“Bust.”

Roars of disappointment erupted from the crowd that had gathered around the player. The dealer collected the bet, disguising any emotion under a thin smile. The player smirked, attempting to hide their humiliation. “It’s alright, I let them win,” they said, reassuring the crowd.

The dealer did not reply, instead asking if they wanted to play again. They feebly denied the request, saying they needed the bathroom and abandoned their chair.

Lucas rolled his eyes at the sight. The floor of the casino was made of some sort of carpet, with luminescent floral patterns. The place had glass chandeliers, a variety of machines and tables made just for specific games and a luxury lounge area. It was an exuberant sight compared to the bleak, stone brick buildings that made up the rest of the town.

“Don’t look anyone in the eye.” The words Leta had spoken to him just before he entered resonated in his head. This was a den that bred gluttony and pleasure, disguised as a haven for the poor souls who found themselves trapped inside it. It was the same as Lucas’ world. Some parts of humans you just can’t change, no matter where you go.

Leta walked up to the casino cage and exchanged a modest amount of coins for 3 stacks of chips in a coin pouch, which boasted the logo on its side, “Golden Dawn Casino”. She handed it to Lucas and he held it close to him. They had gone through this. No matter what happened in the next few hours, he could not let himself react.

She wore a thin, white, long sleeve jacket, that partially covered up the red, strapless dress. It was tight around Leta’s hips and as she gracefully walked past some bystanders, their eyes latched greedily onto her slender figure. Lucas felt uneasy, something was surely bound to happen, but as they made their way over to a table, nothing did. For now at least.

A large man waltzed over, with two women behind him. He was in a neat cherry-red suit with a white collared shirt underneath and held a glass of champagne in one hand.

“Leta, sweetheart! You made it! And you wore the dress I bought you!” He said.

Leta inhaled slowly, then exhaled. She looked up and gave him a wide smile. “Of course! How could I not wear something my dear father gifted me.”

He grinned, satisfied by her response and waved at the women behind him to leave. He swirled the drink in his hand and sipped it. His grin faltered as he stared at Leta’s face. “What happened there, dear?” He pointed to the cut just above her cheek.

She gave him a deadly stare and brushed the wound with her fingertips. “One of those filthy animals gave me this.”

His gaze sharpened and his grin returned, now more vicious than before. “Shall I punish them for you?”

Leta giggled and shook her head. “I’m old enough now, Father.” There was a glint in her eyes, “I can do it myself.”

He laughed. “Why work with the commoners when you can live life here with me? That shabby house of yours has long since served its purpose.”

“Ah, Father, how I wish it could be that easy. You know very well that a candidate must amass public support, and that also includes the support of those rats.”

“Mmm, how you’ve grown,” He downed the last drop of his champagne. “Speaking of candidacy, I heard from Perce that you’ve finally found yourself a companion.” His stares were burning holes through Lucas. “Is that him over there?”

She nodded.

“And he’s already subdued! I thought you didn’t have it in you but it seems like you’ve proven me wrong.”

“It only took me two days. Hardly a challenge, I have to say.”

“Hardly a challenge?” He glared at her, his voice as sharp as a razor, “Then why did you let the people I sent you run away?”

She stiffened but kept her smile plastered on.

“No matter though, this is a cause to celebrate for. I shall host a party tomorrow evening in your honour.”

He stood up. “Well, enjoy your evening, sweetie. I’ll be seeing you then.”

Leta lifted herself off the chair and swivelled around. She waved to a cocktail waitress and took a glass of champagne. To Lucas’ surprise, she downed it in one go, wiped her mouth and moved over to a crowded area.

People greeted her with friendly expressions and she greeted them back with a broad smile and open posture. They paid no attention to Lucas, which was a blessing for him. Their conversations were generic, a simple “How have you been?” or a “You look lovely today”, “Good to see you,” and so on.

“Make you understand… Tell a lie … Too blind to see”

At first, it was too faint to make out, but Lucas soon realised there was music playing in the background. There was a strong drum beat that largely drowned out the lyrics. He looked around, but he could not identify where the music was coming from. Perhaps they had speakers here. This place was more technologically advanced than he had first thought, though, of course, they would be. With magic, there were infinitely more possibilities than in his own world. Magic helped crops grow. Magic provided lights in the streets for navigation. But looking around, all of this progress was locked up behind this affluent section of town. He stifled a sigh.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Leta on the other hand remained sturdy even after the battering of questions and compliments. It was a mental game, a torturous one that surely chipped away at one’s mental state ever so gradually until a perfect, pretentious shell had been carved out. Out of his peripheral vision, it was abundantly clear that half of the crowd had lustful gazes directed straight towards Leta. She ignored them, unaffected. Lucas could do nothing here but watch.

He watched as the crowd parted, making way for a man. He watched her accept the challenge, to play a few games. There were glass orbs on the sides of the table, presumably magic detectors to ensure ‘fairness’, though Lucas doubted whether casinos ever knew what that word meant anyways.

The man was the dealer, Leta was the player and they would switch after every game. She held out her hand and Lucas drizzled the chips in. She was restrained and played cautiously, every move as safe as it could get. She won, and they swapped. She was the dealer now, and he played with a manic tint in his eyes. Careless, unrestrained, it was no wonder that he lost. A few more games and his cheeks were soon flushed as he stumbled away, grumbling. “She’s a cheater!” he tried to cry out, but to no avail for he had nothing to blame but his own stupidity. The mocking eyes of the crowd would ensure that his disgrace was remembered.

Leta had said the games were unimportant, the chips were folly. It was the eyes of the crowd that mattered, and their gazes would be shining the spotlight on her.

She played a few more games, losing some, winning even more against the misfortunate challengers. Her profit was not all that large, but a profit was still a welcome surprise and the crowd had been thoroughly entertained.

No one else offered to play her, rather they hung around like leeches, elevating themselves by latching onto Leta. “After the games, there is one person who I must see,” were her words. Lucas knew that this was the moment she was talking about. Her eyes flicked over to the lounge area, brown leather with light yellow highlights. A middle-aged man, reclined in one of the seats, with violet-blue hair neatly combed back.

Lucas fought through the crowd to follow her, but he was pushed back by someone.

“Well, well.” A voice filled with poison, one he heard before. Don’t look him in the eyes. Lucas kept his head down and saw shining black shoes circling him. It was that ‘dear friend’ of Leta’s.

This man should not have had any interest in Lucas. A companion was not treated as a person here. Yet here he was, and it was certainly not out of goodwill.

“That’s a fine ring you have there,” he said, getting dangerously close to Lucas.

Lucas kept his eyes glued to the floor and said nothing, remaining completely still.

“You sure you didn’t steal it?”

He sensed the man’s hands coming closer, reaching towards the ring on his index finger. If this man thought Lucas would sit still and let that ring go, let everything crumble down before him, he was sorely mistaken. He brought his head up and stared straight at the lounge area.

A direct line. Now that the man was no longer standing in front of him, Lucas could force himself through the crowd, making his way over to the couch that Leta was seated on. Leta’s ‘dear friend’ grinned, and disappeared back into the crowd as Lucas was now stationed behind Leta.

“You know, I hoped you and my son could get along, but it seems that fate is against us.”

“It is a shame, sir, but it is what the capital demands.”

“Don’t worry about the formalities, Leta. You can just call me Uncle Cole, since your father and I are practically brothers at this point.”

“Yes, Uncle Cole.”

He sighed. “Kytaris’ rose, forced into candidacy. If not for that, I would have nominated you as my successor.”

Suddenly a glass watch on Cole’s wrist lit up, with bright flashing colours. “Ah, that’s my wife. Sorry, Leta, she’s been incessantly nagging me these days. I have to go.”

He stood up and just as he was leaving he turned back. “Congratulations on acquiring a companion. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Leta nodded and watched as he walked away, out the doors of the casino. She switched back into a lifeless voice. “We’re done here.”

Lucas followed her lead, as she cashed out her chips and left the casino. He did not know the value of gold here, but the coin bag which was only half full at the start was now completely filled up. To his surprise, this part of the town was well-lit. It had white-walled buildings littered throughout, ones that screamed luxury as they sported large glass windows with colourful lights swirling around in them. There were lawns here as well, filled with random ornaments and flowers swaying in the gentle night breeze.

As they got further away, the streets became enveloped by darkness, cold and silence. The only thing that guided their way now was the coloured trails of the streets.

Leta walked like a dead man. She stumbled down the pathways, around the shabby maze of monotonous stone brick houses. Lucas followed close behind, unsure if she would trip over. She didn’t though, and they made it back to Leta’s windowless, prison of a house. There was no way to fully lock the house, so it seemed inevitable that a robber or thief could sneak in at any time. But there wasn’t that much they would find here anyways.

The dim lights of the living room flickered on as the door opened and they went inside. Leta pulled out a chair from the dining table and sat down, blankly staring at the wall. You didn’t need any background knowledge of this world to understand that the casino, this town was a hellscape, one in which Leta was already so thoroughly tangled up.

Lucas now knew exactly what she meant when she first took him in. He didn’t want to stay strapped to that tree and find out what could have happened. Those were the stares of demons in that casino, and had he been just a little more unlucky, he could’ve had a much worse fate.

He felt grateful. Grateful there she was the one who had found him, that she was the lesser of evils. Grateful that he didn’t end up as a slave, dead, or something unspeakably worse, considering all the unknown possibilities there were with magic.

It was a cold night, and the house did not assist in mitigating the chill. Leta’s thin jacket looked miserable as she laid her head onto her crossed arms. Her breathing slowed, but whether she was asleep or awake, he could not tell. Nonetheless, he grabbed a blanket from the room he stayed in just two nights ago and draped it over her.

It was a thank you to her for not being the worst thing out there. It was an apology for all the things she had to go through in her life to find herself in such a situation. It was something that, at the bare minimum, would keep her warm.

He did not sleep well that night.