The Corpse-Rat King

by Lee Battersby

  “Three riner,” Sangk said, handing over Marius’ stake. The fat man examined them without interest, then turned and rummaged in a large wooden trunk behind his seat.

  “Split into tenpennies,” Marius added. The fat man paused, then resumed rummaging. He straightened, and held out a purse. Marius took it, and emptied the contents into his palm, counting out the thirty coins within.

  “You miscounted,” he said, removing a coin and flipping it to the fat man, who caught it without comment and pocketed it. Marius might not need a friend should anything become unpleasant. But he might. And if he did, that tenpenny piece might become money well spent. His business done, the banker slid back into his former position and recovered his tray. Marius returned the remaining twenty-nine coins to the purse. He and Sangk stepped into the centre of the hall.

  A dozen tables were set up equidistant from each other, close enough that a player could choose to move tables without too much concern, but far enough apart that each game could be played out in relative isolation. Professional teams had infiltrated the hall in the past, and in the wake of some disastrous losses, Sangk had refined his arrangements. It would be very hard indeed for a player at one table to signal another without being seen by the three heavies who circled constantly, following each game. One nodded to Sangk as he passed – all was well. The tables were sparsely occupied at this time of day – only three had a full complement of six players, whilst two were completely empty. Marius nodded towards a table with three empty seats.

  “What’s the game?”

  “Kingdom.” Sangk smiled. “What else would it be?”

  Marius paused, as if deciding whether or not to play. After a minute, he raised his purse and shook it. “Care to join me?”

  “Oh, I’m afraid the house cannot play at its own table, friend. That wouldn’t be ethical.”

  Marius dipped into the bag and withdrew a riner’s worth of coins. “My treat.”

  “Well, in that case.” Sangk swept up the coins and led the way over. “My pleasure.”

  They dropped into chairs on opposite sides of the table, just as the previous hand was being concluded. Sangk nodded to the dealer, and a new hand was dealt.

  Though certain passages of play and various combinations have gone in and out of style over the centuries – the game underwent somewhat of a revolution during the Reign of the Triplet Kings, for example – the basic rules of play have remained unchanged since long before Marius’ day. Like any addiction, the rules seem simple on the surface, and it is only with repeated exposure that the full measure of their complexity becomes apparent.

  Forty-five cards are arranged in eleven suits, from four king cards at the highest value to two dozen peasants at the lowest. A single wastrel acts as a most unpleasant type of joker, always feared and always unwelcome. Cards are dealt face down to each player until the full pack is distributed. Each player draws the top card from their pile, and places a bet based on the value of that card. Once the round had been completed, they take the next card and make another bet, and so on, until they hold the full pile in their hand. The aim of the game is to build the most powerful hand, politically – the hand that most resembles the current political environment. So, in Scorby, a hand containing one king, one queen, two princes, no princesses, two bishops and more soldiers than peasants would be a winning hand, whereas a hand full of princesses and peasants, with the wastrel, will result in a massive haemorrhage of money. Likewise, when played in Tal, a king with two queens, all four mistresses, and all four soldiers will prove unbeatable. The winning hand during the Asceticism, had gambling been greeted with anything other than the cleansing fire of a very large stake and bonfire, would have consisted solely of peasants.

  The trick is to avoid multiples – two kings cannot both rule Scorby, so as soon as a player draws a second king he must discard both, and the bets he has already made are wasted – and always avoid the wastrel, for once he is part of a player’s hand he cannot be removed, and that player cannot win the hand.

  Like any great card game, the cards themselves are almost irrelevant. A good player can read his opposition’s position by following his betting patterns and the number of cards he discards, and by knowing the lie of the political landscape. It is a game built on deception, wherein bluffs, brinksmanship, and outright lies have the greatest value.

  Society ladies love it.

  It is also the game of choice amongst the thousands of gambling dens that litter the length and breadth of the continent, providing both a common language and a quick political summation for the numberless travellers who move from town to town in an endless procession of shifting loyalties and commercial opportunity. It has survived dynasties, revolutions, repressions, banishment, cult worship, and war. Official histories will never say so, because official histories are always written for the sole purpose of kissing up to the monarch who commissioned them, but Kingdom has done more to tie together the lands of the Four Continents than any motivating force outside of the pursuit of money, and for most of the last thousand years it’s been rather hard to separate one from the other.

  Marius’ table held five players, which meant that all the cards would be distributed, and none would have to be discarded. Marius was pleased by that – it made keeping track of hands a lot easier, and much of the success of a good card player lies in being able to estimate what an opposing player holds, if not before they draw their cards, then as soon as possible after. Marius laid his pile of nineteen coins on the table, drew his first card, and flicked a single coin into the centre.

  “Not confident, eh?” Sangk laughed, checked his card, and threw down three coins. “Or just a cautious man?”

  Marius kept his head bowed over his card. “I’ll warm to the task.”

  Sangk was a braggart, and flashy. But he was a good card player, using a combination of bluff and intimidation to overwhelm opponents who lacked his capacity to stare straight at ruin without flinching. On a level table, he was at least as good as Marius. When the number of hands grew long enough to even out any margin of luck, he was probably better. Marius had one advantage in his anonymity, but it was going to be a victory won by inches. He needed to stay small, and gain control slowly.

  The hand quickly progressed round the other three players. None were talkers, and all had the sullen silence that accompanies the hard-nosed gambler. Win or lose, they would be back tomorrow, and every day after, if not to these tables then to any of the other hidden games throughout the city. Risk is a way of life for such men, if not of living. They had no need of chat, or bravado. They were too hungry. Marius drew his second card, stared at it for a moment, then threw down another coin.

  “Better settle in, my friends,” Sangk announced to their fellow players. “Our new friend looks ready to make it a long night. He must be jealous of his wealth.” He laughed, and threw down two coins before he overturned his cards. Marius repressed a smile. It was too early to be drawn into Sangk’s game of bluff and counterbluff. It was impossible to tell what the others were holding until the cards were revealed. Only once they were face up could he watch the shuffle, try to pick out the small marks and imperfections that marked a well-used deck. For the moment, he had a prince and a peasant. A weak hand, but it could become something stronger if the deal fell his way. He remained silent, and let the hand play out.

  Inevitably, he lost the first hand, drawing little better than peasants and soldiers. He sacrificed the second, folding a pair of princesses in order to monitor the betting patterns of his opponents unhindered by the desire to protect his own stake. The third hand he won, just enough to make back his money and a touch more, and in such a way that Sangk’s jovial accusation of luck could be accepted with an acknowledging tilt of the head. Sangk won the next, drawing enough out of the other players to put himself well ahead of Marius’ initial gift. One of the others retired, leaving only four around the table. From now until they were joined by a fifth player, one card would be discarded face dow
n after each deal, making the game that much harder. But Marius had gained valuable information during the previous hands. He knew the wastrel and two of the kings, and more importantly, he knew what signs the other players could not avoid making when they bluffed. It was these ‘tells’ that formed the most important part of any game.

  Now, he decided, he was ready to start playing.

  Four of the next five hands went his way. His stake slowly built until it rivalled Sangk's. Marius concentrated on slow playing – undervaluing each hand until he was sure he held the strongest combination, then suddenly plunging a large bet into the pot at the point where his opponents had already thrown so much wealth in that they were committed to matching him. Sangk’s comments grew increasingly acerbic, and started to flow earlier and earlier in each hand. Marius suppressed a smile. Sangk was a damn good player but was renowned for his short fuse. A great player against the mediocre, and mediocre against the greats, and he was beginning to become unsettled. Marius loosened his play up a little, throwing bluffs and picking up cheap pots. His image was so established now that the other players were afraid to match his bets in case they were throwing good money after bad. One of the nameless players was low on coins, and Marius held back for a couple of hands, letting him pick up a couple of small pots to re-establish his confidence. Sangk regained his good cheer almost immediately.

  “The luck is flowing in a different direction now, my friend,” he said. “Enkie looks ready to reclaim all the chips you stole from him earlier.”

  “Indeed he does,” Marius replied, with a nod of respect towards the silent Enkie. Then he slow-played an unbeatable combination – no king, queen, two princesses, bishop, three soldiers, the rest peasants, a perfect representation of the current House of Scorby – drew Sangk into throwing his entire stack into the pot, and sent him from the table, broke. Sangk exploded.

  “Gods damn!” he lurched up out of his chair, stormed around the room grabbing at his hair. “Outplayed by a northern Scorban idiot!” He appealed to his bouncer, standing silent and immobile at the foot of the stairs. “Slow playing the nuts. Gods damn. Beaten by a guy who can’t even spell Kingdom!” He drew out a bag from his shirt and spilled its contents onto the table.

  “I’m buying back in.”

  “Is that allowed?” Marius asked, trying to keep the laughter from his voice. This was exactly what he had wanted. There wasn’t enough money on the table to match Bomthe’s price. He needed Sangk to dip into his pockets, to make a rash gesture out of frustration, and the Tallian had complied.

  “My house.” Sangk thumped the table as he sat back down. “My discretion.”

  “Of course.” Marius nodded his acquiescence. “May we have a count, please?”

  Grimacing, Sangk counted out his new stack. Forty riner. Not enough to match Bomthe’s price, Marius thought, but it would go a long way towards it. Once he’d taken it all away from Sangk, and beaten the other two players he’d still be thirty riner short. Not to worry. There were other tables, and even if Sangk took umbrage and sent him on his way, there was one more game down the Bellish Quarter he could try. Harder to get into, but a hundred-plus riner was a good way to get through the door. The dealer dealt the next hand, and Marius bent back to his task.

  Enkie was the first to go. Marius caught him in a bluff, enticed him all-in, and beat him with a miserable Bishop-high combination that beat his wastrel-burdened hand. He made a point of shaking the man’s hand as he stood. He’d played well, and Marius might come across him again in some den of the future, in which case, he’d want the man to remember his courtesy, not the way Marius had controlled his game and busted him. Only three players remained, and Marius hoped another might be called across to make up the numbers, bringing his stack with him. He was disappointed. Sangk, bent low over his coins, merely motioned the dealer to burn two cards from each deal and keep going. Marius scowled. Three-handed Kingdom was substantially more difficult than four-handed, and luck played a much more central role. Sangk was scared, he realised, and limiting the table numbers went a long way towards tilting the odds in his favour.

  Sure enough, the next two hands went Sangk’s way, until he and Marius had roughly equal stacks. Marius risked a peek at the fat Tallian, and saw him sitting back in his chair, arms folded. A smug smile spread across the lower half of his face. Marius responded by winning the next two, losing the following big pot to Sangk, and then knocking out their silent short-stacked companion. Then there was just he and Sangk. His host smiled.

  “Equal or thereabouts,” he noted, nodding down at Marius’ pile. “I feel I have done well from your gift, my friend. You have my thanks. But,” he stretched back, yawned. “It has been a long night, and I am tired. I shall take my leave.”

  “A shame,” Marius said, thinking quickly. “I’ve enjoyed our game. It feels like we are just starting. Still,” he shrugged, a gesture of dismissal. “If you are unable to continue…”

  “Well now, well now,” Sangk had been gathering his winnings. Now he stopped. “It is not a matter of being incapable.”

  “I am sure,” Marius answered, riffling his coins so they made a musical tinkling. “But perhaps it is for the best.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Oh,” Marius shrugged, continuing to play with his pile of gold. “It is late, as you say, and you have played well. Perhaps you are right. Best to cut out when you are ahead.”

  Sangk was staring at Marius’ coins. Marius made to scoop them up. “I shall test somebody else’s stamina.”

  Sangk laughed, and slapped the table. “Okay,” he said, motioning Marius to stop. “You’ve made your point.” He gestured to the dealer. Two-handed Kingdom was amongst the most difficult of card games. From now on, the majority of the deck would be discarded before they even started. No hand could be trusted. That, after all, was the point of the game. Now it was a test of the combatants’ ability to read their opponent, follow the cards, and display the biggest set of balls. “Let’s play.”

  “Yes,” Marius nodded, grinning into his coins. “Let’s.”

  Marius started slowly. Playing two-handed was a whole new card game: many more variables than five-handed, many more burnt cards, much more left to chance. It took a lot of patience, or a willingness to be reckless to the point of suicide, to make significant gains against a single opponent. He pecked away at his bets: a coin here; two there; slowly building up small pots and backing away if he was unsure of a win. Sangk splashed coins about like a reformed scrooge, making massive over-bets, chipping away at Marius’ stack until he held a lead of almost two to one. Marius didn’t mind. He was watching the cards, stringing together sequences, letting Sangk’s outrageous play disguise Marius’ manoeuvring. The dealer was dealing low-heavy hands: a lot of peasants and soldiers were surviving the burns. After a dozen hands, Marius had the read of the deck, and made his move.

  The next hand, Marius opened with a bishop. A weak card, but a good start, one he could build on in a number of ways. Marius threw three coins into the pot. Sangk raised an eyebrow and matched his bet without glancing at his first card. Two peasants followed, and Marius bet the minimum each time. Sangk matched him, then, when Marius drew a queen on his fourth card and bet twelve coins, raised him another dozen. Marius stared at the Tallian under the edge of his hood. Sangk sat back and smiled. Marius switched his gaze to the fat man’s stack, and his own, then at the backs of the cards in Sangk’s grip. The third card along had a tiny, imperceptible split at the upper right corner. Marius kept his expression still. He’d picked out that mark two opponents ago. The wastrel. Nothing Sangk did would matter. With the wastrel in his hand he could not possibly win. Every card, every combination was invalidated. Marius rubbed his jaw as if confused.

  “You have a big hand?” he asked, as if trying to elicit some response that might give him a clue.

  “Oh, a big one,” Sangk replied, leaning back and rechecking his cards, as if reassuring himself of his decks value.

/>   “Why such a big bet?” Marius mused, almost to himself. “Four cards in. What have you got? King queen? Two princesses?” He riffled a small pillar of coins. “So many cards left.”

  “Confused?”

  “Ahhhh.” Marius rubbed his face. I should get an award for this, he thought. The Queen of Muses herself should place a laurel around my ears. “Why so big? You could still lose so many cards.”

  Sangk said nothing, simply crossed his hands and waited. Marius shook his head.

  “Okay,” he said, voice full of uncertainty. “I call.”

  Four more cards passed, each bet growing in size, until Marius had Sangk right where he wanted the fat man to think he had Marius – pot committed, with so many coins in the pot that when the second to last card was drawn he had no option but to throw the rest into the centre for fear of folding the hand and being crippled. Sure enough, as soon as he pulled the card from his deck, Sangk reached down and pushed his stack over, spilling his coins across the table.

  “Everything,” Sangk said. “All of it.”

  Marius laid his cards face down, placed his hands on top of it to signify that he was merely considering, not folding. He made a great show of examining the fallen money and comparing it against his own. To call Sangk’s bet would cost him everything. Exactly what he wanted. Once he won this hand he would have his opponent out-coined by a factor of more than eleven to one. After that, it was only a matter of time – a very short time – before he had them all.