Role

Chapter 12

Blonde: Chapter Six: The Years of Gold and Golden Things, Part One
Added Wed Dec 28 10:02:23 2022 at level 48:

Ayree'llewyn grew quickly in the decade she and her father took Ra'kad for
everything he was worth. They attempted to mix up the gambling halls where Ree
and Wialor would visit, but none seemed as suited to Ree's gift. The dice of
Voralian City were not determined before they landed, any number of things
after the bet was placed could change how they would land or how they would be
thrown, so her gift didn't help her father until it was too late. Same with the
numbers game at the Inn of the Eternal Star. Even Ra'kad and his dealers
shuffled more frequently as they attempted to address being hit by a
successful high roller more regularly. Though that only meant Ree's gift was
less useful for a hand or two. Just how much chance was there in a game of
chance? Enough and often enough to make her sight useless most everywhere else.
Less above-board gambling halls where the game was fixed, however, were perfect
marks. It was very easy to cheat in a rigged game, or at least to spot one that
was impossible to win.

Wialor spent almost as fast as they won. It was dangerous to score big again
and again as they were likely to be marked and the punishment for it would most
certainly be horrendous. Amputation, branding, death, and any number of painful
fates awaited not only him, but his daughter, still too young to truly fend for
herself. Though she was growing up quickly.

It was quite the adolescence at seedy sites. There was the flirting of drunken
men at bars. There was the sneaking of drinks left unattended. There were the
books, and poems, and filthy limericks carved into walls. She learned how to
tease, how to bluff, even how to grab things when someone wasn't looking. Shiny
things, silky things, tasty things. And it's not as though her father didn't
notice, but likely his conscience kept him from being too hard on her. He owed
her, and in some strange way, letting her have these moments of waywardness was
the only way he knew how to repay her. He kept her sheltered and clothed and
fed, he told himself, even as she grew into a less than pious elf.