Chapter 26: The Assault On The Den of Wolves II

Never play a game you are unable to win, and if winning isn't certain, never play a game you are unwilling to bet your life on. You should be so certain of victory that you are willing to pay that price. If you are unable to do this, you may still win occasionally, but a man who is not willing to bet his life, will always lose to a man who is.

-The Dark Prince

Prince entered the den of wolves with his hoodie riding over his head. As he made his way into the dimly lit bar, the gay cheers of men, and the ripe smell of fine wine overcame him.

"Woahhhh!" Marlin said, eyeing a woman. Her huge hooters nearly smacked into his face as she carried a round of drinks to a table.

Jimi, face covered by a shawl, reached out his hands, performing the breast grabbing motion yet again.

"Hey!" Marlin whispered to Prince, " Can you hook me up with her..."

"You can hook up with any one of them, but first we need to obtain some money." Prince said

"How are we going to make money in a place like this?" Marlin said looking around the sketchy establishment.

"Marlin," Prince chuckled. "This is the best place to make money."

Leading the two over to a table in the corner of the bar, Prince sat down at a table and made a gesture to a man with an assortment of cups.

"I'd like to play a game," He said to the man.

"1 shilling to play 20 shillings for a win." The man said. He placed a set of three cups on the table.

"Prince! Don't dabble in gambling! It's illegal! Also look at this place do you really think you have a chance of winning?" Marlin said.

"Rule #27 from the Dark Prince's handbook" Prince said patting Marlins head. "Never play a game you can't win."

"The Dark Prince's handbook?" Marlin questioned

"Alright, keep your eyes on the Shiling" The man instructed.

The shady man slowly drifted his hands over the cups, looking Marlin and Prince directly in the eyes. Without breaking eye contact, he swiftly shuffled the shilling in between the cups, swiveling his hands around with great alacrity. He moved the cups with such amazing speed that at one point Marlin could have sworn there were 4 cups on the table. As he finished shuffling, the man slammed the last cup down and stepped back folding his arms.

"No which cup is it?" He said chuckling.

"Prince there's no way you could possibly-" Marlin began.

"The fourth cup!" Prince exclaimed pointing toward the cup on the far right with great speed.

"Awe thats too bad!" The man said lifting up the cup. The table laid bare, with no sign of Prince's shilling.

"Damnit!" Prince said slamming the table. "Lets play again!"

"Prince!"

Jimi looked at Prince blinking his eyes rapidly. It was as if he couldn't understand how someone as intelligent as Prince was falling for this silly scheme.

"This time I bet 5 shillings!" Prince yelled. Thrusting his money on the table.

"Oh? What makes you so sure you can win now?" The man chuckled.

"Because this time, I'm going to blindfold myself" Prince said.

"OH? That will help!" The man said laughing.

"Lets begin" Prince said this time with a completely different tone.

"Pedro you can see fine right?" Prince asked.

"THats right Prince, as long as whatever you are viewing is in a shadow, I can see everything" Pedro answered. Prince had angled himself so that his shadow drifted just to the edge of the table, encapsulating the cups.

Once again the man shuffled his cups and arranged them in the same fashion. Finishing his routine, he slammed the cups down.

"Ok then, tell me, what cup is it in!" He exclaimed

"This time its the middle cup," Prince said.

As Prince answered, an ounce of sweat ran down the man's head.

"How did he know?" The man thought. "Is someone else watching for him? It should be impossible for him to see, no even if he could no one can track these cups!"

"Did you see that Pedro?" Prince asked

"Oh yes, I saw everything." Pedro answered

"Sorry kid!" The man said lifting up the middle cup. "No dice!"

Before the man could withdraw the cups Prince grabbed his wrist.

"I didn't mean the first middle cup," Prince said, still blindfolded. "I meant the second."

"The second?" Marlin asked.

"Yes this man has quite the scheme going on.

"You may think there are only three cups here but there are actually four."

"Four?"

"Yes, one of the three cups he uses to shuffle has a slightly different shape than the others, it's nearly impossible to notice during his shuffling. When he slides the coin under that cup he slides a second cup underneath it that fits it perfectly. He slides the coin to the inside of the first cup and places this second half cup underneath it. This gives the appearance of an empty cup, but in reality the coin is sitting right behind the first, isn't that right?" Prince said tipping over the cup.

The cup toppled over, turning into two cups. Prince's shilling fell out.

"Now that's 20 shillings which equals a pound?" Prince said laughing.

"No you can't do this! I'll call Lindor and he'll Ahhhh" The man began

"Oh do you feel that" Prince said

Underneath the table, Prince had pressed the tip of his dagger against the man's inner thigh.

"Another word and you'll have no balls!"

"What do you want!" The man squealed.

"Give me those 20 pounds" Prince instructed

The man acquiesced, handing over a bag of shillings.

"Also don't get any ideas about calling for help" Prince said, placing his dagger in his pocket.

"THis dagger is lined with a deadly poison that will kill you in 24 hours, if you remain quiet I will give you the venom."

"Please have Mercy!" THe man pleaded.

"Prince" Marlin said "Why didn't you just do that from the beginning?"

"Do what?" Prince asked

"Why didn't you just threaten to kill him and take his money?"

"Because, that's not the Kind of Prince I want to be

"Prince?" Marlin said

"If I can't control my aggression now, as powerless as I am, how will I when the world is in my grasp?"

Prince looked back at Marlin with a fierce determination, and for just a moment, the scarlet eyes of the Dark Prince flashed.

"Just who are you Prince?" Marlin thought

Jimi walked in between Marlin and Prince's cultivating moment, and made the gesture of grabbing a woman's chest again.

"Alright thats enough of that." Prince said laughing. "Lets get you a whore!"