Tomat
"Your bet."
"I know."
"Well?"
"Raise fifty."
"Seriously? Fifty?"
"Count 'em." I tossed the coins into the middle of the table and grinned into my cards. Waltin had nothing, and fifty cuvers would nearly bankrupt him. He'd be a fool to stay in.
"Damn it, Tom," he said, throwing down his cards. "How do you always know?"
Grinning openly now, I scooped up my winnings. "Trade secret."
Another of the men around the table spoke up. "You chew your lip when you're bluffing."
My glare could have melted glass. "Thanks a lot, Chal. You could have waited until he was out first."
The man shrugged. "You've been cleaning us out all night. Thought I could level the playing field a bit."
Muttering under my breath, I dealt out a new hand of cards. But secretly I was glad they thought my winning streak was due to nothing more than watching for a few nonverbal clues. In reality, it was a little deeper than that.
I read their minds.
Okay, okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little. It wasn't like I could tell exactly what cards the guy had, most of the time, but I could easily get a feeling for how good his hand was, regardless of how well he thought he kept the information hidden. If that failed, there was another talent I possessed, but I preferred not to use it unless I was really desperate. It was too risky.
"This'll have to be the last round for me, guys," said the fourth and final man at the table, a slim and slick guy called Nate, whose slightly graying hair made him the automatic dispenser of wisdom around the table. He was the only one there who could give me a run for my money, but tonight even his stack of coins was dwindling.
"Me too," chimed in Waltin. "I've made enough of a donation to the Tomat Foundation."
"Fine, fine," I said. "Last hand."
Afterwards, we gathered up our coins - some took more time than others. Chal and Waltin said their goodbyes and left, but Nate stuck around for a bit longer.
"You did good tonight, Tom," he said. "Real good. I haven't been beaten that badly since the championship."
"You were in the championship game in Insen?"
"Well, no. But I was in the tournament, you see. And they're good, man. Maybe even better'n you, I'd say."
I wasn't taking the bait. "I imagine they are," I laughed. "I'll just stick with the small time competition I know I can beat." The weight of my coin pouch made me smile as I tied it up and attached it to my belt.
"But just think," Nate pressed. "The money, the fame - the girls."
The last one caught my attention. "You know what buttons to push, don't you, Nate?"
"Wouldn't have gotten into the tournament if I didn't. One of the best ways to win is to know your opponent."
"Not gonna work this time. I've never had a problem with the girls, and money and fame aren't much use when we won't be around to enjoy them."
The look Nate threw at me was one I'm used to seeing. "This again?" he said.
"The world's ending tonight, Nate. Better enjoy yourself while you can."
"What's your theory this time?"
"Come with me." We stepped outside into the clear evening and I pointed up at the sky. "You see that star there? It's not a star at all. It's a massive chunk of rock hurtling toward us. By my calculations-"
"Ha, calculations," Nate snorted.
"-It'll hit us tonight. It's been good knowing you."
"Sure thing, Tomat. And this is different from the dozen other times you've predicted our untimely demise?"
"Those were... miscalculations. This time for sure."
"Right. See you next week." Nate strolled away with a backward flick of his hand.
"No, you won't!"
"You're de-" My heart stopped beating for a moment as he froze in midstep. After a second, he spun on his heel and gave me apenetrating look. "You're delusional," he said.
"No."
"You're a Mentalist. That's how you beat us so easily!"
"No! That's not it at all!"
"Yes it is!" Nate insisted. "You're delusional, you always win at cards, you-"
"No, no, listen," I said. This would have to be handled delicately. Using my power, I slipped into his mind as I talked. "Let's say you're right. What would you do about it? You wouldn't turn me in." As his flow of thoughts passed by my mind, I picked out the one that I wanted and pushed it to the front of his mind.
"No, of course not. That is, as long as I get something out of it."
Damn. I hadn't made it strong enough.
"What do you want?" This time, his thoughts slipped past too fast for me to get a solid hold on any of them.
"I want you to win the championship. And I want you to give me half the winnings."
If there was one thing I didn't want, it was public scrutiny. But if the thought was already formed in his mind, it would be nearly impossible to change it without breaking him. In the stream of his thoughts, I picked out a few that could be of use to me, and a few that would be devastating. But nothing I found would get me out of the situation.
"Fine," I said. "But I'll need your help." I pushed hard to get him to accept that. Maybe a little too hard, as his eyes glazed over for a moment. Too much of that and his mind would end up shattered. Like I said, Suggestion is a delicate procedure.
"Yes, of course." His expression said he wouldn't consider anything else. His mind said he couldn't.
"Good. Now go home and rest. And don't tell anyone." I ground that last one into his mind like a shard of glass. If it broke him, all the better. Instead, he just smiled and nodded.
"See you tomorrow, Tomat." I said nothing, but unwrapped my mind from his. Even without it, the Suggestions would remain. This time, Nate walked away without a backward glance.
Good thing the world was about to be obliterated, or this could have been trouble.
***
"You have to realize, these guys are good."
"Shh. Please." The swish of the cards crossing the table was more than enough to make my head pound. Nate's voice was fifty times worse.
"Maybe you shouldn't spend every night drinking yourself into a stupor with a different girl." Nate continued to deal. The man had no pity.
"Maybe you shouldn't get me up so early."
"I told you when I was coming to get you."
"Shut up and play."
It was only five days since I had agreed to this insane scheme. The world had not yet ended - though at times I wished it had.
"As I was saying," continued Nate as he scooped up his cards, "the guys you're going to be playing are fantastically good. I mean, they beat me almost without trying."
"So can I."
"Yes, but you know me. As you explained to me, you know how my thoughts flow. You don't even need Suggestions."
"Okay, okay, whatever. What do you want me to do?"
"Practice. You may have a great advantage, Tom, but these guys are going to read you like a book. That evens the playing field more than we want. A slip of luck, and you'll find yourself out of the match."
With two fingers, Nate held up a card in front of him, back to me. "What card is this?" he asked.
"Damned if I know."
"Concentrate, then. Pick it out of my thoughts."
Sighing, I concentrated on the thoughts flowing past me like a stream. Finding the card was like trying to pick out a single bubble. "It's a... five?" I guessed.
"Try harder."
It was as though one of the bubbles suddenly grew in size and exploded in my face. "A seven."
"Good. And this one?"
"Four."
"Good. So you can do it. I was starting to worry you were just crazy."
"Yay, good for me, can I go home now?"
"No."
"Damn it. What now, then?"
"So you can read my mind when I focus very clearly on what I want you to see. That won't help you much in a real scenario."
"So I'm screwed. Awesome. I'm gonna go have a nap."
"Sit." Nate could be really bossy when he wanted to be. "The tournament starts on the First of Fifth, and it's going to take us two weeks to get to Insen - at most- which doesn't leave us a lot of time."
"Six days."
"Right. So I've gathered together a few of my friends - card players too, some even better than me - and we're going to have a little mini-tournament. We've agreed that the winner will be sent to Insen, where the profits will pay for his entrance fee." He grinned at me. "Bet you were wondering where we were going to get that money, weren't you?"
Hadn't crossed my mind. "Sure, why not. How much to get into this little mini-tournament of yours?"
"Ten dachals, but don't worry about it. I've got this one covered. If you lose, I'll just break your legs."
"That's why I love you, Nate. You won't hesitate to break a few eggs to make an omelette. Speaking of which, what's for breakfast?"
"You can eat when you can tell me what card this is."
***
The first card match took place at Nate's house that evening. The three men Nate had called "friends" included a man who looked like he could rip my arms off if he knew I was cheating, a man who could outslick Nate, and the third man was actually a woman - a fact I only recognized after her cloak came off and she came into the light. Attractive, too. So that was Nate's ploy - distraction.
Well I wasn't going to fall for it - but damn was that a low cut shirt.
Nate had told me that these three knew nothing of my talents. This was good for a few reasons, the first of which was that none of them could turn me in to the Quis. The second was that they wouldn't be guarding their thoughts. And the third was that this was as close as I would get to a real game before the tournament. Three people I didn't know, and that didn't know me.
The restriction on my talent for reading minds was that I could only do it to one person at a time. Naturally, I focused on the girl first - to try and get a feel for her thinking patterns, of course. Okay, so I was hoping to find some glimpse into her more private thoughts, hopefully some featuring me. Most of the time I just needed a few moments in a girl's mind to plant a few Suggestions and things took off from there, so this was the first time I had truly delved this deep into a woman's mind.
It was frightening.
If going through Nate's mind was like drifting down a stream, this was like navigating a labyrinth. Blindfolded. While wrestling a bear.
Nate made introductions. I'm not sure what I said. I was too busy trying to decipher the thoughts racing past me. The only thing I could get out of it was that she was nervous - though she didn't show it - and yet the mere fact that she was invited to this game gave her a great deal more confidence in her abilities. Poor girl. She didn't know she was just there so I'd have a pretty face to stare at.
By the time the game actually started, I thought I had a feel for how her mind worked. Besides, I didn't want to put too much effort into her, she wasn't going to be the biggest challenge at the table. I switched to the slick man. I hadn't heard his name when he was introduced, so I made up a nickname - Slick.
His mind was more familiar to me, and I found I could easily pick out the general shape of his thoughts. It was a little more difficult than reading Nate, but from a quick scan I thought I could pick out what cards he had fairly easily.
The last man - I called him Brick - was about as complex as the table. It seemed like the only thing he was capable of focusing on was the cards in his hand. So, to summarize: Slick - stream; Girl - maze/blindfold/bear; Brick - book.
No problem.
It wasn't until I lost half my coins to the girl that I thought to jump into her thoughts again. The good news is that she was much easier to read this time. The bad news is she was easy to read because she was so focused. And she was good. Here I was, thinking Slick was my main competition, and Girl was calculating odds in her head. Everything was planned, from the way she smiled at Slick across the table, to the clothes she wore, to her subtle scent.
"Your bet, Tomat," she said with a smile that would have had me wrapped around her finger if I wasn't watching her thoughts fly by.
How many other girls had taken advantage of me? And here I thought I was in control.
I shook my head, as if dazed. Best to pretend to be awed by her. "Sorry," I said with a little smile back at her. "Distracted." I let my eyes drift off of her face briefly before snapping them back up. The disapproving look in her eye contrasted with the small tug at the corners of her lips, both of which contrasted with the almost sinister thoughts in her mind that I'm not even sure she was aware of. "I fold."
I played defensively until I was sure I could predict the cards Girl had, or at least a general idea. By this time, it was down to me, Girl, and Slick. Most of Brick's coins now sat on the table in front of Girl, giving her the lead by a good amount. If I was going to act, it was going to have to be now. And I had to act. I liked my legs as they were.
As the game wore on, Girl's demeanor changed from smiles to pouts, pouts to frowns, and frowns to scowls that only lessened slightly when she knocked Slick out of the game with a lucky draw. We were about even at that point, and she had given up hope of influencing me with her charms. Instead, her focus intensified - which just made my task easier.
I almost felt sorry for her as she tossed her last few coins into the center of the table. I couldn't blame her - she actually had a very good hand. But mine was better, a fact she was swiftly aware of as I laid my cards on the table. With a curse, she threw her cards down and folded her arms beneath her breasts. Now that I had removed myself from her thoughts, I took the opportunity to admire the view.
"Hey, don't take it so hard," I said as I gathered the coins from the table. "Let me buy you a drink."
For a moment, her eyes could have bored holes through my skull. But then they softened, and she said "Sure."
Okay, I may have influenced her decision. Slightly.
***
Dawn has always surprised me, and this one was no exception. It seemed my prediction of extreme volcanic activity hadn't proven accurate - again. But there was an odd chill in the air, which was undoubtedly a sign of the impending icy death of the planet. The figure of Girl - I still hadn't learned her name - stirred beside me.
"Is it morning already?" she said.
"Well if you didn't keep us up half the night, it wouldn't be here so soon."
"Someone's not a morning person."
"You're right."
"Well, you just rest and I'll make us some breakfast."
"No, no, wait." I sat up and held my head. You'd think my body would be used to alcohol by now. Apparently that wasn't the case. "I have to go. To practice. For the tournament." My head spun as I stood and picked up my shirt.
"Oh. Maybe I can help?"
"Um, well," I tried to explain as I searched for my pants. "I don't think that would be a good idea. I need to concentrate, and you're just too much of a distraction." I found my pants half under the bed and pulled them on.
"But that would be good practice," she persisted. "I'm sure there will be distractions at the tournament."
"Ah, but none as lovely as you."
"Okay. I see. Should I expect to ever hear from you again?"
"Sure thing. Just not until after I win the tournament, okay?" I opened the door and looked back at her, still sitting on the bed, covers drawn around her.
"I thought - never mind. Good luck," she said. A brief glimpse into her thoughts as I closed the door told me her smile was as insincere as her words.
The sky was clear - the sun hurt my eyes as I headed home. Maybe if I wasn't there when Nate came looking for me, he'd give up for the day and let me get some rest. Judging by the time, he would have already been
and gone by now. And there he was coming up the street. By the time I saw him it was too late to duck out of the way. Wonderful, another day running on almost no sleep.
"Hey, Tom," Nate said as he approached. "I wondered where'd you disappeared to. Have fun last night?"
"Oh yeah."
"...with my daughter?"
"Ah - yes. Yes, it was a lovely evening. I had no idea your daughter was such a wonderful... dancer. I had no idea you had a daughter."
"I told you that when I introduced you."
"Yes, of course. Must have slipped my mind."
"I was on my way to her place to see if she knew what happened to you." His eyes narrowed. "What did happen to you, anyway?"
"Ah... I'll be honest with you, Nate. I might have had a little too much to drink and passed out on your daughter's couch." I wouldn't be much of a gambler if I couldn't lie with a straight face.
"But what were you doing there in the first place?"
"She didn't want me walking home alone, and her place was closer."
"Sure. You know what, I'm going to pretend I believe that. Otherwise, I'd have to break your elbows for taking advantage of Marlaia -" So that was her name! "- and then you wouldn't be able to play in the tournament."
"Unless I got a Healer," I suggested helpfully.
"Don't tempt me. Moving away from that topic of conversation, your game still needs a lot of work."
"What do you mean? Their minds were like open books. I won!"
"Yes, I know. If you recall, you left me to collect the winnings. And the problem isn't with your offense. It's your defense. I don't care how well you can read the guys at the tournament; if they can read you just as well from your face, then you're back to even odds."
And here I thought I had an excellent liar's face.
***
The one thing Nate and I didn't practice was Suggestion. The tournament was in Insen, home to the Asylum. The place would be positively crawling with Quis, and they wouldn't hesitate to jump on the slightest oddity. The mind reading could be disguised as merely being observant. The Suggestion could not. Especially if I broke the guy's mind.
Besides, I wouldn't need it.
We left our little town of Rook on the 34th of Fourth, which would mean at worst we would get to Insen two weeks later, on the 44th of Fourth - a lucky day - with two days to get settled.
To some extent, I was glad to have Nate with me on the trip. Attempting it myself would have been a disaster, as I'm not one for planning ahead. Nate made sure that we stopped at an inn every evening - which he brought the money for - and that we had food to eat on the stretches between villages.