“That’s okay; we’ll teach you.” This was said by a man not much older than Clark.
Clark coughed into his hand. Shea’s eyes narrowed on him. That cough had sounded very like a laugh.
“I think I’ll just watch,” she said.
She didn’t know what they were planning, but she had no intention of being the gullible newbie.
“It’s impossible to learn Bones and Cards by just watching,” a deep voice said beside her.
Shea jumped, her heart surging into her throat at the unexpected words. Fallon watched her quietly before his gaze shifted to the players as they sprung to their feet.
“Please. Sit. Continue your game.”
The game slowly resumed as Fallon lingered by Shea.
She wondered if it would arouse suspicion if she made an excuse and walked away.
“The point of the game is to gather the most points before the deck runs out,” Fallon told her.
Shea’s eyebrows rose slightly at the statement, and she nodded wordlessly.
What would be a good excuse? It had to be important enough to call her from his company but not enough to arouse his interest.
“Points are anything that have a bone on them. The dice tells you which set of cards hold ascension for each turn. It’s a game of strategy more than anything.”
“Sounds like it’s based more on luck than anything else,” Shea observed.
She fought against a wince. Why did she have to engage? What did she care what kind of game it was? She was trying to find a reason to politely leave.
Fallon chuckled, not offended at her disagreement. “I can see how it would appear so to an observer. Do you have another set I can use to show my friend the game?”
The woman with the scar nodded and reached behind her into a pack, withdrawing a set of beat up old cards and an equally dinged up set of dice.
“Oh no, that’s not necessary. I’ve never been very good at games.”
“Nonsense. It’ll be fun, and if you run with this group for very long, it’s practically a prerequisite that you learn if you want to fit in.”
That’s just it. Shea didn’t care if she fit in and didn’t intend to stick around for very long.
“Come.” Fallon found a place for them to comfortably sit. “Normally, you play this with four people, but it can be played with just two. There are seven types of cards. Warlord, scout, adviser, soldier, assassin, healer, and bone. Each type can do different things. Each role of the dice tells you how strong an action is for your turn and the possible reward. Traditionally, we used bones for the bet and to keep track of points. Now, they use rocks to represent camp chores.”
The cards blurred in his hands as he began to shuffle. Shea was already confused by the rules. It hadn’t been a lie when she said she wasn’t good at games like these.
“We each start with seven cards.” He dealt the cards to Shea and himself. He also upended a bag of colored marbles and parceled out 5 blue ones for each of them, 3 red ones and 2 yellow ones. “We’ll play the first few rounds face up so that I can explain what each move and card means.”
Shea found herself interested in spite of herself as he explained what each card meant and how each round was played. He was patient as he reminded her several times that the scout could not also take on the warlord’s role and that the healer could not kill the assassin.
She frowned down at her cards when he rolled a three. The number utterly destroyed her hand. She had several options left but strongly suspected that Fallon held the warlord and adviser, two cards that when paired were some of the strongest in the deck. The three would limit the actions he could take but not enough. She could pair her healer with her assassin or use the scout to supplement the assassin but the damage done to his cards might not be enough.
Hmm.
There might be one way. It was risky though and would mean rolling over and letting him win unobstructed until the right moment. If she won the game, it would be by the skin of her teeth and if her gamble failed she’d lose by a landslide.
She’d have to be sneaky to keep him from suspecting.
She peeked over at him, allowing a brief glimpse of worry to appear on her face. He regarded her with the same impenetrable expression he’d had the entire game.
She played her two weakest cards before picking up two more from the deck to replace them. He countered with stronger cards, winning the hand. The next several hands were more of the same.
Fallon regarded the bent head before him. He’d thought the boy would be more of a challenge. Granted, it was the first time he’d played Bones and Cards.
The game was a good chance to see how another person’s mind worked. Were they an aggressive player? Rash or cautious? Fallon hoped to learn something of this unknown entity with the game. So far, all he’d learned was that the boy couldn’t bluff worth a damn. Every expression was written on his face, letting Fallon know as clear as day what was in his hand.
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.