Book 2: Chapter 7: Tying Up Loose Ends

    "Oh, decided you still work here, huh?" was Bob''s greeting as Arthur walked in through the back kitchen door.

    Arthur shrugged. "Hive duties come first, Bob. You know that."

    "Don''t play virtuous with me. I don''t know what scam you''re playing, but you''ve got no more eye on that damn egg than most of those nobles." Bob eyed him while he spoke, rubbing a dishrag over a mug that had been thoroughly cleaned. "But it was supposed to hatch today, right?"

    Arthur wasn''t surprised that Bob had mostly figured him out, or that he knew the hive gossip. He was a canny owner and had built a place for people to talk freely.

    "Yes, but there were complications," he said, hedging. "I can do a few hours in the mornings here, Bob, or the cleaning shift in the evenings. But I gotta stay in the back."no?vel binz was the first platform to present this chapter.

    Bob''s eyebrows shot up. "You want to keep out of sight? What happened? Your scheme go sour on you?"

    "Something like that." In reality, his ''scheme'' was nowhere near done yet. But Earnest Kane could not be seen at the front of the house, bartending.

    Arthur had extended the olive branch, however. Bob was always having trouble hiring good staff for the early morning prep work shift. Arthur had done his fair share as a new-hire kid, freshly graduated from classes. He knew the work and mostly didn''t mind it.

    "Fine," Bob said. "You start tomorrow morning, first shift."

    "You don''t need help now?"

    "No. It''s dead out there. Take a look."

    Now it was Arthur''s turn to raise his brows. He stepped to the entrance that separated the kitchen area from the main tavern and pulled the heavy fabric aside.

    Sure enough, only a few patrons sat at the bar -- and those kept well away from one another. The tavern was almost eerily silent.

    "Rumor''s been circling," Bob said to Arthur''s silent question. "Some say scourge-infection''s taking hold here. It''s put a chill up men''s spines."

    So. Some of the news had leaked out. Not a surprise considering how fast the nobles fled. Arthur bet a fair few signaled for purple dragon transport to get them home at once -- and weren''t shy in saying why.

    "Carded men and women have nothing to fear from scourge-diseases," Arthur said. "And this hive has been free of scourgelings for centuries."

    Bob finally abandoned the glass he''d been wiping dry and switched it out for another. "People know that here." His free hand touched his temple. "But not here." His fingers moved to his heart. "They''ll likely get over it soon once the shock wears off. But until then... well, no one is in the mood for celebration."

    The last month or so while he''d waited for the heat to die down after the theft of the cards had been... trying. He hadn''t dared go to his regular haunts or places nobles were likely to show up.

    So, Arthur had gone exploring and found a gambling hall that didn''t ask too many questions about age.

    They might if Arthur ever came away winning big jackpots, but he was much too careful for that.

    The gambling hall was set at the dead end of a canal, where the water had nowhere to drain to or from. It took on a greenish look and a rotten smell. The men who visited the gambling hall weren''t much better. Most had the smell of the dragon soil fields on them, which meant they were serving a criminal sentence.

    His game, when he wanted a challenge for his Gambling Class, was blackjack.

    While he had a card-counting skill, the House couldn''t be entirely trusted. Neither could the players for that matter. It introduced randomness in the game.

    Arthur still came out ahead -- most of the time -- but he had to work for it. And he made sure not to take too much from the house.

    Unfortunately, one of the players sitting at his table didn''t have the same self-control. Arthur wasn''t sure what trick he tried, but a card anchor stone in the middle of the table suddenly whistled like a tea kettle. The chair he sat in lit up with a strong glow, and three burly men converged on him all at once.

    Arthur winced as the man was dragged to the back of the gambling hall. Likely, to be taught a lesson.

    It soured his taste for the game. He walked away after the next hand, only up by two silvers.

    By then it was so late at night it was practically dawn. Arthur hesitated before he picked a direction: Should he return to his old apartment or take Kenzie''s advice and keep to his new room in the hive like a proper noble son?

    Before he could fully decide, he heard shouting. That wasn''t too unusual for this part of town. The fact that the voice was female was a little odd, though. Thankfully, she seemed only blisteringly angry and not in distress.

    The voice rounded the corner and Arthur blinked in surprise when he saw Cressida striding alongside a man in scholar''s robes and, from the sounds of it, tearing verbal stripes off his back.

    I wouldn''t want to be in his shoes, he thought amused.

    A moment later Cressida looked up and caught his eye. She turned back to the scholar and snarled. "Fine. You''ve always been useless to the family. I don''t know why I''m surprised."

    Then she turned on her heel and stomped toward Arthur.

    He would never, ever say so, but she looked much like her flame bear: Hunched angry shoulders and hands so tense they were almost claws.

    Arthur watched her come up to him, knowing he hadn’t done anything wrong and yet absolutely sure like he was about to be in a world of trouble.