A/N: Oren takes Sophia to the loveliest of pces, truly.

  -x-X-x-

  She was right! She did regret it! She regretted it massively!

  “Bahahaha! Looks like my wier luext time, stranger.”

  It turned out, there was no such thing as a saherworlder. Or if such a thied, Oren definitely wasn’t one of them!

  “Again.”

  “Huh? Really now, don’t you think you should quit while you're behind? You always lose more, friend. Is it really worth it?”

  Cards. That was the third option. She’d shot down ht thievery, and Amberwell wasn’t big enough to have a fighting pit… but it was big enough to have a few different taverns, some seedier than most. Right now, they were in the seediest of all of Amberwell’s taverns, taking part in a card game. Ugh, gambling… it set Sophia on edge. There was no wisdom in gambling. Not much equity either.

  But even if her domains weren’t causio itch like nothing else and leaving her in intense disfort, Sophia would still be very, very unhappy right now. Why? Because Oren was LOSING!

  “I’m not your friend. And I haven’t lost everythi. Let’s go again… unless you’re scared.”

  They’d been here for what felt like hours, truth be told. Sophia had been against this from the very beginning of course, but in the end it wasn’t like she’d had any choi the matter. Oren was the only thing standiween her and a grisly demise so whether the Minoddess liked it or not, she was hitched to Oren’s wagon at this point.

  “Well… alright the’s see if the cards are more in your favor this time, eh?”

  Sophia shivers as the cards are dealt once more. If Oren is afraid, he doesn’t show it. In fact, he seems pletely uurbed even now. But then, that’s how he’s been since he sat down at the table. Stone faced and standoffish.

  He’d started out fag off against other denizens of the tavern. It wasn’t all bad, she was forced to aowledge. He’d won some games and lost others. Ultimately, he’d won enough to attract the attention of one of the biggest, fattest humans Sophia had ever seen. He’d introduced himself as ‘Gentleman Grays’ and invited Oren to join him at a table in the back of the taverhe ‘better’ pyers could be found.

  It was obvious almost immediately, at least to Sophia, that this was all a trap desigo siphon Oren’s winnings. She should have told him to refuse the offer. They’d probably had enough already, though she wasn’t too sure. Either Oren hadn’t thought so… or he was a gambler at heart and couldn’t resist the thrill to win it big.

  Ugh, Otherworlders. Just whehought maybe she’d found the one good one, he turns out to be a degee after all. Gambling erhaps one of the lesser vices. Ihere weren’t even any hard rules against it in Law’s Court. But it was distinctly frowned upon all the same, and Sophia would certainly never be caught dead taking part herself.

  Gentleman Grays takes one look at his hand and grins wickedly, his eyes twinkling as he doesn’t even try to hide his amusement or excitement.

  “Ah… bad luck, stranger. You should probably bow out now… out of the kindness of my heart, I’ll let you know I have an uable hand this time around.”

  Sophia swallows thickly. Ever since Oren had been io join this table, the other pyers had started chipping away at his winnings. Not that they hadn’t suffered their own losses for it. But… if she pared it to something like a battle, then it would be accurate to say that they were bleeding Oren dry by a thousand little injuries. He entleman Grays had knocked everyone else at the table out of the running at one point or another. But those who had been removed from tention had rarely done any damage to the Gentleman’s stockpile of wealth. Instead, they’d taken bits and pieces from Oren, only to fall and have their own earnings added to his rays’ piles. Except most of the time… it was added to Grays and not Oren’s.

  Sophia’s sapphire earrings even be seen glittering brightly amoleman Grays’ pile of s and treasure. Her neckce, meanwhile, is still within Oren’s much smaller stash. He’d needed all of her jewelry just to get his foot in the door with the initial games, and truth be told, Sophia wasn’t so attached that she didn’t see the y.

  Still, if he didn’t win soon, the fat mortal in charge of this establishment was right. They just might lose everything. Especially sihis hand arently already a bust-

  “All in.”

  Sophia’s eyes bulge out of her head as Oren suddenly pushes his meager pile of wealth into the ter of the table, seemingly pletely uurbed by the Gentleman’s boasting. To be fair, she’s not the only ohose at the table still watg also go bug-eyed… and so does Grays himself, his beady eyes widening in disbelief at Oren’s arrogahen, his jowls shake as his lips curl bato a wide, wicked grin that sends a trembling shiver down Sophia’s spine.

  “Oh my… you think I’m bluffing, don’t you? You’re loss, friend.”

  “Not your friend. And why not make this truly iing?”

  A silence falls over the room. Gentleman Grays had been in the middle of using one of his fat, meaty hands to push forward a share of his wealth that was equal to the ey of Oren’s smaller pile. He pauses though, tilting his head to the side.

  “Oh?”

  Still pletely calm and collected despite the fact that he should have beeing bullets, Oren nods.

  “Everything you have against everything I have. O hand.”

  There’s some murmuring around the room at that. Some tittering and snickering. Gentleman Grays, for his part, chuckles and shakes his head.

  “This is already your st hand at this point, stranger. I don’t have to bet anymore than this to take you for everything you have… unless you’re something of equal value to the vast amount of wealth sitting in front of me.”

  Much to Sophia’s revulsion and horror, the Gentleman’s beady eyes dart over to her at those words and his tongue slips out to lick along his lips for a moment. She pulls her cloak tighter around herself and averts her gaze as a shudder of disgust runs down her spine. By this point, everyone knew she was Oren’s ‘woman’. She’d only been allowed to watch because of that fact. But Oren had been very specific about doing her best to hide her features ahe cloak on no matter what.

  Unfortunately, while the piece of bck cloth he’s giveo around herself is quite rge… it’s ne enough. It hugs her curves in a way that hides much of her divine majesty but still reveals more about her figure than Sophia would have preferred. On top of that, it’s hard to keep her fapletely hidden from all awenty-four seven without just straight up standing in the er staring at the wall, and obviously she’s not going to do that.

  As such, over the length of time they’ve been here, Sophia knows she’s been caught out by a few men… and she reizes that they’ve been murmuring to one another about her beauty for a while now. Long enough that even the proprietor has caught wind of it apparently.

  “Yes.”

  Sophia’s eyes snap to Oren, widening in disbelief yet again. W-What? Surely he wasn’t going to-!

  “I bet myself. One year of service as your sworn sword if you win. More than equal to the value of everything in front of yht now.”

  That… was better than Sophia had thought he was going to say. For a sed there, she’d thought he would actually offer HER up as colteral o-or something! Even still… his words were the uatement of the tury. An Otherworlder, for all that they were abominations and aberrations on the fabric of Creation itself, was a force multiplier. They were one-man armies if they were allowed to grow for long enough. And Oren had already proven he was capable of sughteriire groups of trained men without taking so much as a scratch.

  A whole year of Oren’s services was worth ten TIMES the amount of and treasure currently sitting in front of Gentleman Grays. A… looks could be deceptive, couldn’t they? Just looking at Oren, with his scruffy appearand worn clothing, you wouldn’t know he was a scary, powerful Otherworlder. So it probably shouldn’t have been all that surprising when, after a moment, Grays throws back his head and ughs, causing the rest of the men in the room to ugh as well.

  “Bahahahaha! Oh man! You crack me up, friend, you really do! I wish I had half of your fidence, holy!”

  Sophia fidgets nervously as she watches Oren’s rea to everyone just ughing at his expeherworlders were notoriously short tempered and while he’d seemed fih her earlier, she couldn’t fet that he’d killed those God Hunters without batting an eyesh…

  But in the end, he doesn’t stand or draw his bde hter anyone. He just sits there silently, as posed as ever, and waits. When everyone finally starts notig that he’s not joking, nor is he eveing to them ughing at him, they all start to peter off, looking at one another somewhat uainly.

  Gentleman Grays, meanwhile, scowls at Oren’s incredibly calm demeanor. Then… he smiles and looks at her.

  “You do have ohing I want, friend. Your woman. Wager her and we’ll do it the way you want to do it. Everythih have o… hand.”

  Sophia stiffens, her lips thinning out. Of course he would demand that. But Oren wouldn’t go that far. Surely he wouldn’t-

  “Deal.”

  Her jaw drops open as Sophia stares at Oren in horrified disbelief. How could he… what did he think he was… she wasn’t just some treasure to be gambled away! She wasn’t some trophy to be won d-damn it! She was her own person… no, more than that, she was a goddess! What did he think he was doing?! What if he lost again? The Gentlemaainly seemed to think he had a good hand!

  “Alright then. Your funeral.”

  Gentleman Grays uses both of his big, meaty hands to push everything on his side of the table forward into the middle with Oren’s much smaller pile. Then, without missing a beat, he reveals his cards.

  “Read ‘em and weep. Seriously, if you want to cry I won’t mind. Boys might think less of you for it, but-!”

  Oren just wordlessly reveals his own cards and when the Gentleman’s beady eyes dip low enough to see them in the midst of his gloating, he cuts himself off mid-sentend just stares. Now, Sophia doesn’t know this card game. She’s not a gambler, and mortal games arely something she learned up in the Heavens… nor did she pay them much attention whenever she was down here visiting the Mortal Pnes.

  But judging by the hush that falls over the room and the way Gentleman Grays gets progressively paler as the seds drag on… did Oren win? Was it possible that his hand was somehow better than the Gentleman’s?

  That certainly seems to be the case, because the hing Sophia knows, Oren has risen from his seat and is colleg his winnings wordlessly. Her breath hitches as she watches him do so methodically, not really rushing. Some of the other men in the room look at one another for a sed before stepping forward… but Oren just drops his hand to the pommel of his sword in a silent promise, making them back down.

  In that moment, Sophia knows they’re not going to get out of here without a fight. Not if she doesn’t do something. So, reag out to her meager divine power, Sophia leans on one of her domains. Specifically, she leans oy. After all, while gambling might be the opposite of fair in most cases, it WAS fair that the winner got to take their winnings.

  Effitly but not too quickly, Oren packs away all of the s they’d just won along with her jewelry… and steps away from the table as everyone in the room hesitates for a brief moment thanks to the power of Sophia’s domain. A ghrown her way has Sophia rushing to join him from where she’d been watg off to the side and then they just walk out. Nobody stops them, much to Sophia’s relief.

  As soon as they’re outside though, Oren takes Sophia by the hand and begins power walking them dowreet. Given she’s not sure how long the effects of her small use of divine power will st on the men in that room back there, she doesn’t protest the fast pace. However… she does protest the rest of it.

  “I-I ’t believe you bet me like that! What if you’d lost me! What if you’d lost everything?!”

  Ore pause as they turn a er. Sophia thinks she might hear the sound of shouting ing from the tavern rapidly vanishing into the distance behind them and swallows thickly. For a moment, she thinks the Otherworlder isn’t going to a all… but finally, he does.

  “The oute was never in doubt. I knew I would win.”

  Sophia blinks, caught off guard by the utter certainty in his voice.

  “W-What?”

  “They had a thing ba my world called ‘card ting’. It was for a different game, but the principle is rgely the same. What I do goes a bit beyond ‘card ting’ though… or did you fet what I am?”

  She definitely hadn’t fotten THAT. Still, what did his status as an Otherworlder have to do with anything?

  “My eyes are sharp enough that I pick up on the imperfes in each card. Basically, by that final hand I knew what every card in the deck looked like, front… and back. I knew his hand and I knew mihat’s how I knew I could win no matter what. I didn’t risk you for even a moment… it was a sure thing.”

  Sophia’s mouth opens and closes wordlessly a couple times before the Minoddess finds her voice again. He could pick out the minute imperfes in the pying cards?! Just how good were his eyes?! Not even most gods and goddesses could do that, not unless keen eyesight was tied to their domains or something!

  But even still…

  “And if they’d pushed the issue even after they won? What if they’d attacked us? What then?!”

  Oren finally takes a moment to spare her a gnce, having takehrough multiple back alleys and around half a dozen ers as he brought them further and further away from Gentleman Grays and his tavern.

  “… Then I would have killed every st one of them to protect you. But it didn’t e to that. I guess they were smart enough to know better. Either that or shocked into a stupor long enough to let us walk away before they could recover.”

  Sophia swallows hard, her mouth suddenly dry as she’s reminded of just how dangerous a man her current ‘protector’ really is. She doesn’t bother telling him that she’d used the dregs of her divine power to influehe enter. Suddenly, it just doesn’t seem that important.

  “Either way, we’re not staying long enough for them to track us down. We’ll get new clothes for you and supplies for the road and then we’ll head out of town.”

  Right. She had to keep her eye on the prize. They were oep closer to making it to the refuge now. Oep closer to safety.

  -x-X-x-

  A/N: Admittedly, I don't know as much as I should about high stakes card games like Bckjack or Poker. So I kept the card game vague and wrote it from Sophia's POV since she doesn't kher!

  Still, do they really thileman Grays is doh them just yet? Hmmm...

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