Now he was nothing but a lech and a waste of breath.
"How did you come by this new bride of yours?" Ember asked with a raised eyebrow. At first, the lord looked as though he might not answer. A small dig in the shoulder from Ember's fingers quickly loosened his lips.
The eyes of the other lords around the table were all on them now, but Ember did not look away from Perivale as he answered, "She is the daughter of a local businessman. He thought I was paying a handsome price for her but really I practically stole her."
"And now you wish to use your stolen bride to recoup a handsome sum of money," Ember finished for him, seeing the pile of money and trinkets that had been laid down on the table by the other lords.
Ember turned to them and asked, "Have any of you seen this bride? What makes her worth all of this?"
He gestured at the mountain of treasure, wondering how lovely a creature she must be to have warranted such a tribute.
The faces surrounding him suddenly became hungry with desire, as if each one of them were picturing the beauty sitting at the center of the table.
Ember, knowing these men well, knew that each and every one of them had been married previously. They had wasted their wives through adultery, gambling and childbirth. None of them had a chivalrous bone in their body.
Do I? Ember asked himself. Seeing the tribute on the table and the selection of men around the table, he knew he could not stand by and allow an innocent girl to be thrown to the wolves.
"May I?" he asked, gesturing to the chair next to Perivale where another lord was sitting. The man, half Perivale's age, practically bounced right out of his seat and offered it to the king.
"I have a wager for you, Lord Perivale," he announced. The tension in the air around them seemed to thicken.
"Oh, lord, please," Perivale pleaded, "I cannot afford another wager."
"If the men at this table all agree, it will replace your current wager," Ember suggested. He glared around the table, daring anyone to object. None of them did.
Ember turned back to Perivale and waited patiently. He could sit and watch the worm wiggle all night long, knowing he had him right where he wanted him. One way or another, by money or blood, the debt would be paid by dawn.
"If you win, I shall pay your entire debt to the crown, but you must give up your land and your title and go into exile for the remainder of your pitiful life," Ember explained, already knowing that he was about to give the lord a double-edged sword, "If I win, you shall keep your land and title, I shall pay only half your debts to the crown, and your bride shall become mine to do with as I wish. Also, whether I win or lose, if I so much as see you glance at another gambling table again, I shall have you thrown into the dungeon, and I’ll personally throw away the key."
Several mouths were gaping open now, Perivale's included.
"He can't refuse," Ember heard a voice whisper somewhere close by.
"He has nothing else left," another added in agreement.
When Perivale made no attempt to accept or decline the wager, Ember added, "We play match the dice. Best of three."
Perivale gulped visibly again. As if he could not bring himself to speak, he simply nodded.
"Who has a spare set of dice?" Ember asked, holding out his hand expectantly.
Everyone in the room appeared to have forgotten all about their own games and were now crowded around the table. Ember did not often gamble, but when he did, he roused quite the audience.
A pair of dice were placed in his hand and he used his other to collect the second set from the table. He tossed both sets in his hands, making sure he held a pair in each before offering them to the other lord. "Choose."
Perivale scrutinized for several moments before finally holding his palm up beneath Ember's left hand.
"I'll allow you to roll first." Ember announced.
"Thank you, Your Grace," Perivale responded in a strangled voice.
He gave his dice a quick shake and then loosed them onto the table, rolling a five and a three.
Everyone watched in anticipation as Ember held his breath, rolling his own dice. A small wave of disappointment hit him when he found that he had rolled a two and a six.
"First round goes to Perivale," Filton announced loudly so that even those in the back knew what was occurring. "The king's roll!"
Ember picked up his dice and waited for Perivale to do the same before he gave them a quick shake and released them.