For their third trial, the six spousal candidates had to play the Sovereign edition of the game, the most intricate version, and they had to do it on the highest level of difficulty. The game would last 9 hours, at the end of which their civilizations would be scored on a variety of criteria, everything from military might and population numbers to happiness and cultural richness.
The candidates with the three highest scores would move on to the final selection. Those with the lowest scores would be eliminated. Up to this point Kosandion and his team had subtly manipulated the public opinion, but this trial hinged on pure skill.
The candidates took their spots around the table, all except Oond. The Dominion provided him with a humanoid assistant, who followed the oombole’s instructions through an earpiece. The game began and six groups of settlers landed in different regions of the planet.
The first hour went about the same for everyone. All six candidates feverishly tried to build up their population, so they could expand and grab bigger chunks of territory. Everyone had some clashes with computer generated rival tribes and roaming bands of barbarians.
By the second hour, the civilizations began to diverge. Bestata, Nycati, and Prysen Ol heavily invested in their military. Amphie concentrated on technological progress, while Oond and Lady Wexyn sank their resources into culture and religion. Lady Wexyn generated scores of scouts and sent them all over the map.
In the third hour, Amphie and Bestata had a minor clash over a valuable source of copper. Prysen Ol shifted his priority to developing a unique cavalry unit, Oond’s nation became a theocracy, and Nycati, who had landed on a vast fertile steppe between two mountain ranges, set about conquering all of the budding AI-generated civilizations around him. Lady Wexyn unleashed a swarm of caravans and began trading with everyone.
We were in the eighth hour now. They had about 45 minutes before the game ended and the scores were tallied. I had eaten two sandwiches and drunk two cups of tea and a cream soda. I couldn’t remember the last time I had spoiled myself that much.
Karat returned to her seat after another trip to the bathroom. “I don’t understand how they can hold it for this long.”
“If they leave, the game will continue without them,” Caldenia said. “Five minutes away from the game could put everything at risk. Victory demands sacrifices.”
“I suppose being a fish does offer some advantages in this situation,” Karat said.
“But that advantage is offset by not having hands,” I told her. “Oond has to explain what he wants done instead of simply doing it.”
“He doesn’t seem to be suffering,” Karat said.
The holographic representation of the planet above the table was tinted with six different shades, representing the six territories controlled by the players. Oond’s orange territory spread over his continent, infringing on Bestata’s right side.
“The game is unfair,” Dagorkun pointed out. He had returned to his seat after half an hour. Some sort of internal struggle must have taken place and Dagorkun must’ve resolved it and settled on a course of action, because he seemed relaxed and well at ease, as if the incident with Karat had never taken place.
Caldenia gave him an outraged look. “In what way?” she demanded.
“Amphie is from the Dominion, where this game is a national sport. She has years of practice,” Dagorkun said.
“Well, those years were clearly wasted,” Caldenia said. “She’s made the one mistake she couldn’t afford. It is a basic rule of any galactic warfare. Never get into a land war with a vampire. Especially during the Feudal period.”
Karat chuckled.
The war between Bestata and Amphie had raged for almost two hours. The vampire knight had built several fortified castle cities, leaving a small gap by one of her major rivers. It offered a straight shot to her mountain range and the limestone caves within. The caves were a source of saltpeter, potassium nitrate, the primary component of early gunpowder. Amphie failed to find any in her part of the map, so she had amassed a horde of horse archers and invaded.
Bestata beat a retreat, drawing Amphie’s army deep into her territory, and then her fortified cities vomited armored knights who plowed into Amphie’s horse archers, ripping through them like they were paper. Bestata destroyed her opponent’s supply chain and a third of Amphie’s army died of starvation.
Now the war had shifted into Amphie’s territory, and Bestata had taken three of her cities and was laying siege to another two.
“Honestly,” Caldenia sneered. “I had expected a better showing.”
“Do you play, Your Grace?” Dagorkun asked.
“I was the Grand Champion of both the Dominion and the Supremacy for thirty years.”
“Was that because of your skill or your reputation?” Karat asked.
The two of them were playing with fire.
Her Grace gave them her best predatory smile. “Any time the two of you would like to find out, you know where to find me.”
She hadn’t played Progress since she had arrived at the inn. The reminder of everything she had left behind must’ve been too painful.
A pulse of gold light rolled through Grand Prelate Oond’s territory. His Magnanimousness had completed yet another ziggurat, to the delight of his worshipers.
“The Gaheas is throwing the game,” Caldenia noted.
At some point during the match and probably without knowing, Nycati had decided to follow ancient China’s approach to fortifications. He had built two massive walls connecting his mountain ranges, and then he sat on his steppe, breeding horses, building palaces, and developing poetry, music, arts, and medicine. He traded with Lady Wexyn, whose caravans by now reached every corner of the planet, and fought off two attempted invasions by Prysen Ol, but he showed no sign of expanding.
“His civilization seems to be doing well,” I murmured. “His approval rating is high.”
“The isolationist policy never works long term. One must interact with other cultures to progress, otherwise, they will surpass you. As a man of his lineage, he knows this. He had two chances to invade on favorable terms, and he deliberately ignored both.”
A man of his lineage, huh? I leaned closer to her. “When did you know?”
Caldenia shrugged. “Immediately. It’s blindingly obvious. Their attempt at secrecy was earnest and would’ve worked, except that I have eyes and a brain.”
A warning chime sounded through the arena. Fifteen minutes left.
My earpiece came to life with Sean’s voice. “Kosandion says that no matter what happens next, we should let it play out.”
What did that mean? Nothing good, that’s what that meant. “Remind him that we are responsible for the safety of our guests.”
“I did. He says he takes full responsibility. He has cleared it with the Innkeeper Assembly.”
And when, exactly, had he had a chance to do that? “It doesn’t matter what he cleared. This is our inn.”
“It’s a matter of the Dominion security and his safety.”
“And you’re going along with this?”
“If something happens to him, we lose the inn. I will secure him. Whatever happens between the candidates is fair game.”
I would have liked to argue, but I had let Kosandion fight Surkar with a knife despite all of my better judgement.