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The Cartomancer's Last Hand
fantasy◐ Teen5 contributors · 3 paragraphs deep
Mireille sits. Her hands shake, but she shuffles. 'Fine. We play,' she says. 'What are the stakes?' The Queen smiles, water dripping from her sleeve. 'Each hand you lose, I take a year from you. Each hand you win, you take one from me. Reach dawn ahead, and you walk free.'
Mireille loses the first hand on purpose, watching the Queen's face. A year drains out of her, and her knees ache like an old woman's. But now she sees it: when the Queen wins, she leans left, guarding one sleeve. There's a card hidden there.
↔ version 2 of 3 of this paragraph — hover its sides to flip. The card below is what happens next.
What happens next?
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A possible continuation
Mireille keeps losing small, learning the Queen's tells. By the time her hair has gone gray and her hands are spotted, she finally moves. 'I'll bet ten years on this hand,' she says. The Queen, greedy now, agrees at once.
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Maris Vale
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