Chapter 32: Under the Table Dealings are the Most Profitable

"But—" I let my word hang in the air as Five and all of my Numbered waited on my pronouncement. "But you will owe One a huge favor. It's only because of her that I'm bringing you."

Five looked up at me in shock and then looked over at One with surprise in her eyes. She mouthed something to her, but I didn't pick it up. One nodded in Five's direction and smiled at her.

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Five said to One, tears leaking out of the corner of her eyes but of a much different kind this time.

One nodded graciously, and she responded with the usual tone that she used with anyone besides me. "It's only because of Master's grace. Never forget."

Five shook her head, still on her knees. "No, no, I won't," she replied. I was starting to get tired of the subservience that I couldn't feel like I could quite trust. Still, I reached down and pulled Five to her feet.

"All right. We don't have time for this. Come on," I said, and we all headed out to find the carriages.

This time, there were several. Still, as I loaded up into the center carriage, all of my Numbered followed. Six sat across from me, One next to me, and Four in the far corner. When Five came in, she realized there was no space. Still, instead of getting out and going back to a different carriage, she sat down at my feet so her back was to the bottom of the bench I was sitting on. Settling in, she leaned her head onto my inner thigh.

The other Numbered looked at her a little bit strangely, but she ignored them, nuzzling into my thigh slightly with her head. I could swear I could hear her purring in contentment. She seemed quite happy, but I could also see red creeping around the back of her neck. It almost looked like she was blushing. Was this her honestly being embarrassed? But no, that didn't make sense. Five wouldn't get embarrassed by this, especially not only in front of the other Numbered.

So the only other option was she was actually kind of getting off in the simulation, which made me a bit uncomfortable. Five still had a long way to go before I fully trusted her not to do something stupid, impulsive, or dangerous to me.

The ride didn't stay dull for long. As soon as we were out of the drive and onto the less bumpy road, Six spoke up. "I'm sorry, Five, but do you mind if we lower the table?"

Five looked up at her and shook her head. "Not at all, Six. I'm fine down here."

Well, shit. Now, she was even more hidden. Luckily, One was right next to me, and she was definitely aware of anything Five was feeling down there. If Five decided that she was going to hurt me, I'm sure that One could intervene.

Six nodded and turned to me. "So, Master, how about you give me that rematch you offered me?"

I cocked my head quizzically; this was troublesome. Clearly, Six was referring to something that I wasn't aware of. She pulled out a slim box. "I brought a magnetic chess set so we can play without worrying about losing any pieces."

"Chess, huh?" I didn't know what that was, but by context, I could easily pick up that it was a board game. I looked over at One with a raised eyebrow, shielding it from the others. She nudged my ribs slightly, and I took it as encouragement. "Sure, yes, we can do that."

Four groaned. "Come on, Six. What's always with the chess and you? Can't we play some other game that we can all play?"

Six looked at Four and shook her head, tsking, "It's not that. You just don't like it because you're not good at it."

Four scowled and shook her head. "No. What am I gonna do? Just watch? That sounds so boring."

I failed to point out that last time, she had just sat in silence for the entire first day. I was sure a little bit of boredom wasn't going to kill her, but Six shook her head.

"I've offered to teach you some strategy so many times. Really, I swear there's a lot more people reading involved than you think. It's not all cold calculation. Though, the nobility does like it for that."

Four shrugged. "No, it's not, Six. But still, it's not something I have a mind for, nor do I have any interest in."

Six shook her head. "You have such wasted talent. I'm sure I can talk to my father again, assuming you have Master's continued permission. He would love to have you as an aide for a little while you train up some of your skills. You would make an amazing spymaster in any noble house."

One surprisingly came to Four's defense. "Four is already a better spymaster than any of the noble houses possess."

Six inclined her head gently. "Touché. But she could probably be even better than you are."

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One looked at Four. Did I detect a hint of jealousy? Or was it something else?

Four shook her head. "I am quite happy as I am. Thank you. If the Master wants me to improve, he only has to tell me. But he seems to be perfectly satisfied with my role as instructor and assistant to One."

Interesting. One hadn't told me she was the spymaster, but I suppose I probably should have picked that up from context and for it made sense. I couldn't imagine Six would be left out of the loop either, with her experience in the nobility. In fact, I suspect she might be One's other assistant. I'd have to figure out the power dynamics amongst my Numbered. Later, though, as Six was setting up a game I was unfamiliar with.

I looked over at One, hoping that she'd pull through and figure something out, and she reached over and started adjusting my pieces. Each time she did so, she nudged me for each column and then drew an X on my side before nudging me eight more times. Interesting. So she could give me the coordinates. This way, at least, I would know which pieces to move and where to move them, but acting like I was the one actually playing might be a little bit difficult.

Six held out her hands, the missing piece from the board in one of them. I tapped one of them, and she revealed the piece. We rotated the board and put it in the remaining spot, and One nudged me with a signal. Apparently, I went first. It took a little bit for One to convey the signal, but I reached over and moved a piece two spaces forward. Six nodded and mirrored my move.

I stopped as if I was pretending to think for a little bit, and One gave me another signal. The game continued on like this for a few moves before Six said something. "Hmm. Normally, you're a little more aggressive than this, Master. Are you trying out a new strategy?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, Six. I just got tired of beating you the same old way."

She gave me an affronted look. "Hey, you barely win more than half of our games."

"Still more than half," I said. It seemed like just friendly banter, but she stayed quiet, and we made several more moves. Nothing really happened much, but Five apparently was getting bored. I felt her moving underneath the table, and she spun around her hands, going up to my belt.

~~~

I nudged them away, she stopped trying to get the belt out, and I thought I was safe. However, I shouldn't have relaxed. She just undid the bottoms on my fly and fished around in my pants before finding my limp shaft. I was too busy trying to figure out the rules of the game to be distracted like this.

As subtly as I could, I tried to nudge her way again with my leg. But she just took it as further encouragement and pulled it out the rest of the way. She held it in her hand, stroking it a few times before licking the entire length from base to tip.

Against my will, it slowly hardened and propped up against her face. Her nose clearly ran along the underside as she nuzzled into me, the feeling sending shivers down my spine.

I nearly missed the next signal from One, and distractedly, I moved the piece without looking at the board. Five took the rapidly stiffening member and stuck its tip into her mouth while running her tongue all around the head. Her hand was gently yet firmly wrapped around the base. She lowered herself inexorably down until her lips pressed against the hand.

One had to signal me twice the next time after Six moved. Luckily, it was a complicated position, and Six had to think a lot for each move.

Fived pushed down with more force and I felt my tip start to slide down Five's throat before she began to swallow repeatedly.

Peak distraction made it very hard to concentrate on the game, but I tried. I mostly just moved whatever One told me to without even figuring out what the point of the move was.

But as Five worked me under the table, I groaned, slightly shifting, widening my legs a little bit to give her slightly better access. She fished around my fly a bit more, pulling out my balls to lick and lavish with attention as much as she did my shaft and tip. After giving everything some attention, she took me down her throat again. Then, she started an even rhythm, bobbing up and down for a minute before coming back up for air.

Several minutes later, I reached down, grasping the front of her hair at her roots, pulling her all the way down until she stifled a gagging noise that I was sure that everyone else would hear but no one reacted to. Even One didn't pay it any mind, and I didn't believe for a second that she didn't know what was happening.

Letting loose, I painted the back of Five's throat, and she swallowed happily. Only several seconds after I was done did she slowly slide up, licking me clean as she went. She planted a kiss followed by a lick on the tip before tucking my back in my pants. With careful fingers, she redid the buttons and rested her face against my inner thigh.

~~~

The distraction was now over, and my gaze returned to the game.

In a few more moves, I was pretty sure that I understood most of the rules. And when I saw the move that One was trying to make me do, I knew something was wrong with it. And I couldn't quite figure out why. I reached out to move it, then stopped, looking at all the possibilities based on what I'd seen so far. It just didn't make sense, and I didn't like the position. One gave me the signal again insistently, but I ignored her and reached out and made a different move, which didn't make sense at first. Still, my instincts were telling me it was correct.

Six smiled. "Ah, there's that aggression I know from you. I thought you had gone soft, Master. You were playing more like One would have for that first half of this game. No offense, One, but you're only so good at it."

One shrugged. "I know I'm not the best, but I can hold my own."

Six gave her a patronizing smile, and I gave her a warning look. She stopped. "True, I suppose, against anyone besides the best of the high nobility. And, of course, Master and I, that is."

One shrugged. "It's a useful tool for honing the mind, but it can only take you so far. The people who are very, very good at it are only good at chess, but not life itself. It was a saying that I've heard a few times."

"A beautiful game played is a sign of a life wasted," Six quoted with a grimace. "You do have some point there. But competent play is the sign of a sharp mind."

One nodded. "And that's where exactly I am to have."

One didn't give me a signal for the next move, and I had to work it out from first principles. But I did make it eventually. And the game continued on. Slowly, I started to figure it out, but I was in a bit of a rough position.

"Oh!" Six exclaimed. "We forgot to make any stakes. What would you like to put on this game?"