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As Blaine opened the door to the gaming room, the noise level battered her. It wasn’t unusual to find a sizeable crowd enjoying Nori’s establishment, but the forester sensed that these folk were also enjoying a show.
A hand on her elbow, and she turned to find Gloin suddenly at her side.
“Blaine, lass, come with me. You need to see this.”
“Wait, Gloin...”
“Save your words; Nori’s going to need all the help he can get.”
“What?”
“If Dwalin’s luck doesn’t change soon, our proprietor may find himself on the wrong edge of those axes.”
“Oh, no. He didn’t load the dice, did he?”
Gloin’s only answer was a low chuckle as he steered Blaine towards the central game table, where the crowd was thickest. Nudging the crowd aside, he settled back into his seat. The others in place around the table paused to see who had joined the crowd of onlookers.
Bofur smiled and called out a greeting to Blaine, Dwalin huffed and gave her a curt nod, and Nori grinned and spread his arms wide.
“Gloin! You found my good luck charm! Blaine, come here, I need you to breathe on the dice for me.”
“Stow it, Fireface.” Dwalin glared at Nori, then gave Blaine a sidelong look as he scooped up the dice. “He doesn’t need any help with winning, trust me.”
Blaine raised an eyebrow but otherwise remained quiet as everyone watched the guard captain shake the dice in his cupped hands and flung them onto the table.
With a triumphant cry, Dwalin slammed his palms o to the tabletop and crowed, “Ha! Beat that!”
Nori gave him an unimpressed look. “Pfft. Gimme those dice.”
Blaine caught Nori’s eye and made a subtle shrug. He smirked back at her, waggling his braided eyebrows before turning his attention back to the game. A snap of the wrist, a rattle of the dice on the table, and a collective groan from the other players as the proprietor smugly handed the dice over.
Gloin muttered to no one in particular, “Remind me again why I keep agreeing to play against him.?”
Before Nori could retort, he paused, looked across the table, and gestured to the newly-thrown dice in disbelief. “Bofur, what was that?”
“What was what? That’s my best roll yet!”
Gloin shook his head in sympathy. “Lad, you had better dig deep into your pockets, if you keep up at that rate.”
Behind the miner, Bifur rolled his eyes. Seeing Blaine now watching him, he shrugged and signed to her, Brave but foolish.
She smiled and sighed. Dice games were never her strong suit, and Hazard was more convoluted in its rules and betting than most. King Bard had mentioned how the men of Dale preferred the simpler version called Craps, and watching as Dwalin and Gloin argued over how Bofur’s latest role was to be scored, she began to understand why.