Zoltan by Lyndon Hardy

Author:Lyndon Hardy [Hardy, Lyndon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult Fiction, Action & Adventure, General, Fiction, Fantasy, Magic, Quest, Sorcery, Wizard, Adventure, Alchemy, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780999132036
Google: MwjUEAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B07YJ2H563
Goodreads: 52176897
Publisher: Lyndon Hardy
Published: 2019-09-27T06:00:00+00:00

Zoltan the Opportunist

BEFORE ZOLTAN could respond, Adrian continued. “Not a meal. But there is something you can teach me in return.”

“Teach you?”

“Exactly so. I want to learn how you men do it. How does one know to be a winner when the cards are right?”

Zoltan cleared his throat. “That is not so easily done. There are the basic probabilities, observing what the other players bet when they have a good hand, their body tells …”

“Let’s cut to the pursuit.” Adrian’s expression hardened. “Lord Kelvin is the richest man on the island. Most of the gold flows to him.” She took a deep breath. “And I am second. Every outbound vessel loaded with fish must pack their cargos with ice.”

“What does that have to do with gambling?”

“Every week, Kelvin has a gaming night with his cronies. On more than one occasion, he has invited me to come, but I have refused.”

Zoltan’s pulse quickened. This was exactly what he was looking for. “If you are not aggressive, you can take part without losing much. You limp along and consider your loss of antes to be the cost of the entertainment.”

“It is more complicated than that.” Adrian shook her head. “I do not only want to be sociable for a few hours. I want to take so much from him that, after everything is settled, my fortune outranks his. Make him so ashamed that he must leave the table, no longer able to insult me with his suggestive offers.”

Zoltan seized the opportunity. “Perhaps, I can go in your stead. You bankroll me and give me a percentage of what I end up winning.”

“An off-islander to front for me?” Adrian disagreed. “No, that won’t work. I want to see him crumble.”

Zoltan pursed his lips as if considering what to say next. “How many others?”

“At least six more. Two of them quite brutish.” Adrian scowled, and then her eyes glimmered with a new thought. “If you were my escort, you might be accepted. Otherwise, I would be the only woman in a room of drunken men.”

The grifter stroked his goatee. There was opportunity here. “Could we be in a more public place, one with lots of spectators?”

“The only building larger than Kelvin’s villa is my icehouse.”

“Then invite this Kelvin and his cronies to your place. You can have a horde of your workers about to provide protection.”

“Yes, my icehouse!” Adrian exclaimed. She wrapped her arms around Zoltan and kissed him on the cheek. “Oops, sorry,” she laughed. “I do get carried away sometimes. So, you will teach me how to play, right?”

The question sent a shiver down Zoltan’s spine. Suddenly, there was a great risk here, one he did not want to take. Brassbutt was his livelihood. There was no way he would reveal anything about the little demon to anyone else. He breathed deeply, inhaling the last hint Adrian’s scent from when she had been close. As he did, a possibility arose.

“The way to work it is that I must be one of the players,” he said.

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