They approached the Black Lion from a completely different direction and the streets leading to it were not the slightly squalid, close and overhanging buildings of the previous evening but rather were comfortable looking town houses. They were each three stories in height and looked fairly new and well maintained. Rialto who was generally knowledgeable, told Nedric that they had been built shortly before he had last visited Elseth, which was about four years before. He also explained that the Black Lion was just about the centre of the town and that each side presented a different aspect of the capital.

As they approached, Nedric noticed that the building itself looked smarter on this side and that the women outside were both more attractive and less aggressive. There was a canopy over the approach to the only door on this side of the building. Above this was an alcove in which sat a statue of a lion made of some black stone. The lion looked to Nedric to have a rather smug, self-satisfied look on his face, as though he had just eaten and was feeling very relaxed.

They entered the building and were welcomed warmly by one of the doormen, who wished them a pleasant stay and asked if they needed any help. The boys thanked him but said they would find their own way around. Their first priority was to find somewhere to get some food. There were lots of places in the building to eat but the prices varied considerably depending on location within the building. The further they went from the entrance the cheaper it got although the quality of food appeared to be much the same.

They found a room with a few tables and no one other than a rather bored looking waitress and sat down. The waitress came over and asked what they wanted. They had a quick look at the boards suspended from hooks in the ceiling and made their choices. The waitress disappeared and the boys discussed what they were going to do with themselves that evening.

“We ought to have a go at the games of chance whilst we are here.” Rialto stated.

“Sure, just as long as we don’t lose all our money on them. What about finding some more entertainment.”

“Musician, Juggler or something else?”

“Whatever we find first. It’s such a maze in here that we won’t find where we were last night easily.”

“Fine, anything else you want to do whilst we’re here.”

“Just wander around and see what’s going on. I don’t know what goes on here but it all seems fun.”

“Fair enough, I want to see some of the big gamblers playing. Can you imagine playing a game for a thousand golds?”

“I can’t imagine owning a thousand golds let alone being prepared to gamble it.”

“That’s what makes life interesting for those people, they bet more than they can afford to lose to add spice. When they win they tend to bet even more. If they lose then they start again.”

“Sounds likely a risky way to live.”

“Very risky, but fun when you’re winning.”

The food arrived and they asked the waitress for a couple of ales to go with it. In the Black Lion there was no question of whether they were old enough just whether they could pay. They ate their food and whilst the waitress’s back was turned Nedric tested his new dagger against the edge of the table. It was extremely sharp and he sliced a sliver of some length in no time. The newly exposed wood underneath was much lighter than the table surface and Nedric had to scrape some of the mud from his shoes to cover the damage he had done.

As soon as they could the two were away and looking for something to spend their money on. There were games of skill everywhere although they found that the skill level was fairly high and they were losing more than they won. A typical game was one where you had to throw three balls into a sloped bucket. If you got two in you got your money back and all three tripled your stake. However if you threw the ball too hard it just bounced out and if you tried to be softer you tended to miss the bucket. Nedric found that if he threw the ball so that it landed almost on the lip then it would stay in the bucket but he wasn’t accurate enough to do that every time.

There were games of chance wherever they looked. Most were based on card games or dice but a simple one involved letting a ball run down a board in which there were a number of nails. Each time the ball hit a nail it had the possibility of going in two directions and the board had the nails set so that there were sixteen possible routes it could go. People placed bets on where the ball would end up. The odds were different for the different locations so you could bet for a likely outcome and make a small amount or bet on an unlikely outcome and make a small fortune if you were lucky. As the ball changed direction people would curse as they realised that they had no chance or cheer as the ball headed in the direction they wanted.

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Nedric tried to work out the odds of the ball actually landing in a particular spot and realised that no matter how lucky an individual was the Black Lion would make money if a reasonable number of people played. It made sense and Nedric also realised that if he was just average with his luck he would lose. He wondered if there were any games in the place where the odds might be more in his favour. As they went through more rooms he realised that the best games to play were ones where skill was as important as luck and these were the ones that the big gamblers tended to play. They were also the ones where the unskilled tended to lose all their money fairly quickly so he decided to keep well clear.

Rialto had found a game where players were invited to buy a ball and throw it at a large board that sloped towards a hole in the centre, rather like a large shallow funnel. The winner was the person whose ball went through the hole last. All the players had to throw the balls at roughly the same time and if thrown well the balls could spin around the funnel for quite a while before dropping through the hole. The complication came when one ball hit another and tended to cause both balls to slow down and hence head towards the hole. Also some players rather than throw the balls around the rim of the bowl tried to make their ball move in slightly more erratic orbits and this meant either they lasted longer or died quickly.

Rialto had noticed that one player always threw the ball extremely hard and fast and that his ball tended to collide with another rather more rapidly than any other therefore it was advisable to be on the opposite side of the player. He bought a ball and with his first go was lucky to see all the other balls quickly collide whilst his ball kept circling for ages. After a couple more games he won again. He was well ahead but also extremely hooked. He kept playing but without his initial success. He was through his winnings and was starting on his capital when Nedric dragged him away.

“Just one more go and I’ll be back in profit.” He almost begged.

“More likely you’ll lose all your money. The only winner is the Lion.”

They wandered amongst the games and it was clear from Rialto’s face that he would like to have played on several but that the thought of losing all his money had got through for the moment. As a distraction Nedric looked to see if he could find some entertainment. From a nearby room they could here laughter so they made their way over in that direction.

In the room was a man who was drawing pictures of the customers. What was causing the laughter was the way that he found a particular aspect of the person and accentuated that in the picture. Sometimes it was a feature, so that a large nose became enormous but at other times it was something in the persons dress or in their character that was illustrated. As they watched he drew a picture of one particularly burly character as a bear but with the facial features almost perfectly captured. Rialto wanted a drawing of himself and the man did a good likeness of him playing a mandolin. When he had finished he added a number of adoring woman looking on in admiration, one of them was in the act of swooning.

From there they moved to a room where two men were playing instruments whilst singing increasingly rowdy songs. The crowd around them was joining in and drinking at the appropriate times in the songs. It was clear that the Lion would make plenty of money on drinks whilst the duo was about. In another room they watched a man being tied around with chains and then placed inside a large canvas bag. The man emerged fairly rapidly not only free from the chains but also in a completely different outfit.

They met a man obviously employed to walk around doing small tricks. He produced coins from the boys’ ears and then made them disappear. He got Rialto to choose a card from a pack he carried and then made that card jump from the pack and turnover on the table in front of them. He gave them a box with a coin inside and challenged them to open it without unlocking the box. They couldn’t but he could do it in a second. Taking the box behind him and releasing the coin in a way that they were unable to see. He then moved on but not without making an impression.

Their final stop was in a room similar to the one that they had entered the previous day in which the young woman had started to disrobe. This time the person on the stage was not taking his clothes off but was rather telling a long, complicated and incredibly funny story. Whilst the boys were unsure what the original part of the story had been the story was told in such a way that it really didn’t matter. The man strayed from the path so often that even when he had finished they weren’t sure whether he had completed the story or just one of the intermediate jokes. Still it was with good humour that they started to make their way out of the building.

This time they were either a bit luckier or that bit more experienced, as they had no difficulty in finding an exit. They emerged on the seedier side of the building, which was also the faster route back to where they were staying. As they slowly made their way they reflected on their time in the city.

“I want to live and work here,” declared Rialto.

“I thought you wanted to be the great merchant.”

“Well when I’m not finding new and profitable trade I want to be here!”

“If you work on the boardways then you would spend plenty of time here.”

“Firstly I don’t have the aptitude for working in a place that requires you to do the same thing day after day and secondly I don’t want to spend half my time in the back of nowhere with no comforts and no fun.”

“I thought merchants went to the back of nowhere.”

“For a merchant, the back of nowhere is a small town. Not some desolate bit of countryside that hasn’t seen a person from one year to the next. You know that you will have to spend time in areas that only the boardway engineers will visit. Everyone else will just pass through on a carriage in as few minutes as possible.”

“It isn’t guaranteed that I’ll work on the boardways.”

“What will you do? Juggle for a living. You have the skill and you don’t have a merchant upbringing or the temperament to make a good merchant. You’re too soft in your bargaining.

“Maybe I will become a juggler it sounds more fun.”

“No guarantee of money. What will you eat, your clubs?”

“Perhaps you’re right.”

They reached the place that they almost thought of as home and went to their room to pack. With their purchases and the additional papers that they now had from the talks over the last week, they only just had enough room for everything.

“Do you know what I just realised?” asked Rialto suddenly.

“No I’m not a mind reader.”

“Tomorrow we get to meet up with Strawn again.”

“Aren’t we the lucky ones,” said Nedric sourly.