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The night was cool enough to require a campfire, and the group had found shelter underneath the enormous branches of a Woodlands tree to ward off the worst of any weather. After a long day of walking, they were all looking forward to well-deserved rest.
“Do you play cards?” Alfyn asked the group once they had mostly settled.
“Cards?” Cyrus repeated.
“Only if someone watches Therion,” Tressa replied.
Therion didn’t even bother to look insulted, although Primrose chuckled.
“What would we play?” Olberic asked, clearly intrigued. “I haven’t played anything since I was on campaign, so I fear I may be rusty.”
“So something of the Unbending Blade has rusted?” Cyrus teased, which earned him a chuckle from Olberic.
“I will not playen,” H’aanit said. “Master hast losten too much leaf for I to findeth it pleasurable.”
“I bet you won’t be playin’, will ya, Ophilia?” Alfyn asked as Tressa pulled a deck of cards out of one of the innumerable pockets of her bag before Alfyn could find his.
“Oh, I shall certainly play as well,” Ophilia said with a smile. “I must ask that you go easy on me, however.”
“Maybe if you sit next to Therion, he’ll feel bad about cheating,” Tressa said.
“I won’t need to cheat to win against you ,” Therion responded.
Cyrus took the deck of cards from Tressa and proceeded to shuffle them with practiced efficiency and flair, and smiled when he caught an appreciative look from H’aanit.
“Thou dost displayeth much skill,” she commented as she watched.
“I would sometimes play cards with my fellow students when I studied at the Academy. They once made a joke about how poorly I shuffled, so I learned how to do a myriad of tricks. I was slightly more competitive when I was a student myself,” he said. “I also read cards when the mood strikes, so I’ve kept up my shuffling skill. It is a useless ability, but entertaining nonetheless.”
“Wait, hold on, you read what ?” Tressa asked.
“I practice divination occasionally,” Cyrus responded. “I will read your cards later, Tressa, should you want me to. So, which game will we be playing?”
“Poker is cliche,” Primrose murmured. “How about Rummy? We can go up to any point total we want.”
Therion frowned sharply. “Cliche? People play it a lot because it’s not that difficult and doable with this many people.”
“As is Rummy,” Primrose responded smoothly.
“And there’s probably a whole lot less betting involved in Rummy,” Tressa drawled. “I refuse to go into debt over a card game.”
“You’ll have to read my cards later, if you brought a deck with you,” Ophilia said to Cyrus as Primrose, Tressa, Therion, and Alfyn argued over which game to play.
“Of course!” Cyrus replied as he set the well-shuffled deck aside. “Any specific purpose, or just a general overview?”
“Well, I...I would like a romance reading, if you can do that,” Ophilia said, a light blush touching her cheeks.
How interesting, that she was able to keep herself from looking at any particular person , Cyrus thought. I will have to pay more attention to whom she interacts with in our party and how .
“I am capable of interpreting the cards well, even if I cannot apply what I read to my own life,” Cyrus responded aloud. “From your expression, would you, too, be interested in a romance reading, Sir Olberic?”
Olberic shifted self-consciously before he cleared his throat and nodded. “I would appreciate it as well.”
Ophilia perked up slightly. “Do you have someone in mind, Sir Olberic?”
“Perhaps,” the warrior hedged.
“Alright, got it!” Alfyn proclaimed and picked up the deck that sat to Cyrus’ left. “Ready? Tressa’ll explain the rules.”
Cyrus listened intently and Olberic nodded as Tressa explained the rules to them.
“This seems needlessly complicated,” Olberic said after Tressa was done. “I fear I may have lost before we have even begun.”
“Consider it a challenge worth of your skill,” Cyrus said as the cards were distributed between them.
“Yeah!” Tressa agreed. “Who knows, you may get lucky!”
“I suppose,” Olberic said as he picked up the hand that had been dealt to him.
Cyrus deliberately lost first, although hoped that such wasn’t obvious.
“I much rather watch than play, anyway,” Cyrus responded when Alfyn patted his back in condolences. “So, perhaps it is luckier for me that I lost.”
In truth, Cyrus had found that how a person cheated at games of skill or chance to be more fascinating than attempting to win himself, and looked forward to observing.
He was sure that both Ophilia and Olberic would play straight and rely on luck and memory of the rules more than subterfuge. He was also certain that Therion and Tressa would shamelessly cheat, although Therion would be better at concealing it than Tressa. Primrose would probably try to throw things in her favor, although not as deliberately as Therion or Tressa, and Alfyn would lose simply by not remembering the rules.
Thus, he was not surprised when Alfyn was the next to lose.
“C’mon, you have to try a little harder than that,” Tressa scolded Alfyn as the next round began.
Alfyn shrugged and gave her a chagrined smile. “Maybe I’m just not not cut out for card games?”
Therion snorted, his opinion on Alfyn’s skill quite obvious.
It took another two rounds to claim Tressa as a casualty of her cheating.
“Subtlety isn’t your strong suit, is it?” Primrose said primly as the next hand was dealt.
Tressa sulked as Therion smirked.
“I wasn’t cheating, I was just...conducting intelligence,” Tressa grumbled.
Cyrus was surprised when Olberic commented, “‘It’s only cheating if you get caught,’ right?”
“I’m guessing you’ve encountered a Tressa before?” Primrose asked.
Olberic merely shrugged, although a small smile played on his face.
Primrose lost the very next hand, which earned a smug smirk from Tressa.
“Guess you don’t do so well unless you cheat off of me, huh?” she drawled.
Primrose rolled her eyes and said, “You give yourself too much credit.”
The problem was that, from what Cyrus could tell, Tressa was right. Primrose had been using Tressa’s ‘intelligence' rather than conduct her own.
I suppose it’s easier to cheat off of a cheater than cheat oneself ? Cyrus mused as the next hand was dealt to only Olberic, Therion, and Ophilia.
“And you claimed that you would be one of the first to lose,” Ophilia told Olberic with a smile.
“Luck more than skill, I assure you,” Olberic responded.
After two more rounds, Cyrus was absolutely sure that Olberic was remaining in the game off of technicalities and rules. He played an utterly honest game. Therion was having trouble cheating now that most of the players were gone, but was skilled and subtle enough to remain viable. As for Ophilia’s gameplay...Cyrus, oddly enough, wasn’t sure.
Unfortunately, being a stickler for rules only lasted so long against a player such as Therion, and Olberic eventually lost.
“Well, this is an unlikely match!” Cyrus said, delighted. “Ophilia and Therion--who shall be the winner?”
Ophilia smiled. “It is! I’m happy I made it all the way to the final round.”
Therion simply hummed, not bothering to comment, although the smallest of smirks said that he was assured of his win.
“I woulde not looketh so smug,” H’aanit said, her voice thoughtful. “Victory is not assurede until it is securede.”
Therion shook his head as Ophilia concentrated on her hand.
It took three more rounds, but Ophilia won.
“ How ?” Therion demanded, surprise bringing out his petulant side.
Ophilia gave him the brightest, most innocent and angelic smile Cyrus had ever seen as she said, “I’ve played this card game before, and against better cheaters than you, Therion. I am fairly skilled at--what’s the phrase?--beating those like you at your own game.”
There was a long pause before Alfyn and Tressa burst into laughter.
“Wait, you cheated?” Primrose asked, disbelieving.
Therion stared. “But... you ?” He sounded both astonished and impressed.
Ophilia’s smile turned much more mischievous as she said, “Aren’t you glad we didn’t play a betting game now?”