Cress

Chapter 31

"The cat has caught the bird, and she will

scratch out your eyes as well.

You will never see your Rapunzel again."

The girl returned from her trip to the bar, setting a

 drink against  Thorne's wrist so he would know 

where it was.

He tilted his head toward her and lifted the cards.

 "What do you think?"

Her braids brushed his shoulder.

 "I think..." She tugged at two cards.

 "Our luck is changing, right about ... now."

"Two to the blind man," said the dealer, and

 Thorne  heard the cards slapping down the table. 

He slid them up into his hand.

The woman clicked her tongue.

 "That's not what we wanted," she said, and

 he could  hear the pout in her voice.

"Precisely the two I was thinking," he said, taking

 holds off the two cards.

 "Our luck is changing, right about ... now."

"Two to the blind man," said the dealer, and 

 Thorne heard the cards slapping down on the table. 

He slid them up into his hand.

"Ah, well," said Thorne. "We can't win them all. 

Or, apparently, any of them."

He waited until the bidding came around

 before folding. 

 The woman leaned closer from behind him and 

nuzzled his neck.

 "The next hand will be yours."

Thorne grinned. "I am feeling lucky."

He listened as the bidding went twice around

 the table and the winner claimed the pot with

 jesters and sevens. 

 From the man's gruff voice, Thorne pictured

 a scraggly beard and an excessive belly.

 He'd drank up detailed mental images of all 

the players at the table. 

 The dealer was a tall and skinny man with

a fine mustache. 

The lady beside him was elderly and something

 kept jangling when she took her cards, so Thorne

 pictured an abundance of gaudy jewelry.

 He judged the man to his right to be scrawny with

 bad skin, but that was probably because he was

 winning the most.

Of course, the woman who had draped herself