands, one gloved and one bare, which seemed odd. The bare hand’s thumb rubbed against the cards as Riley held them, but it didn’t seem a tellas much as a mindless habit. Satisfied with her study for now, Sable inspected her own hand. Then she set her cards back on the barrel’s surface, face down. She could hardly believe this was Riley’s first night playing the game, but the already dwindling coins on her side of the barrel backed up that claim.
The first round was over before it began. Sable only had to see the smug smile on Kittredge’s face. She folded her cards. The others followed suit.
“Oh, comeon.” Kit pouted. “I had a good one!”
Nyxen stifled a laugh. “Weknow.” He gave her the pot’s meager contents. “You could at leasttryto hide it.”
“Idid.”
“You really didn’t. EvenIcould tell.” Maren grinned at her.
She kept pouting, but rubbed the back of her hand against her blushing cheek, and her frown was gone before long.
As they played, their little group settled into a routine of their own. Nyxen dealt. Maren filled everyone’s cups at regular intervals, his eyes more on the pitcher than on the cards. Kit tried to bluff at every turn, andfailedat every turn, luck–in the form of Nyxen, Sable was sure–smiling upon her often enough to keep her in the game. Riley was mostly pretending to drink, her cup only emptying at a third of everyone’s rate. But she laughed and joked around with the rest of them, and before long, her shoulders lost their initial tension. After a while, her mischievous hazel eyes found Sable’s more often than not. Bold and curious. They reminded her of this morning, of heavy breaths and body heat and snarled threats. Of a moment, just a moment, when she’d thought she’d parsed want rather than fear in those hazel eyes, and it had hit Sable like a blow to the gut.
The last drop of the pitcher emptied into Maren’s cup.
“I’m going all in,” he said, pushing his remaining coins towards the center of the barrel.
Sable quirked an eyebrow at him, then at the empty pitcher. She matched his offer, about half of her current winnings.
Kittredge frowned, twiddling one of her few coins between her fingers as she assessed the situation. When the coin clinked back on wood, her cards followed. “I’m folding.”
That only left Riley. She was the only one at the table Sable couldn’t quite read. Her hands fiddled at all times. With the cards, with the collar of her linen shirt, with the coins, tracing the rim of the barrel. But the fiddling never matched up with her wins or losses. And her face? It only showed what she wanted the others to see, which was rare. Impressive. And maddening.
Sable prided herself on reading people, and Riley felt like a page half-written in a language she didn’t know. Her play style was cautious, measured, but she still clung to enough coin to rival Maren’s pile and afford to play another game. Which meant she was missing something, and maybe it was the heat of the night, or the rum, or the way Riley’s eyes lingered just a moment too long on hers–but Sable was intrigued.
More than intrigued.
Her gaze caught on the soft sweep of Riley’s cheek, the twitch of her smile, the way her throat moved when she swallowed. Sable itched to get closer. She wanted to peer behind the mask.
As if she could read that thought, Riley shot her a playful smile as she matched Maren’s bet–a slow, crooked thing that tugged at the corner of her mouth like a secret. Sable felt it land low in her stomach.
“Well now, this one should be interesting,” Nyxen said, resting his elbows on the edge of the barrel as he leaned forward.
The cards were revealed, and Sable focused on Riley’s first. A muscle tensed in her jaw. A Star Map was supposed to be a guaranteed win.
Unless it stood against a Full Tide.
Nyxen gave a slow whistle, and Riley relaxed into a laugh as she took her winnings. It wasn’t just amusement–it was control. Confidence. And the sound of it, soft and warm in the space between them, made Sable’s thoughts lose their edge.
Maren let out an overly loudtskthat snapped her attention away. “Guess I’m out,” he said, staring at the laid out cards just long enough to be polite. He didn’t even have a set. “What a shame.” He reached for the empty pitcher. “I’ll go refill this and be right back.” He stood, gripping the edge of the barrel as he steadied himself, then stumbled away.
Nyxen dealt another hand of cards.
“How much do you bet he’s not coming back?” Riley asked. Her eyes followed his trajectory to the nearest barrel of rum, and her voice was low, like she was talking to Sable alone.
Kittredge glanced up from her cards. “Why wouldn’t he come back?” When the question hung in the air a moment too long, a small frown etched itself on her forehead.
“I don’t think he cared much for the game, Kit.” Nyxen smiled at her.
They all looked to where Maren stood, leaning against the barrel of rum, pitcher forgotten at his feet as he just filled his cup straight from the source. He was most definitely not coming back.
