Dragon Pearl(17)

I tried to suppress the sick feeling in my stomach. Maybe my mom wasn’t right about everything, but the fact that she’d parted ways with Nari should have set off alarm bells in my head. No wonder she frowned on the use of Charm. I’d have to get out of there as quickly as possible. I didn’t want to be complicit in my aunt’s deceit one minute longer than necessary.

I waited impatiently while the bartender poured the two drinks and set them down. “Thanks!” I said, snatching up the tray as soon as she was done.

It took all my self-control not to run. I’d draw attention to myself if I tripped and spilled the drinks. The red-faced man had finished up the current round of dice and was now cheering on a friend. “Here you go,” I said, and produced the cheongju with a flourish.

He tipped without looking at me. I almost choked when I saw the large denomination of currency he’d laid in my hand. I stammered my thanks and made my way toward the high-stakes room, not looking left or right. If no one made eye contact with me, then hopefully I could avoid having to serve any more drinks before I reached my target. Behind me I heard a couple of people calling out, but I ignored them and walked faster. I snuck a glance toward Nari, who was chatting with a man dressed in extremely expensive clothes. I hoped the conversation would keep her distracted for a while.

My luck held. A woman looked up as I entered the back room, but she didn’t summon me over. Gamblers were playing at two of the high-stakes tables. One of the games I recognized as a flower cards variant; the other I hadn’t seen before.

I spotted Captain Hye straight off. She was the only one in a red shirt, and she had a spacer’s pallor. She frowned at her hand of cards, and sweat stains showed at her back. I had to get her out of there.

“Captain Hye,” I said in my sweetest voice, “here’s that gukhwaju you ordered.” I exerted just a bit of Charm, not only in the captain’s direction but also toward the other players around the table, to convince them it was likely she had asked for a drink while they were distracted.

Captain Hye looked puzzled. Then her eyes turned calculating and she reached out greedily for the cup. I watched as she took a big gulp. I hoped I could get her out of here before her luck worsened.

The captain drew a card, frowned again, and sighed deeply. Apparently she was having trouble making sets, which is how one scored points. She completed her turn and leaned back, shaking her head.

I glanced around for an excuse to linger and spotted some empty glasses to collect. As I passed Hye, I whispered in her ear, “I was wondering if I might have a word with you.”

She blanched. “I’m not ready to go yet,” she snapped. “Just one more game.”

Her companions laughed. “They’re onto you, eh?” one of them said with a smirk.

“Shut up,” the captain hissed.

I cursed silently. Sure, the wine had given me a great excuse to seek her out, but it was also interfering with her playing, and she was too preoccupied to talk to me. I should have served her a glass of water instead. I didn’t know how long the effect of the magic wine would last, either.

Hye’s agitation, and her friend’s comment, told me that she was already deeply in debt to the house. That gave me an idea, although I felt bad about taking advantage of her. But it would get me off Jinju and her away from Nari, so we’d both win, right?

“I have an offer for you,” I said into her ear as I glanced at the doorway. Yong was approaching. He must have noticed that I was chatting for too long instead of serving drinks. I had to make this quick. “A colleague of Nari’s needs passage off-planet. If you do that for her, Nari will cancel your debt. Just don’t let on to your friends.”

For a moment, Captain Hye looked stunned by her sudden change in fortune.

“What is it?” her snide friend asked. “You getting pointers from the staff now?”

That brought her back to her senses. “Mind your own business,” she quipped. Then, to me, she murmured, “I’ll do it.”

“Excellent,” I said. “You can finish up this game.” It was hard to disguise my worry that she’d get sucked into playing all night. “Your passenger will be waiting at your ship in an hour and a half.” That should give me enough time to reach the Red Azalea after I snuck out of this place.

“Done, done,” Captain Hye said. Eyes gleaming with greed, she added, “Get me more gukhwaju.” She hadn’t even finished her glass yet, but it gave me a reason to head back to the bar.

On the way, I passed Yong. He turned and accompanied me out of the room, whispering sternly, “You should stick to your duties instead of getting friendly with the clients.”

“Sorry,” I said in a suitably chastened voice. To allay any suspicion, I added, “Those high-stakes players really know how to tip.”

He frowned and shook his head. “You’re not going to last here long if you give any customer preferential treatment. Nari doesn’t like that.”

I nodded obediently. “Understood.”

Yong pointed to a table where a rotund man was signaling for a drink and said, “Don’t keep him waiting,” before stalking off.

Just then, I heard a commotion behind me. Two of the bouncers strode quickly past, toward the high-stakes room I’d just left. I wondered what was going on, but I couldn’t investigate—I had to fulfill the man’s request for rice wine.