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First published November 3, 2015
Examines the shadows – see her there, so proud, so straight! Thene, Thene, there is no fear now: there is only the player. She watches and defies the dark to do her harm; it is her dark, her night, her city; to her will it shall bend, if it bends to anything at all.
You would wager your happiness? You would gamble with your self-esteem? Good God, don’t play for joy, not yet; not when there are so many lesser things you could invest in!
She is gone, she is gone. The coin turns, and she is gone.
There is only one reason, only one, why you should embark on this game. Would you like to know it?
- Yes. I would.
The Queen of Cups leans in closer, whispers, her lips brushing the ridges of Thene’s ear. - You play to win, she breathes. - That is all.
Dice roll.The Serpent takes place in 17th century Venice. Thene, abused and neglected, enters the Gameshouse with her drunken husband. While he gambles away everything they own, She is chosen by the enigmatic Silver to play a higher league game to choose the next leader of Venice. Each player is assigned a candidate and given certain assets - people who may assist the player with money, information or action up to and including murder. Thene, is dealt a supposedly weak hand. But she is perceptive. While the men play with heavy hands, Thene pursues a different strategy that just might win.
Cards fall.
Kingdoms topple.
Emperors burn.
The young are born and the old pass away.
And always the Gameshouse, the Gameshouse, it lives, it turns, the Gameshouse waits.