Gervin’s suggestion was met with numerous nods of approval from the rest of the table.
“Finally, a good idea,” a portly man who had yet to speak interjected. “Clandestine conversations are all well and good but why worry about that when we have good food and gambling?”
“You have a game in mind?” Anwyl asked. “I’m in the mood for some pas deg personally.”
Kern laughed loudly and procured a set of bone dice that he clattered around in his hand. He rolled three of them out onto the ground in the center of the group. A four, a six, and a three. Kern pocketed the other remaining dice into his jacket. The older man smiled greedily.
“That’s an excellent idea, Anwyl,” Kern praised the younger man. “I’ve been looking into getting the wife a gift and you all can pay for it. What gracious friends I have.”
“So you wish for us to fight today?” Gervin chuckled. “Or do you feel so comfortable since you have offered your dice so readily?”
“Are you implying something is fishy about my dice? I got these from my late pops here.” Kern clenched his fist and his jovial expression had disappeared.
Anwyl and the portly man watched with interest at the stand-off between warriors. Kern swirled his dice in one hand, allowing the clacking sounds to echo over the circle.
“Being dead doesn’t make you no longer a cheat,” Gervin proclaimed and took a long swig from his drink. He handed it to Min who also took a drink. “Just like how it doesn’t absolve you of being a killer or a thief or a defiler. Now put away those tainted bones before I force you to, Kern.”
Valentin felt the tension at the table rise rapidly. The other three looked between the two men with narrowed eyes as they tried to determine which person to support. Gervin appeared to be much more relaxed than his elder counterpart who glared daggers towards the warrior.
Kern suddenly laughed and the onlookers glanced at each other with confused faces. “Right you are, Gervin.” Kern removed the die that had rolled a six and rolled a new die from his pocket that landed on three. “Now are you satisfied?”
“How long are you going to try to slip in that die, Kern?” Gervin asked, unimpressed by the theatrics.
“Until it stops being funny,” Kern responded with a chuckle. “These three should be thanking you that you joined us for a meal, Gervin. I would have made out as a very rich man.”
“You planned on cheating us, you old fox!” Anwyl called out angrily. “Can we tolerate letting him play with us?”
“If you’re not cheating, you’re not trying,” the portly man remarked sagely.
“Right you are, Elder Varn,” Kern chimed in affably, slapping the man on the back and causing the stout man to cough on his beverage. He pointed at the aggrieved Anwyl. “Keep this in mind, young master, in all things you must do your utmost to try to win because everyone around you will be doing the same. I sincerely hope that when you are defeated you don’t use words like ‘unfair’. It’s unbecoming.”
Anwyl deflated next to Valentin but the boy couldn’t help but feel for him. He had seen the results of a man unprepared for the realities of a dice game just recently and Valentin himself felt a slight aversion towards the pastime.
“Are we all ready to begin?” Kern asked excitedly.
Varn and Gervin nodded. Anwyl looked uncertain for a moment. He had good reason to be, the rest of the table revealed themselves to be ruthless players. However, he put on a brave face and nodded in agreement. He would not be laughed out of the circle as Robert had.
“What about you, Min?” Gervin asked the woman beside him.
Min sighed and waved her hand dismissively. “I know a big bet match when I see one. I’m not tossing all my earthly wealth into a dice game. Besides, I want to get this new cushion done soon. My current one is starting to fray overmuch.”
“Oh, don’t be like that, Min,” Kern pleaded jokingly before licking his lips. “How about this, I’ll let you trade one night of passion for an eagle.”
“Even more of a reason to refrain from participating,” Min answered dispassionately, brandishing her needle at the older warrior.
“Do you mind if I join in?” A new voice entered the circle. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation and thought it sounded like fun.”
A woman dressed in furs and leathers stood on the outskirts of the group and offered them a cordial smile. Two black lines were tattooed on her face that snaked from her eye down to her jaw. Her hair was decorated with feathers and flowers. Teeth connected by a rope made braided animal hair dangled around her neck. The rest of the circle seemed surprised by the introduction of the woman but Varn offered a slight bow towards the visitor.
“Druid Ula, it would be our pleasure to include you in our little game. Provided that you have the coin for it.” Varn graciously moved to the side and allowed the woman to sit between him and Kern.
“So we are playing pas deg? I must admit that I’m not highly skilled at the game, but don’t think you can sneak something by the eyes of the spirits,” Druid Ula proclaimed confidently. She tapped her finger against her temple.
“Does the Great Spirit even care about cheating in dice?” Kern inquired dubiously, his discerning eyes squinting at the druid.
“Would you like to find out?” Ula responded playfully.
“Not particularly,” answered Kern with a grin. “So, who’s going to be our first fool?”
“I don’t mind taking on the role first,” Varn offered.
“Then I’m the first to roll,” Gervin commented, reaching for the three dice and cycling them in his fingers. “Just as a warm up, I’ll set the wager as one bull.”
Anwyl, Kern, and Ula all placed the small copper coin in front of them. Gervin continued to palm the dice while thinking. He held up the dice to his face before rolling them into the dirt. Two fours and a five. Varn reached into his purse and gave a copper piece to each of the other players. Then Anwyl grabbed the dice and started to shake it in his hand.
“Oh,” commented Valentin, mostly to himself. “This is Talus.”
“Good to know that even the powerful play the same games as we do,” Varn mused with a smile, humoring the dirtied boy. “Have you played it before, young master?”
Valentin scratched behind his head and his cheeks were flush with color. “I used to play a version with my sisters where we’d play over desserts. Though I heard that the matches in the Tiarna’s manor could get highly contentious. There was a story that Tiarna Lun- the Tiarna visited the High Tiarna and they played several rounds. The wager got up to an imperial a round, even servants and land were put up for bid.”
The players went slack jawed at the mention of such a precious coin. Kern looked at the two copper pieces in his hand as if they were nothing more than rocks. Gervin looked at the boy with a new sense of interest, as though the story that he had spun earlier may truly bear fruit.
“Throwing around imperials and people as though they were nothing.” Kern muttered with disappointment at his paltry winnings. “Tell me, boy, how do the nobles of the south play the game when the dice add up to equal ten?”
“There was a version of the game that my uncle talked about sometimes that was known as ‘Double’,” Valentin explained. “If it landed on ten, then the pot doubled and the host and the roller would rotate to the next person. Sorry, we called the person that had to pay out the host. He said it was an iteration that was reserved for either the most reckless or the most desperate.”
“What say that we give this version a shot, everyone?” Kern looked thrilled with the prospects of this rule variation.
“I’m fine with whatever the group decides. After all, I’m a late arrival and it’d be rude to impose more on all of you,” Ula replied.
“I think it would be fun to try out,” Varn added.
Gervin just shrugged about the proposal. Only Anwyl looked troubled over the rule change. He swallowed and his hands shook with nervous energy. His boot tapped repeatedly into the dirt and he pressed his knuckle to his lips.
“Fine,” Anwyl consented. “Against my better judgment. “But if it gets to be too much for me, I’m just leaving.”
“I wouldn’t force you to stay,” Kern smiled at the young man. “Now place your bet.”
Anwyl’s roll totaled thirteen and Gervin paid out to the other players. Kern rolled an eight and Anwyl took the pot with a pleased grin. Ula said a prayer to the spirits and rolled a fourteen. Finally Varn rolled an eleven.
Shortly into the game, Varn’s servants arrived with steaming bowls of food. Only the late comers of Valentin and Ula didn’t receive anything. The players would passively reach for the food while continuing the game.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The roller eventually became Kern again. He held up one copper coin in front of his face and made a disappointed sigh. “These low bets are starting to bore me. How about we move up to four bulls?”
“You are welcome to do as you please, Kern,” Varn answered affably. “After all, none of us are obliged to match your coin, well outside of your fool that is.” Varn then tossed in two copper pieces.
Gervin tossed in five copper coins, “Don’t fuck up your roll again, Kern.”
Anwyl looked exceedingly nervous at the amount of coins that had piled up around him. Kern breathed on to the dice and muttered some words under his breath. Puffs of dust followed the dice on their track along the ground towards the center of the circle. Six, four, five. Kern picked up the dice and handed them to Ula.
“Do you understand what kind of game this really is now, Anwyl?” Gervin asked the young man as he collected five coins from him. “No one at this table is your friend and you can very easily spiral into major losses.”
“I appreciate that the lesson was relatively cheap,” Anwyl thanked Gervin through gritted teeth while he finished paying out the rest of the players.
“You know,” Ula remarked contemplatively. “I think I understand the appeal of the high bet now.” Six copper coins clattered onto the dirt. “I think this is an appropriate raise.”
“Good idea, Druid Ula,” Anwyl agreed, placing six coins of his own in the middle.
Varn and Gervin placed similarly sized bets. Ula once again prayed into her dice while Kern gave her a secretive look of annoyance. She flourished the dice over her head for the climax of the appeal to the spirits. Ula released the dice from her hands. Four, four, four.
“Bless the spirits, Ula. Bless the spirits indeed,” Anwyl praised the druid as he happily collected his winnings.
While Kern begrudgingly doled out the contents of his purse, Valentin was handed a partially finished bowl of food from Min. He took the bowl into his hands and gave the woman an uncertain look.
“It’s yours, sorry for being rude to you,” the woman explained with a cheery smile. “I’ll just take some of Gervin’s if I’m still hungry.”
Valentin ate graciously from the meal and the flavors were the deepest and richest he had tasted in days. Fatty flavors of butter and cheese coated his tongue. He noticed that Min was watching the boy closely after the gift was given but she refrained from speaking to Valentin outright.
Now that the bets had been raised considerably and many rounds had passed by, almost all of the banter had ceased. Fortunes made one round could easily be more than lost by the next. Valentin couldn’t easily keep track of all the coins exchanged between the five players so he relied on body language to determine how well players had been doing.
The druid, Ula, seemed to be doing the best. At the very least, she seemed to be having the most fun from the game. Her prayers to the spirits were just as energetic as when the game started. Valentin couldn’t rightly say that Kern was losing, but he was growing continually more irritated by the woman next to him. Valentin imagined that this aggressive betting woman was not part of his plans compared to the milder bettor that Varn was. Varn and Gervin seemed to be around even and had more relaxed body language. Only Anwyl seemed to be overly stressed as though his whole world hinged on the next roll. Whenever he rolled over ten he relaxed heavily.
“The next round will be my final,” Varn announced, passing the dice to Gervin. “It’s been fun, but I need to return to my clan.”
“Agreed,” Gervin nodded, “I was given a late guard shift and I was hoping to take a nap first.”
“Works for me,” shrugged the druid. “This has already proven to be a good use of my time. I hope we can play again some time.”
“Sure, as long as you never sit to my left,” Gervin joked and rolled high. “Sorry, Varn.”
The portly man paid out while Anwyl picked up the dice in his shaking hands. “No hard feelings, Gervin, but I may not survive Kern’s turn if I don’t bet big.”
Twelve coppers piled up in front of Anwyl. The other three players made similarly high bets. Anwyl kissed the dice and rolled them out. Five, four, one. Ten.
“Bad luck, Anwyl, my lad,” Kern said with an apologetic face that reeked of insincerity. “How about we have fun and, instead of doubling the pot, we turn this into an eagle?” A silver coin glimmered in the old man’s hand before he dropped it in front of him. A challenge to all those that claimed they had the proper fortitude for gambling.
Anwyl’s face turned a sickly pale when the rest of the table dropped an eagle of their own. The coins shimmered on the ground in an imposing fashion, their silver sheen putting the dull bulls that they had been tossing around to shame. He looked despondently into his purse to see if he even had four eagles. It may be all the money he had in this world. He had begun to sweat and cold nervous sweat and Valentin could imagine that his heart was beating rapidly as he helplessly watched the roll that may seal his fate.
Six. Two. Two. Ten.
Anwyl looked like he was on the verge of tears of joy that the worst had passed. However, nobody could relax yet. The bet was now two eagles and the punishment for the person that had to pay out quadruple would be crippling.
Vern picked up the dice and scowled before handing them over to Ula. The druid held a die in between her thumb and index finger and rolled it around slowly, letting each point and edge contact her fingers.
“It looks like the Great Spirit does care about cheating in dice,” Ula commented expressionlessly.
“Say again, druid?” Kern snarled, his mouth forming an uncomfortable smile. “Would you like to clarify your accusation?”
“Oh of course. I’m saying that your plan has crumbled before the Great Spirit and my next roll will finish you. However, I’ll save you and leave the table now if you admit to it,” Ula offered with the same childish grin she sported the entire night.
“What is she talking about, Kern?” Anwyl’s eyes darkened. “Have you been up to something unbecoming?”
“Come now, even a child could spot the deception,” Ula remarked with condescension in her voice. She locked her eyes on the boy sitting next to Gervin. “Child, would you like to tell everyone what has happened?”
Eyes shifted from Kern to Valentin. Discomfort rose inside of him. He glanced over to Gervin who shrugged at him. He wasn’t even certain if he noticed what the druid had claimed to be going on at the table and he didn’t want to risk any troubles that arose from any conflicts at the table.
“I’m not sure if I feel comfortable interfering in your game,” Valentin replied neutrally. He hoped that his noncommittal answer would end this moment and that focus would return to the combative Kern.
“Go on, boy,” Kern offered. “Enlighten the table of my transgressions.”
“W-well,” the boy stammered, feeling trapped in an unexpected situation. “Whenever someone rolled, the dice remained in the center of the group until the next roller picked them up. The only person who was unable to pick up their dice was Ula, because Kern always picked them up for her.”
“You motherfucker!” Anwyl sprung from his cushion and pointed a quivering finger at the old warrior. “You were loading your roll!”
The young man looked at Varn and Gervin who had not reacted in the same angry way that Anwyl had. A look of despair passed over him. “Were you two in on it?”
“I always play under the assumption that Kern is cheating,” Gervin commented and shrugged for emphasis. “If I was sitting in your spot I would have demanded different dice be used and if I was sitting in Ula’s I would have cut off his hand when he reached for my dice. Lucky for me I sat across him and could make large wagers at your expense. No hard feelings.”
“I had my own countermeasures in place in case things got too dangerous for me,” Varn explained with a chuckle. “Though, admittedly, I was worried about using them in front of Druid Ula.”
“Sweet Anwyl,” Druid Ula spoke apologetically. “When you gamble you’re not playing the game, you’re playing the group.”
“Hold on!” Kern shouted in frustration. “Nobody here can prove that’s what I was doing. Who here can show without any doubt that I was rigging my rolls?”
“Silence your tongue, serpent,” Anwyl spat.
Tensions were mounting as Gervin spoke. “Now that things have gotten this far, we have two options. We can cease our bets and go our separate ways or we can fight until our grievances are settled.” Gervin scooped up his coins and shuffled them into his coin purse. “I’ll let you all decide on your own.”
Varn and Ula also packed away their coins. Varn provided a brief bow before departing while Ula gave Valentin a wink before returning to her original group. Only Anwyl stayed behind unsatisfied.
“I want you to pay me for my losses. Fifteen bulls,” Anwyl demanded of the old warrior next to him.
Kern scoffed in return. “Anwyl, Anwyl, Anwyl. It’s wonderful that you found your missing spine, but I didn’t cheat.” He patted at a sheathed knife on his hip. “Even if, for some reason, I did cheat, what the fuck are you going to do about it?”
“I recommend that you leave things be, unless you think risking your life for a handful of copper is a good idea,” commented Gervin as he stood up with Min in tow. “Come on, Valentin, I need to return you to wherever you’re supposed to be.”
The boy got up and followed the warrior away from the area. He looked over his shoulder to see Anwyl shove the coins into his purse and storm off. Only Kern remained at his seat, rattling the dice in his hand.
“That was good fun, don’t you think?” Gervin asked Valentin as they stepped through the groups of people.
“Are all Talus games like that?” Valentin asked with a voice of concern.
“All the good ones are,” Gervin answered with a chuckle. “You should have seen when the deggan all played a couple cycles back. I thought Hrost was going to murder someone from the amount of shouting that came out of the tent.”
Valentin could see someone pace nervously near Morna’s doorway with soft footsteps. He raised his hand and called out to them.
“Basset!”
A look of relief passed over the face of the pacing boy as he looked at the approaching trio. “Valentin, why weren’t you where I left you?”
“Some drunk started harassing me and Gervin helped me out so I waited with him instead. Sorry, Bassett, I should have tried to find you,” Valentin looked away apologetically. After all, it was his own inability to do anything for himself that put Bassett in this position and forced Gervin’s involvement.
“It is fine,” Bassett said with a dismissive wave. “If you had stayed put and been taken, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself. Besides, since Morna knew where you were, she wasn’t as angry as I expected when she saw I wasn’t with you.
“Did she say anything about my pursuers showing up?” Valentin asked but Bassett shook his head. “Sounds like it may have been the witch’s body guard who was out hunting rabbits.”
Gervin clapped Valentin on the shoulder and chuckled. “I don’t blame you by being disconcerted by Zunjing, the man hardly speaks and is always scowling. It sounds like everything is resolved and I can go nap in peace. Well, boy, good luck. Morna’s a lot to handle, but I believe in you.”
Valentin stared at Gervin in hurt confusion. For a moment, he thought that he and Min may be good people. That maybe there was somewhere that he could be where he could renege on Morna’s deal. Instead, he received a joke.
“What is that you think is happening?” Valentin asked the warrior.
Gervin scratched his beard and offered Valentin an apologetic look. He mulled his words, selecting his phrasing carefully. He leaned down to be at eye level with Valentin.
“You don’t understand how much worse it could be for you, boy,” Gervin said softly. Unlike how Charlon or Robert would say it, Gervin’s words lacked malice. “Without Morna’s protection, your life could very easily mirror your friend’s. If we are to compare burdens, yours is light. Don’t let it drown you.”
The bearded warrior and Min left Valentin and Bassett alone outside of Morna’s den. Bassett tilted his head in confusion but seemed not to have overheard Gervin’s words.
“I’ll come back for you in the morning,” Bassett reassured his friend before departing as well back towards Darri and the rest of the children.
“Bassett-,“ Valentin tried to say but his friend had already left earshot.
Valentin stood alone outside of the entrance to the room. A frown was plastered on his face, Gervin’s words unceasing inside his head. Inside was a beast that made his skin crawl. However, it also had warm blankets, pillows, and protection from those that wished him to die. Bassett never had these things. He would never be given those things. He had taken his friend for granted, believing that they were kindred spirits. He thought they understood each other.
It couldn’t be further from the truth.