"Who does that bitch think she is! Fuck," Henry roared towards the walls of his room loud enough for anyone close enough to hear, as he kicked his foot against his nightstand and aggressively toppled over his dresser in a blind rage.
The dismantling of his room lasted thirty minutes before his fury finally began to diminish. As he regained his senses, surrounded by the chaos of his room, the temporary relief he had felt began to fade. It was swiftly replaced by a strong feeling of cognitive dissonance, reminding him of the comforts that the gambling den and the company of beautiful women provided.
Stepping around his dresser, Henry made his way to his nightstand, which was currently tipped over and wet with the remnants of his ale stash. Though his stash of ale was ruined, he couldn't find it in himself to get angry again when he remembered he had lost all his allowance for the week during the previous night's jinxed luck. He knew the den wouldn't let him gamble on credit, likely to avoid any clashes with the baron if he refused to pay, and he had no savings at all as he never saw a point in saving coins when he'd receive more the next week.
Henry reflected on his financial situation, but each thought only brought him to a dead end. His father, undoubtedly angry with him after the disaster of the engagement dinner, was more likely to reprimand him than to grant him any extra allowance. Furthermore, his mother and brother would never go against Arnold's wishes either.
With no solution in sight, Henry's intrusive thoughts, which were usually kept in the back of his mind, surged to the forefront with overwhelming force. Overriding all of his remaining ethics and morals, Henry decided to pawn one of his mother's old rings from her youth. He convinced himself that she wouldn't miss it, and he would certainly be able to gamble far more than his usual allowance permitted.
The longer he contemplated the idea, the more feasible it began to seem to him. After just five minutes of reflection, he decided to take the plunge. Before he could talk himself out of it, he quickly slipped into his mother's room, knowing she was likely still in the baron's study assisting with the town's administrative tasks.
Without wasting any time admiring the regal atmosphere of his mother's meticulously arranged room, he quickly located her jewelry box on top of a neatly organized vanity table. As he sifted through the contents, most of the rings and earrings appeared to be very expensive and easily recognizable, which was not what he was searching for. Just when he thought his mother had nothing he could steal, he spotted it—a perfectly discreet, solid silver ring band with the initials "S.S." engraved on the inner side. He knew immediately that it was exactly what he had been looking for in the first place. Excitement clouding his senses, he slipped the ring into his pocket and hurried out of the room toward the castle's right-side entrance.
As Henry stepped out of the castle and made his way to the gambling den, a wave of guilt washed over him, but it quickly faded with each step. By the time he arrived, only excitement remained. Upon entering the establishment, Henry experienced a strong sense of déjà vu: the manager was standing in the same spot as the day before and walking toward him. Wanting to break the pattern to avoid a repeat of his previous gambling results, Henry took the initiative, walking toward the manager, meeting him halfway, and greeting him before he had the chance to speak.
"How are you doing, Sam? I bet you're surprised to see me back so soon!" Henry said excitedly as he shook Sam's hand. Sam looked at him, confused by Henry's cheerful demeanor, especially given how their last meeting had ended. However, he didn't let his surprise show.
"Haha!" Sam laughed, "I'm good any day there's coin to be made. What can I do for you today?"
Hearing Sam's avaricious reply, Henry decided to cut right to the chase. "I'd like to sell this ring," he said while taking the ring out of his pocket and presenting it to him.
"How much would you pay for it?"
Seeing the ring, Sam's eyes immediately widened as he reached out and grabbed the ring, inspecting it carefully.
"I can't say for sure, but I have an appraiser in-house. Give me a second, and I'll give you a proper offer."
Henry quickly nodded at Sam's words, which Sam took as the affirmation needed to take the ring into a nearby room. He was gone for less than five minutes when he returned with it.
"The ring is certainly of great quality. I'll take it off your hands for one gold coin. How does that sound?"
Henry was shocked. A gold coin was a lot more money than Henry had ever been responsible for.
"One gold coin sounds good to me, but could you exchange it for silver? I plan to have a bit of fun tonight." Henry blurted out in excitement.
Sam, as perceptive as ever, knew Henry would want to be paid in change and had it on his person. He quickly purchased the ring. As soon as the pouch containing one hundred silver coins landed in Henry's hand, he paused to get a true appreciation of its substantial weight.
"It was a pleasure doing business, Henry. Do let me know if you have any similar items you want to sell," Sam proclaimed, clearly happy with the way the sale went.
Henry, still focused on the pouch, barely registered Sam's words and just nodded as he began tossing the pouch from one hand to another. Sam took this as his cue to leave and drifted off to chat with another customer. Once the novelty ran its course, Henry made his way to his room. Right before entering, he remembered he did have one more request to make.
"Oh, Sam! My bad, I just remembered, send your two most beautiful hostesses and some spiced ale to my room," Henry shouted across the den, making sure he was heard. Sam, still in conversation with another guest, gave Henry a thumbs-up in acknowledgment of the request.
Making himself comfortable in the room, his request came in spurts, the first being his dealer for the day, next came a server with his ale, and then finally two young hostesses, definitely above average in looks, but nothing special when compared to Ashley, whom he was there to forget.
Henry started the night playing the dice game as if trying to avenge the losses incurred the day before. He started hot, winning a few hands in a row to the tune of the hostesses' cheering, but eventually gave it back until he was slightly under even with a total of 95 silver coins left. The simplicity of the game wasn't as comforting as before, as it left him too much time to think about Ashley's harsh words and the fact that no one in his family had defended him, which he realized while in the middle of an even called dice round. He knew his family couldn't come to his defense without straight-up lying, but it still stung, nonetheless.
He tried every game from poker to roulette, but he still couldn't control his thoughts. After a couple of hours playing, he realized he wasn't really having fun, and with that realization crept the guilt of selling his mother's ring back with a vengeance to the point he called off his session earlier than usual and made his way back to the castle just before midnight with 85 silver coins left in his pouch.
In what felt like a cruel, ironic joke, Henry felt that with every step towards the castle, his guilt got worse and worse. As he approached the castle, his guilt mixed with a crippling anxiety that threatened to drown him on the spot. He took a moment to gather himself with a few deep breaths and continued.
Entering the castle, he made his way to his room, resolving to sleep his feelings away. Though his guilt and anxiety were almost debilitating, he still noticed something was off, even at midnight. You could hear some servants walking or whispering through the corridors, but the walk to his room was eerily quiet. He couldn't tell if it was paranoia or if something was truly wrong. He chose not to read into it as he felt bad enough as it was.
Walking into his dark room, the only light was the moon's silver glow through his window, illuminating only his bed because of its current position. Looking towards the bed, he noticed his father standing in front of it while his mom sat on the bed to his left and behind him.
His mother's face looked a mixture of disappointment and sadness, with a couple of tears slowly rolling down her cheeks. His father looked livid, his body language suggesting there would be no mercy this time around.
"You fucked up badly this time, Henry."