Chapter 64 of 78 · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Chapter 64 — The attendant entrance

Book: The Butcher's Masquerade · Part: The Butchering · Previous: Chapter 63 — Enchanted Hammer of Fast Forward · Next: Chapter 65 — The Oak Mother's sacrament · Floor: Floor 6 — The Hunting Grounds · Series: the series

Opening

<Note added by Crawler Everly, Fifth Edition>

Summary

Everly's three fifth-edition notes: a spellbook of Hasten Poison sent to her mercenary that saved them all ('I don't trust my sponsors, but I do trust that they want to keep me alive'); a maze shortcut on floor eight and 'a spark in my chitin'; then 'I take it back. I take it all back' — Dictum Waystation Controls, Limited steered her toward a watched, heartrending death. Drakea: her last entry; 'future author. Be as detailed as you can.' Carl's 25th-edition entry pastes page one of the bathroom notes: the masquerade is a trap, Imogen a country boss to be fought at the end; the elite quest is doomed because the showrunners will not let a secondary production hose their climax; goal one survive; secondaries, least to most important — Tina dancing, kill Eva, save the changelings, take the castle, kill Lucia Mar, and 'not a solitary, single hunter gets off this floor alive'. Signatures: Katia, Imani, 'Jesus Christ, Carl' Elle, 'I HATE THIS PAPER THING' Donut, Florin claiming Lucia Mar, Louis and Firas for the stairs, Li Na, Bautista, Chris. One hour; 31 to collapse; 59,259 crawlers, 23,385 on the floor; 73 crawlers and 264 hunters attending. In the wagon with Theobold, a level-35 High Elf Footman: the attendant entrance, two security sweeps, a servant ballroom, a boudoir for proper attire ('shoes for the event. And pants.' 'Nope.'), no weapons or magic or inventory, a goodwill ballroom where the opposing guests are elsewhere and any strike 'will feel like a whisper', protections 'put into place by Apito herself' — uh-oh — a third ballroom for the queen and her guard. Sir Ferdinand is 'nothing but a lowly creature. A familiar'; Carl seeds the idea he claims to be second in the kingdom. Hands go to the prize counter. Britney, Donut's plus-one from outside the top fifty and miserable in fur, shield on a four-hour cooldown; Firas at 43; Ren (Tserendolgor, 38) and her tummy acher Garret, a giggling meatball. Six wagons — Li Jun, Li Na and Zhang in the second as talent-show jugglers, Imani and Elle in the fourth with a skit; the last holds props, Samantha, the cretins and a robed 'Signet' — Pearson the changeling — to see whether the guards attack. Black-jacketed guards go into the last cart, and Queen Imogen fades in beside Britney: 'Are you really attempting to smuggle someone who looks like my half-sister into the castle?' 'It's Ifechi. Queen Imogen is Ifechi, Florin's dead girlfriend.'

Characters

• Carl — Documents a plan he expects to fail; baits the queen out.
• Everly — Three last entries; 'I take it all back.'
• Drakea — Asks future authors for detail.
• Britney Proskurina — Plus-one, guitarist, shield-caster; 'This isn't going to work'
• Theobold — Nasal footman; the rules of the goodwill ballroom.
• Pearson — In Signet's robes, a lure.
• Tserendolgor — Ren, 38, with Garret the tummy acher.
• Queen Imogen — Fades into the wagon wearing Ifechi's face.
• Ferdinand — Theobold: 'The ‘sir’ is simply a part of his name.'
• Florin — Claims Lucia Mar; his dead girlfriend's face on the queen.
• Princess Donut — Herds Tina; reports the black jackets.
• Samantha — In the props cart.

Locations

• The high elf castle — Reached by caravan; four ballrooms and a prize counter.

Motifs

• The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook — Everly's end; Carl's plan committed to the record.
• The Butcher's Masquerade — A goodwill overlay, a celestial protection, a queen who skips the pet show.
• Sponsorship — 'Fuck you, Dictum Waystation Controls, Limited.'
• The gods — Apito's protections on the ballroom.
• The hunters — 264 attending; hands for prizes.
• The Desperado Club cretins — Clay-ton and Very Sullen in the cart.