“Well since we have the day off I know what I’m doing, see you later Eillim.” Irina says as she walks off.

“Alright, see you later.” I say.

Now that I’m alone it’s time to start searching. I spend a good few hours asking the more suspicious looking individuals and aimlessly searching the more shady looking areas in the city until I find what I’m looking for. I stop in front of a small pub, far removed from the rest of the city in an isolated alleyway. As I enter the pub I get a few looks from some of the customers before they return to their business. They’re the kind of people one would expect to find in a place like this, the rough type who skim the law and cause trouble. I walk up to the man behind the counter. One of the few people in here with a nicer appearance than the rest, standing tall with well groomed hair, a rather dandy man.

“I’m here for the other side.” I say with a firm voice while giving the man a cold stare.

“Very well… this way.”

Without much fuss, the man leads me to a door in the far corner of the pub, out of sight from most of the pub. Beyond lays a stream of bright lights and tables set out from one end of the room to the other, each surrounded by various groups of people. Everyone is playing different games for money. Well, of course, they would be it’s a gambling den after all.

“Take a seat at any free spot and make sure to pay off any debt you rack up within one month.” The man says before returning to his position behind the counter in the previous room.

Noticing that a nearby table finishes their round and a couple people get up and leave, I take the chance to grab a spot. Sitting down a get a good look at the other players, similarly to the customers in the pub, my neighbours here are all the rough looking type. In contrast to everyone else in here, the dealers are all good looking men and women, exuding an aura of professionalism.

“Since we have quite a few new faces here at the table I’ll explain the rules here once more.” The dealer says as she shuffles the deck.

She explains that this table is playing games of 21. First, we place our bets and then two cards are dealt to the player and one to the dealer. We can then choose to draw another card or leave our hands as they were dealt. A player can also choose to double down after their initial hand is dealt to increase their bet by 100%. After all the players decide whether to keep or draw, the dealer draws one more card and a winner is chosen based on who’s total value of their cards is equal to or closest to twenty-one without going over. However, if the dealer lands a twenty-one it’s an auto win for her. All the money bet goes to the player who has the closest to twenty-one. In the event that more than one player has a total score of twenty-one then the betting money is split between them.

“Now lets begin.” The dealer says wearing a sly smile.

We begin to place our bets, but a problem arises… I don’t know the value of a single gold coin. For now, just play it safe with one gold coin.

Placing down my gold coin I get a few looks from the other players as I notice they bet a handful of bronze and silver coins.

“Quite the rich young lady ain’t ya.” One of the other players snickers.

“I’ve got plenty of coins to spare, just a mere gold coin is nothing.” I say in an attempt to keep up appearances.

Of course unknown to everyone else I lament not asking Annette about the coins. Soon enough the cards are dealt, a nine… and four, total thirteen. A smile grows on the player opposite of me, the same one who called me out earlier. Within seconds of looking at his cards, he decides to double down. After a few moments, another player decides to surrender, revealing his hand to be a total of four. Another player surrenders, revealing a total of five. With two players having already dropped out of the round just three other players and the dealer remain. The player sitting right next to me decides to draw on more but her expression does a complete reversal as she looks down dejectedly after seeing her new card. The only remaining player yet to make a move is me. Did the man who doubled down bluff or does he actually have twenty—one? Should I surrender and take back half my bet? Ahh, screw it!

“I take one more card!” I say with an unintentional shout. “Oh, sorry.” I say addressing the various eyes on me.

Although briefly startled by my outburst the dealer is quick to hand out another card. And it’s… an eight. HA! No black hands for me today, luck is on my side.

“With all the players having completed their turns, time for me to draw.” The dealer says.

She draws a second nine on top of the one she already had for a total of eighteen. Not that it matters though. The only remaining player who was clearly depressed over her hand revealed a total of twenty-two, holding a six, six, and a jack. Of course, he lost the round, but unlike the two who had chosen to surrender he didn’t receive a portion of her bet back. The man who had doubled down earlier revealed his two cards. A king and a nine for a total of nineteen. A strong hand for sure, but nothing compared to mine. Shortly after I reveal my hand for a total of twenty-one, the magic number. Being the only one to have twenty-one I collect my earning for the round and we begin to place bets for the next. I’ve got a good feeling about this.

I regret everything…

I lost almost all my money to the point where all the other players are betting with the gold coins Annette gave me this morning. Seeing the other bets on the table I find a chance. If I can win this round I can win nearly all my money back.

“With the bets in place, I’ll deal the cards.” The dealer says, still keeping up the same sly smile she started with.

The cards are all dealt and the dealer has a queen. I look at my hand and nearly cry tears of joy at the sight, victory is nearly here. Double kings, a total of twenty. With the risk being far too much I decide to keep my hand as I await the other players. This time no one surrenders as the hand are shown. Twenty-four, eighteen, twenty-three, nineteen, and my twenty. I did it. I won.

Just before I collect the earnings the dealer shows her card. I celebrated too soon.

“Ace. With the queen that puts me at twenty-one.” The dealer says.

“Bloody hell!” I yell bringing my right hand down, striking the table.

From the force of my fist the table shatters, scattering shards of wood throughout the room. I didn’t think I put that much force into it, oops.

“…”

I remain silent as clouds of dust permeate through the air. Time for a strategic withdrawal. With so many people blinded and confused I use the dust clouds as cover for my escape, of course not before I swipe away the many coins from the ground. As I dash to the exit a couple of thugs standing guard at the door attempt to block my escape but I brush them aside with ease, while simultaneously busting down the door into the pub. While they’re not entirely sure what’s going on many of the people in the pub stand up brandishing various weapons and begin to charge at me, having a clear enough head to recognise me as the source of the problem in the gambling den. I fight off the few people who were closest to me and decide that trying to deal with everyone here would take too long a run towards the pub’s exit. Before I can make it, about a dozen people crowd the exit and instead of taking the time to deal with all of them I chose the shorter path. I take a sharp turn before crashing into the myriad of people, and run up to a nearby wall and smash through it with my right arm. Paying little heed to my surroundings I jump out the hole in the wall with several people in pursuit. Just as I make a turn to leave the ally I slam into someone. I notice the man I crashed in to is the same officer who arrested me when I first entered the city. And behind him is a full platoon of city guards. The ruffians chasing me catch up with me but completely freeze after seeing the large police force in front of them.

“Men! Arrest all these thugs!” says the man I ran into, the supposed captain here.

“Thanks for the help officer, now I’ll just be on my way.” I say in an attempt to escape.

The captain sighs at my sight, “you again… hold up there. You’re also under arrest.”

“But why, I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m the victim here, just a poor helpless woman being chased by these thugs.” I say. Of course, it’s a complete lie. I know everything here is my fault.

“Okay, I see how it is… not. We initially came here on a noise complaint but when we realised the area we figured it was probably something troublesome so I took a whole platoon with me. And what do I see, you destroying several walls and jumping out of that building. You are under arrest for destruction of property.” The guard captain says.

Quickly figuring out that I can’t talk my way out of this I attempt an escape but I get shot in the back with a stun gun. While not enough to knock me out, it’s enough to temporarily immobilise me while I’m cuffed and dragged back to the prison cell from my first day here.

After spending several hours sitting around handcuffed in my cell Annette arrives and just gives me a cold look.

“So what did you do?” Annette asks coldly.

“Nothing terribly bad…” I say softly.

“Alright then, I guess you want to stay here.” Annette says whilst sharpening her glare.

“I’m sorry that I broke the walls of the nearby buildings and for illegally gambling away the money you gave me. Please let me out.” I say with my head lowered to the floor.

Seemingly satisfied with my answer Annette opens the cell door and releases me from my handcuffs.

“Now come along, it’s time for that x-ray I was talking about earlier. All the preparations are ready.”