CHAPTER 51: JAMESON

Jameson wakes on a cold floor at Vantage, disoriented after being drugged into the Proprietor’s Game. Avery is beside him and confirms that she was knocked out too. Jameson realizes his wallet and phone are gone, leaving him cut off from outside help.

Jameson studies the room: a long, narrow, castle-like chamber with stone walls, ornate blue-and-gold ceiling details, two windows, one door, a fireplace, a wood alcove, and a single heavy table. He takes stock of the other players present: Branford, Zella, a silver-haired woman named Katharine, and Rohan, who lounges by a window with a book.

Katharine questions whether Jameson and Avery should be allowed to play together. Rohan steps forward to explain that Alastair, the Proprietor, has left this year’s Game design and execution to him. Zella needles Rohan by calling it a test for “the boy who would be king,” while Branford’s presence ties the Game to Vantage, which Rohan calls the Mercy’s most notable win of the past decade.

Rohan announces the rules: three keys are hidden somewhere on the estate, and three boxes must be opened. Two boxes contain players’ secrets, including secrets paid to enter the Game; the third contains something more valuable. Whoever identifies what is in the third box wins the mark, which can be redeemed for either a forfeited ledger page from the Mercy or an asset the Mercy has claimed that year.

Jameson understands that Avery’s presence creates danger, because the secret he wrote to enter the Game could hurt her if revealed. Rohan adds practical limits: players must not damage the manor, grounds, or one another, and anything disturbed must be restored. The Game will last twenty-four hours, beginning at the top of the hour, and Rohan implies that he has made the challenge difficult but solvable.

Rohan exits through the only door and bolts it from the outside, trapping the players in the room until the bells signal the start. He tells them to think and acquaint themselves with the competition, leaving Jameson, Avery, Branford, Zella, and Katharine locked together before the Game begins.