San smiled when Lady Erin agreed to help him. It was a rare breed of sucker that agreed to something before hearing the terms. The blind man held up his long black cloak over his arm before extracting three copious coin purses of gold. He cast the bags onto the table in front of Erin and Omar both. If one had inspected the coins within, both Theiri and Aserit currencies would have been present. All coins shaved around the outer edges by a sharp blade.<br/><br/>“Right now, the betting line in the Gladiator category has me at eight-to-one. While these odds are decent in my opinion, they are not optimal. I need someone within the stands at the event to pose as a… How should I put this? Rube. A sucker who’s got gold burning a hole in her pocket and a mind for foolish bets.” Sanguine smiled brighter, pushing a knife that wasn’t from his table setting through the ham on his plate. “Ten-to-One are the odds I’d like to bet on myself at, but you can understand why it might be difficult for me to get those kind of odds on my own.”<br/><br/>The thin, sharp blade that had come from inside San’s boot, stabbed a large piece of ham and he lifted it to his teeth. In three bites or so, it was gone.<br/><br/>“If you can do better than Ten-to-One, by all means, go ahead. I’ll even offer a bonus if you can increase that sum. And if I lose, I’ll likely be dead and that gold becomes yours. Surely this is the sort of task for which a fool might be employed, yes?”<br/><br/>The sound of another entering the Main Hall caught San’s attention before Lady Fool could respond. He didn’t have time to let himself become an easy target. Millions of pieces of gold were about to change hands in just a few short hours, and San wanted it all for himself.<br/><br/>“Let me know after the first round of the Archery contest, or sooner. Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I must get to the arena early to make preparations.” San stood up after swallowing the last of his meat and Eyes followed suit.<br/><br/>Eyes cast one last longing look over her shoulder at the piece of pastry that Erin had pushed aside, before joining her Master in their mutual journey down the Central Staircase. He only got a few steps away from the main hall before the sound of high-pitched giggling caused San to turn on his heel and grasp the hilt of his sword.<br/><br/>“Who’s there?” San demanded of whoever had followed him from the Hall.<br/><br/>“I- I- A message. Hee Hee Hee!” The little girl laughed into her hands. “Are you alone?”<br/><br/>“It’s just you, me and my dog here. The guards are out investigating an apparent suicide behind the West Wall. What’s the message?” San replied, his wolf growling softly, not feeling threatened but also not liking how forward this unknown young thing was being.<br/><br/>“Mister Luncheons, I have need of your services.” The girl said confidently, making it clear that she’d practiced this message several times and still gotten it wrong.<br/><br/>“Young Lady, I doubt very much you even know what services I provide. Much less how to employ those services for-”<br/><br/>“Teeeee! Hee! Hee! Hee! Hee!” The girl squealed, running back up the staircase back toward the Main Hall.<br/><br/>“…I think today is going to be quite eventful.” San muttered softly, taking Eyes by her harness and turning back down the stairs. “Quite eventful indeed.”