Start at Part I here.
Audra’s eyes danced from person to person as they all looked back at her for instructions. Her enthusiasm was contagious, though the fact that it was Christmas Eve likely had everyone predisposed to excitement. “Okay,” she said, “I’m going to work on a bit of setup while Violet assigns the roles.”
Six pairs of eyes shifted to Violet. She scrambled to come up with a way to randomly assign eight roles. The box of cards was already in her hands so she decided to use that. “Uh… everyone stand in front of a chair. I’ll deal out the cards face up and whoever the dragon lands in front of will be the first Great Lord. Then I’ll do it again for the Lord and so on. The empty chair will represent Audra.”
Audra couldn’t be expected to stay still while she was engaged in preparations. She’d already replaced one chair with a pillow, presumably where the wretch would have to kneel, and had draped a blanket over the back of another chair. Violet turned up the dragon on the fourth card and congratulated Logan on starting the game in the top seat. For the next assignment, however, she went through most of the deck before the dragon landed in front of Katie.
As she gathered up the cards to reshuffle, Alison said, “I know Audra put you on the spot to do this, but if she’d told you ahead of time, do you think you could have come up with a method that takes even longer?”
Violet had been getting self-conscience about the delay, but the joke let her laugh with everyone. “I thought it’d be faster,” she said. “Maybe this time, we’ll just say the first ace I turn up?”
“No!” Audra answered from where she was wrestling an arm chair in the living room. “It’s not fair if it’s not the same.”
“It’s still fair if it’s still random,” Ryan said.
Logan moved to help Audra get the comfortable chair to the Great Lord position at the table.
“It has to be the same.” Audra was sticking with her logic based on stubbornness rather than actual logic.
“Fine. Looking for the dragon.” Violet simply dealt the cards as fast as she could while sharing a few more laughs over how long her “simple” method was taking.
Alison ended up as the wretch, which meant that in addition to the least comfortable position, she’d have to give up her best cards. “I hope you all expect me to fetch a few drinks because that’ll be the only time I get out of this spot.”
Despite her pessimism, she moved up two spots after the first hand, and Ryan played all his cards first to dethrone Logan as the Great Lord. Violet moved up only one spot to switch with Audra somewhere in the middle. She prepared to apologize to her friend if Ryan filled the role inadequately. The one other time the eight of them had played Grand Seigneur, he’d refused to do any acting.
This time he immediately demanded that Cameron, the current wretch, deal faster. And then he demanded he do it without accidentally dropping cards on the floor. The whole table was amused by his faux regal air. Violet knew Ryan was being a good sport for his sister mostly to make Violet happy. And that did make her happy. She also enjoyed the fact that she made it through the entire game without sinking to the wretch, even if she never made it to the top seat.
Audra won what they’d all agreed would be the last round of the night. “Oh, nuts,” she said. “I finally get to be Great Lord, and I don’t actually get to play as Great Lord. Are you sure we can’t do one more round?”
Alison shook her head. “My sisters’ kids are spending the night. They’re going to get me up at 5 am for presents.”
“And I need to lead the pre-Midnight Mass caroling in like an hour so there’s no way I’d get to the church in time if we keep playing.”
Audra rolled her eyes at Ryan’s less serious answer. Violet laughed. Katie smiled and said to Audra, “You can command us all out if you like.”
“Oh, yes.” Audra was satisfied with that concession. “I insist that all of the gentlemen now help the ladies on with their coats.”
They all complied, though some with more flourish than others. Ryan held out Violet’s coat even though she wasn’t leaving her own apartment. As she slipped her arms into it, Audra said, “And I command that Violet walk us all out so she has a reason for putting her coat on.”
Several people chuckled at that, including Violet. She stepped outside with her friends. The full moon was low in the sky, perfectly framed by the houses she saw it between. It seemed to have a purplish halo. The beauty of the sight enhanced the beauty of the moment as she waved and calls of “Merry Christmas” bounced here and there. Ryan hugged her and said he’d see at church later. Audra hugged her and said, “I can’t wait for the
3rd Annual Christmas Eve Tichu Party!”
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Thanks for reading. I'll leave you with a couple last minute Christmas present ideas, though any of my books make great gifts.
