The melody, a gentle twanging of oud and qanun and a whistling drone of the nay, rose above the babble of voices that filled the katra. Serving women in bell-bedecked layered skirts and vests moved through the laughing, singing crowd bearing steaming dallahs of coffee and karak chai, and sweetened tamar and laban, and fortified wines. Here and there, one or another of the women spun, laughing as she avoided the groping hands of merchants and sailors.
"Hear my cry, Bajir, bringer of fortune!" called a man in one corner. "Show your mercy upon your son, Yusef, who will build for you a temple with his winnings!" With that he cast the dice, watching them bounce and clatter and come up with a liar's straight: one, one, two, and three. "Behold!" he proclaimed, throwing down his tiles before scooping the dice up. "The Gods have heard my prayer! I am favored of them!"
The fastest way to go broke gambling was to spend one’s own money to do so. That was why Aurelia had spent the better part of the evening betting against the handsome stranger with the gold from his own pocket. What was frustrating was that he was beginning to win it back. But she hid that annoyance under a sultry smirk, leaning in closer as she took the cup of dice back.
"Ten endubis," he repeated, meeting her eyes. Then, with a grin and a lifted eyebrow, he offered her the goblet. "Will you drink before you throw, radiant daughter of Edana? The lips of the favored of the Gods have tasted this wine. Mayhap you will drink deep of my blessing?"
Unseen nimble fingers reached into his pack, finding several heavy gold pieces between them. “If you have enough blessing to share, how could I possibly refuse?” she asked in a faux-innocent tone, letting her other hand caress the knuckles of his hand to take the goblet. The hand palming his own gold joined in on holding the cup, bringing it to her lips. She let the coins clatter on the table as she returned his goblet to him, empty of course.
“I wouldn’t dare waste a single drop of your blessing,” she whispered, leaning closer to him, letting her breasts rest on the lip of the table. He had been gawking all night, and it made pilfering him all the easier. She merely considered it payment for her company.
With an enthusiastic throw, she let loose the dice. Three threes and a five. She squealed in genuine excitement, and squeezed his thigh, just above the knee. “Your blessing was most beneficial, Ba-tal. I really must thank you for sharing it with me.” Holding up one of the coins she had just won from the pot, she called a server, “Another bottle of wine, for Yusef, blessed of the Gods!” She collected her winnings and the dice, bending over the table to reach them.
“Twenty endubis,” she declared, passing the cup filled with dice back to his hand. She poured him a goblet once the wine arrived, and poured herself one as well, enjoying the way his firm body moved as he settled into his chair. Perhaps she’d throw him a pity lay, if she cleaned him out. Make him work for it, though. Tend to her pleasure first, of course. It had been too long since she demanded satisfaction.
“You should roll, Ba-tal, while the dice are hot. The blessing of the Gods does not last forever!”
He laughed. "The blessing of the Gods is fickle," he declared, "and granted in full measure to beauty! Come, I shall reclaim it before I throw!" At that he darted in, tasting of strong wine as he kissed her. Then he made his throw, holding her gaze rather than watching his results.
The ivory dice bounced across the table, tinkling gently as they struck the tiles. Four sixes lay there on display, the cast known in truth as the Blessing. The only way to avoid defeat now was to cast quadruple sixes as well, in which event all remaining players would have to match the pot or withdraw.
"Twenty endubis," he said, tossing the coins into the pot. "And twenty more, for the Gods love boldness even above beauty."
Perhaps the gods did favor him. She swallowed down her dismay alongside a mouthful of summer wine. “Impressive Ba-tal,” she intoned, batting her lashes and getting back in the game. “Truly, you are loved by Gods and women both.” She tossed her chips into the pot and shook the cup, knowing the odds were against her. And she hated when the odds were against her.
He opened the bottle she had purchased and drunk deeply. "Will you have my blessing back before you cast?" he asked, taking another sip and leaning close. "I offer it freely, for I love beauty and boldness both."
She smirked, one hand snaking behind his head to pull him closer. He tasted spicy, and she found she rather enjoyed it, biting on his lip as he tried to pull away. Her free hand dipped into his pocket again, taking a larger handful. A dangerous move, making his pouch noticeably lighter. All she could hope was that the weight of her breasts against his chest was sufficient distraction. Still pressed against him, she threw her dice. Six…six…six…the last one bounced a couple times before landing. Five.
“Very good, Yusef, Beloved of the Gods. But you just have to give me a chance to win back my money!” she purred, shifting to sit on his lap now. “Tell me, do you deal in the currencies of the flesh?”
He smiled –not quite leered– at the question. "I have been known to accept such currencies," he whispered into her ear. "From time to time."
"A new wager, then?" he offered, his hand resting on her hip. "All of my winnings, staked against a night spent upon the honey-dewed altar of Edana?"
An act that was intended to distract her mark was proving distracting to Aurelia as well. She could feel him, throbbing beneath her. And, from what she could feel through his clothes, losing this bet might not be the worst thing that could happen. It might even be a win/win.
What was the worst thing was getting caught with her hand in his pouch. Because she was fantasizing about how he might take her, and how she might take him in return. Thoughts that were not easily washed away even as she struggled against him, desperate to free her wrist from his vice grip.
"Thief!" he hissed, eyes narrow with fury.
So, as she was preparing a peace offering of carnal pleasures, noting he was still pulsing hard against her, a second set of dice spilled from his sleeve, landing on four sixes yet again. “Cheat! Filthy cheater! Hydranes take you!” Her fist smashed into his ear, and others joined in the chorus of accusations.
"There is, I - damn you, woman!" He seized her other wrist, arms straining with the effort of restraining her. "There is a perfectly reasonable..."
Steel glittered in more than one hand. "Liar!" someone howled, lunging across the table with the dagger. "Cheat!"
Twisting, he shoved her into his attacker as he tumbled backwards and away from the knife. Gold coins she had hidden on her person spilled onto the floor as she stumbled. Now the accusations of “cheat” were silent, as there was a mad rush to collect the money glittering on the dirty ground.
“Hey, you swiped this from me!” one man called, holding up a golden dinar, mixed among the endubis and doubloons, and darics. Two more men grabbed her, grubby hands felt her up, looking for more ill-gotten loot.
“Who else did you steal from?” one demanded, as he squeezed a breast, and more hidden coins dislodged from her cleavage. Her answer was to stomp her heel into his toes and elbow his groin. With a hand free, she pivoted toward the other man that held her, her fist pounding into his nose and mouth, breaking it upon impact. He staggered back, just long enough for her to pull her sword.
Backing up, she bumped into the dirty cheat, who had blown her cover. Fighting off a bar full of angry drunks was not how she hoped to end the evening. “This is all your fault!” she growled, parrying a wild lunge from a dagger.
He leapt away, avoiding a cudgel blow as she parried a dagger thrust. "Mine?" he shouted, parrying a second cudgel blow and punching the wielder. "Mine? Barabba and Hardom, woman, it was not I who was caught with my hands in another's purse!"
His scimitar leapt and flickered like lightning, driving back four more attackers. It was becoming clear, however, that she and the cheater were now the focus of the mob. Something had to be done. So he spun, grabbed a heavy wooden chair and hurled it. It sailed through the air and smashed through the wooden slats that covered the window. "That way!" he shouted to her, gesturing with his scimitar towards the dark city beyond the window.
Aurelia didn’t need to be told twice, diving through the shattered glass and rolling into a sprint. She turned one corner, and then turned the next, hoping to lose any pursuers. She passed an alley and grabbed for his hand, yanking him in after her. Why, she wasn’t exactly sure. But they were in this together now, and if they hid in the same place, it seemed less likely he would try and sell her out to the mob.
"You just had towaAH!" His words were lost as she caught his hand and jerked, sending him spinning into an alley and smacking into the wall. The pounding of numerous feet was not far behind, so she pulled him tight against her, trapping herself between the brick wall and his rock hard body. Breathing hard, her flattened breasts strained against his firm chest.
Not a dozen feet away, torchlight shone red as the leading fringe of the mob reached it. "Crazy bitch," he hissed, his face close to hers. "You've doomed us both!"
“They headed for the docks!” someone declared, and the mob was away in that direction. For a second longer, Aurelia held him tight against her, fearing it was a ploy to get them to reveal their hiding place, before releasing him. Lightning quick, her hand struck his cheek. Not terribly hard, just a sting to get his attention.
“Idiot! You catch me with my hand in your pocket and your response is to declare it to the entire bar?”
"My response," he snarled back, "was to cut out your fucking heart! You should be grateful that all I did was– "
“Whisper your accusations to me, and we could have negotiated! You could have walked out of there with half my take and the best damn lay of your life!” Anger and frustration tinged her tone, remembering the feel of his cock against her backside, thick and hard for her. The kiss he stole to cover his ploy. The promise the night held, as she sat on his lap.
"The fuck I would've," he sneered, dark eyes peering down her body. "You've got nothing I haven't had from a hundred other cheap whores."