Chapter 7: Osric's POV: A Hand of Cards

Osric's POV

My attendant dealt himself four losing hands before I stopped him.

He was using a fresh deck.

I could see him removing kings beneath the table.

"Keep those," I told him.

He put them back with the expression of a man choosing his own punishment.

Ruby hadn't answered my question at the hall.

She'd stepped away from my hand and left it unanswered.

I disliked that she thought I had to be spared the answer.

I disliked more that she might be right.

The attendant placed a biscuit beside my cards.

I lifted it.

There was nothing underneath.

He looked frightened anyway.

"Do you want to play?" I asked him.

"Of course, Your Majesty."

"Or do you want to finish work?"

He looked at the clock, then covered the movement by adjusting a curtain.

I had been king for ten years.

I had considered myself observant for most of them.

"You may go," I said.

He thanked me with such relief that I lost interest in the cards.

I took the second cup off the service tray and left it beside my chair.

If he returned, there would at least be somewhere to sit.

Corwin arrived carrying my evening schedule.

He removed the biscuit plate without asking whether I was finished.

"Miss Bracken has requested another private meeting," he said.

"Then arrange it."

Keep reading free with an account. Start The Wolf King Demanded a Bride, I Served Him Supper from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.