As usual, Laureline Novak was like a hurricane, too swift and brutal for a reaction before she swept away again. When he got the raised eyebrow from their mother, he merely raised one back in return, something that had her tightening her lips. He was, he thought, the favorite for as much as it was worth, but his mother was starting to realize the disadvantages of pushing him to the top of the Suit. He was twenty-seven, confident because she had built him up while she'd broken Hadyn down, and he was the Jack of Spades. He outranked her and he didn't fear her. Her ambitions were too tied up in him for him to fear much in the way of reprisal.

Of course, she was perfectly capable of making him suffer but, he reflected with a faint smile, he could also reciprocate.

"More visible marks," he said dryly to Hadyn. "For each of us. Things might have been a bit more equal, I suppose." He tilted his head, though, his eyes gleaming. "I'm sure Te would give you a congratulatory kiss, or perhaps you can weasel one out of someone else at the bar. Keep it light until I go home, though. I need to maintain some illusions."