The Great Game

If you’re new to the Great Game, please have a quick look at the blurb to your left, where you’ll find a short catch-up introduction!

When Alice’s tears subside a little, into heartbroken noises, I painstakingly pick her up off the floor. Then I carry her back to the hotel lobby — it’s just round a corner and through a fire door — and there’s a nice, big couch free just where I want it. I lay her down on it, sink into a chair next to her, and hold her hand until she cries herself to sleep.

Someone has left a jug of coffee on the table, and I pour myself a cup.

When Alice comes round, I’m going to go check out what stuff I’ve acquired in this room of mine, and then track down the dead girl’s corpse. After a time, I doze off in the chair. I don’t mean to, but it feels genuinely safe.

I wake up when Alice starts stirring. She stretches, flinches back into the couch, and her eyes snap open. She looks around wildly for several seconds, and then relaxes a little. There’s fresh coffee and cold juice on the table, and a tray of food — a hot roast chicken surrounded by roast potatoes, a salver of vegetables, steaming gravy, fresh bread — along with plates and cutlery so we can serve ourselves as we wish. I’ve no idea who left them there, or even if ‘who’ is the right word, but it looks great, and I’m ravenous.

I pick up a plate and wave it gently in Alice’s direction, and after a moment, she nods.

We don’t talk during the meal, just let the good food do its work. By the time we’ve finished, I’m certainly feeling a bit better, and Alice seems less drawn too.

I smile at her. “Are you alright?”

She laughs, weakly. “I’m functioning again, if that’s what you mean. But…”

“I understand,” I say quickly. “First of all though, we’re need to find Eadida’s body.”

Alice shudders, then nods reluctantly. “Yeah. Massinisa should be able to take us to her.”

“Absolutely. Then we can find the summoning circle, and get rid of this thing that’s following you. That will give the sorcerers less reason to track you down, and we’ll find out how to square things with them. Then all we have to do is get out of here.”

“Your plan seems vague and ill-formed,” says a voice that sends chills up and down my spine.

I look round, and behind us is the guy who sent me here. I hear Alice gasp. The guy is average height, thinning hair, looks like a happy ice-cream salesman, except that his eyes gleam with unholy joy. He looks like a satanist in disguise at a town fete.  His clothes are almost reasonable this time, comfy slacks and an ugly sweater, no crazy-ass hat. Like last time, he’s carrying a cloth and he’s got a huge bunch of keys.

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Today’s image is Roast Chicken, by Herman Saksono

Sorry for the late episode today folks — the real world has been biting hard.