An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

Gambling was a slippery slope, especially once they tasted victory. For those lacking restraint, it was easy to get sucked in.

"Congratulations on your wins! Here's your stash of celestial stones." Abigail beamed as she handed over the winnings.

"I just bet with my darksteel sword and get five celestial stones, right? Can I redeem it?" Ruby asked.

"Sure." Abigail nodded and motioned for someone to retrieve Ruby's sword, which had been used as a bet earlier.

"Not so fast!" Miles intervened just as Ruby reached for her sword. "Ruby, hold up. The real action is yet to unfold.

"If you redeem now, we'll have less to play with later, meaning fewer wins. Let's stack up some more celestial stones first, then redeem your sword. Sounds good?"

"Hmm." Ruby hesitated.

me, betting with me is like finding cash on the sidewalk. Win a few more rounds, and we'll have enough

go along with your suggestion." She chuckled and ultimately decided against

ten celestial stones in hand, cashing in the sword would leave her with only five. It would cut her potential winnings in half. So, she opted to

thought, "Just three more wins... no, just two more, and I

Abigail kept smiling. She stuck to her mantra that customers were always right. After

effortlessly, most people couldn't resist and quickly

gamblers winning. Instead, she feared they

could get them to cough up their winnings as long as they kept playing. But it came at

second

with his opponent pulling out all the stops,

handed the celestial stones to

this point, most of the celestial stones in her box