“Race for us again,” Sem Partoldi suggested with her green eyes very sharp and bright. “Any carc you wish to purchase or assemble.”
“You cannot alter the outcome of this game by speaking so to me.”
Annie Pyle enjoyed this as she finished her drink and stood. “Break me, my break’s done,” she announced happily and went back behind the bar tugging at her vibrant apron.
“Did you go out on the river?” Regis asked again.
“I did. With Phila and Flick.”
“I knew it. Because they go the farthest out.”
“They have an interesting ship.”
“Phila says Flick made it. She says she built it on an island upstream which I have never seen.”
“The island might not be visible from shore.” I slowed my hand on the way to my glass, moved it slightly. Sem Partoldi stopped tapping 1 of the arrangements in the center, reordered the cards in her hand, and passed.
I sipped my drink thoughtfully. I took 1 card off the top of each of 4 of the 8 central arrangements and laid all the cards face upon the table in a line. “Perfect pawn,” I said and lifting my plate began to concentrate on my pie.
Sem Partoldi chuckled and shook her head. “That’s 3 out of the last 5 you have won. What will I do when you grow up?”
“Switch games.”
