Two hours later I'm standing in the doorway of Imiko's, dressed in a boring brown tunic and breeches. The tavern is a hole in the wall, marked with a crescent moon carved into a small brown door, but inside it's sprawling. It seems to extend backward indefinitely, the rows of small booths and low lighting creating a maze-like effect.

"Don't be deceived," the ambassador says to me as we walk inside, "Imiko's is the best tavern in all of Soriko."

"I'll take your word for it," I answer, dodging a drunken man as he staggers past me. I wrinkle my nose at the stench of alcohol wafting off of him.

The ambassador laughs at my look. "You said you wanted to go out, Shira."

"I do!" I assure him, balking at the idea of going back to the manor for another week. "Irei!" A loud voice calls. "Irei, over here!"

The ambassador groans. "Looks like Esato's already started drinking."

"Irei!" Esato calls loudly, pulling himself up from his seat at a small booth and clapping his friend on the back. "You made it!" His eyes find me, dilate, a wolfish grin overtaking his face. "Oh, and you brought along the pretty golden one, too! Or maybe I should say silver; yes, that hair is more like spun silver than spun gold. Lovely nonetheless." He reaches forward, fingers catching in the long curtain of my hair.

I stagger back, glaring at him.

"Oh, and he's in a fierce mood. Splendid, this will be fun. Yes, this will be fun."

"Sit down and stop making a fool of yourself, you drunken lout," the ambassador chides, pushing down on Esato's shoulders until he's seated again. "I came here to play Xalzan and you're already too far gone to hold a hand of cards."

"'S not my fault," Esato protests. "Imiko got a shipment of the best wine ever made. Mirrenovese, red, twenty years aged. As old as your little Ayadaxa there. Older, maybe."

"I am twenty-two," I respond, coloring when both men laugh.

"Why'd you bring a baby to the bar, Irei?" Esato asks. "Other than to please me? You know I can't resist such a face."

"You better," the ambassador growls, taking Esato's cup from his hand and taking a drink himself. He hands it back and turns to walk away.

"Irei!" Esato calls plaintively. "Where you going?"

"To play Xalzan, you fool! And to get something to drink."

"Try the Mirrenovese wine!" Esato calls. "S' fabulous."

"Only women drink Mirrenovese wine," the ambassador says to me, a little too loudly. I snicker when I see the indignation light up Esato's face.

The ambassador hands me a cup of bright red liquid. He holds a glass of the same in his other hand.

"And this is?"

"Y'chora. Y'xala that's been fermented for a year in wooden barrels."

I take a drink and wrinkle my nose. "It's strong."

"Good, though, isn't it?"

I nod. I can already feel the alcohol working on me, softening the edges of my mind, making the crowded tavern feel warmer and more vital. The ambassador smirks when I take another deep draught, savoring the woody, rich flavor of the drink.

"It's delicious."

He nods and motions for me to follow him. We wind our way through the maze of the tavern, past booths and barstools to a circular table in the very back of the room. Ten or so men sit around it, each with a hand of cards and a drink of some kind.

"Oi, Ambassador man!" A young man with wild blonde hair and a round face calls. "You're just in time to see me beat Jana's hairy ass. Fucker bet high an' lost it all."

"Oh, shut up, you little pissant!" The burly, bearded man I take to be Jana answers. "It was all luck."

"Luck? I've never heard of 'er. It's all skill, my good friend. All skill."

"By the shattered one, shut your mouths, ya damn lovebirds!" Another man calls out. "Move over and give Irei a seat, will you?"

They grumble but do as he says, opening up a spot for Ambassador Nara. He moves to sit down and in doing so reveals me; I realize I've been standing slightly behind him, at an angle that none of the men could see.

"Oi, who's this?" Someone asks.

"Looks like one a' Mirsi's boys to me."

"You're right, Sarvoy," Jana laughs. "Irei Nara, did you finally get lonely enough to take that woman up on her offers? Wouldn't be the first time I saw a whore at Imiko's, that's sure enough, but I never took you for a man who pays for it."

The table roars with laughter, but the Ambassador silences them with a hand. Whatever jibes they throw his way, he has some authority among this circle.

"This is Shira Katzuna, the son of a silk merchant friend of mine. Left Shikkah when it went to the shattered dogs. He's been staying with me since his father's still docked in Mirrenova."

"You've been hiding this one in the manor, then?" Someone asks.

"Well, wouldn't you?" Another answers with a lecherous grin.

"You're all a bunch of fools," the ambassador declares, shaking his head. "Leave the boy alone before I make you, right? Now move over and make room for us."

"Since Esato's too drunk to think, you'll be my partner," he tells me once we slide into the booth. Someone hands him a stack of cards which he fans out in his hand, showing me. "Just watch us and see if you can catch on a bit."

"You haven't played?" A kind-eyed man asks me. "I'm Eadas Sev, by the way."

"No, I haven't," I admit, eyeing up the cards and the men holding them.

Someone chuckles. "Fat chance of picking up Xalzan on the first watch. We've been playing for years, boy."

"I'm not a boy," I reply steadily. "And I bet you you're not half as good as you think."

A few laugh, a few smile at me with a bit of respect. The ambassador looks pleased. I color slightly, wondering where my boldness is coming from today. First Taís and now this.

The man whistles long and low. "Well then, man, I suggest you watch."

I do. It's a betting game, played with dried Jusu beans for currency in place of real money. The real money comes later, the ambassador tells me, when the beans are converted to coin.

It's a fast game, intricate, but it doesn't take me long to figure it out. I've spent countless hours watching my aunts and uncles playing Galsana, Straight Bow, and Sledge, all the popular Shikkan card games. This is different, but not so different I can't catch on.

I become absolutely absorbed in the game. I'm watching, fascinated, as bets are placed, called, won, and lost, as beans change hands and curses fly. I didn't expect the ambassador to associate with men this rough, but now that he's among them it makes sense. He fits in somehow, his cold diplomatic veneer sloughed off by the second glass of Y'chora. There's still a sharpness to him that most of the other men don't possess, but he doesn't seem out of place amongst them.

Most of the men strike me as uncouth at first, but as the game plays on I realize they're not as bad as I thought. Jana gives me my own pile of beans for show, smiling at me, and a few express their condolences over 'the state of my country.' They're all involved in government, I gather, some diplomatic aides, some Council liaisons. Jana, it turns out, is on the local Council himself.

I stop watching the company and return to watching the game, challenging myself to predict the outcome of bets, the exchange of beans. After the second hour I feel I could play myself, but I don't ask.

Eadas Sev bets low. I've been watching him; he's wily, a good player, but he has a poor face for secrets. His mouth twitches slightly, the corner of it fighting a smile. The ambassador laughs, convinced he's won the round with his hand, but I touch him lightly on the shoulder.
"What?" He asks.

"Eadas will beat you," I answer quietly. "Do not make that bet."

"How would you know that?" He whispers, confused.
"Hey, if you need to whisper, get yourselves a room upstairs," someone calls to us. "You're holding up the game, Irei."

"Hold on, men," he tells them, then turns back to me.

"What do you mean he'll win? You think he's lying?"

"I know he is," I tell him. "He has the Empress card. He'll beat your three horseman and put you out of the game."

The ambassador looks perplexed.

"Trust me," I whisper. "Call him on it."

He considers me for a moment, and I think he's still going to bet high when he turns away. I sigh, waiting to watch him lose. But then he calls out, "hold and show," risking all his beans as he calls Eadas out on the bet.

"You sure there, Irei'kionaxi?" the man laughs. "You know you're risking it all, don't you? Losing wouldn't be a good way to impress your friend."

"Hold and show," he repeats.

Eadas looks paler. He lays down his cards and I smile, seeing the empress peaking out from amongst two lowly squires. "How the shattered one did you know?" He asks, piqued.

The ambassador shakes his head, smiling as Eadas pushes over his beans. "Skill, my friend," he answers.

"Luck," Eadas insists, looking hurt.

"Luck? I've never met 'er."

An hour later I'm kicked out of the game by mutual consensus. The ambassador has amassed all but five beans and the men call foul, saying he's brought a card counter with him to steal their coin. None of them believe I've never played before; the ambassador himself asks me several times where I learned.

"Here," I tell him with a laugh, taking another drink of Y'chora. It's my third glass and I'm starting to feel fuzzy around the edges, and a little silly. "I'm good for more than gardening, you know. I have a mind for strategy, my mother always said."

He shakes his head. "Remind me why I ever thought you were just a pretty boy with an empty head?"

I shrug. "Lack of creativity?"

He laughs. Five minutes later he wins the game without my further help.