Chapter Three: She Cleans Up Nicely
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"Well? What do you think?" Ramses asked after Teana returned from reading the poster.
"It appeared to be made on expensive, thick parchment. Nice penmanship, appeared to be a quality make of ink," Teana replied, sitting back and taking a swig out of her cup as Ramses looked at her.
"Come on," Ramses needled. "Wouldn't it be nice to spend some time with the elites of society? Just one day of real living, don't tell me it doesn't sound interesting."
"Okay, maybe it does, what's your point?" Teana looked back over at the poster. "It says right on the poster, nobles and wealth. I'm neither. In fact, I'm far from either, so this conversation is over before it begins."
"What if I told you that you could get into that party?" Ramses asked, motioning with his hand towards Teana. "If I told you that there was a way for you to get into that party, would you be interested?"
"Alright, fine, yes. I'll play along," Teana responded.
"Today's your lucky day!" Ramses pounded the table. "You can get into that party!"
"Yeah, if I pledge myself to the Pharaoh's harem, I might just be one of the dancers." Teana looked at Ramses amusedly. "But by all means, go on, keep talking."
"Listen." Ramses leaned in. "That party is a fundraiser for the palace, not much else. There's a charge to get in to the party, and they want to give all the wealthy people in the empire the chance to meet, talk, plan business ventures that lead to additional, taxable wealth. They have this party every year, and it's always just been about generating more gold."
"Good for the palace, what does that have to do with me?" Teana shrugged.
"So, the point is, they don't really care who you are. If you have enough gold to get through the gate, and you look like you belong at the party, you can get in. They're not gonna ask questions about who you are, they just want your gold." Ramses gestulated wildly at the other three.
"Okay, great." Teana gave him a sarcastic thumbs-up. "I don't have gold, and I don't look like I belong at a high-class party."
"Come on, don't lie." Ramses glared at Teana. "You have gold. Inspite of your wild charitable deeds, I know you make gold faster than you give it out. I'm not stupid, y'know. You have plenty of gold."
"Well, I sort of need to have large backup reserves, Ramses," Teana retorted. "I need to have that gold waiting for the kids."
"Gimme a break," Ramses said, narrowing his eyes. "Just say it. Just tell me. How much gold are you sitting on? Be honest, can you do that for me?"
Teana glanced at Kafele for a moment, lips pursed.
"Come on, Teana, just honestly tell me what you have saved up right now." Ramses continued to glare right at her.
"Well...a thousand debens," Teana finally relented.
Ramses snorted. "You expect me to believe that? Come on now, you've been working this game for years, you have more than a thousand. You have way, way more than a thousand. Ten times that I'd bet."
"Gold disappears quickly when you're caring for two dozen families, not that you'd know anything about that," Teana said coolly. "Maybe I do have more than a thousand debens, but a thousand debens is all I'm willing to risk. The rest is a safety blanket. I need a big safety blanket. A thousand debens is the most I'm willing to discuss, the rest is waiting for an emergency."
"Okay, fine," Ramses conceded. "A thousand debens, fine, we can work with that. The charge to get into the party gate is four thousand, and I'll bet another thousand would get you looking like a rich girl. You know, clean yourself up, new dress, rent some jewelry, and you'll look just like a noble!"
Teana scoffed. "Well that's it then. Let's stop talking about it. I have one, you say I need five."
"Don't play dumb, Teana," Ramses replied. "Nobody knows better than you that one thousand can turn into five thousand real quick."
"The party's in seven days," Teana reminded him, motioning to the poster. "And I need to lay low. I mean, sure, hypothetically, if I could find multiple high-stakes card games that actually let me play over the next seven days, if the cards fall right and I'm able to actually make a big score without looking suspicious, then yes, I could turn a thousand into five thousand. But that's not the case. For me to realistically be able to turn a thousand into five thousand, accounting for a reasonable margin of error, I'd need to get into a game with...twenty deben pre-card bets and fifty or hundred deben wagers. I can't get into games like that anymore."
"I can get you in a game like that," Ramses said, pointing at her. "I promise you. I know some guys, high-rollers, I play with them all the time. These guys, they love me."
"Nobody loves you, Ramses," Teana interrupted.
"Well, these guys, maybe it's something else, but I can always get a game with them. They're stubborn, I think they keep thinking that they'll eventually win their gold back. I keep waxing them, but their dads are all merchants. Big time merchants, gold means nothing to them. Maybe they just wanna watch an expert play, try to learn how to play the game. It's one of the three. But I can always get a game with them. They play fifty hundred, just like you said. And they don't mind getting cleaned out apparently, because I've been doing it for months. It's five guys, they generally get together three times a moon cycle. I'll make sure they get together in the next couple days."
"Okay, great, one game. It's a start, but it's one game. I can't turn one thousand into five thousand in one game. I mean, if everything goes perfectly, and I mean perfectly, sure it could happen, but I'd have to play wild. Wild enough to where it's more likely that I lose my thousand. Way more likely. You're asking me to go against everything I've taught myself my whole life. I'm not risking a thousand debens of gold on this. That's not how I do things." Teana shook her head.
Ramses scratched the back of his neck. "I could probably talk them into...hundred two hundred."
"No way." Teana bit her cheek. "All that does it increase the risk. If I'm cold on the first five or six hands, I'm sunk."
"Well, there's one last option." Ramses shot Teana a meaningful look. "These guys play a rotating dealer."
Teana's eyes narrowed. "Ramses, you son of a bitch, don't tell me you've been yanking again."
The tanned teenager shrugged. "It might have had...something to do with me getting banned from that casino today."
"Ramses, if they catch you in the wrong place, they're not just gonna kick you out. They're gonna beat the hell out of you or hand you over to the guards. That's a long prison sentence." Teana took in a deep breath. "You and I both know you don't need to yank to win."
"I didn't get caught! They just got suspicious, some jerk was watching the game and noticed I kept taking big pots whenever it was my turn to deal," Ramses huffed. "Okay, I shouldn't have done it today, it was careless. But these guys, they're rich idiots, they'll never realize what's going on! Just to be safe, we can be a little discrete. Maybe I'll just do it when you're on a cold streak. But it pretty much eliminates the risk."
"You need to knock that off," Teana insisted. "You're a fine player without it."
"It's a big help," Ramses commented. "Come on. These guys are loaded, they're not that smart, and aren't you always talking about getting one over on this male dominated society? This would be the perfect way to pull one over on them!"
Teana sighed. "It's not right."
"Oh, I know." Ramses pointed at her two partners on either side of her. "You're afraid of hurting their feelings. I'm sure they won't mind you running with me for one day."
"Teana, if it means you getting to spend a day inside that party, then I'm all for it," Akiiki said, looking at her seriously.
"You deserve it. I say go for it," Kafele agreed.
"I'm dead if you get caught yanking," Teana pointed out. "Dead."
"These guys aren't gonna catch me, they play drunk." Ramses waved his hands at her. "We're not getting caught. Look, I've already decided, I'm going to the party. Don't you wanna be there with me? It'll be fun."
Teana tilted her head to the left. "Well...come see me tomorrow morning, I need to think about this one."
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I'm a better card player than Ramses. I'll say that until the day I die, and then I'll keep saying it in the afterlife. But I have to give Ramses this. He's a better dealer than me. In fact, he's the best dealer I've ever seen. I'd say he's too good; he'd say he's just good enough. Even when I'm watching for it, I can never spot his tricks.
Ramses shuffled the card deck, hands a blur, pulling a large chunk of the cards out of the center of the pack and placing it on top, then repeating the process with fewer cards each time until the shuffle cycle was done. He kept repeating this process, each cycle just taking a moment to conclude. Eventually, he raised up the top card and showed it to Teana. The Ankh God.
He put it back on top of the deck, then did another shuffle cycle. Pulling out the middle chunk, shoving it on the top, repeating six or seven times, then pulling the top card up and showing it to Teana. The Ankh God.
"Come on, how is anyone gonna catch me?" Ramses asked, repeating the shuffling process.
"All you have to do is slip once," Teana said. The two were seated in the main room of her hut, Teana in her cushioned chair and Ramses on a stool. Ramses again flashed the Ankh God card, having caused it to resurface to the top yet again even after a vicious cycle of shuffling.
"I don't slip anymore," Ramses insisted. He went down off the stool on to one knee. He did another vigorous cycle of shuffling, then placed two cards face down at Teana's feet. He set one card to the side, then placed the next three face up. Pyramid Vizier, Pyramid Prince, Pyramid Pharaoh. He set another to the side, then drew the Ankh Farmer. Another discard, and the fifth card was the Djed Priest.
Reluctantly, Teana flipped her two cards over with her right toes. Pyramid Queen and Pyramid God. The most powerful hand in cards.
"You deal me Atum's hand in an actual game situation, and even those drunk idiots will suspect something," Teana warned as Ramses picked the cards back up.
"I'm just trying to make a point," Ramses insisted. "Don't worry about it, it'll be subtle. You'll catch trio-pairs on the fifth card, pick up routine runs-of-five, that kind of thing, you have my word. I'll get them to play a game in four days, gives us a couple days to prepare you."
This guy can practically will cards out of a deck. He can shuffle a deck a thousand times, hands too fast to even see, and get the same card to come out on top every single time. He'll peak at the bottom card while shuffling, then shuffle until it's something he likes, then pulls it while dealing cards so fast nobody can see, makes it look like he was just drawing from the top. He can memorize all the cards out during a hand, take them back in for the next deal, then shuffle the deck so the ones he wants for the next hand show up exactly where he wants them, and the ones he doesn't want get buried at the bottom. We have a word for people like Ramses. We call him a yanker.
"You word means nothing to me." Teana stood up, stretching her back out. "Alright, I'm in."
"Wear your good clothes," Ramses instructed, standing back up. "I'll make it fly."
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"Ramses, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times, take your sandals off when you come into my house!"
"Oh come off it," Ramses replied, walking up to the circular marble table that had five young men surrounding it. "Who cares? We all know you have an army of maids march through here five times a day."
"Whatever. Today's the day I finally win my gold back. Who's the girl?"
It was a large, well-decorated room, a thick carpet on the floor and ornaments hanging on virtually every wall surface. A massive golden harp was in one of the corners, and a set of trumpets and flutes was propped up on the wall.
"This woman is Monifa." Ramses patted her on the back. "Monifa, might I introduce you to Basa, Seker, Seb, Ptei, and Nesu."
"Finally dating a girl? I was starting to wonder about you Ramses, good job." Seker eyeballed Teana. "Nice rack on this one."
Teana forced a smiled at him.
"She's very pretty," Seb said. "Can she make drinks? Prepare food? That'd be nice for tonight."
"Oh buzz off, there are a dozen servants in this house to do that," Ramses spat, sitting down in one of the empty seats. "She's a friend, and she's our seventh for the night."
"Ever the comedian," Basa said, starting to stack his ten-deben coins up in front of him. "Come on, get her out of here, if you think I'm gonna let her watch the game and signal our cards to you, you've got another thing coming."
"I'm not kidding around," Ramses said as he whipped out his gold sack and dumped it out. "She's playing. She's got a thousand debens, same as me. Take a seat, Monifa."
"Whoa whoa whoa," Ptei said, putting his hand on the one remaining empty chair. "I have a reputation to maintain here."
"Your reputation is the guy who hasn't hit twenty yet and is already going bald, this isn't going to change that," Ramses retorted. "You guys always said I could bring other players, well, now I have."
"The card table is no place for a woman, Ramses, you know this. Come on, how about I give her fifty debens to go across the street and buy a new dress or rug? Would that get rid of her?" Nesu held a handful of gold coins up.
"Either we both play, or neither of us plays," Ramses said malicefully. "I'm not gonna have you pricks disrespect my friends. I can find other games, trust me, you guys will never see me again. I'll vanish the...what is it now, twelve thousand debens I've taken off you guys?"
Everyone looked around at each other, until finally Seker sighed. "More gold for us."
"I've got a good feeling about tonight, Ramses," Ptei said, pointing at him. "Today is the day my luck turns, and you're kidding if you think I'm letting you walk out of here without letting me take my gold back. Your friend can play if it makes you happy."
"A good feeling?" Ramses repeated. "Well, I'll give you a chance to get your gold back." He raised his hands towards the rest of the people at the table as Teana took her seat. "All of us start the game with a thousand debens exactly, and we don't leave until someone has claimed every last bit of it."
"Ooooh, bold," Basa replied, nodding. "I'm down." The table murmured general agreement.
"One of us is walking away with an additional six thousand debens, and the rest of us with nothing. I mean, not that you guys know what I'm talking about since you can just go to your daddies and whine until you get more gold." Ramses looked around. "Nobody leaves until they're out of gold. If you want to leave the table, you have to forfeit all your gold to the pot."
"Alright. Rotating dealer starts with Seb," Basa said, handing the deck to Seb.
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"I'm up on the dealer?" Ramses asked, taking the deck. "Alright, that means Monifa has the double."
Everyone bet their gold in the middle as Ramses shuffled. Teana watched his motions intently, unable to make anything out of it other than simply random shuffling. To her satisfaction, the rest of the table had their eyes on the gold and, in less savory instances, her chest. She cringed inwardly, but if it would help her win...
Quickly, Ramses dealt the cards out, everyone checking what they had. Teana waited for a few seconds, watching the reactions of everyone else, then dipped down to check hers. Ankh Queen and Djed Queen.
"Pass," Ptei said. Teana turned her focus to her stack of gold. Down to the low nine hundreds. The game had been dull and uneventful so far, everyone just gaining and losing pre-card bets. It was time. The passes kept going around the table until...
"Wager fifty," Basa announced, pushing a couple of large gold coins to the middle. Ramses sized him up as the action went to Seb.
"I'll match that," Seb declared, matching the gold wager with one of his own, turning attention to Ramses.
"Well, if you insist," Ramses said, pushing more gold to the center. "I'll match that."
"You'd never guess I was the female at this table," Teana said, grabbing a large mound of her gold and pushing it in. "I match and raise a hundred."
"Well damn," Ptei uttered, re-glancing at his cards. "Forget it."
"Bullied out of a hand by a lady," Ramses taunted. "Sad sight."
Nesu and Seker crapped out of the hand as well, ignoring Ramses's challenge. All eyes were on Basa as he glared at his cards, then at his gold.
"I'll match a hundred," he finally said, placing his wager to the center.
"I don't back down from anything," Seb muttered, matching the hundred debens to the pot.
"You know what? Why not, let's get a big pot going," Ramses decided, quickly making his wager and discarding a card from the top of the deck. "Alright, here we go."
With that, the first three cards were placed. Was Farmer, Djed Farmer, Was Queen.
Basa inhaled, peeking at his cards yet again.
"They're not gonna change, buddy," Ramses goaded.
"Pass," Basa said through gritted teeth.
"Pass it on," Seb agreed, pointing to Ramses.
"Pass," Ramses said, turning to Teana.
"Okay, kiddies. Here's how you play a winner-take-all game. Wager a hundred," Teana taunted, pushing another respectable heap of gold into the middle.
Basa puffed out his cheeks, then let the air out in one big huff. He grabbed his large wooden mug of beer and took a huge gulp. "I'm a good four mugs away from being willing to chase that." He threw his cards back over to Ramses.
"Seb, your play." Ramses motioned to his right.
With a grimace, Seb glared at Teana, then at the pot. He looked at the three cards out on the table, then slowly took a sip out of his wooden mug.
"It's like my father is saying," Seb said quietly, pushing a hundred debens into the pot. "We got to show the women in the world where they belong."
"You know what, I gotta hang around for this one," Ramses said, quickly adding his gold to the pot. He discarded one card, then placed the fourth. Ankh Vizier.
Seb drained the remainder of his mug, then turned around to look at the door leading out of the room. "ANOTHER!" he shouted.
"Jeez, Seb, every bar this side of town is gonna bring you a refill." Nesu shook his head. "You alright?"
"More than alright! I wager a hundred!" Seb pushed more of his coins to the center, looking expectantly at Ramses. Though no expression came to Teana's face, she knew this hand was going to turn the game for good. It was pretty safe to say that Seb was holding a Farmer and Vizier, giving him three farmers with two viziers, a hand he'd surely go all the way with.
"You know what, uh, I'm gonna...you know, I'd really love to see this thing play out, but I gotta get out." Ramses discarded his two cards to the side and shook his head. Ramses was going to lose this hand by design, and he needed to maintain at least a little gold in front of him so he could stay in the game.
"Match and re-raise, another hundred," Teana said immediately, pushing most of the rest of her gold in. The pot was now closing in on two thousand debens.
"Right back at ya!" Seb said eagerly, putting another hundred into the middle.
"Last card coming." Ramses burned a card, then placed the final one. Pyramid god.
"Girlie, if we could go all-in right now, you have no idea how quickly I'd put your feet to the flames and get you right out of this game," Seb said, a dangerous leer in his eyes.
"Told you we should have limited his beer intake," Nesu said quietly to Ptei. "We need to teach this guy how to drink sometime."
"A hundred!" Seb nearly yelled, reducing his gold stack to nearly nothing by raising.
"You must be happy with your hand," Teana said dryly. "Although I'm not sure if it's the hand with the cards, or the hand with the mug." She shoved twenty ten-deben coins to the center, beckoning Seb forward, leaving her gold mound at only two hundred and fifty. "Match and re-raise another hundred."
For a split second, Seb's smile faltered, but flashed back just as quickly as he eagerly reduced his gold stack to a little less than three hundred by matching. Immediately, he picked up his cards and threw them down on top of the gold.
"Trio-pair! Three farmers and two viziers!" He reached out for the pot.
Teana threw her two cards right on the back of his hands, revealing her two Queens. "Trio-pair, three queens and two farmers. Your hands are on my gold."
Seb's grin flew from his mouth as he stared at the cards in shock, then he pounded the table with his fists and let loose a loud curse. He was going to say something else, but then his forehead slammed against the table surface, by accident or on-purpose unclear, and he fell to the ground, dragging a couple debens with him.
"Be a dear and get those for me, well you?" Teana asked, giving Nesu a curt smile.
Nesu bent down to grab the three coins that had fallen to the floor. The door to the room opened, a girl in a simple white cloth robe holding a large mug filled to the brim.
"Who called for the-"
"You might wanna keep that one," Basa suggested, motioning her away.
Meanwhile, in quick succession, Teana had stacked all the gold from the pot in front of her, now the stack leader by a considerable margin, over two thousand debens at her disposal.
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"Princes and Viziers," Teana announced, revealing her two cards to the table before reaching forward to take the three hundred deben pot.
"Aw man, that trio-pair you pulled earlier should have used up all your luck today," Seker said disdainfully as he threw his cards into the middle.
"That was like twenty hands ago," Ramses pointed out. "Luck can rebuild itself over the course of a long game."
"Or in some cases, never show up at all." Basa turned to look at the sleeping Seb, who had fallen out of the game several hands ago and had immediately fallen dead asleep.
"Alright, I have the deck," Ramses said, taking it and shuffling. Teana could see the glint in his eye. He had dealt straight the last couple times, but Teana knew something big was coming.
"I can barely see you over your coin stack," Basa said, looking at Teana, who was partially concealed behind nearly two thousand five hundred debens, mostly the large, ten-deben coins. "Shame too, you've got a very pretty face."
"Sorry, Basa," Teana said sardonically. "Not in the market for a boyfriend."
Ramses dealt the cards out, and Teana took a look at hers. Pyramid Teacher and Pyramid God.
"Alright," Ramses motioned to Ptei.
"Wager fifty," Ptei said, pressing a handful of coins to the center.
"Match," Nesu and Seker announced in quick succession. Basa contemplated his cards, pursed his lips, then flicked them back over to Ramses.
Ramses looked around the table, humming to himself, before discarding his two cards. "Never seen a deck go more cold than this one tonight." His gold stack was down to two hundred.
"Match," Teana said after thinking for a second, pushing five ten-deben coins to the center.
"Alright, here we go," Ramses announced, burning a card off to the side before placing down three. Pyramid General, Pyramid Priest, Djed Pharaoh.
"Wager a hundred," Ptei said immediately.
"Feeling aggressive?" Nesu said, tossing his cards over to Ramses. "I'm out."
"I'll match that," Seker decided, throwing ten coins to the center.
Without a second of hesitation, Teana matched the hundred deben bet, pushing more gold to the center.
"Oh, you'll regret that one, girlie," Ptei said, grinning as Ramses burned a card.
The next came up. Was Farmer.
"Good things come to those who wait," Ptei said, grabbing more of his coins and tossing them to the pot. "I wager a full hundred."
"Nothing good is gonna come out of this for you." Seker matched the hundred deben bet.
"Re-raise another hundred," Teana announced flatly, making a two hundred deben contribution to the pot.
Ptei made a move to his gold, then hesitating just before touching it. He looked back at his cards slowly, then took a draw out of his mug of beer as he glared at Teana.
"Monifa," Ptei said thoughtfully. "Monifa. I'll put your name to the test." He matched the hundred deben bet. "Enjoy the tall stack, you won't have it much longer."
"You're right, but not for the reasons you're thinking, I match," Seker said, making the required donation of gold.
"Match," Teana said simply, glaring right at Ptei as Ramses made to deal the final card.
Pyramid Nobleman.
"Wager a hundred," Ptei said the moment the card hit the table, all thought of subtlety out the window.
"Re-raise a hundred," Seker said instantly, pushing the remainder of the gold he had left in front of him to the pot.
"Don't think you're scaring me out of this hand," Ptei said, pointing at Seker. "As soon as the girl makes her move, I'm matching that."
Teana thought about calling out their idiocy, but decided she'd settle for knocking both of them out of the game would settle.
"Match," she uttered, making the two hundred deben push.
"I'm in!" Ptei said, tossing his gold to the center and throwing down his cards. "Two pairs, generals and priests."
Seker laughed. "Not your day, friend." He threw down his two cards, a pair of Pharaohs. "Three Pharaohs."
Ptei just barely had time for his face to fall before Teana revealed her cards.
"That's...let's see, I believe that's five Pyramid cards, giving me the type-set, and the hand." Teana immediately reached forward to grab the mound of gold.
"Son of a-" Seker spat, eyes darting over the cards. "You little-"
"Sorry, I can't hear you over my giant stack of gold," Teana said quickly, immediately stacking her coins up in front of her. She now had more than everyone else at the table combined.
"This goddamn girl!" Ptei spat. "Every time-"
"Still can't hear you!" Teana announced, pointing at her mound of coins. "Sorry, we'll talk later!"
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"Well, so much for the winning streak," Ramses muttered, pushing himself off the chair and walking away from the table, not a single gold deben left in front left.
Ramses just finished bleeding to death off of pre-card bets. But his two rigged hands he dealt me were more than enough to put me in firm control of the game. Now it's just me and Basa, and he's got less than five hundred gold debens left.
Teana put in twenty debens, Basa put in fourty, and Teana dealt.
Teana peaked at her Was Farmer and Pyramid Vizier, then looked up to Basa.
"I'll raise fifty," Basa said, putting five large gold pieces in.
"Out," Teana said immediately, discarding her cards. Basa pounded his fists on the table, grimaced, then tossed his cards back to her as he scooped up the meager pot. "Don't make it so obvious next time."
"This girl has a mouth on her," Basa grumbled, glancing over at Ramses. "I'm not sure about these people you associate with." He took the meager pot.
Teana handed Basa the deck, then anted fourty debens. Basa went in with twenty, then shuffled a few times before dealing out the cards.
Teana checked her two cards. Djed Prince and Was Queen.
"I'll pass," she said, tapping the table with her right index finger.
Basa scratched the back of his head a few times, then reached forward to place a hundred debens into the middle. "I wager a hundred."
Teana glared at him hard, hand stroking the gold mound in front of her. Finally, she pushed in two hundred gold debens. "Re-raise to two hundred."
Basa grimaced, looking around the room as if there would be something to save him. Finally, he sighed and pushed in another hundred debens. "Play them out."
Teana burned a card, then set three down. Ankh Queen, Djed Nobleman, Was Fisherman.
Basa clapped his hands together and squeezed, knuckles turning white, before he pushed in a hundred gold debens. "I'd get out of this one if I were you."
"Thankfully, you're not me," Teana said immediately. "I'm pushing you all in, re-raise to two hundred." She made the wager.
Basa inhaled, then grabbed his mug for another large swig. "Alright, fine!" He said through gritted teeth, pushing every last bit of gold he had left to the center. With no point to hide his cards left, he revealed he had two Viziers. Teana flipped hers over, revealing that she controlled the hand with a pair of Queens.
"C'mon, c'mon," Basa muttered as Teana burned a card. Teana flipped the fourth over. A Priest. Basa swore under his breath as Teana burned another card, then pulled the fifth out.
Farmer. No help to anyone.
"Ra!" Basa shouted, pounding the table surface with his fist. "How did...how-"
"If you stopped drinking, maybe you'd remember," Teana said coolly, pulling the gold towards her. "It was a pleasure, gentlemen." She turned and gave a mock bow towards the rest of the players, who were half-passed out around the room.
"Ptei!" Teana snapped, getting him to open his eyes and look around the room. "This is your house, is it not?"
Ptei nodded languidly, trying to remember where he was as he looked at the half-conscious bodies around him.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Teana said sweetly. "I'd like to change my gold out for hundred-deben coins, please."
Ptei jumped to his feet and gave his head a good shake. "Little bitch, comes in here, takes our money and-"
"Hey, Ptei!" Ramses interrupted. "This how you treat your guests?"
Ptei looked around helplessly, scowling, but finally sighed and walked up to the table. "Alright, let me...let me talk to my father."
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"It's not that special," Ramses said as the two of them walked down the sand road through town, the streets mostly empty, the sun having gone down quite some time ago. Teana was holding a single gold coin up in front of her. About equal in size as the ten-deben coins, the hundred-deben coins were marked as special by the small diamond embedded right in the center of the coin. Only specialized equipment could reliably stick the diamond in the coin so that it wouldn't fall out. They were rare, typically only the rich had them.
"You see them all of the time, I never see them," Teana replied, holding it up and staring right at the tiny diamond.
"Put it away before someone sees. Last thing we need after that game is to get robbed," Ramses said, grabbing her wrist and pulling her hand down. Teana dropped it back into her bag.
"Seventy of them. Too good to be true," Teana mused quietly. "Never thought I'd score like that."
"Quick, let's hold hands," Ramses said, holding his right hand out at his side. "Looks less suspicious, less chance of a mugger."
"Who says?" Teana asked, regarding Ramses's hand with mild disgust.
"I say, now take it," Ramses insisted.
Teana reached over and took it with her left, giving a mock look of disgust.
"Oh knock it off," Ramses said. "Twenty of those coins are mine, by the way."
"Of course," Teana answered. "Your nefarious deeds don't come cheap."
"So, we get up bright and early tomorrow, head into this side of town to pick up some things. New dress, new sandals, maybe a headdress, rent some jewelry, whatever it takes. All day process, so don't even think about picking up a deck of cards tomorrow. Next day, we tidy you up, and by the evening for the party you'll be the most beautiful girl in all of Egypt. It's time for you, for the first time in your life, to feel like a lady." Ramses squeezed her hand.
"You know...sticking five thousand debens into my savings would be a nice help." Teana looked up at the sky.
"Don't even think about it," Ramses threatened.
.
"No, that's all wrong," Seben said, dismissively waving the dress Ramses was holding away. "Think about who's wearing it. Teana is a large-chested, small-waisted, medium-bottomed woman."
"Medium-bottomed?" Teana repeated, raising an eyebrow at Seben, seated on one of the large stools along the back end of the dress shop, hands on her knees.
"Well, yeah," Seben said, glancing down at Teana's rear end. "We want something that complements those features. She doesn't need all those frills and laces, something elegant and simple will allow her natural beauty to radiate through."
Teana felt herself go slightly red. "T-thank you," she stammered.
"I like this one," Amam said, bringing forward a sleeveless blue dress with a golden collar.
"See, this kid gets it!" Seben said. "That's nice, I like it, Teana you wanna throw it on?"
Teana got up, stretching her back out as Amam brought the dress to her. She took it and looked it over.
"I like it, let's see." She moved towards one of the side rooms.
"Taho, go check the sandals, bring something...gold, to go with the collar!" Seben commanded, pointing towards the other side of the shop.
"Ah, actually..." Teana beckoned Seben to come forward, then pulled her against the wall and leaned into her ear.
"What's up?" She asked.
"It's just...my feet are sort of rough, and the burns...if people at the party see that, they'll get suspicious." Teana glanced around. "I see some wealthy people wear...well, they cover the whole foot, I think that's what I need."
"Slippers?" Seben raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, sure, anything you want."
.
"I really like how it shows your arms," Seben said, looking Teana up and down. She had slipped into the blue dress, and it had proved to suit her perfectly well, especially with the pair of gold slippers on her feet. The two of them were looking over a large table of jewelry.
"The ones over here are too big," Teana said, pointing at some bracelets on the left side. "They look like something nobility would wear."
"I want, for you, a bracelet and a ring. Just one of each." Seben clapped her hands together and looked around on the table.
"Miss," a clerk said, coming up to the two of them. "You are more than welcome to try on the dresses, but I ask you not wear them around the shop unless you plan to buy them."
Teana looked at Seben, a grin poking out of her face, then she looked at the clerk. "I'm buying it. The dress and the slippers." To her surprise, she sounded delighted.
"Excellent!" The Clerk said. "Oh, today must be very special for you. Well, let me go check on that." She ran off.
"Look at this, a gold band with small sapphires along the outer edge," Seben said, holding a bracelet up to Teana.
Teana grabbed it and opened it up, slipping it on and letting it close on her right wrist.
"Goes with the dress perfectly," Seben said, grabbing her hand and putting it up next to her shoulders to compare.
"Well, then I think we should get a ring with the same color scheme." Teana ran her hands over the top of the pile of jewelry before pulling a small golden ring with a sapphire in the center out. "This is just right."
"Maybe we can get a bigger sapphire?" Seben suggested.
Teana shook her head. "If I look too rich, people will ask why they've never seen me before. I need to look I'm a generic only child of a semi-wealthy merchant."
"Alright, ladies, the dress is two fifty, and the slippers are fifty." The clerk came back up behind them. "And will you be buying those as well?" she asked, pointing at the bracelet and ring as Teana slipped the ring onto her right hand's fourth finger.
"Actually, we're looking to rent them tomorrow and return them the next day," Seben said quickly.
"Ah, yes, well, I need to remind you two that our business is backed by the palace, and if you fail to return the jewelry in a prompt fashion you will be branded as criminals and can face up to a five thousand deben fine and up to ten years in prison." The Clerk nodded.
"Of course," Teana said briskly. "We'll pick these two up tomorrow."
"It'll be a hundred to rent the bracelet, and fifty for the ring."
.
"I feel like a huge dork," Teana said. She was reclined out on a cushioned bench, face up, staring up at the ceiling. A woman was applying a thick coat of honey to her face, using her fingers to wipe it over her face.
"I've heard the royal ladies get this done every single day," Ramses said, sitting next to her, watching the treatment with great interest.
"I'm having second thoughts," Teana muttered as the honey was rubbed onto her forehead.
"It's just an antibacterial," the lady explained.
"Oh, so it gets worse?" Teana asked.
"After this, I'll apply some fenugreek oil to help improve the skin's condition. Would you like it done on your arms and legs as well?"
"Yes, she would," Seben chimed in.
"Seben, I thought you were my friend," Teana said bitterly. "You're one of the few girls left in section six, you're supposed to be on my side."
"I am on your side, sweetie," Seben said. "You'll thank me later."
"Now, I notice you have burns on your feet," the lady said. "We have a combination of red ochre, kohl and sycamore juice that can hide those."
Teana hesitated. "I don't like people touching my feet."
"She'd love to have that," Seben insisted.
"I'm starting to feel I should be getting paid for this," Teana muttered. And yet, though she wouldn't admit it in a million years no matter how much you tortured her, she was starting to enjoy it.
A few moments later, Teana felt a thick paste slowly being applied to the soles of her feet. She twitched and fought the urge to pull her foot up, stiffling giggles that threatened to flood out.
"Oh my, is the big, tough, strong Teana ticklish?" Ramses teased, poking her shoulder.
"I'm going to kill you and destroy everything you own," Teana said, knuckles going white as she fought to keep her leg out straight as the thick past was applied to the outside edge of her foot.
.
"My skin doesn't have wrinkles, what's the point?" Teana whined as the wax-like substance was applied to her face.
"It helps prevent wrinkles, dear," the lady replied.
"Unless I was going to develop wrinkles in the next half-day, that's really not a concern!" Teana hissed.
"Do you ever stop jabbering?" Ramses asked.
"Why are you even here?" Teana asked, glaring at Ramses out of the corner of her eye.
"I wouldn't miss watching this for the world," Ramses said, smirking.
"I love the yellow on your nails," Seben said, looking at Teana's right hand. Henna had been used to color the nails.
The lady started to apply some slick, slippery oil to Teana's foot. Teana twitched and shook before laying back, moaning. "Not again!"
"Come on, Teana, relax! It's supposed to feel good," Seben patted the top of her head lightly.
"It's torture!" Teana yelped, fighting the instinctive each to kick away from the much larger lady servicing her.
"I never thought that this would be what broke through the icy tough barrier around you," Ramses said.
"Shut your mouth," Teana said through gritted teeth. "I should be getting paid for this."
.
Teana was now on her front, face down into a small depression on the bench. A tall, muscular woman was driving the point of her elbow right into a spot on her back.
"Sometimes, the evil God Seth curses our human bodies with aches and pains," the woman explained, applying pressure with her elbow. "These curses manifest themselves as little lumps underneath the skin. With enough pressure, the lumps can be pushed out, and the body restored to the condition it would be in without Seth's interference."
"Can't say they've been...bothering me," Teana gasped, as the elbow continued to dig into her back.
"They're a silent killer, those curses. But we get rid of them." She grabbed Teana's shoulders and kneaded them, large hands squishing her shoulders in their strong grip.
Teana grunted and moaned, eyelids flickering.
"See?" That feels good, doesn't it?" Seben said, grinning as she watched.
.
"A light coating, please, I don't want the makeup to distract from her own beauty!" Seben ordered.
Teana was now sitting up in a chair, the lady holding a small stick with some kohl on the end. She applied it around Teana's eyes, Teana holding very still.
"Oh, it's going to be so great," Seben said, clapping her hands together in glee. "You're going to love it."
.
Teana emerged from behind the curtain, to oohs and aahs from everyone present. She was wearing her new dress, the flowing silk of the fabric cascading down her body and stopping at her ankles, feet clad in the gold slippers. The golden bracelet was around her right wrist, as was the gold ring around her right fourth finger.
Her skin was glowing, rendered fresh by the treatments, and her eyes had been accentuated by a light application of makeup. She looked down at herself and couldn't help smiling.
"Okay guys," Teana said reluctantly as she walked out next to her friends. "I guess it was worth it."
"You look amazing," Seben said, patting her on the back. Ramses gave her a thumbs up.
"I like it," Teana admitted, looking down towards the bottom of her dress. "Well, I think I have a party to get to."
