The Garnet Hall roared with energy, the crowd of Lords encircling the ring where two roosters clashed with feathery fury. Shouts and laughter echoed from every corner, wagers thrown down with reckless cheer. Amidst it all stood Sophia Patel, face flushed with triumph, her eyes bright with mischief as she cheered with the rest. Aisha moved gracefully between tables, tray in hand, a pleased smile tugging at her lips.
The hall had never been livelier. Drinks were selling faster than she could pour them, and her stock, she feared, would vanish long before the sun kissed the evening sky.
By the bar, Lord Caspian leaned on a high stool, observing the chaos beside Kael, who nursed a glass of brandy.
"Aisha looks happier than usual," Caspian remarked, his gaze briefly flicking toward her.
Kael chuckled. "That's because your Ms. Patel has turned the Garnet into a gold mine. With the crowd she brings, Aisha's drinks vanish like mist in the sun. She's already sent for more casks."
Caspian's smile curved wider as his eyes settled once again on Sophia, animated in the thick of the wager-hungry crowd.
"She's quite the character," Kael added. "Doesn't strike me as the wagering type, though."
"You'd be surprised," Caspian murmured. "She's full of surprises. There's a kind of... brilliance to her madness."
Kael eyed him keenly. "Are you, perhaps, smitten with Ms. Patel, my Lord?"
Caspian didn't answer right away. A slow smile ghosted across his lips.
"We're friends," he said finally. "Partners in a venture, nothing more."
Kael raised a brow. "You say that, yet you speak like a man who's already halfway to falling."
"It is not what you imagine."
"Hmm," Kael said, unconvinced. "I've seen that look before. Had it myself when I first met Aisha."
Their musings were cut short by a shrill voice.
"Two odds for the red! Three odds for the blue with the feather!" a young boy cried as he weaved through the crowd, clutching a small pouch of coins. "Don't miss your chance, Lords! Fortune smiles on the bold!"
Kael narrowed his eyes. "Who is that?"
"I'm Thomas," the boy chirped as he stopped before them. "Ms. Patel's right hand. She said to find the Lords most easily tempted."
And just like that, he vanished into the throng.
Caspian blinked, exchanging a look with Kael. When they turned, they found Sophia already watching them. With an unapologetic wink and a subtle shrug, she turned back to the match.
Caspian stared after her, a new awareness tightening in his chest.
"She's got the whole room wrapped around her finger," Kael said, amused.
Caspian said nothing but deep within, a quiet reckoning had begun.