The Warrior's Bride Prize

But if he refused to gamble, then he’d be sacrificing his one chance to save Livia. If any woman was worth gambling for, then surely it was her... The memory of their kiss was enough to decide him.

‘Done.’ He drew the weapon from its scabbard and laid it on the floor between them. ‘But if I win, whatever agreement you made with her brother is void.’

Scaevola’s gaze flickered uncomfortably. ‘As long as you explain that to Nerva.’

Marius sat down with a snort of contempt. For all his bravado, it seemed the Tribune was no more than a frightened boy, unwilling to accept the consequences of his behaviour. No wonder he’d got himself into such a mess.

‘There’s no going back, Varro.’ Scaevola scooped up the pair of dice.

‘For you either.’ Marius arched an eyebrow, watching as the dice clattered on to the board. That was well and truly that, he thought with a sense of foreboding; the die was cast. Win or lose, there was no going back now.

They played for a few minutes in silence, Arvina and Drusus going to stand with Pulex in the doorway as if determined to distance themselves as far away from the game as possible. Marius couldn’t blame them. Whoever won, there was going to be hell to pay. If he lost, then Nerva would surely notice the absence of his father’s sword and ask him about it, and if he won...his pulse raced at the idea...if he won, he’d have to explain why Scaevola’s planned marriage wasn’t going ahead. He could hardly be punished since the game was fair and legitimate, but the Legate wouldn’t be pleased.

‘Ha!’ Scaevola broke the silence finally, his face lighting up with glee as he threw yet another set of doubles. ‘You’re losing, Varro.’

Marius frowned at the board. He couldn’t deny it. Scaevola was definitely in the lead, though he wasn’t going to give up quite so easily.

‘I haven’t lost anything yet.’ As if to prove it, he threw a pair of fives and Scaevola’s exultant expression turned surly again.

‘You still haven’t brought all of your pieces on to the board.’

‘Neither have you.’ Marius glared across the table. ‘Why don’t you concentrate on your own game and let me worry about mine?’

They continued in even deeper silence, the tension disturbed only by the scuffing sound of Arvina’s boots as he paced up and down behind them. Marius didn’t think he’d ever played a game so seriously in his life. Scaevola had sobered up noticeably, too, though his skin was still stained a faint shade of purple. It gave him a slightly unreal appearance, as if they were playing in a dream.

If it was a dream, however, he thought it must be a nightmare, one in which he felt completely out of his depth. Scaevola was clearly an experienced player while he was more than a little out of practice. He tried not to dwell upon that fact, trying to hold his nerve as he moved his pieces steadily around the board, occasionally catching the other man out, occasionally being captured himself. Even so, after ten minutes, he had the vague and somewhat startling impression that he was gradually winning. Every roll seemed to be exactly the one that he needed until, at last, he heard Scaevola suck in a sharp breath.

‘You need a pair of sixes to win.’ The taunt held more than a trace of fear.

Marius didn’t answer as he picked up the dice, rolling them around in his hand for a few seconds as he willed them to fall favourably. Two sixes was a tall order, but if he rolled any lower then both of his last pieces would be exposed, and at this point in the game, that could scupper his entire chances of winning. Scaevola’s pieces were perfectly positioned for a counter-attack. In which case, he told himself, he had no choice but to roll high. There was such a thing as beginner’s luck, wasn’t there?

He let his hand hover over the board for a second and then dropped the dice, his throat constricting as time seemed to slow and they rolled gradually to a standstill. Then he stared in amazement, only the pressure of Arvina’s hand on his shoulder telling him he wasn’t imagining things.

‘Marius wins!’ The other Centurion sounded almost as shocked as he felt.

‘You cheated!’ Scaevola shot to his feet, overturning the table and almost himself as he did so. ‘Those dice are weighted.’

‘They’re my dice,’ Drusus interjected.

‘He still cheated. You all saw it!’

‘All we saw was Marius winning.’ To Arvina’s credit, he didn’t hesitate to stand up for him. ‘There was no cheating.’

‘You’re all in this together! I’ll see you all disciplined.’ Scaevola’s face turned an even more vivid shade of purple. ‘It’s my word against yours.’

‘That’s four against one.’ Drusus came to stand at Marius’s other shoulder. ‘We’ll vouch for you if you need us to, Varro.’

Marius stood up at last, his senses still reeling from shock and relief. He’d been so close to losing and yet somehow he’d managed to throw exactly the right combination, winning the game and Livia, too. He felt the same as he did after a battle, as if his emotions had all been put on hold and he was struggling to come back to reality.

‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary.’ He faced Scaevola over the upturned table. ‘A man of honour wouldn’t go back on his word.’

‘I made a promise to her brother.’ Scaevola’s lips were almost white now. ‘I owe him money. If I don’t marry her, he’ll take the case to the Governor. I could be imprisoned. You don’t understand, Varro—I have to marry her.’

‘So that you can punish her?’ Marius repeated his earlier threat with a steely expression.

‘I won’t, I promise.’ Scaevola was close to begging now. ‘I won’t lay a finger on her. You have my word.’

‘I don’t believe you.’