I made my way to the otrokari headquarters and asked Dagorkun to assemble everyone in the common hall. Most of them were already there, lounging around the fire in the center of the room and drinking tea. Even the Khanum was there, brooding on her pillows strewn on the floor.

“Everyone is here,” Dagorkun announced.

I flicked my fingers. An enormous screen slid out of the wall and turned black. A song started, softly. A football team burst into a stadium. The song picked up steam. Football teams clashed like two armies. Running backs streaked across the field. Receivers flew off the grass to catch impossible passes, while defensive backs dove at them. Enormous linebackers tore at bodies, trying to crush the quarterback. Coaches screamed. Quarterbacks threw passes defying laws of physics. The very essence of the game was in that video, with all of its failures, its brutality, and pure unrestrained elation of victory, and the song rose with it, loud and triumphant.

The otrokari stared, mesmerized.

“What is this?” Dagorkun asked quietly.

“This is football,” I said.

Smaller screens opened in the side of the room, as the walls under it released controllers.

“You can watch it on the big screen. Or,” I paused to makes sure I had their attention. “You can play it.”

Madden’s logo ignited on the two smaller screens.

“Football is a wargame of land acquisition,” I began.

When I finally made it to my room, it was past six. Orro had yelled at me, as I walked up to my room. Apparently everyone spontaneously decided to reschedule the formal dinner to tomorrow night. There were kittens to play with, enemies to shoot, and footballs to be passed. That meant I could at least take a shower in peace.

Beast sat by the crate in my bedroom, looking scandalized.

“It’s okay,” I told her. “It’s just an extra permanent guest.”

I gently pried the carrier open. The grey cat stepped out on soft paws, looked about and hid under the bed.

Beast whined at me.

“Not you too.” I shook my head. “I had a rough day.”

The Beast whined again.

I went into my bathroom. Here is hoping soap and hot water would wash today off.

“Resume recording,” I murmured.

The emerald bounced on the screen. Otrokari and vampires walked past it, preoccupied with their own tasks. The big green gem lay forgotten like a cheap glass bauble.

“Fast forward,” I instructed. “Four times the speed.”

The recording sped up. The otrokari and knights hurried about like actors from a silent movie, their movements exaggerated by the accelerated recording. An otrokar brushed by it. The emerald slid to the side. I yawned.

This would be so much more fun if Sean was here to make fun of it. He once called Arland Goldilocks and then told him that he should try to get his woodlands friends to help him if he got in trouble.

I pictured myself reaching into my mind, taking that thought out, and setting it aside. Sean Evans wasn’t here. Maybe I could make a deal with myself. Once the summit was over, whichever way it went, I would go down to Wilmos’s weapon shop and have a nice long conversation with Mr. Evans. Since he bugged me so much, I could ask him if he was planning on coming back in the near future. That way I wouldn’t waste my time obsessing over…

The emerald vanished.

“Stop!” I jerked upright and almost collided with the screen.

The recording froze.

“Rewind at normal speed.”

The screen blurred and suddenly the emerald popped back into existence on the floor.

“Stop. Play forward, one quarter speed.”

Slowly, part of the screen blurred slightly, moving toward the emerald. It wasn’t an obvious, pronounced blur, more like someone had taken a magnifying glass and passed it over the screen. I had never before seen anything like it. The inn’s sensors weren’t infallible, but they were pretty close.

The blur touched the emerald and the green gem vanished.

“Thermal imaging, same time.”

The screen blinked. A blob of yellow with a bright red center passed over the emerald. So whatever this was shielded the wearer from thermal imaging as well. It had to be some kind of device that was projecting a field that tampered with the inn’s feed. My stomach churned.

Someone moved unchecked in my inn and I didn’t know how or why.

In my inn. In Gertrude Hunt.

I had to find out and fast. The lives of my guests depended on it, because while this was going on, any guarantees of security I promised weren’t worth the hot air that came out of my mouth as I made them.

I stared at the distortion on the screen. You want to play games? Fine. I will find you and when I do, you won’t like what will follow.

Chapter 9

It was Thursday and we were back in the grand ballroom, watching the negotiations stall. Three days had passed since I discovered tampering with the inn’s recordings. I was no closer to finding the culprit. I still didn’t know who took the emerald.  The cat still hid. Once or twice, while half-asleep, I felthim on the edge of the bed, but when I woke up, he was always gone. I made sure he had water and food and I cleaned his litter box, but that was the extent of our interaction. I clearly failed at making friends. The otrokari and the vampires were still bored and irritable, despite the distractions I provided. And most importantly, the peace summit still made no progress.

The only thing I managed to accomplish was to ensure that Orro’s banquet was scheduled and ready to go tonight.