Source & Soul: A Deckbuilding LitRPG

Afi and I stared at the dwarf, our mouths hanging open. “What the hell?” I laughed. Everyone else was whispering and tittering behind their hands too.

Basil looked like he’d just taken a ten-card hit from a Mythic Soul. Confusion chased panic around his face, leaving him pale and gaping. “My good dwarf, you cannot possibly mean that. Why, we’ve never spoken more than a dozen words to each other! Is this Depths humor? I must confess it escapes me.”

My Twins-damned advisor Badgou, standing at the back of the cluster of dwarves, said, “No joke is being told. We know your customs, and you are Order-bound to face this challenge and honor its outcome.”

Esmi scoffed, glowering down at them. “There’s not an Order source amongst the lot of you. What would you know of it?”

Basil laid a calming hand on her arm. “It’s a very old custom, you see. I can’t think of a single forced-marriage challenge in the last century.” He looked to Gale for support, who merely grinned and shrugged, enjoying his brother’s discomfort.

“Was your duel not for the marriage of Esmi?” Badgou countered. It felt odd to me that she was the one speaking when Glydnuk was the one who’d given the challenge. It stank of collusion. The dwarves were all up to something together, and whatever it was, it was important enough to finally quit sitting passively in the background and make a move for once.

“That’s different,” Basil said, sounding desperate. “Esmi isn’t forced to marry either of us; this was primarily to resolve an internal familial, ah, disagreement. Forced marriage duels are a thing of the past, a way for warring rulers to avoid open battle and loss of life.”

The cluster of dwarves stood stock still and silent, almost as if they were thinking furiously with one shared mind. “Has this law been revoked?”

Mouth opening and closing, Basil’s eyes darted toward the Queen, who sat atop a summoned Relic throne that had allowed her a commanding view of the match.

“It has not,” she said, her voice ringing.

Basil sagged ever so slightly. “Ah.”

Irritation flashed hot and prickly under my collar, and I stepped forward. “This is bullshit,” I said loudly.

The entire room of nobles looked to me, and I felt the weight of all those avid stares. They might as well have been at the theatre for all the entertainment they were getting tonight. Swallowing, I soldiered on. “Basil’s been trying to marry this girl for ages, and he’s the one she wants. Let’s knock of the rest of this dick-swinging and let them at it. Fight me if you need to fight somebody.”

Badgou barely looked at me. “Glydnuk desires Basil, not you.”

“But why?” Basil asked plaintively. “We don’t even know each other!”

“A husband is a resource,” Badgou said. “The knowing does not matter. Will you accept the challenge or break your rule and offend your own Order?”

“Now, hold on,” he said, holding out a hand. “I’m not breaking anything; let’s talk about this first.”

“You can spend your words with Glydnuk to your heart’s content once you are married and safely in the Depths with us.”

His eyes bulged. “You want me to go to the Depths?”

“A husband does as his wife requires. That is our way.”

“Enough!” Esmi thundered. I’d never seen her so angry – her fine gown was smoldering, and Basil had to take a step back from her. “I challenge Glydnuk to the right for Basil’s hand.”

“Dearest,” Basil said, “is that really–”

“Yes!” she shouted. “If this pile of flint wants you, she has to go through me first.”

Afi leaned toward me and whispered in my ear. “I know they’re your friends and this probably feels very serious and all, but you should know this is the most fun I’ve had since the Tournament. And my escort stepping into the middle like a knight? It’s very nearly perfect.”

I looked at her blankly, but she just hooked her arm through mine and went back to watching the show unfold in front of us.

Glydnuk looked back at Badgou, but the dwarf leader never even glanced at her. “We will have what is ours. She accepts.”

A fresh buzz of excitement broke out among the assembled crowd, and the open space Gale and Basil had used just minutes before was reestablished as Glydnuk mounted the stairs by herself. The other dwarves stayed right where they were, a knot of stubborn stone holding solid in the midst of the glamor of the nobility. I saw Basil shuffled protesting off to one side, ending up nearly at the Queen’s elbow, while Esmi strode into the dueling space, fierce and confident. Afi towed me forward by the arm, jockeying for a better spot to watch from.

“I don’t understand,” I muttered as the Dueling Dome went back up and the opening invocation was given. “Why the hell is Badgou pushing this? What is going on?”

“He’s got something they want,” a new voice said on my other side.

Jerking in surprise, I found my disguised mother standing there, a small, satisfied smile on her lips. “You! What do you mean?”

Afi peered around me. “Who’s this, Hull?”

There was an amused glitter in my mother’s eyes, but she said nothing, merely quirking an eyebrow at me as if to say How will you get yourself out of this one?

“She’s, uh, an old friend from the Lows. Bryll. She, she works for the Hintal family now.” It was the best I could come up with on short notice.

“An old friend?” Afi’s hand tightened on my arm. “I see.”

She obviously didn’t, but I could feel the malicious glee rolling off my mother as she took hold of my other elbow and said, “Oh yes, nobody knows Hull like I do. Forged in the fires of adversity together.”

I gave Afi a little shake of the head to let her know it wasn’t like that, but her lips thinned as she gave both of us a hard look. Then, visibly forcing herself to relax, she smiled. “A pleasure, Bryll. You must be well-trusted to be serving at the Gala. Get us a glass of wine, won’t you?”

My mother’s smile had teeth in it. “I’m serving the pastries. I’d love to get you one.”

I remembered her note and felt a flash of panic. “We’re fine for now, thanks. What were you saying about the dwarves?”

“That they never break cover or take a risk unless there’s something significant to be gained. Your lad Basil has something they want. A card, maybe?”

“You’ve learned all about the deepkin in the Lows, have you?” Afi asked sweetly.

Mother chuckled. “You’d be surprised.”

The ante cards went up, and a gasp rippled through the crowd.

“Mmm, high stakes,” Mother said, sounding lazily interested. “Forget the boy, I want those cards.”

I scanned the cards quickly as I dug my glass eyepatch back out of my pocket. At my side I felt Afi doing the same. The Dueling Dome would let us see what cards were played, but the glass Artifacts would let us see discards as well. I was shocked to see a Depths card for the first time. I was so used to the dwarves fielding garbage-tier Earth cards that I’d almost forgotten that they might have something more. Basil and I had speculated that they were holding back for some reason, and here was the proof. That dwarf Soul was a solid wall of a card. I’d seen Esmi play Esmet before, and Glydnuk’s Mythic was on par with it – so long as Argun was in play, Glydnuk literally couldn’t lose.

As the stubby, rocky dwarf squared off and drew her cards and Esmi did the same, I thought back on what my mother had said just before the ante reveal, and a cold certainty washed over me. “Oh, shit,” I breathed.

Afi looked over the developing match and saw nothing to justify my concern. “What is it?”

The cold settled into the pit of my stomach and lodged there like bad food. “This is my fault.”

“Do tell,” Mother purred.

I hesitated, not wanting to let either of them know what a fool I’d been, but I suddenly felt so awful that I couldn’t keep my mouth closed. “I didn’t even realize it at until now, but… I think I accidentally told Badgou what Basil’s soul ability is.”

“You what?” Afi said, aghast. My mother just laughed.

“She’s my advisor,” I said miserably. “Basil, uh…” I realized I was about to repeat my mistake and hastily amended my words. “He used his ability on my behalf, and without thinking about it I mentioned what he’d done while Badgou was helping to prep my deck. It must be something they want badly. I think she orchestrated this whole thing because of it. Dammit, I really should have forced Glydnuk to duel me. I deserve it.”

“Must be quite the ability,” my mother said, looking at Basil thoughtfully.

I nodded mutely, not trusting myself to say anything without giving more away.

“Hull, how could you do such a thing?” Afi asked, sounding horrified. She took her arm back from mine. “People might discover some of your soul abilities through dueling – that’s fair play, and unavoidable to some extent – but anything that doesn’t reveal itself that way is private. If Basil let you know about it or used it on your behalf, that’s a sacred trust. Why do you think sharing soul cards is such an intimate thing? You’re letting someone in on your most important secrets!”

“Well that’s just fine,” I said, feeling nettled, “but some of us didn’t have a soul card – or any cards at all – until just a few months ago. I’m supposed to somehow know all the rules just because? It’s not like they had a class on this in War Camp.”

“They simply expect you to know,” Afi muttered. She obviously still wanted to be upset but didn’t have a good reason for it. “Nobody comes up from absolutely nothing to the heights of society as fast as you have.”

My mother patted my arm. “Intentional or not, you may have just condemned your little noble pal to a life trapped in the Depths,” she said cheerfully. “That’s what you get for having friends.”

The match had gotten well underway while we talked. Esmi had two Kobold Souls on the field, one of which she’d recently elevated –

– and was in the midst of playing a Melt on a Relic of Glydnuk’s.

I could see why Esmi had needed to destroy that Relic; her deck depended on fast, hard hits from her Kobolds, and Glydnuk having the Hourglass in her opening hand had obviously already bogged down Esmi’s previous turn. Given Esmi’s amazing ability that gave all her Kobolds +1 Attack, that was a hefty 6 damage she’d missed out on up front.

One thing I couldn’t understand, though, was the card floating facedown near Glydnuk where Souls would normally manifest; all I could see was the smiling and weeping face of the Twins on the card’s smoky back.

“What is that?” I asked Afi, pointing. “Why can’t we see it?”

“I think it’s a trap card,” she said, frowning. “I’ve only ever read about them, because who ever plays against Depths? But that’s the only thing I can think of that wouldn’t show itself once played.”

“We should have been playing against Depths this whole time,” I groused. “Were these rocky bastards going to keep holding out on us when we went to battle, too?”

“They quite likely would have,” Mother said glibly. “Unless they got a better offer to do otherwise.”

Afi scowled ever so slightly at her, and then leaned into my ear, whispering. “Who is this girl? An old lover from your time in the Lows?”

I fought back a hysterical giggle. “Nothing like that, I promise you. It’s complicated, but there’s a good dozen reasons I’d never touch her just off the top of my head.”

She eyed me narrowly as if unsure if I was lying, but she settled back in beside me, seeming to have forgotten her earlier pique. I let out a sigh and caught my mother smirking at me. She knew she was causing problems, and she enjoyed it. I think I liked it better back when all I could do was wonder about her. She was going to have me in fits before the night was over, I just knew it.

I leaned over to her and spoke privately just as Afi had done. “What are you doing here? This can’t be part of your peace negotiations.”

Her mouth turned down in a mockery of innocent offendedness. “Can’t a girl have more than one iron on the fire? I thought you’d be glad to see me.”

“Not when you’re trying to poison the girl I’m escorting,” I hissed. “What did you do to the pastries? Who did you give them to? Was it the Queen? Twins help me, if you’re trying to get back at her–”

She waved a hand casually. “I haven’t touched the food. I just wanted to keep you on your toes.”

Now it was my turn to peer suspiciously. She might be telling the truth, but only if it suited her somehow. “I want your word you won’t hurt anyone here.”

She made an amused little noise. “My word. You really need to spend a little more time away from all these humans. Their rigid thinking is rotting your mind.”

“I can get you thrown out,” I warned her.

“Not without exposing who I am,” she said, her voice suddenly venomed steel. “I think you remember what happens if you do that.”

I searched her eyes, feeling desperate, trapped. “How am I ever supposed to trust you?”

“Trust?” She shook her head pityingly. “There’s no such thing, not even among humans. We’re family, Hull; none of those other words matter. Stick by me and you’ll be just fine.”

I turned my eyes back to the match, my gut churning. Afi had been watching us whisper, and she had that thin-lipped look again. What does it matter? It’s not as if she’d have ever wanted anything more than escort duty from you. Let her think what she pleases.

The match had gotten away from me again. Whatever the trap card had been, it was sprung and gone without me ever seeing it. Esmi now had two upgraded Kobolds on the field, both focused, and Glydnuk had a heavily-wounded dwarf Soul at the ready, dripping blood onto the marble that disappeared the moment it hit.

It was the Glydnuk’s turn, and she was bringing out a new Soul.

“Ooh, that’s a good one,” Afi murmured.

I could see the advantage of having all her source count as Depths – she had an Earth circling her head amongst the craggy balls of stone – but Slow didn’t sound good.

“What’s Toughness?” I asked her.

“Combines Armor and Resistance,” she said.

I blanched. Having to hit for 2 extra damage no matter it was combat or Spells made that 3 Health go a lot further than it might otherwise. “Does the damage count merge or add up separately?” I asked. “If Esmi hit that for 3 with a Kobold and then used her Fire source ability, would the Toughness take off 2 from each different kind of damage, or does it all lump together?”

“It’s separate,” she said grimly. “2 off from combat damage, 2 off from Spell damage.”

I whistled softly. No wonder the squat, ugly little bugger was an Epic.

Glydnuk had been suspiciously still as we talked, and I wondered if she was going to attack with her Souls or let her turn expire, but then a rush of energy burst out of her, washing a pale light across the interior of the Dome. One of Esmi’s Souls vanished, and so did some of her summoned source, leaving her with only 1 Fire circling her head. The hot-skinned girl looked around, gaping, and the crowd drew a collective gasp.

“What was that?” I demanded. “It was a Source Explosion. What does Depths do?”

“You really need to study your theory more,” Afi said distractedly. “A Depths Explosion returns any card to the bottom of its deck. She just cleared most of Esmi’s board. The lost source will hurt her far more than the Soul.”

My mother clapped her hands softly. “Oh, that’s spiked her wheel. Slowing down an aggro deck is death.”

I looked over to Basil, who had gone even paler than before and was clutching at the arm of the Queen’s summoned throne as if it were the only thing holding him up. If Esmi loses, he has to fight the dwarf after this. His deck will have recovered, but will he have done? Having won the day against Gale only to have the rug pulled out from under his feet was exactly the kind of blow my friend would struggle to recover from. And it’s your own fault, you grimy gutter rat. Twins, why didn’t you keep your gods-damned mouth shut? If I could go back, I’d sew my own lips shut.

Esmi pulled cards and growled a very unladylike curse, bringing a titter from the crowd. She put an Order source overhead, obviously unhappy about it, and let her turn pass. With her single Fire source still focused, it seemed there simply wasn’t anything she could do, and throwing her one Kobold to its death against that Epic dwarf would barely scratch it; better to leave it as a blocker. I could almost hear her grinding her teeth. She had started the match spitting mad and had only gotten hotter from there.

Glydnuk, somehow managing to look smug despite a nearly featureless face of rocky bumps, poured nearly all her source in and summoned a Spell.

Fissures opened in the floor inside the Dome, and Esmi’s sole Kobold fell in, wailing as it puffed into shards out of sight. The dwarf Souls, surefooted and stocky, didn’t even seem to notice the cracks. Esmi shed a card from hand herself, and I could tell she was struggling to regain the calm exterior she preferred to keep during duels.

“Glydnuk didn’t lose anything,” I said. “Has she got Toughness too?”

“Most dwarves that duel do,” my mother said. “Things are getting ugly for the pretty girl. It’s so fun to watch rich, beautiful people fail.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Afi demanded, looking across me to my gloating mother. “Who are you?”

Mother gave a slow smile and put an hand on my arm. “I’m the one who owns him in a way you never can.”

“No, she doesn’t,” I said. “Bryll, stop that. Ignore her, Afi; she’s a hateful spider who just likes to stir the pot.”

Afi turned back to the match, back stiff, and I got the feeling she intended to ignore us both. Mother winked at me.

“Stop it,” I said again. It felt good to stand up to her. Scary, but good.

The wounded dwarf Soul had attacked Esmi, and she dropped another card from hand. Pulling cards, she put another Fire overhead and summoned a Soul.

Esmi had come to love that damned cat. I hadn’t said anything to Basil, but I hated the thing, and if I got too close, my throat started to itch. Still, I was glad to see her climb astride it, looking proud. She obviously wanted to rush in and let the beast start mauling with its claws, but with the Epic dwarf’s Toughness 2, it would be an empty gesture. Its best use was as a blocker, and Esmi once again let her turn pass. It hurt to watch her, normally so aggressive on the field, dither and wait for more source.

The Fracturing Echoes Spell did its 2 damage at the start of Glydnuk’s turn, and the Orix mount, so freshly summoned, disappeared in a shower of sparkles. It did keep Esmi from taking the damage, at least, so it wasn’t a total loss, and Glydnuk’s weakened Dwarf Warrior also succumbed. Glydnuk herself had to shed a card from hand, and I was both satisfied by the sight and dismayed by the fact that she was hurting herself more than Esmi had yet managed to.

“Come on, girl,” I whispered. “Pull it together.” I was more anxious in this match than I would have been had I wagered money on it.

Glydnuk summoned another Soul, grinning to show her pebble teeth.

Then she sent her Dwarf Mystic in to attack. Esmi took the damage from hand, looking fiercely satisfied. Squinting through my eyepatch, I was able to see what she had discarded.

“That’s what we like,” I growled as a glow surrounded Esmi, her discarded cards flowing back into her Mind Home. Basil was clapping furiously, and a cheer went up from the nobles. Nobody liked seeing a foreigner best their Rising Stars champion.

Esmi, newly flush with a refreshed Mind Home, drew her cards, put another Order source up, and a moment later a wash of gold and red light burst out of her.

“Another Source Explosion,” my mother said, sounding mildly surprised. “I didn’t think she was so reckless.”

“When you’re behind, recklessness can be courage,” Afi sniped at her.

“Or death,” Mother said calmly. “It can be that, too.”

Esmi pulled 3 more cards from her Mind Home, obviously choosing to use her Order instead of Fire from the equal amounts of both that had been discarded in the Explosion. Then… she did nothing.

We all deflated a little.

“It’s the right move,” Afi said, still not looking at me. “That echoing Spell will do 3 more damage here in a second, and anything she brought out would likely die. And she’d have to devote all her Fire to get even a single point of damage through Glydnuk’s Toughness. It’s not worth it.”

She was right, but it still hurt to watch her prowling her corner of the arena with nothing to do.

A moment later, the promised area-of-effect damage from that damnable Fracturing Echoes sent huge, gaping holes cracking through the floor inside the Dome. Esmi went in to one knee, grunting. She dropped 3 cards out of hand, all Spells.

They were all great cards that I was sure she hated to lose, but I could see her reasoning: they all required Souls on the field, and she didn’t have any. Glydnuk, for her part, was forced to discard from the Spell too, losing one out of hand and another from her deck. Both of her Souls also took a point of damage. She didn’t seem to care; her source dipped in use, and a new Soul hit the field.

“Shit,” I said, my heart sinking. “I don’t know how she wins this.”

Then Glydnuk sent the Dwarf Mystic on the attack. Hissing, Esmi, dropped one Kobold out of hand and let 2 more cards shed from her Mind Home, keeping just a single card in hand.

Looking desperate, her normally bouncy hair almost frazzled, Esmi pulled 2 cards from her Mind Home. She laughed triumphantly and brought forth two Souls.

“Good,” I whispered. “Beat the shit out of those dwarf Souls.”

She didn’t, though; she was waiting to use them as blockers. Glydnuk, however, whispered to her Forcepuller, who stepped out of the cluster of Souls and let out a croaking, hypnotic chant. Both of Esmi’s kobolds took a step forward, pulled by the magic, and Esmi snapped her fingers, sending the Fighter in to attack him so the Giant Albino wouldn’t have to. The Kobold Fighter died in a shower of light, and the Forcepuller took a mere 1 point of damage.

Glydnuk drew only a single card on her turn, and squinting at her, I saw only a single card remaining in her Mind Home. Unless Esmi could take down the Mythic dwarf Soul, it wasn’t going anywhere. Focusing her source, she brought out another Soul.

It was getting painfully lopsided on the field; 4 Souls on Glydnuk’s side to only 1 on Esmi’s. She wasn’t done yet, either: she devoted yet more and cast a Spell.

The Giant Centipede curled up in a ball, pulsing with an eldritch light as it waited to power up. Once again she sent the Dwarf Mystic in to attack, but this time the Giant Albino Kobold was there, smashing a heavy fist down on top of its head. The dwarf died, but not before the Kobold took 2 damage.

Esmi drew 2 more and immediately brought them into play, bringing her side up to a respectable strength.

The Giant Albino Kobold and the basic one charged in while Esmi held the Cold-Blooded in reserve, her deck for once operating as it was intended to. Glydnuk sent her Forcepuller out front to do its hypnotic trick again, and Esmi directed the plain-Jane Kobold toward it, which died, leaving the Forcepuller with 1 Health left to its name. The Giant rushed over to the devoted Centipede, smashing it to bits before it could do so much as lift its head to bite. That was smart, I thought. Had she allowed that Soul to come back to ready, it would have been a monstrous 5/7 with Venom and Wide, nearly impossible to confront with her limited resources.

The field looked a little more even, but Esmi was by no means out of the woods yet. The Mythic dwarf was untouched, and she was sure to be running low on cards again any moment.

On her turn, Glydnuk, unable to draw any new cards, sent Argun the Mythic into the fray. Esmi blocked him with the Cold-Blooded Kobold she’d kept at the ready. It died instantly, but at least the Diamond Dwarf took 1 damage from the exchange.

Esmi drew 2 and then used her Order source to get 1 more. Using her 1 available Fire source, she devoted to pull 2 Souls out simultaneously.

All 3 of Esmi’s Souls attacked at her command. The Forcepuller drew on them, and she sent the Cold-Blooded in to meet it, and the annoyingly tenacious dwarf Soul finally expired, doing only 1 point of damage in return. Then Esmi shouted at her Albino, directing him against the Vulnerable Mythic Dwarf. She had to get that one off the field to have any hope of winning. Argun lifted his heavy hammer and the Giant Albino raked at his torso in return, and they both died in a blaze of glory. The one remaining Kobold, the Fighter, dashed on through the scrum to claw at a suddenly-unprotected Glydnuk, who looked woodenly surprised at the intrusion.

The dwarf flicked a card out of hand at the attacking Kobold, and it shattered, forming into razor shards that pounded into it.

The Kobold fighter disappeared, having done its best and died in the doing. My heart was pounding. Can she do it? Has she turned it around? Glydnuk had only a single card in hand and 1 in her Mind Home. Esmi, a quick glance showed, had twice that number in both locations.

Pulling her last card, Glydnuk shouted something sharp and rocky in her dwarven tongue and summoned it.

“Oh, you bitch,” I groaned. “You had to have that on the bottom of your deck?”

All around me the crowd was sighing and whispering. Esmi’s big Soul was already dead. How was she going to face this with only the dregs of her deck remaining?

Using the last of her Depths source, Glydnuk made it that much worse by flinging one of her balls of rock at the wounded Cold-Blooded Kobold, shattering it into motes of light.

I opened my mouth toward Afi, and she cut me off before I even spoke. “Depths source power destroys damaged Souls. It can get expensive for big ones, but for little guys like Esmi uses, it’s offensively cheap.”

“Thanks,” I muttered. I really do need to study more. At least Glydnuk chose not to attack with her big guy. It might have finished Esmi off, but apparently the dwarf feared whatever she had in hand and was unwilling to risk the devote that Lumbering required to attack.

Esmi drew her cards, brought out a single Kobold as a blocker, and let the turn expire, biding her time.

Glydnuk, eyeing her uneasily, did the same, holding the Golem at the ready and letting her devoted sources come back to focused without any other change.

Esmi had her last cards in hand; her Mind Home was bare as a windswept cliff. Taking a deep breath, she focused both Fire and an Order, devoting the last Order, and a slew of Souls appeared.

The Fire Spitter spat an orange globe at the Golem when it appeared, leaving a burn mark on its crystal carapace. With a hoarse yell, she sent all 4 Kobold Souls on the attack. I felt exactly how she sounded: strung out, exhausted, and on her last legs. Based on how I felt, I could have sworn this match had lasted all night and I’d been the one fighting it.

Glydnuk mustered her Golem on the defensive, choosing the two higher-attack Kobolds to block and kill. With Esmi’s soul ability powering them, they did enough damage to kill the Golem, leaving a curious crystal egg behind.

Esmi’s Den Mother and the token Soul it had created, though, slipped past the Golem while it was engaged with their kin and bounded straight for Glydnuk’s face. She devoted her ready Earth source to soak up 1 damage and cast her remaining card from hand as a blocker…

…but the miniature Kobold token lunged through the explosion to bite her on the hand. With a curse and a cry, the dwarf shook the little creature off, but the Dueling Dome rang like a gong and started to fall.

She’d taken damage. The match was over. Esmi had won.

The nobility, silent and anxious for the last handful of turns, burst into cheers and stamping of feet. I hollered right along with them until I was light-headed. Twins, thank you. I nearly ruined it all, but you brought her through. Beside me, Afi had brought both hands to her mouth to make a loud whistle, adding to the din.

My mother clapped politely, looking bored. “Oh good, the pretty one won.”

I ignored her. This had nearly been a disaster and Esmi had made it right. I wasn’t about to let her malicious little rain cloud piss on my relief and joy.

Glydnuk’s Mythic zipped through the air and Esmi snatched it, holding the card high. I knew from the look of righteous fury on her face there would be no friends-after-the-duel returning of the ante this time.

“Let me speak!” she cried. “Be silent!”

The crowd quieted, eager to hear from their victor.

She stabbed a finger at Basil, the other hand still holding her Mythic prize overhead. “That man is mine. If anyone else wishes to take him from me, speak up now so I can take your cards and leave you weeping. This ends now, do you all understand? I will have Basil for my husband or I will burn this place to the ground!”

Basil somehow managed to combine red-cheeked embarrassment with the most radiant joy I’d ever seen. His eyes shone with unshed tears, and when she met his eyes, he nodded raptly. He was glad to be claimed. He’d have been an idiot not to be.

No one answered Esmi’s challenge. Glydnuk stumped away without a word, rejoining her kin. There was a moment of silence, and then the Queen rose gracefully from her throne. Even the whispers fell silent then.

“It gladdens my heart to see the rising generation fight for what they hold dear and succeed in so doing,” she said, a gentle smile gracing her face. “This is how humanity succeeds, my dear friends: wrestling with the world for control, taking what it can, and elevating itself on all sides. Esmi Fireheart, you are well named, and even those twice your age would do well to emulate your passion and drive. The Crown sees and ratifies the Twins’ decision as shown by this duel. Let there be no more questions regarding the union of Basil of House Hintal and Esmi of House Haraine, no matter what other plans some may have had.” She cast a glance at Basil’s mother, who suddenly looked as if she’d eaten a fistful of lemons. “This matter is resolved before all, with Fate and Fortune standing witness. So be it.”

“So be it,” the assembly chanted. The Queen waved, and they all broke into cheers again. Dashing forward, Basil swept Esmi into a fierce embrace and and even fierier kiss. The cheers dissolved into laughter and whistling. Abandoning Afi and my mother for the moment, I pushed through the throng of well-wishers to stand before them.

“I’m so sorry,” I told them, taking one hand of each. “This is my fault. I didn’t know, I didn’t think, and Basil, I let your ability slip when I was consulting with Badgou. They wanted to lock down what you can do for themselves, I’m sure of it.”

The smiles slid off both of their faces. I took a deep breath, feeling my own face go red. “I nearly ruined everything. I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

Basil looked like I’d kicked him, but Esmi’s face went hard, and her grip tightened on mine, her warm fingers heating further and further until I felt a card shred from my Mind Home. I didn’t flinch; it was the least I deserved. If she wanted to strip my deck bare and leave me with blistered hands, I’d let her.

“You created this problem, and I fixed it,” she said with quiet intensity. “That duel went right down to the nub. A single misstep on my part and my fiance would be frog-marched off to the Depths. Dou you understand that? Hull, I think you owe me a favor now. When I come asking for it, you will not say no.” Her fingers tightened even further, and a second card showered down around me. “Will you?”

I looked her right in the eyes. “I will not. I swear it.”

She let go of my hand and gave me a genuine smile. “Then let’s leave that be for now. Thank you for telling us what happened. It was the right thing to do.”

Afi came up behind me and hooked her arm through mine, her earlier coldness and annoyance gone. “Your family throws quite the party, Hintal,” she said cheerily. “What a night!”

Basil gave a shaky laugh and patted Esmi’s hand. “It has been quite the evening. I think we can all be sure the rest of it will be a little less fraught than this.”

With a chill in my soul, I scanned the room. I didn’t see my mother anywhere. I wished Basil had kept his mouth shut. Saying something like that was a sure way to ask the Twins to prove you wrong.