Fallyn
Chapter forty-six
The Gilded Goblet boasted a peaked roof with aged black shingles that had seen better days that were entwined with pops of dead ivy, giving it a morose look.
Tired grey stone and black shiplap framed the debauchery that went on behind the thick glass panes.
Stepping inside, I shivered in the warmth the massive, roaring hearth opposite us immediately offered, our boots going from crunching on frost to heavy-sounding thuds on the creaky, wooden floor.
Dancing and drinking, and in the shadowy corners, more intimate activities seemed to be happening as the backdrops to raucous games of cards, Middlemeck from the sounds of it.
I could play cards. A smile that Thaddeus would have called devious rounded my lips. That might be a fun way to make some money this evening.
“If you were strung any tighter, I wouldn’t calling you shadow,” Ash pressed against me allowing a patron to wander by before giving me space again.
“I’d be calling you harp. Why don’t you grab us a table and I’ll grab us some drinks?
” Honestly, that sounded nice. I selected a table close enough to the fire that warmth leached into my bones but far enough from the shadowy corners to purposefully ignore those cavorting within them.
Ignoring the feeling of eyes pressing in on me, I took my seat, joyed to find it plush and relatively comfortable, not at all the hard, rickety chairs I’d expected.
My feet cried tears of joy after all the walking we’d done for finally resting.
My back sang too, and not a song I’d like to repeat.
Maybe I should’ve gotten a table closer to the fire, let the heat melt the tension away.
I rolled my shoulders, envisioning it, and I was rewarded when my muscles ceded to me slightly.
I had just begun to recline and relax while waiting for Ash, when a male shot to his feet at the cards table, drawing every eye.
“Cheat! Cheat!” The one shouted as he stood, his chair tumbling backwards from the force.
His reddening face looked brighter with his blue jacket as the backdrop.
He pointed at the cards, at the twelve-sided die that had decided his fate.
“I saw you. I felt your air magic. You forced that to happen.”
Magic couldn’t change the faces of the cards. But the die…
Those who controlled air could theoretically make a last-second change to the die as its movements ceased.
My gaze focused on the exchange, waiting for the outcome of the accusation.
Would he be investigated? Thrown out? Would guards be called?
The male in question sat back with a wry grin that was so smarmy I believed the accuser immediately.
He adjusted his hat with a dismissive sneer and a scoff, but that wasn’t enough for the male in blue.
“I demand a rematch!” he shouted, his volume climbing so all eyes in the tavern were watching.
Even Ash’s amused gaze flickered to me from his place at the bar to make sure I was seeing the same thing he was before turning back to watch.
“One without your fuckin’ magic, you fuckin’ cheat! ”
“Are you finished with your tantrum, Milkovich?” The male’s smile widened at the same time his brows furrowed into a dare.
There was a threat laid plainly somewhere between the lines.
I saw it. Everyone saw it, it kept all eyes on the exchange, all breathing shallow as the male studied his options.
If the male used air magic to ensure his roll was a hit every time, it really made sense why his stack of coins was so very high, and why three males lingered closely in the shadows ready to pounce forward at any threat that dared to present itself.
I scoffed, narrowing my own eyes. I greatly disliked cheats.
“That was all his coin!” I heard someone whisper nearby. My heart sank watching the challenger grapple with whether or not to walk away. “His poor family… first the fire destroyed their home and now this.”
I’d heard enough. I slowly got to my feet and made my way to the crowded table where glares were being exchanged as well as threats. “I need this money, Bomba! I can’t have you cheat your way out of it!”
“Then perhaps you shouldn’t have wagered it, hmm?
” His complete lack of concern called to an angry part of me I typically shoved down.
A part that loathed those who preyed on the less fortunate.
A part that detested injustice. The same part of me that shrieked for help when that male’s hands touched me in the shadows and the gods sent Thaddeus as my savior.
This male, Milkovich, needed a lifeline, and if nobody else would step up, I would.
The male crumpled as I reached the ring of folk that crowded the tables.
Seeing the devastation on the male’s face told the story as plainly as the hushed whispers now running rampant, a presence of their own with a gravity to match.
The cheated male’s shoulders crumpled, defeated.
But only for a moment, enough to make my heart ache.
But I saw the drive in his eyes. The defiance.
The unwillingness to go quietly. I saw him pick himself up as he cracked his knuckles before addressing him, “Play me fairly. It’s your last warning.
” The cheating male laughed in response to the threat, clapping his hands together, inciting raucous laughter amongst what could only be his followers.
I noted each one, nine in total each sporting brass knuckles and most likely several blades.
“Or what?” The male made a show of wiping fake tears of mirth from his eyes.
“You’ll attack me? Let me remind you what happens when you lose in my bar and don’t just take it.
” Milkovich's mouth parted on a silent shriek as someone’s brass knuckled fist drove into his gut, upending his balance and seeing him to his knees.
A boot drove into his ribs, causing him to scream at last, the bar falling silent in its wake.
He drove out with his fists, but he was quickly outnumbered.
“Stop!” I didn’t make the decision to speak, but I couldn’t find it in myself to regret it even as every eye in the pub slowly turned to me.
”Fallyn! The fuck are you doing?” Ash wasn’t horrified or angry. Confused and definitely shocked, possibly concerned as he stepped up tall and menacing behind me, a threat of his own at my back.
“What have we here? A bar maiden with an affinity for cards and a bleeding heart?” The cheating male laughed again, his nine thugs following suit. I didn’t mind; it meant Milkovich was able to breathe and lurch back upright.
“Someone who will not lose to a cheat.” I kept my voice steady as it rang out around the bar. It wasn’t hard to hear me. One could’ve heard a pin drop in the tense silence.
“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Ash whispered low in my ear. My hand pulsed on his, a quiet assurance. “But part of me hopes he gives me a reason to take him out. I get the feeling the world won’t miss him.”
“When I win, you will give this man his money back.” I gestured to Milkovich, who was sitting up with the aid of two other bar patrons in a daze.
“And when I continue winning, I’ll be sure to give him the rest of your coin.
” Bomba looked at Ash over my shoulder, as if I were a child having a meltdown.
“Is she always like this?”
“That depends,” Ash said with a devious smile. ”If you’re asking if she’s right, I’d say usually. If you’re asking if she’s usually this full of piss and vinegar, then she most definitely is always like this. And if you think her attitude is bad, you should see mine when she’s disrespected.”
The bloody carnage that remained of the kingsguard came to mind, an image that sent ice through my veins, but also bolstered me.
Bomba’s face fell into what I was sure he thought was a neutral expression, but his eyes were like a lash of lightning, quick and wrathful. “You should keep your bitch on a tighter leash.”
I felt Ash stiffen behind me; I immediately placed my hand on his arm.
“I’ve got this,” I assured him. I didn’t take offense when Ash didn’t look convinced.
He glared at Bomba over my shoulder, ever the protector.
I took my seat opposite Bomba, grabbing the deck before he could.
“Given that you’ve been accused of cheating, I think I’ll deal the cards.
” My tone and my actions left no room for arguing.
Bomba leaned forward, placing his hands on the black felt table.
“I hope you know what you’re doing, little girl.
Because I’m about to up the stakes. You can come after my coin all you want.
But me? I’m coming after you. We’re not doing multiple rounds.
We’re doing one. All or nothing. You lose this game and consider yourself bought and paid for, and that little bodyguard of yours won’t be able to do a thing to protect you. ”
My reaction to a rape threat should have been to cry or cower.
I did neither. Instead, I laughed as he showcased his henchmen coming out of the shadows.
I tipped my head back and laughed as I dealt the cards.
Ash didn’t get a chance to rage on my behalf as I beat him to it.
“If you have to lower yourself to buying or trapping females for their company, you could have just said so.”
Ash laughed as Bomba sputtered his anger.
Shocked whispers and caged laughs rang out in the dim.
The hands were dealt. The battle of cards to be decided.
Even if I lost, there was no way in hell I’d allow this male to touch me in any way.
And while I didn’t know Ash well, I had a hard time thinking he’d let anyone touch me either.
She’s mine. The memory of the words coming back as a bracing comfort.