THE CARD GAME THAT HER UNCLE introduced to the young girl was a favorite among gambling men in the kingdom, but Belemast’s reason for teaching her was for entirely strategic purposes. The skill of being able to read an opponent’s face whether it be at the table during a card game, or on the field in open combat, is vital and potentially life saving. Belemast also believed that being able to read people was just as beneficial when sitting down at the table to negotiate a treaty or a truce with an enemy or even an ally. It was a vital skill to have, and Belemast took it upon himself to teach it to his niece, which at first turned out to be more challenging that he thought it would be. Every time Calissa managed to get a good hand, and finally believe she was going to win for a change, her uncle would fold whatever he was holding and escape losing more than the bare minimum in funds. After it happened a few times, she started to grow irritated by the game and her uncle.

“How do you know?” she called out, right after he folded again.

“How did I know what?” Her uncle countered.

“You keep standing down,” Calissa continued, “You knew I was going to whip you and wisely folded each time. Are you reading my mind?”

“No, I can’t read minds.” Belemast said, “But I can read faces, and your face told me that I was about to get my arse sounded kicked.”

“What?” Calissa said, confused. “How?”

“In the game, we call this a tell.” Belemast explained, “A tell is an action, or a motion that a person makes when their excited. For example, if you’re suddenly smiling, that’s not good news for me. I’ll know you’re up to something and then probably fold.”

“But I wasn’t smiling,” Calissa said, “I wasn’t!”

“No, you weren’t.” her uncle confirmed, “You were playing with your hair, and biting your bottom lip. After several hands, I was able to determine you do that when you’re doing well. Those are your tells.”

“Do you have tells?” Callissa asked him.

“I do, but they’re very subtle.” Belemast explained, “And they’re subtle because I spent many years teaching myself how to hide them from people so they wouldn’t hurt me. You have to do that as well, learn what your tells are and then get in the habit of not doing it anymore.”

“Fair enough,” Calissa said as she stopped playing with her hair. She found it a little more difficult to stop biting her lower lip, as it was more of an unconscious act, but she kept an eye out for it anyway.

As a result, her uncle was less likely to fold, and they had more fun playing the games. With permission from her father, who wasn’t fond of the idea of Calissa learning a gambler’s game, they continued to play the game every day after lunch for about an hour or so. They were always friendly games, but a few months after they started playing, Belemast insisted on starting to use money to make the game and the stakes more authentic. He said it would teach her the difference on people’s faces when they were taking the game more seriously. She agreed to it, and they played for small coins and nothing too large. Calissa picked up the game rather well, and not only learned some of her uncle’s tells but noticed her own and did her best to stop using them most of the time. She started to use the tells not to give away her hand, but the sometimes pretend and try to bluff her uncle into committing to a certain outcome she desired. If she wanted her uncle to fold, she would slowly start to bite her lip and watch with glee as her uncle folded too quickly sometimes. It was when she noticed the opposite, the tells she gave when her hand was terrible, that she wanted to use the most to her advantage. One day she got an amazing hand, but rather than telegraph that to her uncle, she started to show a tell that falsely indicated she had nothing, and her uncle was all over it. He placed some heavy bets and walked right into her trap, and for a moment got cocky as he tried to teach her a lesson.

“Let’s make this interesting,” Belemast said, after he had already pushed in all his coins, which didn’t match half of the stack that his niece possessed at this point in the game. “If I win this hand, you have to clean the throne room for a month.”

“And what do I get if I win?” Calissa asked.

“It’s your hand,” her uncle said, “Tell me what you’d like to win.”

“Alright,” Calissa said, thinking about it. “If I win this hand, you have to take me to the winter festival being held by that town we passed when we first got here.”

“Oh, that’s a good bet.” Belemast said, smiling as he slapped down his cards. “But I’m afraid it’s extra chores for you this month, Calissa!”

“Are you sure about that?” Calissa asked as she laid down her cards to finally reveal that she had the superior hand.

“But, how?” her uncle called out.

“Reading a table isn’t just about reading other’s faces,” Calissa said, “Its about how people read yours as well.”

“You were pretending,” Belemast said, as he couldn’t’ believe how convincing she was. She was giving a tell that said she had nothing and charged right into her trap. It was very effective as he didn’t realize she knew all her own tells.

“I have been practicing with a mirror,” Calissa explained, “I created a tell, and only used it when I had a poor hand. That way when I wanted to falsely give you the impression that I was bluffing, when in fact I was not.”

“You sneaky little devil!” Belemast said with a grin as he let out a rather loud chuckle. Her skills were improving to the point where even he was being fooled by her and they hadn’t even been playing that long. He was seriously impressed with the young girl’s ability to notice her own tells and use them to trick him into doing whatever she wanted him to at the table.

“I guess you won’t be doing extra chores,” he conceded, “And I hope you enjoy going to the festival this winter.”

“That wasn’t the bet,” Calissa corrected him, “The wager was if I won, you had to take me to the festival, together. You’re coming too.”

Belemast paused for a moment as he tried to recall what was actually said, and he turned to face Alfred who was sitting at the table and reading a book. He looked at his sister’s husband, hoping he heard what was actually said.

“Alfred?” he called out.

“That’s what she said,” Alfred confirmed, “If she won, you had to take her to the festival. I hope you both have fun down there.”

“Well damn,” Belemast said, looking back at her. “My word is my bond. I guess we’re both going to festival. I don’t think I’ve ever attended the festival in all my years, are you sure this is what you want?”

“I am,” Calissa said, rather proud of herself. “You’ve got a lot of birthdays to make up for, dear uncle, so I’m looking forward to doing this together and having a good time in town.”

“Well, the festival isn’t for another two months.” Belemast recalled, “So I guess I have time to get used to the idea of going this year. That might surprise a few people when we show up.”

“Life is full of surprises,” Calissa said, standing up from the table. “Thanks again for the game, I have chores and training to do with my master.”

She gave a small respective bow to the master of the castle and left the massive dining room while leaving Belemast at the table to look at the cards and relive the moment that proved she was getting better at the game than he was. He looked over at Alfred who was still grinning as he enjoyed every moment of it. Even though it looked like he was reading a book after lunch, most of the time he can’t help but watch the game and see for himself how well his daughter had been progressing.

“Don’t take it so personally,” Alfred called out and he could read his brother-in-law and his stunned face. “She had a good teacher, and that charm also comes from her mother.”

“It does,” Belemast agreed, “She is going to be a force to reckon with on the battlefield by the time Miyamoto is done with her, isn’t she?”

“You have no idea,” Alfred said, keeping what he knew to himself.

“I really have to go this festival, don’t I?” Belemast called out, hoping that Alfred would give him a pass or something.

“Like you said,” Alfred said as he stood up, “Your word is your bond. To be fair, I think she enjoys having an uncle, and other people that were close to her mother. I know she would be proud of you for taking her under your wing like this, and for taking her to this festival later this year. She wants to spend time with her uncle, which is why she made the bet.”

“She truly is like her mother,” Belemast said, “I will go out of my way to make it a special occasion.”

“That’s the spirit,” Alfred said, as he liked this side of the man. “You will make a good father one day. I can see it when you interact with her.”

“I think that’s the nicest thing you ever said to me,” Belemast said, rather surprised to even hear it at all.

“I say it because it’s the truth,” Alfred said, as he looked around the room. “And because there are no witnesses to verify it.”

“Damn you!” Belemast playfully called out and chuckled as he watched Alfred leave the room.

As the festival grew closer, Calissa could be seen training harder and even doing more chores around the house to earn some extra money for the occasion. Everyone could tell she was excited by the prospect as she had something rather positive to look forward to for the first time in many years. No one had dared to even suggest that the idea be cancelled or postponed, even if there were things like weather and potential dangers out there that could cause trouble. Belemast knew how much the girl was looking forward to it and would use an army to escort her to the damn thing if he had to. Yet when the day came, scouts gave an all clear and even the gods were smiling down as the weather was the best one could hope for a trip down the mountain in the middle of winter. Before they departed Belemast presented his niece with a gift to celebrate the event. It was a light blue dress, and while it looked old it had been tailored and cleaned up for the occasion. It was the most beautiful dress Calissa had ever seen, and it was the perfect blue to wear to a festival about winter and snow. She even had a tear in the corner of her eye as she looked it over.

“It used to be your mother’s,” Belemast explained to her, “I had to have it altered, but you’re around the same size she was when she wore it.”

“It’s lovely,” Calissa said, “When did she wear it?”

“At the very same festival,” Belemast informed her, “That time however, I was unable to attend because father and I were in other lands doing work for the crown.”

“Thank you,” Calissa said, “This is amazing.”

“Put it on,” he ordered, “And then we’ll take off.”

In the main courtyard, there were several horses ready to take them to the festival, and Belemast patiently waited for Calissa to emerge with the dress. As she came out and mounted her white horse, she looked perfect upon it as if she was the queen or princess of the palace.

“Are you sure you’re good to handle this on your own?” Alfred asked.

“I am,” Belemast said, “You two take the next few days off. I got this. I have several guards coming with us, and scouts already out there checking ahead. We’ll be fine you old worry wart!”

“Alright,” Miyamoto said, as he was confident Belemast would be fine. The man was her family and would likely do anything to protect her, despite the fact that the girl could take better care of herself without him. “Have a good time, little one.”

“I will,” Calissa said, smiling back to her master and father. “We’ll see you in a few days.”

“Enjoy yourself,” Alfred said, waving as the several horses started to leave the courtyard and head for the drawbridge that just came down. He watched her ride off beyond the bridge and fade away into the cold air of the mountain. He took a deep breath and remembered something Miyamoto had told him earlier. The day was coming where she had to start exploring without them and get used to the idea of them not being there because she was going to outlive them by quite a few years. He didn’t like the idea of not being there for her, but she did need the practice. This was as good a time as any as Calissa still had family still with her to look out for her.