Kinktober 18: The Shell Game

With admiring eyes, a petite young woman with a single pitch-black plait hanging down her back looked up and down the crab hanging from Choinuh’s line up and down, “This time you really outdid yourself, Choinuh. Be pleased that your hunt was a success.”

“But of course,” Choinuh chuckled as he puffed his chest out, “What would you expect from someone with a Gift like mine, if not to be an able hunter and fisherman.”

“This is incredible, Choinuh!” Amia clapped her hand as she looked up at him in delight, “I was beginning to think our crab hunt would prove unfruitful, but with this I’d be able to cook up quite a feast for all of Göbleki Tepi.”

Choinuh pulled the crab back from the young woman, “Are you not being presumptuous now, Amia? Should it not be the one who caught the game who decides what should be done with it?”

“But if you give it to me, then I will be able to prepare a feast for tonight. Have you yourself not said that my cooking is exquisite? Then that is something to look forward to.”

“I already am serving the temple well enough. If Vieznja is pleased with me, even if I do not surrender my catch, then why should I do so?”

Amia rested her hands on her hips and glared at the young hunter, “Why do you say such things, Choinuh? I would do anything to see everyone enjoying the night together in each others’ company. Is that not what you want as well?”

“If this is what you want, Amia…” Choinuh gave a wicked grin, “Then remove your clothes for me. If you do that, then I will give the crab to you, and we will all feast tonight.”

Amia covered her chest and turned away, “Choinuh! Y-you don’t really mean that, do you? How could you think I would agree to anything like that?”

“If any of us insinuated what they did not mean, then it was you, Amia.” Choinuh said as he pulled out a blanket and spread it over the sand on the beach, “However, let our luck and our skill decide instead.”

Choinuh picked three identical conch shells and sat himself with them on the blanket. He opened his hand, and on his palm rested a round pearl as white as the clouds in the sky.

“The rules are simple, my dear Amia. I will hide the pearl under one of these shells, and you must guess which one; even after I have moved them around. If you can, even once, then I will give you the crab. But if you cannot, then you will remove one piece of clothing and give it to me.”

“If those are your demands, then so be it!” Amia sat herself down on the other side of the blanket. She had enough of Choinuh being like this all the time, thinking he can ask anything from everyone, as if he is as important as Vieznja himself.

Someone needed to teach him a lesson.

Soon enough all of Amia’s clothes were missing, and she was absolutely flustered. Choinuh was staring down on the dark gold and blue skirt and top resting on his lap, beholding his prize satisfied as he laughed.

“...Y-you must be cheating…” Amia said accusingly, “There is n-no w-way…”

“Accusations like those are far too easy to throw around. They are best saved until such time you are able to prove them.”

Amia glared back at the hunter with contemptful eyes.

“Now how about you give me a little dance? Perhaps then I will give your clothes back.”

With that, Amia vanished before his eyes. Footprints appeared in the sand, from the blanket where Amia was last seen and continuing away from the beach.

Choinuh sighed as he patted Amia’s clothes, “It was fun while it lasted…”

“...No. He did not just do that! Did he?” The young priestess with ash-coloured pigtails hanging over her shoulders crossed her arms as she looked down at Amia, sitting on a reed bed covered in a blanket, “Just because he can speak to swines does not mean he has to act like one.”

“...I am sure he cheated somehow, Dalladh. I… I just can't figure out how… “

“I could not tell either way, Amia. But like all children of the tribe of Thenia, he was granted a gift of Vieznja, and so if one gets the opportunity, picking a game where one’s gift grants the greatest possible advantage is a trivial matter. You should have known better than to accept his offer.”

“I know that, but… He was being insufferable. Besides, his gift only allows him to speak to animals and earn their trust. How can this serve him in this game?”

“That I do not know.” Dalladh said, “But Choinuh will not stop this behaviour unless he sees the error of his way. I do believe it is prudent that I go to him and teach him a lesson. Beat him at his own game.”

“But Dalladh… He knows your Gift well. He knows how it can serve you in this game. There is not a chance you can get him to accept a challenge.”

“No, Amia.” Dalladh said, “There is a chance. That chance is found in the Land of Prophecy.”

Forty years later…

“What is it this time?” An older, greyer Dalladh told her younger self, as they were sitting across from one another in front of a campfire.

“We need to deal with Choinuh. Teach him a lesson.” Dalladh offered the future version of herself.

“You must be far more specific, my child.” Old Dalladh told herself, remembering just how much being called that annoyed her, but finding that now when she was on the giving end she just couldn’t help herself.

“His shell game. With Amia.” Dalladh knew that the version of herself living in the Land of Prophecy had memories of all that transpired on that day, and even on the days to come, but it was unreasonable of her to recollect this task forty years after it transpired. So she had to travel to the Land of Prophecy and remind herself when need be.

“Ah, yes… Now that was certainly an amusing time.” The elderly Dalladh covered her mouth to chuckle lightly, “It is forty winters ago today, exactly?”

“Yes. Forty winters. Meet me in my hut, and we will discuss the plan.”

FORTY YEARS EARLIER...

Soon enough all of Amia’s clothes were missing, and she was absolutely flustered. Choinuh was staring down on the dark gold and blue skirt and top resting on his lap, beholding his prize satisfied as he laughed.

“...Y-you must be cheating…” Amia said accusingly, “There is n-no w-way…”

“Accusations like those are far too easy to throw around. They are best saved until such time you are able to prove them.”

Amia glared back at the hunter with contemptful eyes.

“Now how about you give me a little dance? Perhaps then I will give your clothes back.”

With that, Amia vanished before his eyes. Footprints appeared in the sand, from the blanket where Amia was last seen and continuing away from the beach.

Choinuh sighed as he patted Amia’s clothes, “It was fun while it lasted…”

Just as Choinuh packed up his things to head back, an elderly woman appeared before him.

“Have you no shame, young man?” The elderly woman said.

“It would be more shameful if one or both of us would not hold to our words, elder.” Choinuh scoffed, “Vieznja is watching. He hears every lie.”

“Yes, he does.” The elderly woman said, “And that is why one ought to restrain their words, lest they prove you a liar or a fool.”

“Thank you for your sage advice, elder.” Choinuh said dismissively, “Such advice can however only ever be of service to fools and liars. Since I am neither, it can be safely disregarded by me.”

“Indeed you say so.” The elderly woman came closer, “And yet you have so many things in common with a fool, such as thinking yourself no fool.”

The elderly woman took off her necklace and tosses it on the blanket, “You have an opportunity to prove me wrong now. I want to play the game she played, and if you win you can take this for yourself.”

Choinuh looked up at the elderly woman suspiciously, but when he saw the necklace his desires overtook him. The necklace consisted of large, perfect pearls and neatly knapped stones of obsidian. This was a work of craftsmanship made from rare stones, and could easily win him the admiration of a beautiful woman.

“...And what if I lose?” Choinuh asked.

“We are playing the same game as before, are we not?” The elderly woman said, “If you lose, you will drop a piece of clothing.”

“...I… Are you jesting?”

“I am not. Do you think that appetites decay at the same rate as our bodies?”

“Heh. Go ahead then. Regardless of the wager, I will not lose it. That is the kind of player you are up against.”

The elderly woman sat herself down, and watched him place a pearl under one of the conch shells. He shifted the conch shells with blinding speed. The elderly woman drew from Vieznja’s Gift inside her, and made time slow down. She could see with great clarity exactly which shells were moved and in what order.

“That one.” Dalladh said as she pointed to the centre shell. Choinuh flipped it open, to reveal the pearl was indeed underneath, “Tsk… Lucky guess. You will not be so lucky next time…” Choinuh said as he removed his shirt.

Again and again, Dalladh pointed out under which shell the pearl was hiding, and each time Choinuh had to remove a piece of clothing. In the end he only had his loincloth around his hips.

“You are free to walk away now if you wish. “Dalladh said.

“Hardly,” Choinuh said stubbornly, “I was merely testing your eyes and cunning until now. I did not intend to beat you. This time I will.”

“Ah, so it is in your attempt to prove how you are no fool, that foolishness is now displayed for all to see. How common an occurrence is not that?”

Dalladh slowed down time, and now she saw him move the conch outside the blanket and on to the sand, only for an instance, and for that instance he had swiped the pearl under the blanket. If she were to call him out, that would only serve to prove that she had been using a gift for this challenge, but she also cannot lose on purpose…

“Watch out!” The younger Dalladh yelled out as a throwing stick soared just between her older self and Choinuh, lodging itself in the sand.

Running after it, younger Dalladh tripped over the blanket and fell belly first over it, spreading sand everywhere.

“Oh, heavens! I am so terribly sorry!”

“Vieznja’s blight!” Choinuh spat out, “You could have hit me in the head!”

“Indeed how fortunate we must be, then, that nothing of value was in danger.” Younger Dalladh laughed as she rose to her feet and brushed the sand off her knees.

Choinuh grunted as he brushed the sand off the blanket.

“Ah, look!” Older Dalladh pointed at the pearl in the sand, “The pearl must have fallen out of the blanket by accident. Surely this round does not count then. Do be more careful next time.”

“...But of course.” Choinuh said with a strained smile, “I will be careful next time.”

The actions of her younger self must have been orchestrated after the game was finished, so that her younger self could travel back in time and play the part she did just now. Older Dalladh would have to be careful to arrange that event once that was over, as once something has happened in the Land of Memory, it must be reflected in the Land of Prophecy.

As it has happened, so it will be.

As younger Dalladh picked up her stick and ran off, an irritated but still confident Choinuh put the pearl back under one of the conches.

“If I win, I want my clothes back.” Choinuh said.

Dalladh grinned, “Then you no longer want my necklace?”

“...That is still part of the wager. You wagered that and you can not take it back now.”

“But I did win your clothes, fair and square,” Dalladh pointed out, “And I am not obliged to wager them now if that is not what I wish for. However, I will agree to it now… But only if you agree to swear an oath of servitude to me if you lose.”

“...That is fine by me. Because there is no way I will lose now.”

Choinuh shifted the shells even faster than before, but he was still no match for Vieznja’s gift. He also did not palm the pearl, or she would have noticed.

Dalladh pointed at the left conch, which Choinuh lifted up… But nothing was underneath.

Did Dalladh make a mistake?

She rewinded time to see what transpired. Once again, she found that it was indeed under the left shell, and yet when he lifted it up… Nothing.

“Hah! I knew I would get you eventually, elder.” Choinuh’s grin grew from ear to ear, “I win, and so I get my clothes back, and your necklace too. You simply will have to find someone else to be your ****.”

Dalladh now knew that he was capable and willing of cheating, but the only explanation was that he had used a Gift of Vieznja to win.

But he had no gift beyond speaking with animals and earning their allegiance, and no man has more than one Gift.

Nothing about this made sense.

Unless…

“Can I take a look at that shell?” The elderly woman asked.

“For what purpose?” Choinuh asked.

“I just want to take a look.” Dalladh swiped the shell from him, and looked inside. A hermit crab was living inside the shell, and in its little claw, a pearl was held.

A toothy grin grew on the woman’s wrinkly face, “Ah, here it is!” She took the pearl and held it up, “Under the shell, just like I said! Now it looks like you really became my ****!”

Choinuh sighed, but was not dismayed. Certainly his ego was bruised, but there really was no shame in being outwitted by someone older and wiser, and being under the service of an old and respected individual may in fact be an honour. Working under the old woman was a good way of accessing the wisdom she acquired throughout the years. Maybe being a servant in her household could get her closer to one of her beautiful daughters, and make him eligible to marry her.

“Now it is time to learn the name of your mistress, and that name is… Dalladh i'h Cothrom.” Dalladh saw colour drain from Choinuh’s face and bewildered as he realised what had happened.

“Ah, I see that my reputation precedes me.”

“You cheated!” Choinuh said.

“Accusations like those are far too easy to throw around. They are best saved until such time you are able to prove them.” Younger Dalladh said as she walked up to them.

Her older self laughed, “That is very astute, Dalladh.”

“Thank you Dalladh.” Her younger version said.

“Now that you are my ****, it goes without saying you are to be her **** as well.”

“Yeah,” Younger Dalladh said, “After all, I am her!”

“And she is me.” Older Dalladh said, “So it goes without saying you need to be as obedient to her as you are to me.”

“No!” Choinuh protested. Not only was Dalladh younger and far more impudent than him, but being a **** meant he was now **** to her impure desires.

“But Choinuh, you do not wish to go back on your words now.” Older Dalladh said, “Vieznja is watching, after all.”

Younger Dalladh approached Choinuh with a length of rope and a wicked grin, “Hands behind your back now!”

That night music could be heard from within the walls of Göbleki Tepi, and around a bonfire men and women alike danced to their heart’s content.

Amia wrapped some of the crab stew in flat bread, and handed it to Dalladh who was sitting next to her.

“Your food is delicious as always,” Dalladh said as she took a bite, “I am so happy we could gather together tonight in celebration.”

“It was all thanks to you, Dalladh!” Amia said as she prepared another corner of flat bread, “And it was thanks to you that Choinuh got what was coming to him.”

Dalladh swallowed, “You would hope that he would, but people like him can be stubborn. After two moons have passed, we will see if he has learned his lesson. And then I will consider releasing him from his oath… Do you not find that fair, Choinuh?”

Choinuh could only grunt as he had to crouch down on all four so that he could act as Dalladh’s chair for the evening.

Even so Amia fed him one bread wrap with crab stew.

This was, after all, a night for everyone.