Book 2: Chapter 17: Charlatan Pair

Book 2: Chapter 17: Charlatan Pair

"Whose apartment is this?" By Cressida's wary tone, she already knew the answer.

Arthur shrugged and stepped to cover a stain on the thin rug. He couldn't remember what made it. Likely a spilled drink, but it had dried into an unsightly brown splotch. And... there was a lot more dust than he remembered. It covered every surface.

He had never brought a girl back to his apartment before, and now he was remembering why.

Cressida's curious gaze fell on Horatio's old cot which still sat tucked up to the opposite wall. Arthur had taken down the sheeted walls that separated their beds after Horatio left to give him more room.

"That's... a friend's," Arthur said. "A boy friend. Not a boyfriend!" he said quickly, "I mean, he was my roommate but he's, uh, gone now." He didn't want to tell Cressida about Sams. She knew a dangerous amount about him already.

"And you lived here," Cressida said slowly. "While, what, pretending to be a commoner?"

He shrugged again. "You know the Kane family's status. I'm not much of a noble. Look, do you want to do this or not?"

The sound of dragon roaring could be heard faintly through the cracked glass window. He'd paid Barlow off and trusted the man to keep secrets. The rest of the cooks may not be so tight lipped.

He fully intended to go to the hive leadership with what they saw in the scholar's guild, but not until Cressida had her chance with the pink dragon.

Cressida looked like she very much wanted to argue this point, but glanced out the window and nodded. Then she deliberately shook out a thin, delicate purse hidden up her sleeve.

From it, she withdrew her four Rare cards. The purse was her card anchor. It made sense. A young noble lady likely would not be allowed a tattoo.

Arthur removed the Rare Phase In, Phase Out card he'd taken from the bat scourgeling and placed it the cot. She did the same, fanning her collection out.

Polyglot Tongue

Knowledge

Rare

The wielder of this card will be able to understand and repeat any spoken language, cant, dialect or accent. This does not include written words.

Eidetic Imagery

Knowledge

Rare

This card grants its wielder the ability to recall images and visual concepts from memory with perfect precision. Sound, taste, and touch based memories are recalled with a higher, though possibly imperfect, precision.

The Quest of Life

Meta

One by one, Cressida brought the cards right before her muzzle. The baby dragon couldn't read, so Cressida described them.

"I don't... I don't know..." The pink waved her head back and forth, agitated. "They don't feel like anything... I can't..." She stopped and let out a chain of rattling coughs. By the end, she was wheezing and her vivid pink hide had paled to a washed out hue. It made the dark streaks stand out more vividly.

The dragon was dying. Fading right before their eyes.

Arthur stepped forward. "Let me put you back in my storage. Chances are, the hive leaders will strip the scholars of everything not nailed down. They might have more Rares. Or we can look to other hives."

He could write to Horatio. He and Sams owed him. Maybe they had a line on local card shops. Valentina and Whitaker wouldn't like anyone reaching out to another hive, but surely the death of a hatchling Rare was worse.

Cressida shook her head. "No. She can't feel the cards because it's not inside of a heart. I have to choose."

She looked over the cards, plucked The Quest of Life, and, before Arthur could say anything, pulled down the collar of her shirt and stuck it in her heart.

Her reaction was immediate. She gasped, hunching over. The pink dragon, who was half slumped in her lap, fell back.

"Cressida?" Arthur gripped her shoulder. He'd never seen a poor reaction from adding a card before, but the way Cressida was hunched over made her look like she was in agony.

Cressida straightened at the touch. She stared at him with eyes that burned an unnatural blue, and just for a moment something else flashed within them -- like floating text ripped out of a book.

Then she let out a gasp like someone who'd been underwater coming up for air at last. Her eyes faded back to normal, and she blinked at him.

"Are you all right?" Arthur asked.

She opened her mouth to reply, but Arthur found himself shoved to the side. The pink dragon had surged to her feet and with strength Arthur had no idea she had, pushed him away to stand before her.

The dragon's legs shook and though she tried to speak, she didn't have air to gasp out words. Instead, she brought out a dim, flickering image of her own card.

Charlatan Pair

_eta

Ra_e

When linked ____, matches and duplicates a ___ random card of the same set. Warning: Must use ___ of the ___ rank and tier.

There was something wrong with the hatchling's card. Parts of the description were blurred as if it had yet to be written. This was what the healers had meant when they said the card was undeveloped.

Arthur felt a twinge of fear for Cressida. Her card was potentially powerful on its own. Would the dragon's card drag hers down or enhance it?

Cressida didn't seem to care either way.

"Yes," she breathed. "I'll link with you."

Then she gestured out a projected copy of her own card and pressed it against the dragon's.