The Great Game Trilogy

by O. J. Lowe

  “Well obviously not a fraud,” she said. “Because I did meet someone dark and handsome at the Quin-C. She said my brother would qualify. She said I’d meet him here and it’d be a good reunion for a broken family. And that my brother’d guide me to someone special who I’d need to work hard to attain. Matt was the one who told me who you were. You were pretty much unobtainable at the time. I did have to work. I had to be patient.” She said it with a smile. “And aren’t you glad that I did? Whether you believe that Lady Ancuta was a fraud or not, it worked out for the best, wouldn’t you say? She didn’t foresee the bomb attack later that night, but hey, it worked out for me.”

  “You know what?” Scott said, smiling at her across the table. “I really, really would say that. I’m glad you listened to her. Because where would we be if you hadn’t?” One of the waiters came to take their plates. “Desert?”

  “I’m not hungry,” she replied.

  “Me neither.” His grin only grew as he looked at the waiter. “Just the bill then, please.”

  The eighteenth day of Summerpeak.

  Neither of them went to the draw for the last twelve. It was the first time he’d seen Mia’s hotel room, chose to curl up in bed with her while it was being broadcast, Ronald Ritellia and Tommy Jerome being seen together for the first time since the tournament had started. Neither of them looked happy to be there. Right now, Scott didn’t care as the two of them lay intertwined, her skin soft and slowly gaining a tan. He’d never known she had a tattoo on her thigh, a rose, or some butterfly wings on her lower back, the Burykian letters on her arm being the only ones he’d been aware of.

  The night had been good, they’d come back merry from the restaurant and although she’d been coyly resistant at first, he’d been surprised when she’d almost violently relented and jumped him with enthusiasm bordering on manic. The passion was something he’d missed, they’d torn each other’s clothes off and explored each other’s bodies. He felt like he knew more about her now than ever had when she’d finally crawled off him, panting in frenzied ecstasy. They’d slept where they’d lain, her body warm and welcoming. During the night, he’d awoken to find her still asleep and with a grin on his face, had ducked his head beneath the covers. He’d felt her jolt awake, almost wrap her legs around his face until she was satisfied he was finished and her juices stained his lips and chin. Only then did she let him go, playfully wiping his mouth with the back of her hand, the motion delicately tender.

  Now unfortunately, it’d be soon back to business. Moments like this couldn’t last forever. He saw the list of the last twelve competitors, saw his name on the list along with Theobald Jameson, Katherine Sommer, Nicholas Roper, Harry Devine, Yvette Martial, David Wilsin, Nwando Eliki, Reginald Tendolini, Lucy Tate, Rei Renderson and Kayleigh Chambers. Some big names there, and he’d found himself in their company.

  He’d found himself in the arms of a loving woman and just a few matches from winning the biggest tournament in the five kingdoms. Things felt pretty good right now.

  Chapter Twenty-Two. Press Release.

  “You know, I’m in complete disagreement with that statement. Traditions became tradition for a reason, they seemed like a good idea at the time, enough to keep repeating them. In this day, if they didn’t work, we’d be rid of them. Yes, we still do the photo ceremony, it’s a vital part of the tournament. As much as the bouts and the stadia and everything else that makes this what it is. We’ve been asked whether it’s worth carrying on with it before. And I can say unequivocally, yes, it is. That’s the way it has been and that is the way it will continue to be. President Ritellia believes that and I do too.”

  Raul de Blanco, ICCC Master of Ceremonies, on whether the photo ceremony is relevant anymore.

  The eighteenth day of Summerpeak.

  “And that is the last of the bouts to be drawn here on the Billy Noddle and Trevor Carson show live from Carcaradis Island. So just to recap, the last twelve of the Competitive Centenary Calling Challenge Cup have just been drawn for their bouts. We have some interesting ties to come, wouldn’t you say Trevor?”

  “Absolutely Billy. Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing Katherine Sommer facing Harry Devine. It’s the favourite versus the plucky underdog and I think young Devine might have a chance here. He might be able to do what nobody else has so far and knock the lovely Ms Sommer off her perch.”

  “Though, David Wilsin versus Nicholas Roper seems like it might be a top bout as well. That’s the one I’m looking forward to.”

  “Yeah I’d say that’s the other plum tie. I mean don’t get me wrong, everyone here is pretty good. You don’t reach this point unless you have something about you, I know it’s a cliché but it’s true. You can’t coast on luck alone. Don’t get me wrong, Bill, sometimes it feels like you need a bit of luck, sometimes something goes your way you didn’t expect but you also need skill and you need talent. There’s no duffers here that’s for sure.”

  “Trevor, who do you expect to go through here to the quarter final because there’s some pretty hard to pick bouts here.”

  “Like I said, I think Devine has a chance against Sommer. Not saying he will beat her. But I think he has a chance. Perhaps better than Peter Jacobs did in the last round. Jacobs tried to take her at her own game and he failed miserably. Devine, I think is cannier than that. If he heeds what’s gone before and doesn’t play to his opponent’s strengths while at the same time, imposing his own strategy on her, it could pay dividends. Roper versus Wilsin, yeah I’d say this is a lot less clear cut.”

  “Roper has experience and power. What does David Wilsin bring to the tournament? What sets him apart from those who’ve fallen before now?”

  “Wilsin is an excellent tactician, Billy. He sees paths to victory, assesses them and then takes the most efficient. I think he might be the ablest tactician left in the tournament. I think Wade Wallerington could do it well but maybe not quite as well as this guy. Roper against him is much more of a reactionary. He doesn’t think as much about what his opponent might do as react to them. He has fantastic reflexes, he has an ability to plan on the fly and it’s gotten him far. But I think there’s a point where that just might not be enough. This is the one I genuinely do not want to call. It could go either way, I think. They’re as good as each other, I can’t pick them, everyone makes Roper the favourite slightly, but their records aren’t as vastly different as you might think.”

  “On Roper, let’s move to the third bout. Theobald Jameson, conqueror of Roper’s fiancé, Sharon Arventino, lest we not forget the fireworks that took place in that bout. He’s facing the last Vazaran competitor in Nwando Eliki. Eliki has become a bit of the darling of the kingdom because of his performances, wouldn’t you say?”

  “You know what, Billy? I think I would; I don’t like you putting words in my mouth, but he has surpassed expectations. Every Quin-C we get a dark horse, someone who wouldn’t have had a prayer before the start, and they do better than expected. This tournament, I’d say we’ve had quite a few to be fair. Jameson himself, Devine, Scott Taylor, they’re also all first timers and they’ve done well getting this far. It makes things interesting.”

  “Trevor, do you think it detracts from the tournament that some bigger names have gone out, the likes of Arventino and Wallerington and even say, Steven Silver, they’ve gone out but instead we’ve got Devine, Jameson and Taylor?”

  “Well yesterday’s champions ultimately become just that. Yesterday. I don’t want to say that their achievements have been diminished but just because they’re notorious doesn’t mean they have a Divines-given right to walk into the latter stages of this competition. You earn what you get here, if they haven’t made it, then it’s because there was someone better and there’s no shame in that, I’ve always thought. You show up, think it’s going to be easy and don’t give your best, that’s something to be ashamed of. But these new callers have something that maybe the older, experienced callers don’t, Billy.”

  �
��What’s that?”

  “A lack of fear. Burning desire to prove themselves. Youthful exuberance. We all remember what it’s like to be that age, can’t we? You think you know it all and you want to show the world you do. Well fortunately for these young men and women, they can do that. Far from these newcomers getting here, I’d say the likes of Kayleigh Chambers and Reginald Tendolini being here is more surprising, despite their odds. I can’t see them winning it. They’ve already beaten their previous best performances at this tournament, they’ll probably never get to this point again. Younger callers are getting better and better.”

  “We’ve gone a little off subject here, back to Jameson versus Eliki. Who do you think will win this one, Trevor?”

  “Eliki carries the hopes of Vazara on his shoulders. He wants so badly to win for them, but I think that’s weight nobody should have to bear. Being the last pure Vazaran in the competition, for want of a better term, he’s the favourite of the crowds on the mainland. Very top Vazaran callers are becoming rarer and rarer, nobody knows why, it seems that the best ones are usually half Vazaran, half some other kingdom and they don’t like that.”

  “Yes, that is curious, well, look at Scott Taylor. Only half-Vazaran by birth, never set foot in the kingdom before.”

  “Exactly! Back to the question, for the third attempt, Eliki has done well to get to this part. It’s not his first tournament, it’s his first time at this point though and let’s not detract from his achievements for he has done well. But I think that he will run out of steam here. Jameson is only going to get better. He’s changed his style as the tournament has progressed, he started off all power and intensity and he stormed out of the group stage that way. He’s done well to make it this far, I think he will make it through this round and into the quarter final, I’m not sure he’ll be able to go much further though. Depends who he gets in the next round, should he make it. A good draw, he could hit the semi-finals.”

  “And that would be an achievement for a young caller.”

  “Oh, absolutely. Plus, he’s been training with Anne Sullivan and that’ll only help him. It’s a radical new idea, so many callers insist on doing it on their own without asking for help. The idea of asking for help from a more experienced caller is not something done often but I think you can see signs of temperance in his fights now. He couldn’t keep going like he did in the group stage at that intensity, somebody would have figured him out eventually and he’d have burnt out. Now, he’s a much more rounded fighter. I’ll say it again, there are going to be Vazarans throwing things at their radios, but I can’t see Eliki winning. But wouldn’t that be exactly the sort of twist we’ve seen in this tournament. Jameson beats one of the favourites, someone you wouldn’t expect him to beat and then does exactly the opposite. It’s a funny old game sometimes.”

  “Trevor, rest your vocal cords a moment, we’ll have a quick break and then we’ll talk about the last three bouts. Kayleigh Chambers versus Lucy Tait, Rei Renderson versus Reginald Tendolini and Yvette Martial versus Scott Taylor.”

  “Those were our sponsors and we’re back, I’m Billy Noddle, he’s Trevor Carson and we’re dissecting the draw for the next round of the Quin-C. Talk to me about Chambers versus Tait. What can we expect from this bout, do you think?”

  “Well it’s two fighters from Premesoir facing each other, so there’s local rivalry, as much as you can call an entire kingdom local. Tait, I like, I’m going to be honest, there’s something about her. She has good decision-making skills under fire and you can’t have enough of that here. Chambers, I’d say probably has more raw power, but I think this one might be slightly harder to call than the others. I mean, none of them are going to be easy to call, I’d say five out of the six bouts could go either way.”

  “Who’s the sixth, Trevor?”

  “I wouldn’t like to say. This sport has a horrible way of rebounding on you when you least expect it. I think Tait to win this one between her and Chambers. Narrowly. Won’t be pretty. But she SHOULD do it.”

  “Okay, how about Rei Renderson and Reginald Tendolini? Who’s going to be the winner of this one? You’ve already spoken about Tendolini, saying you’re surprised he’s made it this far in the tournament.”

  “Well Billy, that’s no indictment against the man, he has made it this far, but I think there’s better callers gone out because of the draw. Then again, shocks are the fruit of competition and He’s made it this far so therefore he has a chance. I’d say there are better callers still competing, so it’s a small chance but even a slight chance is better than none. He needs four good bouts and he’s into the final. Four good performances and he’s done it. And I think he has a chance against Rei Renderson. Like Eliki with Vazara, she’s holding the hopes of Burykia on her shoulders, but I think she might go out here. That pressure can crack even a tough caller. I wouldn’t describe Renderson as a top competitor even on her best day, she’s been fortunate to get this far. I’m willing to be proved wrong on this, but I honestly can’t see either of these two troubling some of the other competitors in the tournament. This could go either way, I think Tendolini. Just. Whoever gets through would want the winner of this bout in the quarter final, I know that much.”

  “Okay so one last bout to preview, talk to me of Martial versus Taylor, Trevor.”

  “Billy, Billy, Billy. Every tournament has someone who comes out of nowhere and takes it by storm. Someone who wins the hearts and minds of the public. Scott Taylor was selected at random, via wild card. Before this tournament, he hadn’t competed in a bout for nearly two months, he’d taken some time out. He’s never won a major tournament and so far, he’s competed admirably at the biggest of them all. His victory over Steven Silver, particularly that final round was perhaps the most comprehensively in-control performance I’ve ever seen on the battlefield. In that bout, he didn’t just react, he pro-acted. You watch it in slow motion, he’s acting before the attack even comes, showing great anticipation skills. Those are a double-edged sword; I do have to say. You can’t keep that up. Its good when it comes off, disastrous when it fails. Because you can’t predict every attack every time and sooner or later it’ll cost you dearly. He didn’t do it versus Weronika Saarth in the last round, he didn’t need to. There might have been a few sticky moments, but he looked in control for the whole bout, barring that long moment when he did nothing, confusing everyone.”

  “Can Martial beat him?”

  “She can. But I think she’ll have to perform way past what we’ve seen from her so far. I think she has a tough tie here; I mean there are no easy bouts at this level, but she’s experienced enough to know the rawness from a caller like Taylor can be as much help as hindrance. That lack of fear can carry you through. Don’t get me wrong, I like Yvette Martial as a caller a lot, she has a lot of redeeming qualities, decent tactically, no slouch in the strength department and good judgement skills. She’ll need all of them. Before the tournament, if you’d said this would be a bout in the last twelve, then you’d have made her the favourite. Here and now, it’s too close to call. If they both fight at their best, which is what we’d all hope to see, I can’t split them.”

  “What are Scott Taylor’s strengths?”

  “Well, I’ve studied him in a couple of bouts this tournament and the best I can say about him is he’s stubborn. He doesn’t seem to know when to give up. You wouldn’t look at his spirits, except maybe his dragon and his leaf lizard and say that there’s anything extraordinary there. I think that’s part of his strategy. He tries to get opponents to underestimate him and the further he goes in this tournament, the less likely it is to work.”

  “What about that ghost?”

  “I think the thing we need to point about that, Billy, is he broke no rules. It might be interfering with the spirit of the sport, but I like what he did. Using something he hadn’t even bent entirely to his will, it could have gone so wrong for him, but it came off. He backed himself and he kicked Saarth out of the tournament. Even if
he does go out, I think he has a bright future in the sport. To be fair, a lot of the first timers to this tournament can say the same. In five years, what chance Taylor, Jameson and Devine will be in this situation again? All three of them are probably going to get better and better for this experience.”

  “Who do you fancy for the tournament, Trevor?”

  “What, the whole thing?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Erm… Wow. Very tough to call. Very. I don’t know. It’s the hardest three words to say in punditry but there’s so many variables, it could go so many ways, I can’t say for sure. I have a good feeling about Katherine Sommer if she gets past Devine. I think she could lift the trophy. Lots of people say Roper, but he looks as if he has a lot on his mind lately, affecting his performances, I wouldn’t make him favourite against David Wilsin.”

  “And today we have that oldest of time honoured traditions. The Photo Ceremony.”

  “Yeah, it’s an event for the bigwigs, isn’t it? I’m sure there’s other things the callers would rather be doing today, I know I was back in the day but sometimes you have to suck it up and take the rough with the smooth.”

  This was something, Nick had to admit to himself, which was turning into farce now. There wasn’t any need for it, it felt like it became more outdated and unnecessary every time they did it. He’d been alive for five Quin-C tournaments, four of which he was old enough to remember and it had felt like it was something special when he was younger. Now, being embroiled in the middle of it, he could see the magic was greatly exaggerated.

  Every time, they did it. They got the last twelve competitors left in the tournament and put them together in a room with the head of the ICCC and the head of state, got them to have a big commemorative picture together. Being this close to Ronald Ritellia was starting to grate, the porcine president holding court in one corner of the big room with his entourage. Interestingly, the Falcon was nowhere to be seen, Tommy Jerome conspicuous by his absence. He found himself close to David Wilsin, both taking in the room. First time he’d seen him for a while and he looked different, unsettled about some unknown problem. He’d seen that look before, on his own face, nothing conscious about it but it managed to sneak in and ingratiate itself to your expression without realising. The product of a troubled soul.