Page 93 of Deadwood
Each of the men took a seat at the round, dark oak table. Crass and Nemin left two seats open between them, so Lander took the chair beside Crass. I took the last open spot, sitting in between Lander and Nemin, and set my cup on the table.
“Know the rules?” Perkins asked me, sorting through a deck of cards he’d grabbed from the middle.
“I’ll teach her as we go,” Lander said.
Crass looked over at me, a devilish glint in his eyes. Peeking out of the collar of his shirt was a black twirl, revealing his hidden tattoo. “Let the girl figure it out on her own. She looks like a quick learner.”
Perkins began dealing a card to each of us, then did another round before setting the deck down, leaving us each with two cards. As he moved, I eyed a splotch of black on his upper arm, reaching toward his elbow underneath his sleeve.
I glanced at Lander before checking my cards. A pair of spades. “I can do it.”
Perkins set two vials of magic on the table, starting the bet.
My brows rose slightly. They were betting with magic. I didn’t have any with me, as I had no reason to carry it around, along with coins. If I ever needed to purchase anything during our stay in one of the kingdoms, one of my guards would take care of it for me. But right now, there were no guards. As they were still healing from the attack, none had joined us for days.
Under the table, Lander nudged my leg before shooting me a nervous look. He hadn’t thought this far ahead—that much was certain.
“I’m in,” Crass said, setting the same amount of vials in the middle.
“Call.” The contents of Lander’s hand clanked as he placed two vials beside the four now sitting in the middle.
“I’ll call,” I said hesitantly, getting some kind of understanding of the gist of the term by watching the others. After a lifetime of being kept away from the fun, I was an excellent observer, which I hoped would give me the upper hand through this.
“Have to bet something of equal value, girl,” Perkins muttered, eyeing me.
I blinked, trying to think of anything I had on me to give besides what I wore. “My shoes?”
“Your shoesanda seat on my lap for the duration of the game will do,” Nemin offered up.
I looked at Lander.
“It’s fine,” Lander said, answering the question in my gaze. He didn’t really have a say in what I did, but I also didn’t want to mess up our act that we were happily engaged.
Nemin kept his eyes on me, a smirk cresting his mouth. “I don’t bite.”
By the starved look on his face, I highly doubted that.
I toed off the ankle boots Siara had given me, setting them on the table, then slowly stood from the chair and straightened my dress. The ivory fabric fell just above the knee, exposing more of my legs than I was used to. In Amosite, it never would have been allowed, but in the beating sun of Deadwood, the other black clothes felt unbearable today.
“Keep your hands to yourself, Nemin,” Lander warned as I perched atop Nemin’s knee.
His hand went to my waist, pulling me back to meet his chest. I was angled in such a way that he couldn’t see my cards, but just in case, I laid them flat on the table. I could remember my two spades just fine.
“Raise,” Nemin said, placing three vials and a stack of coins on the table.
Perkins set three cards face-up on the table as Nemin murmured close to my ear, “So, Auria, what led you to want to marry Lander?”
“Certainly couldn’t be his skills in gambling,” Crass snarked.
Perkins let out a low chuckle, the loose skin under his chin wobbling with the act. He added two vials to the table.
“It’s more of a mutual thing,” I answered, eyeing the jack of clubs, seven of spades, and nine of diamonds. I had to be doing something right as I had three spades in total now.
“Raise,” Crass said, following suit with Perkins’s bet and a stack of coin on top.
“I’ll call,” Lander said, tossing in a handful of coins and two vials before taking a swig of his drink.
Crass’s gaze landed on me, the amber light reflecting off their boozy sheen. “What’ll it be?”
