Kaylan smirked as she looked at him from head to toe. Hmph. A young boy huh? Like he can do anything?
"Are you still in for this? Female gambler?" One of the men asked grimly and Kaylan scoffed.
"And why wouldn't I be ready? I'm always ready". She replied confidently and looked at her opponent;
"What's the bid?"
The boy was already sitting in front of her and raising up his sleeves, he leaned forward on the table.
"I don't need coins" he muttered. "But soemthing more..."
He dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out a glittering gold anklet.
Holy Molly!!! A gold anklet!! Kaylan's eyes beamed immediately as she looked at it in disbelief. What the hell is he doing with something like that?? It was so beautiful!
"A gold anklet!" One of the watchers exclaimed.
"Hey boy, what do you think you're doing?"
But the calm - looking boy said nothing to them as he only fixed his eyes on Kaylan.
"I also need gold from you" he said and Kaylan forced herself not to laugh.
"Gold? I don't have gold on me. I only gamble with coins..."
"Are you sure?" He cut her off. "I'd suggest you check properly".
"Check what?" Kaylan arched her brows.
"Your bag. You might have some gold you don't know of". He shrugged and Kaylan turned to look into Jaden.
"Hey, what do you think?" She whispered to her.
Jaden was the one holding the bag.
"I don't know, Kaylan. We don't have any gold on us" she replied and Kaylan, taking the bag from her, searched through it and to her surprise, found a gold bracelet there.
Whaaat???
"Kaylan!" Jaden whispered huskily, lowering herself to her level.
"Who owns that??"
"I don't know, Jaden. You were the one in charge of the bag. Shouldn't I be asking you that question??"
The watchers were already murmuring amongst themselves.
"Looks quite expensive!" One of them whispered.
"She has a gold..."
The murmurings were almost getting much and Kaylan used that time to think about the gold.
It looked expensive and had the letter"X" on it.
It looked really familiar, but she couldn't tell where she'd seen it from. How did it get into the bag? Could it be a mistake from Jaden? Or a mistake from...
"Are you interested...or not?" The voice of her opponent broke into her thoughts and she turned quickly to look at him.
His own anklet was still there and looked really beautiful. And Kaylan thought to herself; she's never lost this game before.
So.... how about she plays it, wins it as usual and takes the two gold home? Hm. Then, when she gets home, she can sort out the bracelet stuff and know where it must've come from. How was that huh?
Turning properly to face him, she placed the bracelet on the table.
"I'm in"
"Kaylan!" Jaden called whisperingly and squatted in front of her.
"Don't you think we should take this bracelet back home and know where it's coming from??"
"We definitely will, Jaden, as soon as I win it" she answered with a smirk and her opponent also gave out a cold smile.
"And that's it!" One of the men cheered. "Let the game begin! Come on...!"
And so it went...
Kaylan had so much confidence in her as she begin the game of Chess with the young boy who looked so focused.
"You've never lost a game, Kaylan" she reminded herself. "You've always win and can win this"
*
*
The game went on and Kaylan's heart began to race heavily when her Queen was eliminated.
She'd only been able to eliminate two of her opponent's members while his King was so hard to get, but he'd already gotten her Queen.
The men weren't murmuring like they used to but all watched with keen interest as the game seemed to interest them a lot. It felt unique.
The lady was a guru, and the guy was no doubt a guru as well. But as usual, they could only be one winner.
It went on for a longer while and finally, came to an end with only the members of her opponent remaining on the chess board. The rest had all been eliminated!
"Kaylan...!" Jaden shirked as some of the men began cheering already.
He won! He won!
Kaylan sat there like a bloated ghost, unable to move or even say a word. She couldn't believe it; her heart wouldn't agree with her. She'd lost the game! She lost the game!!!
"So, the Queen can actually get deafeated?" One of the men asked in sheer mockery, but that didn't matter to Kaylan as all she could think about was the bracelet she'd lost.
The boy let out a smile as he packed up the two pieces of gold and stood up.
"Wait...!" Kaylan stood up as well, not realizing she yelled, instead of called.
The boy stopped and looked at her.
"I...I want another round".
Silence, then he smirked.
"Well, I don't think I do" he answered with a shrug and left.
Kaylan's heart was beating rapidly. And suddenly, she gasped and ran out the door with Jaden behind her.
"Kaylan...!" Jaden called, surprised at the way she'd ran out.
Kaylan ran out of the tanvern, looked left and right but couldn't find any trace of him.
"Hey! What is it?" Jaden asked perturbed.
It was more like she'd just discovered something new.
"I'm dead, Jaden" she answered fearfully, her chest rising and falling heavily.
"That bracelet... I just remember...it belongs to Xander".
*
*