Just then, the barmaid returns with our drinks. Ale for me and Leo, tea for Jax and Sephran.
I want to drain the whole thing and ask for another.
Instead, I just lay out the next card— a three, giving me a pair— and toss out another copper. Again, Sephran raises the bet to two.
Fine. I match his bet. Jax folds, leaving me and Sephran in the game.
I lay out another card. This time it’s a queen, giving me two pair. My heart skips a little. The only way Sephran could beat me is if he had two queens or two threes in his hand, which is unlikely. Then again, he’s been betting hard the whole time, so maybe he feels confident.
All right, then. He can prove it. I toss a silver onto the table.
“Whoa!” Leo whistles through his teeth. “Big money.”
Sephran has gone still, and he’s staring at that coin. For a moment,
I feel triumphant, thinking I’ve called his bluff, and now he’ll fold. But then he scowls, still considering, and I realize the full impact of what Leo meant.
Betting a silver would mean risking a lot of money for a soldier, especially since he’s already bet a handful of coppers. Meanwhile, I’ve been tossing down coins like they don’t matter. NowI’mthe one who looks like a prick.
Regret curls in my gut. I might have a good hand, but I didn’t intend to shame him.
“Wait,” I say, reaching out. “I’ll take it back—”
Sephran knocks my hand away, the movement quick and aggressive. “Don’t you dare.”
“Fine,” I snap. “Then call my bet or fold your cards.”
He stares at that silver again, biting his lip. Then he swears under his breath and folds. When he tosses them down, they’re faceup.
He did have two threes. If I’d had two queens, I would’ve beaten him, but I didn’t. He could’ve won.
I frown, but he’s already looking away, sitting back in his chair, ignoring me. Mules and Mares is a betting game— abluffinggame— but it doesn’t feel like I’ve won anything at all. Instead, it feels like I bullied him into it.
I hate this, and we’ve only played one hand. I shuffle all the cards back into my hands, skimming them across each other to start a new deck. While I deal, Malin makes his way over, carrying a stein of ale.
He drops down onto the bench beside me as if he’s completely unaware of any tension. “Mules and Mares?” he says. “Deal me in.”
I do automatically, but I barely want to play myself anymore.
While I flip the cards onto the table, he drops his voice. “I talked to the barkeep. He said a lot of people are worried about thecreaturereturning to Emberfall, but no one has seen anything in weeks. So I don’t think they’ve had any scraver attacks.”
“Good,” I say absently. My attention is completely focused on Jax, who’s leaned close to Sephran to say something low enough that I can’t hear. A strand of hair has escaped the knot at the back of his neck, and I desperately want to reach out and tuck it back, the way I once would have.
The thought reminds me of the way I saw Sephran tug his hair nonchalantly this morning, and a spark of agitation rolls through me. I suddenly don’t regret playing that silver at all.
“There are a lot of mixed feelings about the king, though,” Malin continues. “It seems like some of the Truthbringer rhetoric has made the rounds.”
That gets my attention, and my hands go still on my cards. “What does that mean?”
He shrugs a little. “They’re wary of his magic. They’re worried he could summon another monster to terrorize the country.”
Leo goes a little pale, his eyes widening. “Could he do that?”
I shake my head. “No,” I scoff, because the last thing Grey needs is his own soldiers thinking he’s a potential threat.
But Grey could. I know he could. I’ve seen it.
Malin’s eyes flick my way, and I know he hears the lie.
