Stolen by the Beastly Lycan King-Chapter 60: The Gambling Room, Part I

Rhaegar pulled Lorelai closer to his body, tightening his grip on her small hand.

"Welcome, dear guests!" The host of the games greeted everyone in an excited tone, clasping his gloved hands together. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. I am sure you are eager to finally start the fun therefore, without further ado, let me explain what exactly is going to happen here tonight."

He motioned for his assistant, a tall, slender woman in a tight black dress and a long raven mask concealing her features, to approach the table with a large silver tray in her pale hands. There were several sets of bidding chips and card decks placed on the tray along with a set of expensive cigars intended for the male guests.

The man continued, "The rules are awfully simple. You play to win. And your winning prize is, of course, the slave presented for the round. The one emerging victorious from the round gets the prize. Naturally, the money gambled for each round is collected in the same pool which means that those who lose, lose their money as well."

'That's not really fair,' Lorelai sighed internally, thinking about all the money that would be lost tonight.

"We begin with the cheapest slave and slowly go all the way up to the most expensive one," the host added. "Now, if there are no questions, please take your seats behind the table and we will start in just a moment."

The man invited the participants to take their seats behind the gambling table and it finally made Lorelai realize that there were clearly not enough seats for every single person present.

"Your Majesty," she whispered to Rhaegar, "how come there are so many missing chairs?"

The king laughed gently at her innocent ignorance, then sat down in an empty chair, and tapped his large tanned hand on top of his lap.

"You are my gambling companion tonight, princess. This is your place."

"Still," the princess arched her brows, feigning ignorance again. "Where do I sit?"

Letting out another short laugh, the man grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her down, forcing her to finally sit down on his lap. "Here, of course. This is the most comfortable seat."

He then brought his face closer to hers and whispered into her ear, "Darling."

Lorelai felt her cheeks run hot as the word "darling" settled in her mind. That, however, helped her understand what happened.

'Since he knew we both had the same goal for tonight, he probably pretended that I was his lover. It allows us to be on the same team and combine our efforts.'

With a resigned sigh, she sat down on Rhaegar's lap, her eyes wandering slowly around the dark room.

The princess was curious whether she would be able to recognize at least someone there, but everyone present had an almost impeccable disguise.

Curious, she turned her face back to the king's, and their lips almost touched. Startled, Lorelai recoiled a little, feeling a slight ticklish tremble in her chest.

"Your Majesty," she whispered, "You recognized me pretty easily. Is my disguise really that bad?"

Rhaegar smiled briefly, then tucked one of her faux red locks behind her ear, and as his fingers moved away, he showed her a gold coin that suddenly appeared between them out of nowhere.

The princess' innocent amazement put another genuine smile on his face. He whispered back into her pink ear, "I can recognize you anywhere, princess. Your mesmerizing scent is forever etched onto my brain."

"My scent?" Lorelai widened her eyes, caught off-guard by his response.

Her question, however, was left without a proper response as the man sitting next to them interrupted their conversation, mannerlessly chiming in.

"Quite a beauty you have there, My Lord," he noted as he patted his own female companion on the back. "She reminds me of the reigning queen of Erelith. May I ask where you got her?"

Rhaegar scoffed at his remark and shook his head. "She is one of a kind, you won't find someone like her anywhere else."

His response made Lorelai blush all the way up to her ears. The other man leaned closer to the king, his lips spreading into a vile grin. "If that's the case… shall we trade? Or perhaps I can win her in a separate game?"

Rhaegar's brows furrowed for a split second. Then, he looked at Lorelai who was now completely flustered, and shook his head once more. "No, I'm afraid this, too, will be impossible."