Vilim was feeling discouraged.
The plan had been foiled before it had even begun, and yet Aadhira had insisted on keeping on with it even as it crumbled around her.
Like she was some kind of Moon-forsaken criminal mastermind.
Vilim had dutifully kept up the bickering with her that was originally meant as a distraction; but over time it had become tinged with frustration at her refusal to admit failure. If she could only adapt to the new reality, perhaps something could be done to change the situation!
And before long, recognizing the occasional look of sympathy from one of the other players, he even started to play to them.
And then the door slammed open and an accusation was raised against him.
Every face turned to look at the intruders, Cassandra included – the treasure map was stuck to her face, but nobody took note of the fact – but the dwarf was the first to respond. He rose quickly to his feet, turning and putting his hand on the oversized hammer that leaned against the wall next to him.
"What be the problem here, lad?" he asked with an air of quiet menace.
The finely dressed woman behind the intruder rolled her eyes and pushed forward, saying with an exasperated voice, ~Revelate!~
It was a standard trigger word for an anti-theft spell: containing no magic of its own, it triggered any spell-touched items in the immediate vicinity to activate the spell on them. In this case, if the person speaking the trigger word was the focus of the spell, the items would reveal themselves as belonging to them, most typically with a glow.
Several gold pieces scattered around the table responded with a golden glow: all of the gold in front of Vilim and Aadhira; maybe half of the gold in front of Mona; and various pieces in the pot in the middle of the table and in front of players who had won a hand.
Everybody stared at the table for a moment before Adrian spoke the thought shared by most of the players: "You brought unwashed gold to a Tides table?"
His tone was more disappointed in the stupidity of the oversight than judgmental of the theft itself, and his gaze, along with that of the rest of the table, was directed at Aadhira rather than Vilim.
He seemed to be the only one positioned to see the map stuck to Cassandra's face, however, and after a quick glance to confirm this, he quickly reached out and peeled it off, quickly hiding it under the table.
The rest of the players then moved as one, collecting and counting the glowing gold and separating it into a separate pile for the intruders to collect, all while passing angered glances at Aadhira, who the man in black had grabbed.
He tried to pass her over to the guard, but he just looked at him like he was stupid.
"She wasn't the one who robbed my master," he said, then pointed at Vilim. "He was."
And then came the moment the sisters had been dreading. The guard hesitated, his head began to swivel back to Aadhira….
Mona, seated behind him, raised her foot, planted it on his backside, and pushed with all her might.
Not ready for this, the guard went stumbling into the man in black, who let go of Aadhira in favor of catching the guard so that they didn't tumble to the floor together. Aadhira took full advantage of her unexpected freedom, slipping lightly past the second guard, who had dismissed her as a threat, and out of the room.
Mona grabbed Cassandra's hand, pulled her to her feet, and dragged her toward the door. The merchant woman, unfortunately, had quick enough reflexes to get between them and the door, a sliver of steel appearing in her hand and a smile appearing on her face.
On the other side of the table, Vilim was backing himself into one corner while their hosts' guard was pulling them into the other. His still yet cautious face clearly proclaimed that he thought they had a reasonable chance of remaining noncombatants.
Meanwhile the dwarf had hefted his hammer at some point, and now he stood between the intruders and the gap leading to Vilim, hammer held between his hands.
"I would nae have minded ye teaching the girl a lesson," he said, nodding at where Aadhira now stood outside the door. "She could use a lesson or two. But her brother here has had a rough enough night of it. Take your coin and leave."
Something about his stance suggested that he hoped they would press the issue.
The guard who was still standing watched his mate extricate himself from the man in black. "I'm sorry," he said, "that's not my call," and turned away.
"Kill him!" the merchant behind him yelled. "That will teach him to–"
The guard held his hand in front of his face, shutting him up. "Did you hire us, Gef? I seem to remember you saying something about how your money was safe with you and we were not needed. No, this isn't your call either."
He turned to the merchant's partner. "Mistress, what say you?"
The woman was eyeing Mona, dagger held at the ready, body poised with a sense of eagerness for some action. Where the merchant was fat and gave the impression of laziness, she was lean, fit, and gave the impression that she knew exactly where she was going to stick that dagger.
But it seemed she could tell that Mona also knew what to do with the dagger that she had drawn. Her eyes took it in, and Mona's battle stance to match her own; and finally she looked with some deliberation over Mona's attire.
"You dress in finery," she said, "yet you gamble with stolen money. Tell me, are you of money, or of blood?
"Who is your father?"
Mona opened her mouth, hoping that a good answer would occur to her by the time she said something; but Adrian's voice came from behind her before she could utter a word.
"It does not matter who her father is," he said. "My father, Lord Brower, should give you sufficient reason to consider your answer carefully, and Lady" –he was careful to emphasize Lady– "Alys here is with me."
The merchant lady licked her lips and eyed Mona hungrily.
"Part of me recognizes and agrees with the part of you that wants to find out which of us would come out on top, no matter what our respective social positions may be."
She forced herself to close her eyes and relax.
"But then," she continued, reopening her eyes, "I look at you and I see a girl – what are you, fifteen? – who thinks she is ready for everything life is going to throw at her, but she is not.
"Don't get me wrong. You've clearly done some living that goes beyond your few years. But you are not yet the woman you will one day become."
She sighed. "I suppose I have bled enough for one night after all." She motioned to her guards to take the gold that was hers.
Before they left, she turned to Mona once again. "A word of warning. Don't gamble with stolen gold next time. I would be very disappointed if I were to find my gold so easily next time, and it was again in your hands.
"Not that I expect this to happen again, of course. I may be showing you my merciful side, but Gef here has disappointed me for the last time, and I look forward to seeing how he will convince me that he has learned his lesson."
Gef's look of self-righteous anger turned to trepidation as she led him out of the room by the arm.
Pausing outside the door, she looked Aadhira over, who looked eager to use the dagger she had drawn at some point. "You aren't even worth my time, girl," she said, and left.
Mona winced. If the woman had been intending to hurt Aadhira, there was no worse thing she could have done than dismiss her like that.
Aadhira moved to reenter the room, but the dwarf blocked her way. "Where do you think you're going, lass?" he asked.
"Quite right," the balding man said from the other end of the room. His gaze took in Vilim, Aadhira, Mona, and Cassandra. "You joined the game with stolen money. You are no longer welcome at the table."
"The fact that you no longer have this money may also be relevant," his friend put in. Then he nodded at Cassandra. "Though to be fair, neither problem applies to the servant. But I suspect she may no longer be interested in playing."
Cassandra shook her head.
"I suspect none of us feel like playing anymore," Adrian said.
"Aye," the dwarf said. "The thrill do be gone."
The group set into the motions of clearing the table and collecting whatever leftover money belonged to them in silence.
Finally they finished and went their separate ways. Adrian tried to accompany Mona, but she shook her head.
She looked over at Aadhira. Aadhira may be putting on a brave face, but to Mona she was an open book.
There were only two people who Aadhira ever opened up to, and her twin would either still be at the temple or asleep by now.
Mona looked back at Adrian. "I think my sister is going to need me tonight."