His interest in the game and the boy waned with every turn.
Not paying particular attention, he laid down a scout and advisor. The boy's face reflected pleased surprise, and he reached to clear the cards.
Surprised he'd lost that one, Fallon leaned forward. Oh well, guess he'd let his mind wander. They reached the end of their personal decks and shuffled, drawing seven more cards into their hand.
Fallon took the next hand but lost the two after that. Each time the boy seemed pleasantly surprised, and Fallon chalked it up to beginner's luck.
When he lost his warlord on what should have been a sure win, he started paying more attention. He was surprised to see the boy's chips had grown to a respectable size. His pile was nowhere near empty but it was much lower than it should have been.
"He's giving you a time of it," Caden said as he joined them. He nodded respectfully at Fallon.
Fallon focused on the game, watching as the boy threw two incredibly weak cards out in contrast to the last turn where he'd played brilliantly. Fallon countered so that he just barely won. There were three more hands in this round.
Yes, he had to agree. The boy, Shane, was doing surprisingly well. The corners of his lips twitched. Perhaps the boy had something to him after all.
Shea let out a breath. Seemed like he was finally onto her game. Luring him into a false sense of security had been easy. Keeping him there, a little less so. She'd managed to prevent him from seeing her strategy until now. She'd hoped her bluff would last through this hand to the next, but there was nothing for it now.
The next three hands would decide the game.
She smiled inwardly when the dice came up a five and placed a red stone in the middle for her bet. He matched her, and the hand commenced with him taking the first two tricks and her the last three to win the hand and the pot.
Because she'd spent most of the beginning of the game letting him take card after card, she had only the cards she wanted in her hand. Most of them weren't considered high cards, but when paired with another, their strength increased exponentially.
As long as he didn't roll a two, three or six, she was good to go.
"I'll be … " he said as she took the next round.
Shea smiled inwardly. She'd settled on a neutral expression when he figured out what she was doing. Now it was time to let everything play out and see if she was right.
They were on the last hand, and Shea could practically taste the victory.
Fallon rolled a six. Shea nearly snarled.
"That wins me the game," he said, laying his cards out.
Of all the rotten luck. Shea tossed her cards into the gaming center and sat back. So close.
Ah well, at least they hadn't been playing for real.
"Good game," she told him politely. "Thank you for teaching me."
"Would you like to play again?" he asked.
She snorted. Not bloody likely.
If he'd been playing like he had in the last few hands for the entire game, it would have had a much different outcome. It was only because he underestimated her and took it easy in the beginning, that she'd done as well as she had.
"Thank you, but no. I'm sure my squad leader has things he needs me to do."
She waited for his dismissal before she stood and left. It had been a surprisingly fun interlude, something she never would have thought possible.
Fallon and Caden watched the slight figure leave. Caden dropped into the spot the boy had vacated and picked up the hand he'd tossed aside.
"I'm surprised he did as well as he did with these cards. You should have been able to force an end to the game much sooner."
He handed the cards to Fallon to examine.
"You're right. He was astonishingly resourceful. Even you and I would have been hard pressed to give a good showing with a crap hand like this. Keep an eye on him, would you?"
Caden's interest sharpened. "You thinking of recruiting him?"
"Possibly. He's got a bright mind. He's patient and bluffs better than most of the clan leaders I deal with on a regular basis. With a little polishing, he might be an asset in our ranks. What do you think?"
Caden considered. "It's possible. Especially if he has the skills Perry said he has. It concerns me that he's a Lowlander, though. Giving someone like that access to sensitive information could constitute a security risk. You'd have to make him part of the Trateri before even considering it."
"Hm." Fallon idly shuffled the cards. "It'll probably be awhile one way or another. He's too young for my guard right now. We'll see what the future brings."
Fallon set the cards aside. "Now, tell me. How do our forces stand?"
Chapter Twelve
Clark bounced up to Shea with all the energy of a newborn puppy. "How did you like the game? I can't believe you played so long with Fallon. What's he like? Did you have fun? It seemed like you had fun. I would have given anything to join."
"Has anybody ever told you that you're very chipper?" Shea asked, giving him a sidelong glance.
What had brought on all this enthusiasm? He was normally cheerful but not usually to this extent.
"Ah, give the kid a break, Shea," Eamon said.
It seemed like he had forgiven her for whatever trespasses she'd made yesterday.
"He's probably not the only one who's going to be falling over themselves to ask you questions about your game. It's not every day they see Fallon take an interest in someone."
"Interest? Hardly. All he did was teach me the rules to a game."
"I don't know of any other person he's done that for," Buck said, joining them.
Maybe not, but she still didn't see what all the fuss was about. They'd barely spoken aside from him explaining the rules.
He hadn't recognized her, had he? Maybe he'd done so without realizing it.
"What do you think? He might be recruiting the Daisy?" Buck asked Eamon.
Eamon folded his arms. "It would be the first time someone from outside the clans has ever been considered."
"Considered for what?" Shea found herself asking.
"His personal guard." Clark practically hopped up and down.
"Not necessarily his personal guard," Eamon clarified. "But something in that vein. Maybe for a position that reports directly to him."
"That's absurd."
Please let it be absurd. She didn't know how long her disguise would hold up under repeated contact or when she'd run into people, like Darius or his men, who'd seen her more recently.
"If you say so." Buck's tone of voice made it clear he didn't entirely believe her. "Anyway, the men discovered a nice little pond we can use to bathe. Grab what you need and let's go."
Shea felt the blood drain from her face, leaving her suddenly light headed.
"Yes! Finally," Clark said. "I've got enough dirt, grime and blood on me for a Lowlander to farm."
"Indeed. Even my chiggers have chiggers at this point." Eamon grimaced, scratching his neck. "Well hop to, Shane. We want to get to this pond before the rest of the company muddy it up with their own grime."
"Right. Let me just get my stuff." Shea pointed behind her and backed away.
"I'll go with you," Eamon said, standing up. "My stuff is over there as well."
Shea gave him a sickly smile and turned. The smile quickly dropped from her face as soon as she had him at her back.
Panic welled inside. What was she going to do? There was no way in all of the Broken Lands that they wouldn't know she was a female if they saw her naked. She really didn't want to know what their response would be either.
Perhaps she could grab her stuff and slip away before anybody noticed. Making it back to the Highlands by herself, with no provisions or the proper gear, would be tough and damn near impossible, but it had to be better than waiting to be exposed.
A heavy hand landed on her shoulder.
Her stomach jumped up into her throat.
"Where are you going Shane?" Eamon asked. His brown eyes frowned down at her in puzzlement. "Our stuff is over here."
She looked in the direction he was pointing. Sure enough, her pack sat next to his.
"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking," she told him.
She followed him to their packs.
She was overthinking this. She'd just leave something behind so that when she got to the lake she'd have to come back and get it.
Yes, that might work.
Maybe.
No, it would. It had to. The alternative was unacceptable.
"You two ready?" Clark asked from behind her. A towel was thrown over his shoulder and he held a change of clothes, soap, and washcloth in his hands.
Shea grabbed a towel and smiled back. "Yup."
She trailed the three as they bantered among themselves. It didn't take long to reach the pond, if it could be called that. Nestled into a smooth expanse of slippery stone, the pool was fed by a waterfall that fell in three tiers, creating smaller pools at each rock outcropping. A ledge rimmed the water allowing the men easy access. On three sides, a thin, slow moving stream trickled over moss covered rock.