Chapter 8: What You Put In The Middle

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"You've been a great mentor for me, Sitto. I know you're not my sitto, but it sure feels like it. It kills me to have to do this."

Sitto glanced down at the floor in front of her, a small frown on her face.

"You go squeeze whatever enjoyment you can out of the rest of your life. I'm serious, no one deserves a good end of life more than you. You just forget about me."

"Teana, dammit, you're gonna have to give me more than that," Sitto said, a look of concern on her face. "You come in here at the very crack of dawn and tell me you're going away forever, and you think that's going to satisfy me? Honey, you've underestimated how much I care about you."

Teana sighed. Sitto was seated on her cushioned chair in the center of the main room of her hut, Teana standing against the right wall, near the exit.

"Teana, come on. If you're saying I'm never gonna see you again, the least you can do is tell me why," Sitto insisted. "What's going on?"

"It's embarrassing," Teana said tenatively.

"Well, if you're never going to see me again, what does it matter?" Sitto replied. "Come on."

"Alright." She came up off the wall and walked towards Sitto, crouching down next to her. "You're going to think I'm awful, but...I'm in some seriously bad debt with the worst kind of person. I've tried everything I can think of to get out of it, but I'm out of options. So, after today, I'm either going to be in another country, dead, or his slave. Regardless, you're never gonna see me again."

"Debt?" Sitto repeated. "Oh, Teana-"

"It's not my debt," Teana cut her off. "It's Ramses. I'm a stupid idiot who vouched for him and offered to pay it, so now...I'm responsible for it, same as him."

"Stupid boy," Sitto grumbled. "I always knew he was trouble."

"Me too," Teana said wryly. "But...you know, I couldn't let him die, so I went and did something really stupid. So, I don't know yet, I might go on the run, I might not."

"How long do you have?" Sitto asked.

"Well, the sun just came up, so...I've got exactly a day. And I've got nothing." Teana shook her head. "I've got twenty-five debens, that's what I got. Decent last meal, not much else."

"What is the debt?"

Teana chuckled. "I don't even want to say, really, it's embarrassing. What's the difference anyway, I don't have it."

"Teana. I'm asking you. What's the debt? What will it take to get you out of trouble." Sitto looked at Teana sternly.

Teana pursed her lips. "Well, alright. And before I say, just know that I didn't have a plan when I agreed to take on Ramses's debt, I was just being an idiot, so you don't even have to ask me what I was thinking. Because I wasn't." She paused. "It's seven thousand gold debens."

"Ra," Sitto said hoarsely. "That's a hole."

"You're telling me," Teana said. "So yeah, that's that. I've pursued every option, and there's nothing out there for me. So, it was nice knowing you, and you're a fantastic person, so go live your life to the fullest."

"Five thousand," Sitto said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Teana said, blinking rapidly.

"If you had five thousand gold debens, would that be enough to get you out of trouble?" Sitto asked.

"Well...I mean, sure, definitely, but-"

"Teana. You probably think I hate men, right?"

"No," Teana said quickly, then wrinkled her nose. "That was my worst bluff ever. Okay, yes, I guess."

"It's an impression I've cultivated over the years," Sitto admitted. "And I haven't particularly minded. But it's not that simple. You see, Teana, I loved my husband. And he loved me. He understood our plight. He understood. I wouldn't have been with him if he didn't understand, I suppose."

Teana nodded, resisting the urge to turn and walk away from the irrelevant conversation piece.

"When he died, well, of course the government came around and scooped up most of his savings, since he didn't have any sons to inherit it. Leave us with the crumbs, you know how it works. But, my husband, the war hero that he was, well, the government respected him and thought a lot of him. There wasn't any intense, close investigation with his wealth, they were willing to take his word for it. So, they wouldn't notice if he was to, say, lie about his savings."

"Sitto-"

"So he fudged the numbers. Gave me a small sack of diamonds, told me to hide it. Five thousand gold debens worth, told me to use it one day to enjoy my life. That was over a decade ago. I guess I didn't do a very good job of enjoying my life, because it's done nothing but collect dust."

"Sitto, I'm really not asking you for-"

"So, clearly, I don't need it for myself." She stood up. "And I am not going to let it sit there and do nothing for anyone, when it could very well save your life."

Teana's mouth dropped open, and she looked down at the floor. "Sitto, I-"

"Come with me."

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Sitto slowly unraveled the parchment scroll she pulled from the bottom of her parchment container until it was flat in her hands. A small leather sack was revealed to be hidden inside the scroll. Teana took it and Sitto dropped the parchment. Teana opened it up and peaked inside, looking at a small pile of diamonds.

"Five thousand. Now you go get yourself out of trouble." Sitto said, patting her on the shoulder. "It should be used for something. I could never figure out how to use it, but I'm sure you'll be able to come up with something."

"Sitto, I..." Teana shook her head in disbelief, closing the sack back up. "I don't even know what to say. I swear to every God there is, I'm going to pay you back."

"I don't want you to think about that, Teana," Sitto said. "You just need to think about how you can use this to save yourself. That's all that matters to me."

Teana nodded, still in mild shock.

"Now go on and take care of your problems," Sitto said, turning her around and pushing her towards the door.

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Teana almost skipped down down the sand street towards her hut, heart all the way up into her throat and a grin plastered onto her face that just wouldn't go away. It was almost as if she didn't still have two thousand debens to make up. That two thousand debens suddenly seemed like nothing.

She jumped up to her door and pushed it open energetically, skipping in and barely reacting when Akiiki and Kafele were both seated on stools in the main room.

"Teana!" Akiiki immediately yelped, jumping up and running over to her. "Teana, screw my baby brother, or baby sister, or whatever! You've done more for me than a sibling will ever do for me. I've got five hundred gold debens saved up, say the word and it's yours! I don't care if you waste it, I have to give you a chance."

Teana simply embraced Akiiki in a bear hug, jumping up and wrapping her legs around his waist. Akiiki hugged her back.

"Kafele told me everything, and I'm here for you. I'm dead serious, take my five hundred and do whatever you can. I won't be able to live with myself if I don't at least try."

"Oh, Akiiki, you're the best friend a girl could ask for." Teana dropped off of him. "But I'll pass."

"Hey, Teana," Kafele said, standing up. "I talked with Akiiki, and...you know, if you take his five hundred, I'll give you five hundred of my own. A thousand debens, one day, it could happen. You could at least get close, and then who knows what happens...it's worth a shot."

"Boys," Teana said seductively, plopping down on her cushioned chair inbetween them. "You're too late."

She reached down into her robe pocket and pulled out a small leather sack, tossing it to Kafele. He took it and peaked inside, then shook his head and closed it up, tossing it back to her. "You know, I'm not even surprised anymore. Nothing you do surprises me anymore. You probably found a giant diamond mine in your armpit. I give up trying to figure this stuff out."

"You're kidding me!" Akiiki screeched, lunging forward and grabbing the sack, peeking inside. "That's gotta be...that's-"

"Five thousand gold debens worth," Teana said. "I've got one full day to turn it into seven thousand."

"Okay, okay," Kafele said, rubbing his chin. "We each give you our five hundred, you've got six. And then...then..."

"I got it!" Akiiki said, snapping his fingers. "One of us goes to Akhekh and takes out a thousand deben loan. We go, give the thousand to Teana, she takes her seven thousand debens to Akhekh, gets out of debt, and we get to reset the clock with a one thousand deben debt! We'll have a few moon cycles to make it back, no problem!"

Teana shook her head. "No. We are not messing with Akhekh anymore. Out of the question, we don't need to take out another loan."

"Okay. Okay, how about this?" Kafele said. "We take three thousand to him now, ask him for more time to get the last four thousand. See if we can get...ten, fourteen days, maybe even more. Then, we'll have plenty of time to turn two into four, we can take things nice and easy."

"Akhekh won't go for that," Teana said. "If I don't show up tomorrow morning with the full seven thousand, Ramses is dead and I'm all his. Trust me."

"Well, then what?" Akiiki asked, raising his hands up to his sides. "Any bright ideas?"

"Come on," Teana said, smirking. "We all know there's one way for people like us to turn five thousand into seven thousand quickly. We all know how we're gonna do it."

"I thought you retired?" Kafele said, raising an eyebrow.

Teana grinned. "I am. And don't you forget it. Now suit up, boys. I'm looking for a big game to save my life, and I need it fast."

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"Forget it," the man said, waving Akiiki and Teana off. "Out of the question, I'm not playing cards with a girl! I'd never live it down. Both of you, scram."

"Come on, man," Akiiki said, holding his palms out. "You'd be fulfilling a lifelong dream for the girl, she's my sister, that's all it is! She's got her own gold, she wants to play, what's the big deal?"

"I have friends in noble families who probably wouldn't ever talk to me again if they found out I played cards with a girl," the man replied, finality in his voice. "It's not worth it. Those noble connections are worth a thousand times more than your four thousand gold debens. Now beat it, I'm not discussing this."

"Okay, okay, fine," Akiiki said, backing away from the table, Teana following. "We're going, we're going."

Reluctantly, Teana turned around and walked next to Akiiki, the two of them leaving the high-end cafe.

As soon as they left the cafe, they pushed through a crowd of people walking down the street and entered the alleyway between buildings, running towards Kafele.

"No go?" Kafele said, pressing his hands up against either building.

"They wouldn't go for it." Akiiki ran up in front of Kafele. "This is bad, that's the fifth dud today."

"I know, I can count!" Kafele spat. "Ugh, I can't remember the last time it was this bad!"

"This is what happens when you chase big games. The players are less likely to go for it." Akiiki put his hands up over his face. "The sun is starting to go down, what do we do?"

"I have to have a big game, or I'm wasting my time," Teana said. "Okay, the sun's going down, that could help, most of the games are bigger at night."

"But there are a lot fewer games," Kafele said warningly. "And the bigger the game, the less likely they'll be willing to play with a woman."

"We need to find something now, or else it'll be too late," Akiiki moaned. "We're running out of time, we've got half a day left."

"We need to temper expectations, go for a lesser game and hope you clean them out," Kafele suggested.

"That's a risk too," Teana warned. "If things don't break exactly right I might not make it out with enough."

"We need more time," Kafele said frantically. "You used up all your luck when you managed to come up with those diamonds. Finding a good game tonight is a longshot."

"We gotta try it," Akiiki said resignedly. "Go to Akhekh, tell him we're up to five thousand, but we need a couple more days to get the full seven. If he loves gold as much as you say, he should at least consider it."

"Yeah, that's gotta be it." Kafele shrugged. "Tell him you have five, but you need a couple days to find a game so you can get up to seven."

Teana bit her lip. "No, no," she muttered, pressing her forehead up against the wall. "It won't work, I played Akhekh in cards once and he cleaned me out. He doesn't respect me, he doesn't think I'm good at cards."

"Can't believe it," Akiiki said, shaking his head. "We get to five thousand, but that last two just...won't show up. We need to pursue other options."

Suddenly, Teana looked up at the darkening sky. "Wait a minute."

Akiiki and Kafele turned to look at her.

"Wait...that's it."

"What's up?" Akiiki asked. "What's it?"

"Akhekh doesn't think I'm good at cards." She tapped her hand against the wall a couple of times. "That's it."

"Teana, Teana," Kafele said, walking up behind her and grabbing her hand. "No. First, there's no reason for him to go for it, and second...there are other options."

Teana spun around. "No. That's it. I'll go challenge Akhekh. He thinks he owns me, that he can beat me at will. So he'll go for it, and then I just have to beat him."

"Teana, that's how we got here in the first place," Akiiki said, coming up next to her with his hands out. "And Kafele is right, there's no reason for him to even go for it, he won't have anything to gain."

"I can get him to bite. I know I can," Teana said, nodding. "He'll go for it."

"Teana, Akhekh is a professional level card player. He's a professional. That's not a sure thing, you know it." Kafele grabbed her shoulders. "Don't do this. He's already beaten you once, he can do it again. Don't take this kind of chance."

"I know he beat me, okay?" Teana said, scowling slightly. "I remember. But that was then, and this is now. I don't have much of a choice."

"There are always other choices, Teana, don't do this," Akiiki begged. "Coming up with that five thousand was a miracle, if you lose it, you're really done. Don't put it on the line. You've already tried that and it didn't work, don't do it again."

"No, this is the way it ends," Teana said, pointing down at the ground emphatically. "This is how it has to happen. I play Akhekh for it."

Kafele scoffed. "You know what, Teana, fine. Go ahead, risk it all again. There are other choices here, but you're not seeing them for some reason. Go make the same mistake you made before. Whatever."

"He beat me, once," Teana said through gritted teeth. "You lose sometimes. But I can beat him, I know I can."

"But you might not, that's the thing!" Kafele hissed. "Playing Akhekh is why we're here in the first place, and now you want to fix the problem by repeating your mistakes! It's insane! All that stuff you said that morning after you came back from his den, did it all mean nothing? All that stuff about it being a man's game and how you weren't a good player, you didn't take any of that seriously?"

Teana paused, slowly sliding down the wall and sitting down on the sand.

"But, you know what, I can't stop you. So go ahead. Throw it all away. Forget the lessons of that day. Forget them all." Kafele turned away and started walking down the alley. "But I'm done. You're not the person I thought I knew. Ever since you went to that damn party."

"The party wasn't the start of it," Teana said suddenly, looking down at the sand in front of her. Kafele turned back around. "The party was just a spark."

"What's that?" Akiiki asked. "What are you talking about?"

"That stuff I said that morning...what else would I say at that point? I was angry and shocked, all that stuff I said, it's not true, I was just angry." She looked up at Kafele. "I am a good player. And I know I belong at the big table. I do."

"You're good, Teana," Kafele said. "Real good. But maybe you're not big table good. Maybe you were right about that."

"You know what?" Teana said, biting her lower lip. "That hand, it wasn't bad luck. I wasn't unlucky. Akhekh outplayed me, that's all it was. He suckered me in, fooled me, and took me for everything I had. He beat me, he outplayed me, I can admit that. But you know what? I'm good enough to sit at that table. I am."

"You've got real talent, Teana," Kafele conceded. "You've got twice the talent of me or Akiiki. But there's a big difference between taking gold off of amateurs and playing at a big table, and maybe you're not that good."

Teana shook her head. "I never told anyone this. You wanna know when I started thinking about the big time, guys? When I really started thinking about making it big?"

"It wasn't the party?" Akiiki asked, leaning against the wall.

"Nope," Teana said. "About a year ago. I was disguised as a boy, and I was in a casino. By myself, late at night, just playing twenty fourty. And guess who walks in? Mera."

"The Mera?" Kafele asked.

"Yup," Teana replied. "Five-time underground card circuit champion. My idol. Greatest card player who ever lived as far as I'm concerned. So anyway, the whole place stops. Holy Ra, Mera just walked in, everyone stop and watch. He goes, sits down at two hundred four hundred. All the other games basically stop, everyone comes over to watch him. Some people, rich people, they sit down to play with him, giving their gold away to this guy. They don't care, they just want to play with a champion. He asks that the pre-card bets get cut down to twenty, and the dealer can't say yes fast enough. And you know what I did?"

"What?" Akiiki asked, putting his hands in his robe's pocket.

"I sat down." Teana shrugged.

"You sat down at two hundred four hundred?" Kafele said, wrinkling his nose. "No way, you'd need to have at least...twenty thousand to play right in that game against a professional. Probably twenty-five."

"I ran home and grabbed four. It was stupid and I couldn't rationalize it, I knew it was probably a bad idea, but...I had to know. Do I belong with this guy? I had to know. So I sat down with four thousand." Teana coughed.

"What happened?" Akiiki asked.

"First...fifteen hands, nothing much going on. I crapped out of most of the hands without betting. And then..."

.

Teana peaked down at her cards after the dealer sent them out. Ankh Peasant, Pyramid Nobleman. She looked across the large circular table at Mera, a massive crowd of players behind him, watching his every move. Slowly, Mera considered his cards, then reached for the giant stack of chips in front of him. He grabbed two of them and threw them into the middle.

"Raise, two hundred." Mera said loudly. Immediately, action went around the left side of the table, everyone getting out of the hand without much of a second thought.

When it came around to Teana, she made a small move towards her cards, about to throw them back to the dealer. But then, she froze, and glared right at Mera for several seconds.

She tapped her finger on the tabletop a few times, then grabbed four chips from her much smaller pile and threw them in. "Re-raise, two hundred," she said in a slightly lower voice than she typically used.

Down the right side of the table it went, everyone folding, throwing their cards back to the dealer, until action got back to Mera. Without a second of hesitation, he grabbed six of his chips and threw them to the middle. "Re-raise, four hundred."

Teana quickly grabbed six chips and pushed them to the middle. "Re-raise, four hundred."

Mera immediately made a move to his chip pile. But just before his hand came down on his chips, he stopped, then looked back at Teana. Teana gave him nothing but a stony smile, glaring right back at him.

Mera looked down, peeking at his cards again, then looked back to Teana. She didn't drop her gaze, not allowing a single flicker of emotion to come to her face.

Mera took several more moments, then finally threw his cards over to the dealer. Teana reached forward and grabbed the pile of chips in the center, Mera watching her with an amused smile.

"Did you have it?" Mera asked, as Teana took an empty sack off her back and started dumping the chips in it.

"Sorry, Mera," Teana said, smirking slyly as she stood up. "I don't remember." She turned away from the table, walking towards the chips exchanger counter across the room.

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"I had nothing, I was holding trash." Teana rubbed her lower lip. "And I just outplayed him. The best card player in Egypt, I took him down. And then I got up and walked away. I scared Mera off of a pot holding rags."

"You put a move on Mera?" Akiiki said disbelievingly. "You took Mera down?"

"You son of a bitch," Kafele said, smirking. "You scored off of Mera."

"I belong at that table. I belong with the big time players. I know I do. Ever since that night, I knew that in the back of my mind I was that good. The party just made me want to act on it. But I've known for a year I was that good."

Kafele walked forward, reached up, and cupped the side of her head. "Teana. You go take that son of a bitch down. You go play at the big table. And you beat the big table."

Akiiki grabbed her right hand, gripping it in his own. "Make him cry."

Teana smiled, then quickly lunged forward and kissed both of them on the cheek. "I'm taking him down."

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Teana knocked on the large door at the base of the staircase. The slat on the upper part of the door slid open, eyes looking out at her.

The slat immediately closed up, and the door slowly opened. The doorman stood there, scowling, bandages wrapped around his head and covering his nose.

"You..." he muttered, nevertheless stepping to the side. "Count yourself lucky Akhekh told me to let you in if you came by."

Teana stepped in, looking around the simple, small hallway.

"If not, I'd be pummelling you into a pulp as we speak. You'd be dead by now, in fact."

Teana reached her right hand up and flicked her index finger right at the doorman's nose. He screeched and grabbed it, turning away from her as she marched down the hallway.

Ignoring his pained screams, she turned into the den room. Three people were present in the dark, depressing chamber. Akhekh, seated on a cushioned chair in the far corner, and someone she didn't recognize next to him. The third man was positioned behind the counter, hands behind his back and turning to look at Teana as she entered.

"Hey," she called out.

"You have my gold, girl?" Akhekh asked, looking at her.

"Not quite," Teana replied, putting her hands on her hips. "Not quite."

"Then you are wasting time here, go on," Akhekh demanded, waving her away.

"Well, Akhekh, it's still...my gold, isn't it? Right now?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"True," Akhekh admitted. "It's still your gold. But, the sun just went down, so you have less than half a day. If you do not have all of it by then, then you are mine. Don't worry, I already decided I'm not going to kill you. No, a girl like yourself will be far too useful to have around. I will keep you for myself."

Teana's skin crawled, but she ignored it.

"Well. Less than half a day." She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small sack of diamonds. "I have five thousand here. Five thousand gold debens worth of diamonds. And I'm looking for a game."

Akhekh pointed at the card table. "No one here to play. Sorry, bad luck."

"You're here," Teana said, staring right at him. "Aren't you?"

Akhekh licked his lips, looking around the room.

"Did I hear right?" The man to his right asked, smiling. "Did this girl just ask to play you at cards? Oh man, now I've heard everything."

"You heard right, Aniu," Akhekh said slowly, standing up. "This girl wishes to challenge me to cards. Interesting proposition." He steepled his fingers, looking up at the ceiling. "Let's see. If I win, I take from you the gold you have to pay me anyway in the morning. If you win, I give you the gold that you will then use to pay me. Curious. It would seem I have nothing to gain and everything to lose, isn't that right?"

"Wait wait wait," Aniu said, waving his arm at Akhekh. "I know I didn't hear that right. You said 'if' she wins? That wasn't what you said, was it?"

Akhekh paused, turning around to look at Aniu. "Well..."

"I mean, come on, you don't really think she can beat you, do you?" He asked, pointing at Teana. "Look at her, she's nothing."

Akhekh turned to look back at Teana, who was just smirking nastily at him. He turned to look back at Aniu. "Right. Right, it was just an observation of the stakes, I know she can't..."

"Then let's do it," Teana called out.

"Very well," Akhekh relented, pointing at the counter. "You have five thousand there. We play one on one, we both start with five thousand in chips, and the game goes on until one of us has all of it. No limit."

"Sounds fair." Teana moved to the counter, dropping the sack onto it and allowing the man behind it to take it. "Five thousand."

"One last thing, I want to play with small pre-card bets." Akhekh walked up to the counter, looking down at Teana. "I have tried it recently, it is a much more satisfying way to play. Allows talent to trump luck. How about...ten debens?"

"Sure thing," Teana said, watching as the man behind the counter presented her with assorted chips.

.

Akhekh shuffled the deck a few times. Teana felt butterflies in her stomach, putting her hand down on it to try to settle it down. She glanced around the dank room, recalling memories of her loss half a moon cycle ago.

"Hey, get Ramses out here!" Akhekh said loudly. The man behind the counter immediately moved towards the door in the wall. "He should watch the card game that will decide his fate."

A moment later, the chip man brought out the chair Ramses was tied to, Ramses immediately looking around to grasp the situation. "Hey, Teana, I knew you'd come through!"

"You shut your mouth!" Teana hissed, wringing her hands. "If I get us out of this, I never want to see you again, get it?"

"Hey, come on, ease up," Ramses said, shrinking away from her as the man set him down several feet away from the table. "I made mistakes, you made mistakes, it'll all work out."

Teana pounded her fist on the table. "No! This is not things working out! I'm getting you out of here with your life, and then we're done! Forever!" He turned back to Akhekh, scowling. "Stupid boy."

"Hey, at least I got you playing cards again, you're gonna thank me for that one day," Ramses said.

Teana grabbed an empty wooden cup on the corner of the table and flung it at Ramses's head. The cup connected, drawing a dull thunk and falling to the floor.

"Hey! Teana, I'm tied up here, I can't even duck, that's not fair-"

"Don't make me come over there," Teana said through gritted teeth.

"Heh." Akhekh placed the deck down in front of him. "Stupid children." He pointed at Ramses. "No talking while we play. You say one word and I'll cut your tongue out."

With that, he doled out a card to Teana, gave one to himself, then sent the second out to Teana before giving himself a second.

Teana took a couple deep, settling breaths, then looked down and pulled up the corner of her cards to peek at him. Pyramid Pharaoh, Djed Pharaoh.

"Alright," Teana said quietly, forgetting Ramses was seated a few feet away. "I'll wager. Five hundred." She grabbed five of her black chips and pushed them to the middle.

"Aggressive," Akhekh said slowly, stroking his chin. "Very aggressive." Quickly, he reached towards his chips. "But, I will re-raise." He grabbed three full stacks of his black chips and pushed them into the middle. "I will match your wager, and wager two and a half thousand."

Teana stared at the pot for a moment, putting her elbow on the table and propping her head onto her fist.

We're one hand into the match, and Akhekh has already pushed me into a match-deciding choice. A bet that big indicates he's holding a pair of Gods, the only hand better than my Pharaohs. I have two choices here. I can't match and let Akhekh see the first three cards. I need to get out of the hand, if I believe him.

But if I don't believe him...

"Re-raise, two thousand, I'm all in," Teana said quickly, pushing all her chips to the center. Akhekh's face twitched. He stared at Teana for a few seconds, then looked over at Aniu, who was still seated in the corner.

"Out," Akhekh said slowly. Teana reached forward and grabbed all the chips in the center, pulling them over to her side, stacking them. Akhekh handed her the deck.

When you play one on one, stack size might be the most important thing. When you have a big stack lead, you're in complete control of the match, and can dictate when you decide to make a play without fear. My luck is back. I just took an eight thousand to two thousand chip lead on the very first hand. Now I just need to lean on him until he falls over. This won't take long.

.

"Alright, I'm gonna bet. Four hundred," Teana pushed four black chips to the center of the table, holding the deck in her right hand.

Akhekh shrugged. "Match," he said casually, pushing in a matching quartet of chips to the pot.

Teana burned a card to the side, then set down a farmer on fifth street. Vizier, God, Priest, Prince, Farmer.

"Pass," Akhekh said lazily, glancing down at his meager chip pile.

"Alright, what is that you've got? Five hundred left?" Teana asked, grabbing five of her black chips and putting them into the middle. "Alright, I wager five hundred, I'm gonna tap you here."

Akhekh sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine." He grabbed his five remaining chips and slid them to the middle."

Teana grabbed her two cards and flipped them over. A Prince and a Vizier. "Two groups of two."

Akhekh pursed his lips, looked to the side, then leaned back in his chair. "Very good." He waved his hand at the pot. Teana leaned forward and pulled it towards her. "Good hand."

"Thanks," Teana said, counting up her chips.

"Well played," Akhekh added. "Of course, some...luck involved, there, winning the first hand like that."

"Yeah," Teana replied. "Luck. I'll take it."

"As you should," Akhekh said, standing up and stretching. "So very...unsatisfying, I must confess, to have a match decided on the first hand. Such a short match. Unsatisfying."

Teana shrugged. "Sorry."

"To have a card game with the stakes of ten thousand gold debens, plus two lives, end so quickly and easily, to end...after one real hand...it is disappointing." Akhekh paced around his chair a few times.

"I guess." Teana muttered, pouring her chips into a sack.

"You must feel good about yourself," Akhekh added. "Strong enough to take on the world!"

"I feel...I feel fine." Teana lifted the bag up and turned towards the chip counter.

"I feel okay," Akhekh said, shrugging. "So. Seven thousand is mine, three thousand is yours, and you can have this idiot." He pointed his thumb at Ramses.

"Sounds good to me," Teana said, walking up to the counter and setting her bag down on it. "Change em out."

"Or, you could let it ride," Akhekh suggested. "The sun does not come up for quite some time, we have plenty of time to continue our game. Your choice, up to you. I could let this happen."

"Well. Thanks for the offer," Teana said, walking towards Ramses's chair. "But I'm up three thousand gold debens now, free and clear of your debt...that's fine by me. I'll go home with that."

"Fine!" Akhekh said, flopping back down on his chair in the corner. "It doesn't matter anyway."

Teana reached down towards the knot behind Ramses's chair.

"After all, I am paying you with your gold," Akhekh added. Teana froze.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Teana asked, head flicking back up to look at Akhekh.

"Your gold," Akhekh repeated. "Last time you came in here, you lost...fifteen thousand, so I am still up...ten grand on you. Ten thousand reasons why women still don't belong at the card table."

Teana gave a sardonic grin, shaking his head. "Yeah...yeah..."

Trying to goad me. To own me. Of course. Old trick, not surprising he'd try to use it. But today, pride and respect and dignity don't matter. Especially on a day like today. Today, the only thing that matters is gold. Everything else is irrelevant. And I can leave now, clear of debt with Akhekh, with my life and Ramses's life. I'm also sixty percent of the way to paying Sitto back. That's a couple of decent card games. One last round of cards before I resume my retirement. It'll be easy. And then I can leave all this behind, get back to fishing. See if Akiiki would be a good husband. That's the smart play.

She came around to the front of the chair, looking the rope over. "Alright, dumbass, how do I get you out...I guess I need a knife."

It's like I told Ramses once. You can't lose what you don't put in the middle.

Suddenly, Ramses made eye contact with her, and shook his head. Teana stopped, looking right back at him. Slowly, Ramses glanced over at Akhekh in the corner, talking with Aniu, then looked back at Teana and nodded.

Teana stood there, frozen for a second, then glanced down at the floor.

But you can't win much either.

"Hey, Akhekh," Teana said, slowly turning back around to face him. She swept back over to the counter and grabbed her sack of chips, and bustled back over to the card table. "Deal em."

Akhekh grinned, then stood back up and walked over to the table, clapping. "Ten thousand in chips, please," he asked. The man behind the counter quickly started pulling up chip stacks, setting them on the counter.

"Double the pre-card bets to twenty?" Teana asked, dumping her chips back out onto the table, stacking them by color.

"Sure." Akhekh grabbed the deck and started to shuffle it as a tray was brought over with a pile of chips. He nodded in front of him and the array of chips was placed in front of him. "Game ends when one of us has nothing left."

Teana nodded, biting her lower lip and clenching her fists.