Free Drenai Series 06 - The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend by David Gemmell

Four
    Sieben was enjoying himself. A small crowd had gathered around the barrel, and three men had already lost heavily. The green crystal was small and fitted easily under one of the three walnut shells. 'I'll move a little more slowly,' the young poet told the tall, bearded warrior who had just lost four silver pieces. His slender hands slid the shells around the smooth barrel top, halting them in a line across the centre. 'Which one? And take your time, my friend, for that emerald is worth twenty golden raq.'
    The man sniffed loudly and scratched at his beard with a dirty finger. 'That one,' he said at last, pointing to the centre shell. Sieben flipped the shell. There was nothing beneath it. Moving his hand to the right he covered a second shell, expertly palmed the stone under it and showed it to the audience.
    'So close,' he said, with a bright smile. The warrior swore, then turned and thrust his way through the crowd. A short swarthy man was next; he had body odour that could have felled an ox. Sieben was tempted to let him win. The fake emerald was only worth a tenth of what he had already cheated from the crowd. But he was enjoying himself too much. The swarthy man lost three silver pieces.
    The crowd parted and a young warrior eased his way to the front as Sieben glanced up. The newcomer was dressed in black, with shoulder guards of shining silver steel. He wore a helm on which was blazoned a motif of two skulls on either side of a silver axe. And he was carrying a double-headed axe. 'Try your luck?' asked Sieben, gazing up into the eyes of winter blue.
    'Why not?' answered the warrior, his voice deep and cold. He placed a silver piece on the barrel head. The poet's hands moved with bewildering speed, gliding the shells in elaborate figure eights. At last he stopped.
    'I hope you have a keen eye, my friend,' said Sieben.
    'Keen enough,' said the axeman, and leaning forward he placed a huge finger on the central shell. 'It is here,' he said.
    'Let us see,' said the poet, reaching out, but the axeman pushed his hand away.
    'Indeed we shall,' he said. Slowly he flipped the shells to the left and right of the centre. Both were empty. 'I must be right,' he said, his pale eyes locked to Sieben's face. You may show us.' Lifting his finger, he gestured to the poet.
     Sieben forced a smile and palmed the crystal under the shell as he flipped it. 'Well done, my friend. You are indeed hawk-eyed.' The crowd applauded and drifted away.
    'Thank you for not exposing me,' said Sieben, rising and gathering his silver.
    'Fools and money are like ice and heat,' quoted the young man. 'They cannot live together. You are Sieben?'
    'I might be,' answered the other cautiously. 'Who is asking?'
    'Shadak sent me.'
    'For what purpose?'
    'A favour you owe him.'
    'That is between the two of us. What has it to do with you?'
    The warrior's face darkened. 'Nothing at all,' he said, then turned away and strode towards the tavern on the other side of the street. As Sieben watched him go, a young woman approached from the shadows.
    'Did you earn enough to buy me a fine necklace?' she asked. He swung and smiled. The woman was tall and shapely, raven-haired and full-lipped; her eyes were tawny brown, her smile an enchantment. She stepped into his embrace and winced. 'Why do you have to wear so many knives?' she asked, moving back from him and tapping the brown leather baldric from which hung four diamond-shaped throwing-blades.
    'Affectation, my love. I'll not wear them tonight. And as for your necklace - I'll have it with me.' Taking her hand he kissed it. 'However, at the moment, duty calls.'
    'Duty, my poet? What would you know of duty?'
    He chuckled. 'Very little - but I always pay my debts; it is my last finger-hold on the cliff of respectability. I will see you later.' He bowed, then walked across the street.
    The tavern was an old, three-storeyed building with a high gallery on the second floor overlooking a long room with open fires at both