This was the first time Kira ever felt like a proper lady. The halfling always knew she was beautiful but she never played into that strength. She always felt that men never respected a woman who played up their sexuality.

Kira had always done her best to fit into more masculine roles which was one of the reasons she joined her city's watch. That, and when she captured criminals, they all gave her puzzled looks because they were bested by a female officer.

The ranger had always been surrounded by sexist people or cultures, it was a way of life that she wished to change one day. She would make sure men remembered her with the head on their shoulders and not the one in their pants and did things to make sure men didn't stare at her body such as tieing down her breasts.

This night was different though. Tonight she was going to play a role so that she could help earn her party some coin. Gene had told her what to do and she planned to do as her leader told her. Normally, she'd feel disgusted by the idea of a man telling her how to dress but Gene seemed to have no sexual desire towards her, and even appeared to enjoy applying the make-up as he wore a smile while he did it while even humming a tune. Perhaps, when he was done being an adventurer or whatever his reasons for being with the Jellybeans were, he would retire and become a make-up artist. That or a mapmaker, as she would sometimes see him fixing and drawing maps during his free time, which they had a lot of while they waited for everyone else.

Kira left the barracks and met Gene in the main hallway of the Erend Hunt. Gene looked handsome enough, if anything the pants he wore made his buttock look really nice. The halfling only noticed this well-formed rump since it was close to her eye level, not that she was complaining, since it was pleasing to look at.

The duo walked across the road and into the Leaky Tap. The center of the room had been cleared out and a single large oval-shaped table was sitting in the space. The oak table was well polished and only a large deck of cards sat on it. A man walked beside it and cleared his voice. The small crowd that had gathered quit its murmuring.

"Tonight we have a high stakes game of Goblin's Gambit!" The crowd roared and people clanked their mugs against the tables that were pushed to the sides. "We have five contestants that will be playing for a 1,000 gold buy-in!" The eyes of some of the people widen as they heard that number. Kira's body went on edge, she started looking for thieves that might have been there to rob from the players.

"Will the five players please join me at the table now." Gene walked towards the table along with some other men. One man really stood out as he was very plump and wore a plush golden robe. Despite how fat he was his fingers and arms were lean which was very unsettling. The guys each waved at the crowd, Gene's charm shining through his warm smile.

"Gentleman," the announcer called. "The buy-in is 1,000 gold pieces. Please place your coin on the table to be counted." Each man placed a sack on the table and three women in almost maid-like outfits came and started counting the gold.

"If any of you are eliminated, you can buy in one time only. Does everyone understand the terms for this game?" The player nodded in unison and then took their seats at the table.

The man walked away and started serving people drinks at the bar. The place was packed so the owner must have been happy with all the extra money he was making. A young woman who looked like a model for a gorgeous sculpture or painting walked to the side of the main table. She wore a very formal outfit that normally butlers would wear which only emphasized her large chest not that Kira had anything to be jealous of.

The woman shuffled the cards and dealt the opening hands. Then the game went through the rounds and Gene won the first hand. Some people grumbled but nothing happened. The game continued and Kira kept watching the players and one thing jumped out at her, Gene was the only one not cheating.

Many hands went by and Gene would notice people cheating but only mentioned the most obvious ones and never called out the fat man when he did it. Soon, one of the players had lost his money but refused to play again and walked away from the table. This was the cue that Kira was waiting for. The dolled-up halfling walked up to ger leader, "Is there anything I can get you to drink." She tried to sound sexy but it was embarrassing. Her skin became flush and the other men at the table started to stare at her rosy chest.

"Dwarven rum would nice, if they have any of the magically infused kinds then even better, lightning is the best one," Gene paused and didn't even look at her, instead he glanced at the other player watching Kira's chest heave up and down from her heavy embarrassed breathing. "If not just some ale will be fine."

He handed her some gold and she walked to the bar. "Any dwarven rum?"

"No," replied the bartender. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay," smiled Kira, "Three ales please." She placed the coins on the counter and received three large mugs of ale. Kira grabbed one of them and chugged it, the alcohol warmed her body and loosened her shyness. She picked up the second one and chugged it too, this time was less graceful and some spilled from her lips and ran down her neck. The cold liquid on her skin was refreshing and brought her attention back to the game.

She lifted the third ale off of the counter and made her way to Gene and presented it. "Thank you, my lady," he grinned before returning to the game at hand. Even though the monk was the only one not cheating, he was still winning the game. He was followed by the fat man and the other two were far behind.

After about an hour, another player dropped out and again Gene called upon Kira. This time he leaned down and whispered in her ear. "I'm about to do something you don't like," he paused. "While it's happening I need you to look at my golden dragon and watch his hands and tell me how he is swapping his cards. I will need you to do this until the next person is eliminated."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Kira's leader placed an arm under her breasts, "If you understand tap my arm." The voluptuous ranger tapped Gene's arm and then he lifted it up slightly causing her chest to raise up giving everyone a good view of them. Every fiber of her being wanted to slap Gene across his face and to punch his devious mind right in the eye of the snake in his pants. Instead, she kept calm and watched the plump man. The other player dropped his cards while staring at Kira but not the fat man. He exchanged his cards and double lifted from the deck twice while all eyes were on Kira. Extra cards were then placed into his sleeves during the round.

After a moment, Gene relaxed his arm and everything returned to normal. Kira whispered what she saw into Gene's ear.

"Oh, there was one more thing," Kira said. She curled her finger and beckoned him the lean in closer. When he did a very audible slap resounded from his face.

"I'm sorry," he winced. "There will be no more of that foolishness. I know exactly how to win." Gene rubbed his reddening cheek and returned to the game. On that hand, Gene's golden dragon won.

Shortly after that hand the third player lost leaving Gene and the fat man in a head-to-head game.

After two more hands, the participants had about the same amount of gold with Gene slightly in the lead. Then came the big move from the fat man, he went all-in on the next hand, naturally, Gene called. Gene had four 4's and a 2, the other man had five 5's. He won taking almost all of Gene's gold.

"Can I use my second buy-in now? And is it okay if I bet things more valuable than gold?" Everyone in the crowd gasped when they heard Gene's question.

"We'll have to verify the wealth of the items first," replied the young dealer. Gene pulled out the pink gem they had gotten from the giant tree in the forest north of Erend and he placed his dagger name Buddy on the table in front of the woman.

She pulled out a small white round stone, "One moment please." Her voice was monotoned and distant as she placed her hands on each item. "The gem is worth 500 gold which is only half of the buy-in price."

"The dagger on the other hand," she paused. "The dagger itself is only 500 gold, the ruby embedded into it is another 500 gold but the emerald had a lot of magic in it. Its value is 2,500 gold. This would bring this man's total value to 4,000 gold."

Her voice returned to its normal sultry tone, "This amount is acceptable. Do you have any complaints?" She turned to the chubby man and waited for a response.

"None at all," he chuckled. "In fact, I'll add my secondary 1,000 gold in as well." Kira knew that Gene had successfully baited his golden dragon, all that remained was to take every gold piece he had.

After a few rounds, Gene began calling the plump man out on his cheating but never his double lift cheat. He only seemed to notice the less subtle ones but regardless the monk was in the lead again. The crowd was silent except for the nervous chugging of some of the spectators.

Finally, Gene got a very good opening hand, four 6's and a 2. The monk made a low bet which the fat man called. Gene replace his 2 and received a 6 in return. Even though, Gene had the best hand in the game he only put in the minimum bet which confused Kira. The fat man raised by a lot and Gene chugged the rest of his ale before calling nervously. Gene didn't replace any cards but the fat man did and he performed his double lift technique on the deck.

This time it was slightly sloppy that even the woman who shuffled the cards noticed but said nothing as Gene let it slide. Again, the monk only placed in the minimum bet. The cheater then pushed in all his gold, "I think I just won me a magical emerald." The fat man's laughter caused a huge smile to form on Gene's face.

"Okay," sighed Gene. "I'll match your bet."

"Do you think that's wise," interrupted the dealer. "He cheated on this hand, it was so obvious that there is no way you didn't notice."

"Madam," Gene smiled. "Saying that is against the rules for your position and because you said that, the rules dictate that I must match his bet. I don't know if you are trying to be kind or you are in his pocket but now I have no choice."

The golden dragon's laughter echoed around the room, giving the space an uncomfortable atmosphere. "Thank you sweet cheeks, once I win I'll find a way to repay you." He then slapped the dealer on her ass and even had the nerve to squeeze one of her breasts.

He threw his hand on the table, five 5's. Blinded by greed, he started collecting all the money. When he went to touch Gene's dagger, Kira smashed her ale mug on top of his hand. Screaming took the place of laughter and the fat man's broken hand twitched under the wooden mug, "What the fuck!"

"He hasn't shown his hand yet, you greedy son of a mother raped by a malignity of goblins," shouted Kira. Many people gasped at the insult to someone who was obviously a nobleman. Then all heads turned to Gene as he laid down his hand of five 6's.

"You cheated! There is no way your hand was better than mine," roared the golden dragon. He then took a swing at Gene with his good hand. Gene ducked it and returned a punch into the man's face. Panic consumed the room now and people started to leave the bar.

One man tried to steal some of the wealth on the table but Kira slammed her mug on his hand too. He pulled out a knife and slashed at her bit it only ripped open her dress as she tried to back away. There were very few people in the bar to see her skin anyway so she didn't feel embarrassed just angry. She took the mug in her hand by the handle and smacked it against the knife and in the same fluid motion, smashed it into the man's nose breaking it and knocking him unconscious.

The fight began to die down and Kira was left covering herself with her arm. Gene took off his vest and gave it to her then went to collect their earnings. "Sorry about the bar," said Kira to the bartender. "Can we pay for any of the damages?"

"No need miss," answered the man. "I'll have that fat bastard that started it cover my loses." He pointed to Gene's golden dragon laying belly-up with stars spinning above his head.

"Thank you for the game, sir," waved Gene as he took Kira by the hand. "I had a lot of fun. Sorry for the mess."

The duo walked out of the bar and went back to the Erend Hunt.

"Thank you for all your help tonight," Gene said to Kira. "It was a big help. I am sorry about exposing your chest like that it was very rude of me. I deserved that slap in the face."

"You're welcome," she replied. "You are treating me to a nice meal tomorrow. Somewhere in the noble district since you have the coin for it thanks to my aid."

"Of course," agreed Gene. He bent down and gave Kira a kiss on the cheek. "I'll wait for you to change and then I'll come into the barracks to rest."

"I'll be a few minutes. I'll let you know went I'm done." The vest fell away from Kira's chest and both people blushed. Kira quickly retreated into the room and slammed the door. That was enough excitement and arousal for one night. She quickly changed, alerted Gene she was done, and went to bed. Kira slightly swore she would never do something like that again unless she was very drunk even then it will be with more clothes on. She now knew where her moral lines were but she also realized that alcohol really blurred those lines and tasted fantastic.