The Cost of Destiny

By Carol Sandford

Rated M

Set: Early days on Betazed

Disclaimer is in force, so leave me be, you brutes!

Chapter 1

Cigar smoke lay like a heavy hand in the small back dining room of the

Troi mansion. Three men, one woman, sat around the table, cards in hand,

their dark gazes intent on the current deal. Sergeant Tang, the crusty-

looking, ageing man, frowned at his luck while Mark Roper, considered

the possibility of drawing another king for a pair. Beside him, the sole

woman of the meet, smiled inwardly at a pair of jacks and deuce wild,

while Will, all but did mental backflips over the three queens in his hand.

The foursome made an unlikely quartet. Each holding a quality that one

another admired, and each trying their damnedest to produce the most

perfect poker face - and succeeding. Sly glances occasionally broke the

concentration as the vied for something, anything, that would give an

opponent away. All failed.

The woman studied the man opposite her for longer, his features likeable

enough to capture many a look. He had eyes that made women forget to

breathe. Startling blue, like a mountain lake fed by the purest of

waters, and curtained with sweeping lashes. And that smile. That smile

of his could charm the stripes of zebra.

It also didn't hurt that he was six foot four, with a physique to match

his height. He was all male. It didn't matter that he was an

off-worlder. Her people had long accepted that they needed aid from the

outside. The small army that resided not too far away from this very

room, somehow, seemed calming. Safe. William Riker was one of those

soldiers, he was also a formidable poker player, and was happily piling

up her precious chips before him as he waited for his Lady Luck to wave

her magic wand his way, again.

"Five dollars says that pot is mine." Will grinned.

Tang glanced up from his hand of cards and bit down on his own cigar.

"The hell you say..." he glanced red-faced towards the female of the

group, "sorry ma'am - I'll see your five and double it."

"Too steep for me." Mark threw his cards down and pushed away from the

table. "Gotta go, folks. Need to check on that daughter of mine - see if

she really is tucked up in that bed of hers. I doubt it it though, she's

probably harassing some poor soldier into giving her a good time."

Will continued to stare at his cards. He still had a game to win and the

last member of the group didn't look like she was about to fold. He

caught her eyes with his own, "Looks like it's just you me." Will tipped

back his chair on two legs while the men pulled on their jackets. "I see

you..." he tossed a few more chips into the pile. "...and I-"

The door to the dining room flew open, creating an instant draft that

lifted the cards already placed on the table top.

"Mother, this has got to stop immediately!"

Will swivelled to look at the woman standing in the doorway.

Deanna Troi.

Deanna's ebony hair tumbled around her flushed face and fell in riotous

waves over the shoulders of the purple dressing-gown she wore, its

lapels overlapping and pulled tight around her slender figure, and then

held fast with a belt, the sleeves, so long they completely covered her

hands. But it was her eyes that held Will's stare; black orbs that

matched her mothers, blazed with thunderous emotion. She was livid.

"Little one, I can explain..."

Lwaxana Troi took the unlit, enormous cigar daintily from between her

lips and put it onto the table. It fascinated Will to watch her play the

game with the huge six inch cigar stuck between her teeth. She'd never

lit it, not even once, but for whatever obscure reason, she found the

smell and, or the taste of it comforting. Either that or she just liked

to be, 'one of the boys'.

Dropping the chair onto all four of its legs, Will glanced forlornly at

the queens in his hand, sighed, then threw his cards down, folded his

arms and rested them on the table and waited for the show to begin.

Flopping back into her chair Lwaxana turned her attention to her

daughter who was moving stiffly out of the way as the departing men

bowed uneasily, and silently as they made their escape. Will would have

done the same, but his perverseness at watching the two women argue kept

him planted in his chair.

Hell bent on bending her mothers ear, Deanna ignored the man sitting

opposite her. But even though she didn't even glance in his direction,

she could not ignore the sheer power that oozed from his direction. Damn

him, he was going to listen to her rant and rave at her mother, and once

more, make herself look the bad guy. She hated that.

Will studied Deanna's flawless features as she ripped into her mother.

Something about that haughty, patronizing air of hers, quite often made

Will want to grab her by her cute chin and kiss her senseless. She

rattled him, big time. But she was her mothers daughter. She was a

dignitary. She was as good as a princess. She was off-limits.

And he'd wanted her as soon as he'd laid eyes on her.

But sitting here, watching her blow a gasket, with her hair all rumpled,

dressed in her robe and fluffy slippers, Deanna didn't look quite so

starched, or quite so stiff, or quite so regal. She looked kind

of...soft. Soft and cute. He began to wonder what she was hiding beneath

the sack of a bathrobe. Was it a sexy little see-through number. Or

maybe a virginal white shorty? Nah, it was probably some god-awful

frumpy thing that she'd inherited from some maiden aunt or something

similar.

Startled by his thoughts, and the silence that now surrounded him, Will

looked first to her mother, and then to Deanna and noticed the rigid

lift of her shoulders and the tight press of her lips. He shifted

uncomfortably in his chair remembering, belatedly, that he was in the

presence of a powerful telepath and an empath, and his thoughts of

moments ago would have been as vivid to them as watching a movie show.

It was time to leave.

Hastily pushing himself to a stand, the chair scraping in protest at its

harsh treatment, Will scooped his healthy pile of chips into his hands.

"Time to go, ladies, I know you both need your beauty sleep. Thanks for

the game, Mrs. Troi, look forward to doing it again sometime." He

mentally kicked himself as he found himself bowing as he backed his way

towards the door, "Deanna. Good night."

Too late.

"Stop right there, Lieutenant Riker!"

Just two more steps and he would have been home-free. Framed by the

doorway, Will stood his full height, the small tuft of his hair lightly

grazing the top of the doorway. How the hell Homn walked around the

house, still bewildered Will.

He watched Deanna's small frame approach and his body went tense with

inner dread. But when she spoke, he couldn't have been more surprised if

he'd tried.

"I see you've lost a lot of money tonight, Mr. Riker, and I feel bad

about that. How about a rematch - just you and me?" she challenged.

He eyed her suspiciously, drowning himself in her dark eyes, "What's the

catch?"

She seemed to already looked triumphant, "If I win, you must promise

never to play anymore poker while you're on my planet, or include my

mother in any of your other...games."

"And if I win...?"

"You get to play poker whenever you like...and I'll come and work for

you for..."she tapped her chin as she pondered the option, "two weeks."

"You'll cheat."

"Absolutely."

"You'll read my mind. I won't stand a chance."

"I thought you were good at this, Mr. Riker."

"I am!"

"Prove it."

"Okay, you're on."

They both made their way back to the table. Lwaxana Troi stood and

stretched her arms high above her head, her voice high and full of

shameless pretence, "Heavens, is that time? I think I'll retire and

leave you young things to battle it out."

Neither Will nor Deanna expected her to stay as they moved either side

of the table and sat down, but with Lwaxana's parting words, they both

looked up at her with determination, fire and a touch of fear in their

eyes.

"May the best man win, darlings. Good night." she ended on a sing-song

tone.

Deanna stared across at the man that sat opposite her, her muttered,

"Good night, Mother, I'll see /you /in the morning." slipping from her

lips, devoid of emotion. Will's own half-hearted, "Good night, Mrs.

Troi." also drifted off as he watched Deanna collect up the scattered

cards and begin to shuffle them as well as any card dealer could.

He was in trouble.

He also made a mistake when he asked what game she'd like to play as she

placed the pack in the centre of the table," So what's it going to be,

Deanna?" he was sure she was going to say Go Fish, or Crazy Eights, but

when he watched her sit up in her chair and her hands lace delicately on

the table in front of her, he knew he was sunk.

"How about five card stud, one-eyed jacks wild?"

"You want to play poker!?"

"Of course! My father taught me to count with a deck of cards when I was

two. When the other kids were playing kiddy stuff, I learned how to

double down with an eleven in blackjack." She smiled and held her cool

eyes steady with his. "Now deal the cards, Lieutenant, I'm about to kick

your butt."

Tbc...