Jean Lorrah - Empress Unborn

But now Pyrrhus and Wicket had practically fallen into their laps! From the reports she had received, they would be the perfect nucleus for the police force she envisioned. If she could only persuade them to accept the challenge.

Her morning duties finished, Aradia ate her midday meal and, having lost sleep the previous night, decided to lie down for an hour before going back to the hospital. Were Pyrrhus any ordinary patient, she would expect him to sleep almost until sunset. But he had wakened prematurely yesterday, and she expected that he would fight off sleep again today at the first moment his body was strong enough to do so.

Aradia was in no mood to fight off sleep, however. Content that she had something good to offer Pyrrhus and Wicket, she fell asleep the moment she lay down.

All the time Julia was following Wicket with her Reading, Galerio was scolding Mosca and Antonius.

When he finally let up, Mosa said with a scowl, “It’s all very well for you to be high and mighty, with Lady Julia as your friend-but Capero’s gonna be after Antonius an’ me tonight. We don’t pay him, he’s gonna slit our throats. “

“Not if we all stick together,” said Galerio. “Capero cheated you-you know that.”

“How?” asked Antonius. “We won at first.”

“I thought you were smarter than that!” said Galerio. “Of course you won at first, so you’d think it was a fair game and you could win. Then he started taking your money, and counted on you being stupid enough to think you could win it back. You know what he wants, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Mosca said reluctantly. “He wants us to work for him.”

“Do you want to?” Galerio asked shrewdly.

“Well… he’s got money, connections,” Mosca admitted. “People that work for him live well.”

“Some do,” Galerio agreed. “But for how long? Ever notice it’s the kids the guards pick up for stealing, or cheating at gambling? You want to spend months in jail?”

“Better’n gettin’ killed,” Mosca muttered.

“Capero won’t kill you if you pay the money you owe,” Galerio said.

“But how?” Antonius demanded. “We gotta steal it. There’s no other way to get that much by tonight.”

“And then Capero will have a hold on you,” said Galerio. “Once you steal for him, he’ll find other ways to make you do the work, while he takes the money.” He sighed. “We have to show Capero that Galerio’s people won’t fall into his trap.”

By this time Wicket had returned the stolen items to their owners, and was on his way back toward the young people. Julia let her full attention return to Galerio, proud of the way he assumed responsibility for Mosca and Antonius because they were his followers.

“But how?” Mosca demanded again.

“By cheating Capero right back,” Galerio replied smugly.

“What?” Antonious asked. “How? He’s got a Reader at the game, Galerio; she’d know if we were cheating.”

Galerio looked at Julia, his dark eyes questioning.

Looking into his handsome face, Julia could deny him nothing. “You can have a Reader on your side, “

she said.

“You?” Antonius’ adolescent voice squeaked in astonishment. “But everybody knows you, Julia. You’d be recognized, and then they wouldn’t play with us.”

“I’ll go in disguise,” she said, charmed with the idea of an adventure to break up the routine of her life.

“And don’t worry-I can fool any Dark Moon Reader.”

“What’s this now?” asked Wicket’s voice-and Julia realized the man had sneaked up on her a second time. “Whore you playing, and why do you need a Reader?”

Silence fell.

“Mm-hmm,” said Wicket. He turned to Galerio. “I know you want to help your friends, but this Capero sounds like a real mean ‘un. Even if he can’t figure out how you’re cheatin’, he’ll know you have to be if you win, right?”

“Right,” Galerio was forced to agree.

“And then what will happen?” Wicket asked.

Galerio grimaced. “He’ll want revenge-and there are only eight of us, when he probably has thirty people in his operation and another hundred who owe him favors. So what do I do about Mosca and Antonius? I can give them my share of money, but that’s only half what they need-and I can’t ask the others to give up their reward money because these two got themselves cheated.”

“No, no,” said Wicket. “You can’t give in. Capero would snatch you up and make you worsen his slave.

No, what you gotta do is cheat him without him ever knowin’ you’ve cheated him.”

“Huh? How?” asked Galerio.

“You go with Mosca and Antonius to Capero tonight. Tell him you want to dice with him for the money they owe.”

“I’m not that stupid, and Capero knows it,” said Galerio.

“You underestimate the professional gambler,” said Wicket. “Capero assumes everyone can be tempted.

Trust me, he won’t question your motives, and you, Galerio, are too fine a bait for Capero to resist. But just to make sure he bites-Lady Julia, will you help Galerio bait the trap?”

“I’ve already said I’d go,” she replied.

“Not in disguise-or at least Capero must know who you are. That way he can’t cry foul, because you can bet that he knows your face, Julia, and that his Reader constantly checks strangers to make sure no one’s sneaking in a Reader of ‘is own. Galerio, you make it a condition: you will provide your own Reader to make sure the game remains honest.”

Julia frowned. “In an honest game Galerio might win, true, but everything is reduced to chance. What if he loses?”

“He won’t lose. I’m going to lose,” said Wicket.

“You?” asked Galerio.

“I’m a rich merchant from Tiberium, likely to drop twenty times what these boys owe Capero.”

“I don’t understand,” said Julia.

“Galerio, you have to make Capero agree that you’ll play tomorrow night, to give me time to connect. ‘

“I can say I need a day to get my stake together,” said Galerio.

“You young men,” Wicket continued, “tell me where in Zendi to let it be known that I’d like to do some gaming tomorrow evening. Then leave it to me to get into the game.”

“But what good will it do for you to lose the award money Aradia gave you?” asked Julia.

“Were you planning to help these young men?”

“Yes.”

“Then help by staking me to seed money. You’ll get it back. Caperos to think I’m in Zendi because I’ve made a big deal, and I’ll get paid day after tomorrow. He’ll want me to win the first night, figuring to take it all back and much more the next. Now, the law would be on to this Capero if he had his Adepts obviously influencing the games, right?”

“Right?” said Julia. “Readers haven’t been able to catch them at it.”

“Well,” said Wicket, “I can manipulate dice with my hands as well as one of your minor Adepts with his mind-and I’ve got the easy part. First I let them let me win, just as they plan. But just when they want to sink the hook by letting me win really big, I start to lose. To Galerio.”

Julia studied Wicket. He really doesn’t know how he does it .

Galerio was grinning. “I like it.”

“Then,” Wicket continued, “I start to complain that they’ve set me up. Lots of noise, threats to call the guards-and a nice fight to break up the game and get us all out of there, winnings intact.”

“He’ll connect you with us,” said Galerio.

“How? I arrived in town two days ago. Any of Capero’s people here?”

Although as they talked the minor Adepts braced their powers and Julia carefully kept from broadcasting what they were saying to other Readers, she was Reading Wicket, who had his usual camouflage running through his mind. Nonetheless, she could catch his feelings-and what she did not catch was any hint that he was either lying or trying to deceive them.