Luckily, the Gods had obviously decided to be fashionably late and had not arrived yet. Jesse dumped Lex down in a chair at the end of one of the three long tables set up in the room and then disappeared, saying something about going to get him some coffee.
The situation was an absolute nightmare. People had noticed him come in and Lex was aware of people pointing at him, for no doubt they recognised him from the previous Game and his presence there at the feast confirmed what the newspapers had been suggesting? that Lex Trent really was going to go up against Jeremiah East in the next Game. The people seated near him at the table wished him good evening and Lex shouted something back. Thankfully, the fact that it was so noisy in the room meant that no one noticed he was speaking louder than usual or that his words were on the slurred side.
Jesse came back just at the moment that the Gods materialised on the stage beside their table. Their image appeared inside the crystal ball, too, as it began broadcasting and, instantly, everyone was on their feet and applauding. Jesse dragged Lex upright and, with a great effort of will, he managed not to sway where he stood.
Lady Luck was dressed in her usual white toga, her blond hair piled up on her head and threaded with pearls. Kala was much smaller than the Goddess of Luck, with very tiny hands and feet and a small, perfect face that made her look rather like a china doll. Her dark brown hair fell about her face in tightly coiled ringlets and she wore a long blue dress with tapered sleeves. Thaddeus, on the other hand, looked more like a demon than a God, with his pointed ears and pointed chin, goatee beard and slicked-back black hair. He wore a dark cloak that fell all the way down to his ankles and had a high collar that came up around his ears.
Lady Luck raised her hand for quiet and, once the applause had finally died down, she stepped forwards and said, ‘Thank you, my friends. Please, be seated.’
Everyone sat down. Jesse quietly pushed a steaming mug of what appeared to be strong black coffee towards Lex, who started trying to sip it surreptitiously. But the truth was that he was suddenly beginning to feel rather sick. And there was a ringing in his ears that meant he could hardly focus on what her Ladyship was saying. He tried to tell himself that it would be all right. The Goddess would give her little speech, the players would be introduced, Lex would stand up and bow graciously and try to look daring and heroic for ten seconds and then the feast would begin and he could quietly slip away to be sick somewhere.
Lex realised the first player was about to be introduced when Lady Luck stopped talking and Thaddeus stepped forwards.
‘I, Thaddeus, God of Illusion, will be using as my playing piece, the enchantress known as Lorella.’
Lex looked over to the far end of the room where a young woman stood up. An enchantress? Now that was a surprise, for Lex had been expecting an enchanter. She looked young, too? surely not that much older than Jeremiah. But then, Lex knew that looks could be deceiving where enchanters were concerned. The female variety were much rarer and their magic much weaker? parlour tricks in comparison with the male enchanters. Pretty magics and the occasional love spell were about the limit of what they could achieve. Lex had seen several enchanters before, but he had never yet seen an enchantress.
The first thing he noticed about Lorella, even through his drunken haze, was her exceptional beauty. The entire hall seemed to still at the mere sight of her. Her hair was a royal, vibrant blue and fell long and loose down past her elbows. Her eyes were the exact same shade? like two sapphires set in her fine-boned face. She wore a grey dress that clung about her lithe form, leaving only the white skin at her throat on display. Everyone broke into rapturous applause and Lorella inclined her head gracefully before resuming her seat.
Kala then stepped forwards on the stage and said, ‘For my player, I shall be using the nobleman, Jeremiah East.’
On the middle table, Jeremiah stood up and there was, if possible, even more thunderous applause for him than there had been for Lorella. It was just that he looked so dashing and noble with his dark blue coat and golden buttons and clean-cut good looks. The crystal ball loved him. If anything, he looked even more handsome in there than he did in real life. He and Lorella both looked so smart. It made Lex horribly aware that he was, at this moment, wearing a shirt that was covered in beer stains. This was all horribly wrong. Lex was supposed to be the best! The smartest, the handsomest, the daringest…
Jeremiah gave the crowd a dazzling smile and a graceful bow before resuming his seat.
Lady Luck then stepped forwards and a great sense of panic swept over Lex. He was concentrating on sitting very, very still because he was sure if he moved so much as a muscle he would be sick and yet, any second now, he was going to have to stand up and try to look impressive and wave and bow without giving away the fact that anything was amiss. He could see Jeremiah and his friends looking his way and sniggering already.
‘I, the Goddess of Fortune and current Gaming champion, shall be using as my player the thief, Lex Trent.’
The applause for Lorella and Jeremiah had been enthusiastic but the audience practically wet themselves when Lex’s name was mentioned. No one had forgotten what he’d done in the last Game? how exciting and thrilling and entertaining the rounds had all been because of him. Through the haze of his intoxication, Lex felt a glow of smug pride. Jeremiah certainly wasn’t looking so pleased with himself now, he noticed. Lex was the favourite, Lex was the champion, Lex was the one who everyone loved…
He got up from his seat and bowed so low that his nose practically touched the floor. Then he straightened up? his head protested at the sudden shift, nausea rose up viciously in his throat and there was an abrupt tapering off of applause as everyone watched, shocked and dumb-struck, as Lex Trent threw up where he stood, before crumpling up to pass out underneath the table.
CHAPTER FOUR
Lex woke up the next morning with a dry mouth, a sore head and sensitive eyes. And, to top it all off, he was in a cell.
‘Howdy,’ said Jesse, who was also in the cell with him.
‘Urghh blurghh,’ Lex replied, unsticking his tongue. ‘Gods, my head!’
The questions what’s going on? and where am I? rose in his throat but Lex refused to ask them because they were… silly. The sort of silly thing silly people said in silly situations. Lex prided himself on always knowing exactly what was going on and exactly where he was. And exactly how he was going to get out of it, too, come to that.
The ‘where’ part was obvious, anyway. Lex recognised a cell when he saw one; after all, he’d been in them before. It was the ‘why’ that took him a moment. He’d been at the feast… with the Gods… and he’d been unwell, suddenly? wasn’t that it? But it hardly seemed fair to lock someone up just because they’d been ill. Lex was just considering the horrible possibility that he had some sort of dire, incurable, highly contagious disease when it all came flooding back to him in rather a sickening way.
‘Jeremiah East spiked my drink!’
‘Yep,’ Jesse replied.
‘I was drunk!’
‘Yep.’
‘I was sick and then…’ The fact that Lex couldn’t remember what had happened after that seemed to be a pretty clear indication of what had taken place.
‘Yep.’
‘Is that all you can say? Yep?’ Lex raged, rounding on him viciously. ‘It’s not even a proper word! That’s the best you can do? Why are you even here?’