The City: PuzzleLocked Book 1

If the sun rose in this place, it would probably be over the horizon of the mucky, filth-littered streets. Paige glided up these streets to the manor entrance. The guards out front gave her an askant look, wondering what a pretty girl was doing out so early. The guards then hinted that, if she could wait around thirty minutes, she could go back with the both of them. She batted her eyes at them, considering that it would be great if she had a backstab ability just to see them die for their cheeky nature, and instead pulled out her Mayor summons token. {In many games, backstab allows for heavy damage or an immediate kill if completed successfully.} The smaller guard asked to look closer at the token, but Paige already had enough of their delays.

She calculated outcomes simultaneously: three minutes for combat without benefits, three minutes for seduction, four minutes for influence, and one minute for simply walking through the gate. Sure, there would be a thirty percent chance they attacked her, and a ten percent chance that she would be stabbed in the back, but since she had already flashed the token, she expected those numbers would have decreased to even more acceptable levels. So she just kept walking and said in passing, “If I fail to escape my infinitude of lives, I will watch you lick the mud off each other’s boots.”

Yet, she was beyond the gate. A road ran through the inner courtyard with gardens along either side. The martial exterior of this manor was only a show, at least as a second deterrent against the city walls. It was beautiful, and although Paige might have years to enjoy them if her gambit didn’t work, she didn’t want distraction. This was the first time she had decided to use the summons token, and she didn’t want it to go to waste for idling.

After minutes of walking along a wide path with beautiful mature trees lining the sides, the trees thinned to a drill deck where a dozen soldiers were practicing. The manor stable sat to the side of a roundabout with a few other low buildings on the other side. Paige walked on expecting that the Mayor was likely still sleeping. Paige tracked a few soldiers who followed her with their eyes, but she had been under observation constantly for the last ten days. What I wouldn’t give for a moment of privacy that isn’t in a forest? Or with a man or woman that I didn’t have to cut.

Paige walked up a couple of steps onto what she would call a patio. The primary siege defensive measures were behind her. It wasn’t likely that anyone would expect fighting on the Mayor’s Manor, which, despite being brick, was more like a plantation house than a manor. If I ever meet one of the designers or content editors for this game, my rage will carry over and I will kill them. If they don’t resolve this lax design, I’m going to give it one star and clear commentary on poor coherence alone.

Regardless, she understood the layout of the manor. She moved stealthily up the stairs and through the corridors.

She found herself in a large bedroom. The oversized canopied bed was empty. Paige snuck as best she could through the room, observing the details she could take, picking through a few scattered items, then worked toward the en suite. Oliver Guillem Francesc - Lord 3, stood naked appreciating himself in a mirror. There is no time like the present.

Paige burst through the doors and moved a hand to Oliver’s neck and a knife to his nethers. He seized.

“Should I kill you so easily? Or just maim you and watch you flounder for eternity?”

“Please? Don’t. I’m in no position to fight. At least give me a fair chance…”

“Oh, fair chance? Is that what you’re giving those children you have in the cellar? A fair chance when you dump them at the Bacton Keep? For the ‘Lord Necromancer’ to split their being into body and spirit and push them to the front lines of a war they have never before heard about?” It took Paige all she could to remain stoic as she said this. This isn’t supposed to be emotional. “I’ll give you a fair chance. I already have your token. I want something more. A writ, in your hand, sealed by you, with one more token.”

“What does this one say?”

“You give me free rein to hunt and kill anyone in this city I choose. There are two people specifically that I desire, but I don’t want to be held up if they confound your guards.”

“Is it those two who attack my carriage in my dreams? Release my neck and you shall have your writ.”

Paige eased up. “You realize this is just a game, right, Oliver?”

One of his hands went to his neck and the other down below. He rubbed both tenderly, simultaneously. “Of course I do. I’m persistent and perpetual.”

Paige twirled the knife, “But you know that doesn’t prevent you from being hurt, right?”

“I don’t appreciate your implications or your actions,” he said, turning toward her, as if ready to fight. Despite being naked, Paige expected the Lord Mayor might be able to fight decently.

“Give me your blessing and your writ to move about your city. I’ll figure out a way to drive the two that you dream of to whimpers each morning and deliver them to your cells each midday. Never again will they interfere with your ambition of fluffing the ‘Necromancer’s Pillow.’”

The Mayor looked affronted. “I’m not sure you could have said something more crudely! Despite our common goal, I’m inclined to have you hung.”

“You’re hung. Fancy a shag? It’s been a while for me, and I’ve never shagged a lord before, but I’ve got a few minutes and could bear working on a different sort of puzzle.”

Lord Oliver’s face grew even more outraged.

“Peace, Oliver. I can still invoke this token you gave me.”

Lord Oliver humped his shoulders in defeat. “You shall have it. Let me go to my writing desk.”

Paige took out the summons token and flicked them through her fingers, poorly. With practice, she might make the coin dance, just as it seemed to make the Lord dance. Curious, that? And maybe overpowered, but she would use it. Meanwhile, she decided it was time to take two actions. First, annihilate those who might oppose her here in the city, and second, attend the Lord’s Gala at the Keep. She had told Captain Ségolène that she’d be there eventually.