Card Tales - 11. Tale 11

"Interesting, most interesting," came the voice of a puckered old man sitting at the edge of the group of friends.

Cardanniel looked at him as he took a seat along the opposite edge and smiled as he asked, "And what do you find so interesting?"

"Ah, young one, not so fast, it is not your turn for the asking of a question. I do believe it was Garnet's turn just before you arrived. You are playing are you not?"

"I am," Cardanniel nodded.

The gnarled man turned to the creature Cardanniel had brought with him, "And are you playing as well?"

The creature flickered through the colors of the rainbow and looked at Cardanniel uncertainly, then shook its head.

The man smiled, "That is fine. Fine indeed. One more will do nicely. Now Garnet, you may submit your challenge to any player present."

Garnet grinned a toothy grin and turned his big head toward Cardanniel, peering at him for the longest time. Then without warning, he turned to the thin female sitting next to the gnarled old man. "Glinda, a challenge for you, or will you speak the truth?"

"Garnet, for you I will tell no lie," the young woman answered as she smiled at Cardanniel. Cardanniel smiled back and took in her clothing, which was a myriad of color. She was a pretty girl though with black hair, expressive eyes, and lips that were the perfect shape and color.

"Who is our newest member?"

Glinda laughed in a melody of tones, "Why Garnet, I thought you would ask something difficult. You know the death-bringer is the mistress of the life-giver, do you not?"

"Everyone knows that."

"And on occasion the mistress may provide a bastard to her lord, could she not?"

"I suppose so."

"Well, need I say more? He is a bastard, simple enough," then she winked at Cardanniel who blushed.

Garnet looked at Cardanniel and saw his blush. "She lies," he hissed. "He is not a bastard, are you?"

Cardanniel shrugged and played with the rose, which had not wilted. He handed it over to Glinda with out answering Garnet's question, "Be careful of the thorns, I'm told the plant is poison."

Glinda accepted the rose with a smile, careful not to prick herself.

Garnet hissed at him, "Do you know your father?"

"You've had your turn, Garnet," the old man clucked, "I do believe it is Glinda's turn now. Come child pose your challenge."

The red dragon hissed again but backed off. However, the creature that came with Cardanniel edged closer to him pressing his misty non-flesh into Cardanniel's flesh for comfort. Cardanniel did not pull back but did not allow him to enter fully either. Glinda looked between the other players and settled on the smallest of the five, "Lugh, will you answer true or would you prefer a challenge?"

The blue fey looked around the circle of friends then jutted out his small chest. "A challenge today, it will be," he declared.

"Oh so that is how it is to be, no truth from you today?"

Lugh shook his head and kept his silence.

"Well, fine then, I guess I shall have to come up with quite the challenge, you see… I was going to save this one for Garnet when he next lied to me, but since you want a challenge, I guess I will give it to you. In the palace on the hill there is a song bird of golden plumage kept in a cage in the drawing room, you are to bring me the bird."

"I accept your challenge, Glinda," Lugh said solemnly and scampered off heading down the path that Cardanniel headed up not too long previously.

"He will never get the bird, Glinda," Garnet growled.

"Would you like to make a wager on that?" the gnarled old man asked.

"I reckon I could wager something," Garnet groused, "but that would mean everyone would have to wager something of equal value." He looked at Cardanniel, "Do you have anything of value?"

"Unfortunately all I have is myself," Cardanniel admitted.

"I see you bear a sword on your back," Glinda chided him, "is it not of value?"

"Only to myself, the blade is rather particular as to for whom it will draw blood."

"Truly?"

"Truly."

"May I try?"

Cardanniel looked at her oddly, then nodded. Perhaps she did not believe him, but the sword had never broken the skin of anyone except when he had been bearing it. He drew the blade and presented it to her.

"You honestly believe it will not draw the blood of anyone except for you?"

"I do."

She stood up and accepted the sword, the swung it, at his neck. The blade hit him hard enough to knock the wind out of him and to stagger him back two steps. Had it been able to part his skin, she would have lopped his head from his shoulders.

"Your belief is strong," she said with a smile, "I wonder how strong." She turned to Garnet and two items in the center of the ring. "I will cover his bet."

Garnet frowned. "So the both of you are for the faery surviving the task?"

Glinda smiled and nodded, and then looked to Cardanniel who just shrugged, "It's the lady's bet, I'll go with her on this one."

"It will be your loss." The dragon turned and left the area for a good few minutes then returned. "I think this would teach you Glinda," he grinned as he tossed a man's silver ring into the pile.

"What is that?"

"No one knows exactly, I've had it forever, and the one who had it before me told me it was forgotten long before it came to him."

"I can feel the power in it from here," her eyes lit up, but then the old man tossed in his anty, a pair of finely crafted ruby red slippers. Glinda's eyes widened. "Are you for or against?"

"I say Lugh will not bring back the bird, does anyone else wish to join in our betting?" There were a few other bets of gold and gems to the side of the main pot. They waited nearly an hour before the little fae returned empty handed.

Glinda looked at him and he looked downcast. "Where is the bird, Lugh?"

"There was a yellow bird, but it was not caged and it did not sing, so I was not sure it was the bird you wanted Glinda. It only sat and looked out the window and when I whistled it appeared to be whistling, but no sound came out. How can a song bird not sing?"

Garnet laughed and reached over to take back his ring, but the old man beat him to it. "You may have Glinda's two tokens and the slippers, I'll take the ring."

"No fair!" Garnet bellowed.

"No fair that you get the majority of the pot and all I get is this thing that no one knows what to do with? I think it is plenty fair." The old man chuckled, "Besides you know I would win it off you eventually."

Garnet growled but conceded. It was true.

Once they settled the pot, Glinda turned to Lugh, "Well since the Challenge is not met, Truth I will have!"

Lugh groaned. "Ask and I will answer."

"Tell me Lugh, why are you blue?"

Lugh blushed a very pretty shade of violet. "It's not that much of a secret really, my father did not enjoy my mother's inattention in the bedroom one night and cursed a blue streak. She cursed his seed that if it quickened that night the child should be as colorful as its father and here I am -- blue."

Glinda nodded her head solemnly. "Thank you for the truth."

Lugh smiled back the turned his attention to the old man at her side. "My challenge is for you."

"But can you handle the truth?" he teased the faery.

"If you can speak it," Lugh sighed.

"Ask your question."

"In all the times we've met, you've never said your name. What are you called?"

"Voracaldil is what some people have called me, others have called me Thiphrion. I do believe the most recent name I have been called is Ukhebrînâz, but that was so long ago most people have forgotten it already."

Lugh looked at him and shook his head, "That's not possible, you lie."

Cardanniel listened with interest at the exchange, he had taken the time to learn the names of the life-giver so he could call upon the god and the god would answer. However it did not make sense to him that this gnarled old man would claim to be called by the names of the god, therefore he tended to agree with Lugh that the man lied. Perhaps, like Cardanniel, he was a priest, only much higher in the ranks, high enough to stand in for the god during some more important ceremonies during his younger days and he was now confusing his titles with his name.

"He speaks the truth, Lugh," Glinda said calmly.

Lugh looked at her, and then looked at the old man before nodding, "If you agree, then I must also, even if I do not believe it," he smiled. "I guess that makes the challenge yours."

"Indeed," the old man spoke softly and looked directly at Cardanniel. "Would you prefer to speak the truth or would you prefer a challenge?"

"I think I may find I would not like the truths I find here this night, so I will take your challenge," Cardanniel said with a light tone to his voice.

Garnet grunted, "Challenges aren't as easy as they seem to be either, newcomer."

"Hush now, children" the old man admonished them as he looked at Cardanniel holding out his hand. "My challenge to you is to wear this."

Cardanniel reached out his hand and took the item, the ring that the old man had won off Garnet a few rounds previous. "But it's yours."

"And I want you to put it on."

"Why?"

"Maybe I want to see what it will do, but I don't want to put it on myself," he smiled.

Cardanniel looked at the ring. It appeared to be simply made from silver with some runic inscriptions that he could not make out because they had been worn nearly off through the ages. Just as he was about to slip it on his hand Glinda protests, "But, we don't know what it is capable of!" she looks at the old man, then at Cardanniel, "all that power!"

The old man tipped up Glinda's face and stroked her cheek. "It will be fine, love."

Cardanniel looked at them all, Garnet included, who seemed so upset he was shaking, but he did not protest the exchange. Lugh sat forward in his seat, watching intently, curious at the outcome of this exchange. The creature flinched back from the power in the ring and Cardanniel met its eyes. "Guide, do you not think I should do this?"

"I think you should do what you came here to do, even if you do not yet know what that thing is, Flesh."

Cardanniel pondered its words quietly then took a deep breath and slid the ring on his finger prepared for anything that might happen. When nothing did, he let the breath go slowly.

"The power is still there," Glinda said as she looked at him, "do you feel any different?"

The old man laid his hand on her arm, "It's not your turn, Glinda, Cardanniel has completed his Challenge; it is his turn."

"Are you certain?" she asked, "He did not return the ring yet."

"I did not ask for him to return it."

"But it is yours," she protested, "you won it."

"And I can give it away."

"But…"

"Hush, you are just upset that you will not have a chance to pluck it from my grasp. Cardanniel, whom do you wish to challenge or question."

Cardanniel looks at each one in turn, his uncertainty growing with each face. There is really nothing he wants to know about any of them, and no challenge he can think of worthy of their game, as they seem to know each other so well, but he is here and now it is his turn. Finally, his gaze settles on Garnet, "Will you answer true?"

"What do you wish to know?" Garnet asked.

"You asked Glinda of my parentage, and Lugh told something of his, we have discovered the name of the old man tonight and I have my suspicions about Glinda. Tell me Garnet, to which god are you related and how?"

The old man laughed while both Lugh and Glinda gasped as Garnet hissed and reared up, "The question is unfair!"

"The question is fair, Garnet, answer it with truth or take the challenge."

"Fine, Challenge me if you dare!"

Cardanniel smiled and leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest, "Garnet, I challenge you to bring me a spider's web no larger than my hand, intact."

Garnet hissed again and the old man hooted with laughter. "I will take all bets that Garnet will do this thing."

"Garnet will not!" Glinda cried out and tossed a large pouch of coin into the pot. "I want that to be a single bet!"

"Mine too!" Lugh cried out, "Garnet will never do this," and he tossed in a pouch of gems. Several of the onlookers tossed various coin and gem bets into the pot and the old man took them all on. Cardanniel blushed in the fact that he had nothing with which to bet.

"Would you like to make a bet, Cardanniel?"

"I would, but I have nothing of value…" then he looked at the ring, "except this."

"Which way would you bet?"

"That Garnet would bring it back, just to spite me," Cardanniel grinned.

"That is what I am thinking too," the old man said with a grin, "would you part with the ring?"

Cardanniel attempted to remove it from his finger and frowned when it would not budge. "I would, but I don't think it has the same thought."

"Then all you have is yourself, yes?"

"This is true I'm afraid."

"If Garnet brings back the web, as part of the pot, you will accept a challenge from me; if you succeed I will give you the pot, agreed?"
Cardanniel considered it for a moment then nodded. Priest or not, crazy or not, he trusted the old man. They shook on it. Cardanniel did not see the creature fade from existence, nor Glinda and Lugh shiver in anticipation at what was to come.