The Silent Deal: The Card Game, Book 1 Read online



  THE SILENT DEAL

  THE CARD GAME

  BOOK ONE OF FOUR

  By

  Levi Stack

  Text copyright © 2013 Levi Stack

  Cover Art © 2013 Owen William Weber

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  ISBN: 978-0-9893947-0-3

  www.thecardgameseries.com

  www.levistack.com

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Edition

  Ebook formatting by www.ebooklaunch.com

  To Mom and Dad

  For a mad dog, seven versts is not a long detour.

  - Russian Proverb

  Contents

  Prologue: The Lord of the Forest

  Chapter 1: The Prisoner

  Chapter 2: Card and Guard

  Chapter 3: A Deadly Dare

  Chapter 4: Blood Brothers

  Chapter 5: The Drunken Warning

  Chapter 6: The Wolf Den

  Chapter 7: Romulus' Tale

  Chapter 8: The Search Begins

  Chapter 9: The Crossbones Clan

  Chapter 10: The Gambling Parlor

  Chapter 11: The Legend of the Leopard

  Chapter 12: The Mines

  Chapter 13: Inventions

  Chapter 14: Bare-Knuckle Boxing

  Chapter 15: New Year's Eve

  Chapter 16: The Fortune Teller

  Chapter 17: R.E. Kamdrac

  Chapter 18: The Forgotten Tea Party

  Chapter 19: Mother's Kissing Tree

  Chapter 20: Dust to Dust

  Chapter 21: Maksim's Memoirs

  Chapter 22: Maslenitsa

  Chapter 23: The Great Fairy Ring

  Chapter 24: The House of Cards

  Chapter 25: The Plan

  Chapter 26: Masqueraiders

  Chapter 27: Staryi Castle

  Chapter 28: The Silent Deal

  Chapter 29: The Experiment Rooms

  Chapter 30: The Leopard's Secret

  Chapter 31: Memories

  Epilogue: Ancient Medium

  PROLOGUE

  THE LORD OF THE FOREST

  Ural Mountains, Russia: 1825

  As the last rays of sunlight streamed through the trees, the Lord of the Forest ran, searching for any sign of a disturbance in the woods. His strides were powerful, but his footsteps silent. His boots, woven from wild reeds and stems, made no noise across the snowy forest floor. Knowledge made him soundless. He knew which plants would soften his steps. He knew how to blend into the forest. To the naked eye, he of human form and woodland spirit could become invisible. It was old magic, but teachable magic, so he guarded his secrets well, sharing them only with those he deemed worthy.

  The Lord of the Forest watched over nature like a father would a child. He was its keeper: That was his nature. Every plant's characteristics and uses rested safely in his memory. Those that were nameless, he named, and those that grew carelessly, he cared for. His was an earned title, for he cared for plants day and night. The work left bits of shrubs stuck in his long hair and beard, both of which had taken a greenish tone. It made his green cape dirty from swishing against the earth. Even in winter, the scent of pollen would ever cling to his skin. Such was the result of a lifetime spent under the canopy of trees.

  Seeing a trail of trampled bramble, the man halted, and his green eyes turned fiery. He hated nothing more than the destruction of nature, and though these were the tracks of two humans, he knew there were creatures much more sinister than men in the dark parts of the forest. He advanced with caution. Blood, that ancient warning, lay splattered on the ground every few feet. Beads of it dripped from the tendrils of plants, or were smeared on frozen tree trunks. Wise to heed the warning, his fingertips brushed the handle of his weapon, a whip made of vines: One lash would break skin; his enemy's bloodstream would be poisoned with toxic weeds from the far corners of the world.

  The blood trail and brush grew thicker. The Lord of the Forest was close. His bones knew it. Creeping around olden oaks, he stole a look into a clearing at the center of the thicket. No one was standing up at least, but were they crouched to attack? Scowling, he pulled out his whip and stalked forward. As he neared the center, he caught a clear view of the forest floor. His heart splintered in his chest. There, coddled in cold snow, was a pale, hooded woman, a still newborn babe in her arms.

  Ever after, the Lord of the Forest regretted not walking away. He should have turned his back and been done with it, but he lingered. Old feelings rose up in him that had not been felt for an eternity. Some part of his heart held him there. He looked down at the woman curiously. She was beautiful, but was she sleeping, unconscious, or dead? It had been a long time since he had checked for signs of life in a human. For a plant, he had to but scratch a stem and find green, the color of life. A woman was different. She needed air, but his hand felt no warm breath. Her veins needed to pump blood, but he found no pulse. Instead a blue hue spread across her skin, turning it icy. Her limbs were stiff, her blue eyes glassy and forever distant. Yes, she was gone, he decided. But what of the babe?

  Something snarled behind him. The Lord of the Forest turned his head. At the brink of the clearing crouched a shadowy gray-white wolf. He didn't fear or hate the beast. They shared a mutual respect for the forest. It didn't trample and snap plants as this woman did, though it was guilty of following her blood trail. Its kind could smell death from versts away. Soon there would be many. Perhaps that was why one set of footprints led away from this woman. Her companion had abandoned her, and if he left also, the creatures would surely devour the woman, and the child, too.

  Against every commandment written into his core, he bent down and scooped the baby up into his arms. His business was rescuing plants, animals even, but not people. He had never cared for a child, nor did he want to learn ...

  The blanketed newborn was nearly dead. Its eyes were almost frozen shut, and its skin was cold. How long had it been lying still in the night air?

  After another glance at the woman, he made a decision: It would be the river. Humans, like plants, were meant to return to the ground, but with wolves approaching, he could at least cast the woman and child into the water to save their bodies from gnashing teeth. So with the babe cocooned in one arm, he reached down with his other to sling the woman over his shoulder. Yet as he grasped her hand, he felt a piece of cloth. Curious again, he pulled it from her grip and let it fall open in his flat hand. Written on it, in blood, was one word—a name—Romulus.

  He stared from the fabric to the babe, and back again. It had a name, the most ancient magic of all. In that moment, he knew he would not let the child drown. It was a he; he was Romulus, the boy of the forest. As the night descended, the Lord of the Forest made his way to the moonlit riverbank with the woman over his shoulder, the baby cradled in his arm, and the piece of cloth folded in his pocket. The ghostly wolf followed from a distance.