Page 71 of A World Enough

Kartog smiled. She was young and not really made for gambling.

“I’ll play,” said another man who had some skill but had kept quiet throughout the game, unlike Baldo.

The dealer showed them all the unopened pack of cards, then opened the pack and dealt the hand.

“Now look at your pot of money, Baldo, and look at your cards, and decide if you really want to carry on. Because if you do, I’ll take your money.”

Baldo leaned forwards and said, “I despise you. I despise everyone who takes money from me, and I will not have it. I’m an experienced card player, and you just come, sit down, and take my money? No. We’ll see how it goes with a new set of cards. I’m sure you’re cheating.”

Kartog sighed. “I feel sorry for you, Baldo. It’s not good to go through life thinking the worst of people. Sometimes you have to be magnanimous and say ‘well done.’ But no, not you.”

“No. Not me. I will not be magnanimous”—he spat—“to someone who cheated me out of my money.”

“Let’s play, then.”

Kartog looked at her cards. They were moderate—not awful, but not excellent. She asked the dealer for three more cards. She got them and fanned them in her cupped hands. She had one pair of fire spitters, a medium level card. Fire spitters were one of the death draggers, sent by Danu to take the evil dead to their justice. But with just this one pair, she was going to have to bluff.

The other player dropped out immediately. Kartog kept a smile on her face as she put the cards down on the table. She looked at them every so often and gave a grin.

She knew that Baldo didn’t have a good hand. He was bright red with anger and trying to hide it. His eyes were strained, all because he couldn’t get a good hand, nor had the poker face for it.

“You will be beaten this time,” Baldo said.

“We’ll see.”

Kartog put three blocks of gold and one block of ternite in the pot.

“Oh, you are bringing ternite out to play, are you,” Baldo said.

“Yes.” She leaned back in her chair. Kartog played quietly confident so easily. She was going to drive home to the very end and teach him a lesson he would never forget. “I thought since it was your money I had gotten, I might as well use it.”

His skin got redder by the second. And in a show of bravado, he pushed all his currency into the middle. “All in. Let’s see what you got, Kartog. Because no one is beating this. Are you brave enough to continue?”

“Well…” Kartog pretended to think about it.

She lifted up her cards, put them into different configurations, anything to signal she had a poor hand and was debating if she was willing to take the risk.

Kartog let out a huge sigh and put her cards down.

“Well, Kartog?” Baldo asked. “Are you ready to waste all your money, or will you walk away? Because I know you don’t have anything.”

“You may be right,” Kartog said, “but I know my hand will beat yours. I’ll match you.”

Baldo turned from red in the face to a bit pale. He wasn’t expecting Kartog to match his all-in bet. It was everything he had come to the table with.

The dealer said, “Show your cards, please. Baldo, you go first.”

Baldo’s hands shook as he turned over his cards.

“Ah, that’s a problem,” Kartog said. “The Goddess Epona high, and that’s all you’ve got?”

“Yes, turn over your cards.”

Kartog slowly turned her cards. “Just a pair of fire spitters. What do you think of those cards?”

Baldo placed his head down on the table and wrapped his hands around his head, while Jenice applauded and shouted, “Well done, Kartog.”

Kartog put her hands on the pot. “This is all mine, I think. Dealer?”