Gilded Ashes: When Shadows Reign

… And Eiden?

Eiden did almost nothing… Which was the worst part.

He didn't fight for control. He didn't get loud. He simply adjusted the game, one small choice at a time.

He called "Cheat" only when he was absolutely certain. He also spoke at the right moments. Not much. Just a word here, a quiet observation there.

Enough to shift the table.

Enough to steer people.

Raizen noticed it, and it made him uneasy. Eiden felt like someone playing a different game entirely.

By the time they reached queens, Kenzo had a thick pile. He complained dramatically, but his eyes stayed sharp. Saffi sat with a smaller hand, calm and patient. Atman stayed dangerous, cards disappearing from his grip in steady rhythm. Raizen kept pace, pushing hard or falling behind quickly. Eiden's hand looked small too, but he never showed too much of it.

Kenzo's turn came. He put down two cards and announced, "Two queens."

Raizen's eyes narrowed. Kenzo lied all the time. But this time, he didn't perform anything too stupid. He didn't grin or didn't change his posture, and his voice came out like it was almost normal.

Raizen's fingers tightened slightly on his own cards.

He watched Kenzo's hands. They didn't twitch. He didn't try to sell it.

Raizen started to believe him.

Then suddenly, Eiden leaned slightly toward Raizen, just enough that only Raizen heard.

"Call him" Eiden whispered, quietly. "He doesn't have queens."

Raizen froze.

He didn't look at Eiden. He didn't want to. Because the moment he looked, Eiden would read him too.

Raizen kept his gaze on Kenzo.

He met his eyes and raised his brows, daring him, as if they were saying "Go on. Call me."

Raizen hesitated.

Eiden's whisper stayed calm, almost bored. "He lied."

Raizen didn't like how sure that sounded. He also didn't like how badly he wanted to trust it. Eiden wasn't Kenzo. Eiden didn't bluff loudly. Eiden didn't do nonsense. Eiden was the kind of person who spoke only when he meant it.

Raizen exhaled slowly and said, "Cheat."

"Oh, now you call me?" Kenzo's face lit up instantly.

"Show" Saffi said, eyes fixed.

Kenzo flipped the two cards down and slammed them.

Two queens.

His grin returned, sharp and vindictive. "Haah!"

Saffi's lips parted slightly, surprised. Atman's eyes widened, then narrowed, like he immediately understood what just happened.

Raizen stared at the queens, then slowly looked toward Eiden. He didn't smile. He didn't laugh. He simply met Raizen's eyes with a mildly curious look, as if he asked a question in class and Raizen answered wrong.

Raizen swallowed hard. He gathered the entire pile - everything played that round - and pulled it toward himself, accepting the penalty.

Kenzo leaned back, satisfied. "That's what you get for always telling the truth."

Raizen's cheeks warmed, partly from embarrassment, partly from irritation. He stared at his new pile, suddenly much bigger, and forced his voice steady.

"Mhh... That's on me" he muttered.

"That's correct!" Eiden said with an annoyingly amused expression.

Raizen wanted to throw the last dumpling at his face.

The game continued. Kings. Aces again. Twos.

Raizen fought uphill now, his pile was too thick to play safely. He was always aggressive, yet still truthful, trying to shed cards fast. But the earlier mistake cost him the clean rhythm he had.

Meanwhile, Eiden moved like the whole game belonged to him.

He played a card. Then two. Then three. He lied once, and nobody dared call him because nobody felt sure enough anymore.

Raizen watched him, frustrated, and realized something ugly.

Eiden didn't just trick him.

He broke everyone's confidence. Once that happened, he could move freely.

Two turns later, Eiden placed his final cards down. "They're all trees" Eiden said.

Nobody tried to call.

Eiden flipped them.

Three threes.

Then he spread his empty hands triumphantly.

Silence hit the table again.

Kenzo blinked. "Wait. You won?"

Saffi stared at the empty hands, then slowly looked at the deck, as if she tried to find the missing trick in the air. "Yeah, he won."

Atman's mouth curved slightly. "Of course he did."

Raizen leaned back, exhaling through his nose. He wasn't angry, not really. He was… annoyed at himself.

Eiden looked at Raizen calmly. "Never trust a statement you didn't verify."

"Yeah, tell me that after-" Raizen's jaw tightened, but he didn't want to argue.

Eiden nodded, like that satisfied him. Then he reached for the dumpling.

Kenzo's eyes sharpened immediately. Saffi's posture tensed. Atman watched with quiet interest. That simple dumpling was suddenly everyone's point of interest.

Eiden reached for the dumpling… Then paused.

He looked at them with sudden drama, like he stood on a stage and the lighting shifted.

"Oh" Eiden said "Well it appears that I am full."

Raizen stared at him in disbelief. "What?"

"Are you serious right now?" Kenzo's face contorted.

Saffi blinked twice. "But- but you won the game."

"I did." Eiden nodded calmly.

"So eat it then!" Kenzo snapped.

Eiden rested his head on his knuckle. "Hmm… I don't want to!"

Kenzo looked like he might collapse. "Why would you even do that?"

Eiden's mouth curved slightly. "Because it's amusing."

Raizen finally understood, and despite himself, a laugh tried to escape. "So what now?"

"We play again?" Saffi leaned forward, eyes narrowing.

Eiden nodded once, like he waited for her to say it. "Yeah. Without me, now!"

Kenzo stared at him. "You're a menace."

Eiden's gaze stayed calm. "Thank you."

Raizen rubbed his face once. "Fine. Again."

They reset quickly. Eiden didn't touch the cards this time. He sat back slightly, arms folded, watching like a judge. The dumpling stayed on the plate between them like a prize nobody trusted anymore.

Four players. New hand.

Kenzo started strong. He lied with confidence, got caught once, complained dramatically, then recovered. His game remained simple - pressure and noise.

Raizen played risky again, but his honesty now worked against him. The others learned his pattern. They didn't call him often, not because they feared him, but because they used him like a stable point in the chaos. A truth they could count on while they hunted each other.

Atman became dangerous again.

He lied more freely now, smoother, like his old self returned when the stakes stopped being important and became stupid. He tossed cards down like he invented the game. He smiled when accused, and half the time he was telling the truth anyway.

Saffi stayed quiet. She didn't rush. She didn't fight Atman for dominance. She didn't try to out-chaos Kenzo.

She just watched everything.

Raizen noticed it after a few rounds. Her bright brown eyes moved in small movements - not just to faces, but to hands, faces, to the way Atman's gaze flicked down when he actually lied.

Atman didn't realize she studied him.

That was his mistake.

The final stretch came fast. Kenzo carried a pile again. Raizen stayed mid-pack. Atman and Saffi were close to empty.

Atman announced, calm and confident "This one is a nine."

Saffi didn't move.

Raizen looked at her, then at Atman. Kenzo looked bored, like he already accepted he lost.

Atman's lips curved slightly, pleased with himself.

Saffi waited one heartbeat longer than normal.

Then she said, quietly, "Cheat."

Atman blinked.

Kenzo's head snapped up. Raizen froze.

Atman's smile lingered for half a second, then disappeared. He flipped the cards.

Sevens.

Saffi simply watched Atman collect the pile with a long exhale, like she just confirmed a theory.

"How did you know?" Atman stared at her.

Saffi's voice stayed calm. "You looked down when you lied."

"That's insane." Atman answered.

Saffi shrugged lightly. "You did it every time! What, don't tell me you didn't even notice!"

Raizen stared at her, impressed in a quiet way. Kenzo looked at Atman with pure satisfaction, like he enjoyed Atman losing more than he cared about the last dumpling.

Two turns later, Saffi shed her last cards cleanly.

She placed them down, flipped them immediately, then spread her hands.

Empty.

Atman leaned back slowly, as if he accepted a tragic fate. "I can't believe I got outplayed by a thirteen-year-old imp earlier today and now by another i-don't-know-how-many-year-old gremlin."

Saffi reached for the dumpling slowly, like she wanted to mock Atman with her slow movements, but her eyes shone anyway. "Gremlin? Wonder if you call your wife like that…"

Raizen choked on air. He didn't know that Saffi could be this aggressive.

Saffi took a bite as Kenzo watched like it pained him spiritually.

Raizen leaned back, finally letting his shoulders loosen. The room felt warm again. The rain outside stayed steady. Eiden watched them all with a small, satisfied smile.

"So, are you happy?" Saffi swallowed and glanced toward him.

Eiden didn't deny it. "I brought cards, I created conflict, I have achieved entertainment."

Kenzo pointed at him with accusation. "Waaait- You planned all of this?"

Eiden's eyes flicked to the plate, now empty. "You mean the uneven number of dumplings?"

Raizen stared. "Nahh. You did that on purpose?"

Eiden's expression turned faintly proud. "It would've been a shame not to."

Kenzo leaned back and covered his face with one hand. "You're awful."

Eiden nodded once, satisfied. "Another compliment from you."

Saffi took another bite, chewing slowly, then glanced around the table as if she wanted to lock this moment into memory - five people, wet coats drying, laughter returning, and for once, no alarms, no whispers, no explosions.

Raizen watched them too, and despite everything, he couldn't stop the small smile that formed.

For one night, the world stayed outside.

And inside, they fought like masterminds…

Over a dumpling.