Perhaps it was because Lex had never drunk before, perhaps it was because he hadn’t eaten much that day or perhaps it was simply because he was so skinny… whatever the reason, it turned out to be an unfortunate fact that Lex could not hold his drink. It went straight to his head. One minute he was sitting there feeling quite normal, the next he was slurring his words and talking in a much louder voice that he would normally. He was hardly aware of this himself, although he did notice that the others seemed to have distinctly warmed to him and they were now all having rather a good time when they hadn’t been getting on at all well before.
The really unfortunate thing about it, though, was that, when each of Jeremiah’s friends went up to buy their rounds, they too thought it would be a splendid idea to add a little something to Lex’s drink. By the time an hour was up, he was thoroughly drunk and just trying to get his muddled head around why he wasn’t feeling normal when someone tapped him on the shoulder and he looked round into a familiar face.
Mr Montgomery Schmidt, through a series of unfortunate mishaps, had been Lex’s companion in the last Game. He was a tall, thin old lawyer with the sense of humour of a dead mollusc. He certainly did not look at all amused right now as he addressed the table with his sternest expression.
‘You reprobates! You ought to be thoroughly ashamed of yourselves!’ He pointed at Smithy and said, ‘I saw you, young man, not a moment ago spiking that drink at the bar. Don’t drink it, Lex.’
‘ You spiked his drink?’ the others all said at the same time, then they grinned foolishly at each other as they realised what must have happened.
‘You mean to say that you have all…’ Schmidt trailed off, horrified. ‘Good heavens, the feast is due to start any minute! Come along, Lex, you’d better get some fresh air-’
‘I don’t need your help,’ Lex said, waving the lawyer’s hand away. ‘And I’m not drunk.’
He stood up to prove his point but that instantly made him feel ten times worse. His head spun, the room tilted, he lost his balance and staggered. Instinctively, he reached out to stop himself from falling but only succeeded in dragging a whole table down with him in a spectacular crashing and rolling of tankards.
Oh my Gods, he thought, face down in spilt beer. I really am drunk!
It was even worse than he had imagined it would be. No quick thoughts were coming into his head; no snappy comebacks were presenting themselves in his mind; no brilliant, genius plans were clamouring for his attention. This must be what normal people felt like all the time! He was dimly aware of Jeremiah and his friends cheering and clapping behind him like this was all some huge joke. Schmidt grasped Lex’s collar and dragged him upright as Jeremiah and the others got up and made their way to the hall, still laughing heartily.
‘You’ve got to go in, Lex,’ Schmidt was saying urgently. ‘The feast is about to begin. Where’s your companion?’
‘Well now, what’s going on here?’ asked a drawling voice.
Lex looked round to see Jesse strolling through the now-almost-empty tavern towards them.
‘He spiked my drink!’ Lex croaked.
‘Who? Him?’ Jesse said, squinting at Schmidt doubtfully.
‘Not me, you fool! Jeremiah East!’ Schmidt snapped. His eyes went to the Binding Bracelet on Jesse’s wrist. ‘Oh, good, you’re him. Look, you’ve got to get in there. Get him… Get him some coffee or something. Try to sober him up enough so that he can disguise it. He’ll be in terrible trouble if they realise he’s drunk; he’s underage.’
‘Not a problem,’ Jesse said. ‘I know just the thing. Come on, kid, we’ll have you dried out in no time.’
The cowboy had to hold on to Lex’s arm quite tightly to make sure he didn’t fall down again as he practically dragged him through the hall, which was now bustling with people who were all talking and laughing noisily as they waited for the fun to begin. The grand table on the raised stage at the end of the room was for the three Gods? Lady Luck, Kala and Thaddeus. Filling up the rest of the stage was a huge crystal ball of the type you got in stadiums. When the Gods announced their players, the whole thing would be broadcast to other crystal balls around the world so that everyone might know who was playing in the Game. Then the food and drink would be brought out and the feast would start.
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
