A Surprise in Sahkmet

      Well, every day was a bad day to lose, but today especially because Kimora was down to her last few coins. The young Ruki had promised her mother before leaving their cosy house in Sahkmet that she would come straight back after her trip to the market. Kimora had exactly enough Neopoints for the Kabobs and Desert Kau Honey they would eat for dinner.

      The trouble all started as she was leaving the market. She lived with her mother near the centre of the city, and the path between the bazaar and her home was so familiar that it simply felt like another part of her house. The friendly shouting of the vendors as they advertised their goods, the smell of fresh Cheops Soup bubbling in large cauldrons, the sweet taste of icy Berry Fizzers which the kindly Elephante who owned the stall always offered to Kimora without expecting payment, all was familiar and comforting.

      Her basket filled with food, she was on her way back home when something caught her attention. Something new. Sparkling gold encircling a bright blue gemstone – it was a scarab pendant hanging in one of the stalls at the edge of the bazaar. Golden rays reflected from the necklace onto her face, inviting her to stare.

      “Would you like to try it on?”

      Kimora was so focused on the beautiful piece of jewellery that she had not noticed the Ixi tending to the stall. With jewels adorning her collar and horns, she shone as brilliantly as the wares displayed on the woven cloth. Kimora, in her simple white tunic, felt plain by comparison. What was she doing looking at fancy things like this? Her mother was expecting her back home.

      “No, no, I’m sorry,” Kimora’s face became hot as she blushed from embarrassment. “I was only looking…”

      “This pendant is exquisite,” the Ixi smiled a little and lifted the exact necklace Kimora had been admiring.

      “Nothing else like across the entire Lost Desert – or Neopia, I’d imagine. This sapphire scarab was found hidden in one of the pyramids near Qasala.”

      “Very pretty,” Kimora agreed, trying hard not to look at the necklace and imagine it gracing her own neck. It belonged in the palace, not with a peasant Ruki like her.

      “Why don’t you put it on? It would match exactly with your colours.”

      “I couldn’t, I have nothing to offer for something so fine,” Kimora said.

      “It seems like such a pity to not at least put it on for a moment, when it seems to be made for you,” the Ixi replied, and before Kimora could protest, the shopkeeper picked up the necklace with her hooves and draped it around Kimora’s neck.

      Making an approving sound, the Ixi gently nudged Kimora to look in the small crescent-shaped mirror hanging from the roof of the stall. When Kimora saw herself, she gasped. The pendant was dazzling – it made her seem dazzling, too. Afraid to touch the scarab but also unwilling to look away, Kimora let out a soft sigh. If she had managed to glance at the Ixi’s face, she might have noticed how the shopkeeper’s smile had the shadow of an Erisim who had spotted a particularly tasty morsel to eat.

      “What about a friendly wager, hmm?” the Ixi suggested. “It suits you so well, I can’t let you simply walk away. If you cannot buy the pendant, I should like to give you a chance to win it.”

      “A wager?” Kimora repeated. “But – but why? It must be so valuable to you.”

      “There is value in a beautiful object finding the perfect owner. Besides, we are at the bazaar to bargain. And bargaining does not always involve money, don’t you agree?”

      “But I have nothing of value to give you,” Kimora said, still stealing occasional looks at herself in the mirror.

      “Don’t worry about that just yet. Besides, this wager is easy. It’s a game. Have you played Pyramids before? No? Allow me to explain…”

      As the Ixi spoke, she cleared away the other bits and baubles from her stand and produced a deck of cards from the folds of her shimmering robes. The game did sound simple enough to Kimora – the cards were shuffled and arranged in a pyramid shape while the remaining deck sat at the apex. Both the bottom row of cards and the first card from the deck at the top were revealed, and the goal was to match any of the revealed cards with that topmost card. A match would be the card either directly higher or lower than the topmost card, but the colour or suit did not matter. As cards were matched up above, new ones down below in the pyramid could be revealed so long as the cards directly below them were discarded. If no matches could be found in the pyramid itself, fresh ones from the deck had to be drawn.

      “Simple enough,” Kimora mumbled to herself as she sat down to play.

      “Oh no, not again.”

      To Kimora and the shopkeeper and any other Neopet passing by, it would have seemed as if the playing cards were ruffling a bit in the breeze. But in the dark, as the face cards sat in a deck or unturned on the table waiting to be played, they were talking to one another. Or lying down out of view before quickly jumping up ju-u-u-ust as their card was flipped over. Or even visiting one another for a quick chat or cup of tea – socializing was usually reserved for when a game was over. Only very brave cards, like Negg King Kougra, dared to risk it while actively being played with.

      And it was not this particular deck which was special by being sentient. In every card deck in Neopia the various face cards are cracking jokes, waking up from naps due to a surprise shuffle, acting jealous of whoever manages to be part of a winning hand. The voices of the card characters are beyond what a Neopet can hear, and their movements are too quick for even the most discerning Neopet to see, but it’s true.

      This particular refined yet agonized voice belonged to Diamond King Gelert, who was perhaps not the sharpest card in the deck but definitely the kindest.

      “Not again,” he said. “Another losing game. Oh, I cannot bear it!”

      “I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Spade Queen Aisha muttered. “At least you are still in the shade.”

      In their courtly robes, the upturned face cards could become unbearably hot if a long game was played under the unrelenting Lost Desert sun. Many times Spade Queen Aisha daydreamed about a dewy morning in Meridell or even an icy breeze off the side of Terror Mountain. She would never see such places unless an intrepid traveller got hold of this deck, or their Ixi owner decided to take a vacation, but she heard often enough about such places from past players.

      “She looks so young,” Diamond King Gelert said. “I hate it when the young ones lose. The older ones understand the risk, but when she takes advantage of a youth…it makes me want to reach for my sword and challenge her to a duel of honour!”

      “Woof,” Negg Jester Warf added.

      “Spare me, please,” Spade Queen Aisha rolled her eyes.

      “What ho, is there truly not a match left already?” Spade King Bruce said from the second row to the bottom. “Oh, but there must be, there must be! I so long to be reunited with my brethren in the deck!”

      At the top, Spade Jester Snuffly drooled.

      Looking down at the spread, Kimora was sweating, and not just from the desert heat. As soon as the game started, she realized her mistake. Her mother was counting on her to be responsible, and what was she doing? Gambling with food they needed, money they did not have. She had to stop this right now and explain to the Ixi that she had gotten caught up in the beauty of the necklace, but now she needed to return home.

      But the Ixi only shook her head with a gentle expression.

      “My dear, the game has already started. I’m afraid it’s against the rules to forfeit in the middle, and if you do so we will have to discuss payment. Come now, you can easily still win.”

      But after a few more matches, it was clear that was not true. A sinkhole opened in Kimora’s stomach, and tears burned behind her eyes. She was so foolish! However much her mother was going to be disappointed in her was no match for how disappointed she was in herself. The necklace suddenly felt like a massive weight that threatened to pull her down into the sand and never let her go.

      “Too bad,” the Ixi tsked. “I thought you had a win on your hands. Well, about the matter of payment–”

      “Best two out of three?” Kimora interrupted before she could stop herself. The sinkhole in her stomach grew bigger. The Ixi nodded after a moment.

      As the next game commenced, Negg King Kougra had an idea. He was positioned face down and right next to a card that was about to be flipped – a useless Three of Spades. But the card at the top requiring a match was his friend Negg Queen Cybunny, who always had a smile on her face. If he could manage to switch places with the Three of Spades before it was flipped…

      “What are you doing?” Diamond Queen Zafara hissed as she watched Negg King Kougra reach over to pull the three spades into the frame of his card. She was positioned a few rows up and could see everything.

      “Diamond King Gelert is right, it’s time we helped someone beat her for a change.”

      “That’s cheating,” Diamond Queen Zafara said, crossing her arms.

      “It’s righting a wrong. Anyway, don’t you want to win? Think of how sweet victory will feel! We haven’t had a winning game in ages. We are always so far away from each other in the deck, imagine how pleasant it will be to be close together. No more hopping through those useless numbers to visit.”

      “It does sound nice,” Diamond Queen Zafara’s voice trailed off.

      “It sounds heavenly,” Negg Queen Cybunny waved from up top. “Come join me!”

      Needing no more encouragement, Negg King Kougra leapt onto the former Three of Spades card.

      Kimora held her breath as she flipped over the card – and – a king! Moving quickly to hide her relief, she removed the card from the pyramid to place it atop the queen. The first two rows were clear, she could do this. She could do this. She could do this.

      Despite some initial hesitancy, by the end of the second game the good Negg King Kougra managed to convince his fellow face cards to swap places in order to be matched more expeditiously. When the pyramid was clear, Kimora’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much. She looked up, expecting the Ixi to be pleased with how well she was playing – this had been her idea, after all – and was surprised to see the shopkeeper’s brow crinkled with concern.

      But then the Ixi’s expression quickly shifted into a friendly smile, and Kimora chided herself for any doubt. This shopkeeper was trying to give her a fair bargain, wasn’t she?

      It was the final game, and most of the cards had been cleared. All that remained were the three cards which formed the triangular peak. The current card requiring a match was Club King Lupe, while the remaining cards were the Ten of Hearts, Spade Jester Zomutt, and Spade Queen Quiggle. The Queen had already switched places with the Jester to ensure a successful match, but when she was flipped over and moved to join the deck she realized with horror that Spade Jester Zomutt would be the final card instead of the one next to her which was about to be flipped. A ten? A ten was useless right now! The game would be over, there were no more draws left!

      Club King Lupe looked around with an anxious face, while the other face cards murmured throughout the deck –

      “Do something!”

      “Dearie me, oh dear, oh fiddlesticks,” Spade Queen Quiggle whispered. “I’ve got it! Zomutt, fetch! Go on, be a good pup and fetch those ten hearts!”

      Barking eagerly, the Petpet Jester ran down to the card below, grabbing the hearts with his mouth and wagging his tail.

      “Yes! Good mutt! Now bring them back, carefully now – drop it. Drop it! Good!”

      The card was about to be turned over–

      “Sit!” the Queen ordered. “Stay.”

      It was the perfect final few cards. With each flip, Kimora held her breath as her heart beat faster and faster and faster. She had won. Somehow, luck had stayed with her despite her mistake and now she could finally exhale. But there was no mistaking the scowl on the Ixi’s face now.

      “Here, I cannot accept this,” Kimora started to take off the necklace to give back. “You were very nice for offering it as a prize, but–”

      “Nonsense,” the shopkeeper gathered the deck to her to place in her pocket. Hidden from view, the face cards were cheering and shaking one another’s paws.

      “You won,” the Ixi continued. “And I would not begrudge you the promised winnings. Be careful with that necklace, now.”

      In a rush of excitement and happiness, Kimora nodded and promised she would take the best care of her new treasure. Grabbing the basket of food, she hurried home – no stops this time – and kept her promise. Her mother was astonished, and it would be a long time before Kimora was allowed to visit the bazaar unaccompanied again. She had to convince her mother that she would never make the mistake of gambling again.

      True to her word, Kimora stayed out of trouble and the scarab pendant became a precious family heirloom. Luck, it seems, was in her cards.

     The End.