Coins and Cards

The Admiral didn't have time for Serenica, he had a ship to run. She went to seek out Gadfly, but he was behaving aggressively and she didn't want to anger him.

Heike seemed to be hurting himself more than others. He smelled like booze.

Serenica slapped her forehead. She should have focused on the one person who could make it or break it when it came to her having a supply of tobacco to keep her from descending into complete madness.

"Why do you have to do that?" she asked.

"Oh. You know, lass. The usual excuses. Today it is the fact that I'm a bad man. A bad man, I tell you. Want some?"

Heike offered a bottle to her.

She didn't feel like arguing with him. She took a swig and said:"There must be a better way to deal with it."

"Give me some paw, then."

"How much have you honestly drunk today?"

"Two bottles. More or less."

Serenica let out a sigh of pure desperation. "Then...just a little paw could be enough to kill you. I can't risk it. I can't jeopardize the only intact relationship I have, and I am not talking about you. I want to keep William happy."

"William?" Heike sounded jealous. "He goes by William to you now?"

"Heike, come with me," Serenica pleaded. "I will make you feel better."

"I doubt it," he growled, but followed her into her little cabin.

Heike went on about his supposed incompetence for a while. Serenica got bored. She didn't have a lot of patience right now. She suggested a game of pull the rye, just to be pleasant to the sailor.

"I have a better idea," Heike said, winking. "How about some gambling? For real money?"

"But it's forbidden."

"Nobody knows. Nobody cares."

Serenica agreed that no one would have to know. "If I gamble with you, will you quit drinking? Have a hair of the dog if you must, but quit after that."

Heike nodded. He pulled out a pack of cards and shuffled them well.

Heike was good, not too good to be fun, but adept enough to be a truly challenging opponent. Soon enough, Serenica found herself clinging onto each ace she received from the pack. Gods knew she needed them all. Gambling gave her a healthy thrill, much needed after all the emotional turmoil and mental torture she had been through.

"You cheated!" she accused Heike after a witty stick he pulled with a card that he technically should not have had.

"If you can prove it, you can have everything, lass. I counted the cards."

They took every last card out of the deck. Serenica had indeed missed a king in her calculations.

"You are way too good," she said, grinning. "You remind me of my grandfather."

"Was he useless and a drunkard as well?" the sailor joked.

Serenica slapped his wrist. "You know exactly what I meant. He was good at gambling."

"Then he was rich, was he not?"

"Not exactly. He gave everything away. Said it wasn't good to keep things."

"A madman," Heike said. "Sorry, but it's true. What about his family? His friends? Did they think the righteous thing to do was to give all his money to random people?"

"Well, he didn't give everything to strangers," Serenica said. "He had hopes that I might get the chance to become a real doctor one day. He funded a special program in the Medical Institute of Western Sennas that would allow people like me to study there as well. It's a real damn pity I might not be around to utilize that possibility."

"You think so?"

"Aye," Serenica said, finding herself using a very piratical word. "The Institute is far away, west of Neul, and I doubt Spade will let me stay there. He needs me. Myorka needs me."

"Seriously? You haven't heard of the place they have in Annport?"

Annport was a parasitic town just east of Neul. Everything they had there was somehow taken from their bigger, more successful neighbor.

"They have a place in Annport?" Serenica asked.

"You have never wondered where the quacksalvers of Neul come from?"

Serenica nearly jumped up from her chair. "That's where I am going once Myorka bleeds!"

"Careful, might not want to jinx it with all that bleeding talk," Heike chuckled. He seemed genuinely happy to see Serenica overjoyed. "You really want to be both, huh? A healer and a doctor?"

"Just imagine what I could do!" Serenica rubbed her hands together. "So many people have died on me. But not anymore, if I can help it. Imagine...I could learn scrying to help me with surgeries. I could use my herbal knowledge to make scientifically tested medications. I could conduct research and -"

A knock on the door interrupted her.

"Quickly, hide the cards and the coins!" she whispered.

Heike put everything on the table in his pockets.

Serenica rolled her eyes and opened the door.

It was Spade. He was acting like a complete maniac, glancing at shadows, eyes rolling wildly in his head.

"And what does the drunkard find here?" he asked.

"What do drunkards usually do?" Serenica shrugged, trying to seem as innocent as possible. "He complained. I listened."

"I don't swallow that," the captain said. "You have been doing something forbidden. I will find out everything, don't you worry."

"Did you have something to say?" Serenica asked.

"Oh. I think William has an idea, but I wouldn't listen to him if I were you. I have a better idea. You will use bloodsight with me to find out what magic has vexed us so."

Serenica thought it sounded like an awful idea to use blood in a situation like this. She shook her head.

"Well, then I will just have to keelhaul half of the crew. It's really not that big of a deal if I do."

"You are not drawing any blood today," Serenica said. "Heike, you can leave. But don't start drinking again!"

Heike got up, but the coins and the cards began to spill from his pockets.

Spade looked at Serenica. "So that's what you were doing."