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And so team Read the Room made it to the final round. The six finalists moved to sit at a ring of bistro tables, set up on a small stage. It was Dan, Vance, the woman with the antler-bone earrings whose name turned out to be Saoirse and two of her friends, a retired anthropology professor and his wife (both Ordinaries, and really quite extraordinary at trivia considering this fact) and two groups of college students who were decent at producing answers but far too drunk to win.

The final round opened with a question about ancient history.

Dan felt the buzz that came when the competition turned toward his best categories. He could win with almost any sort of question. But he enjoyed it more when the subject matter was something he found interesting.

“This scholar from the third century B.C.E. compiled the first modern library catalogue, which consisted of these many scrolls.”

Dan watched as Will’s arm shot up in the audience. Will was practically jumping down in his seat. “I know this one!” he shouted.

Arthur yanked Will back into his seat and moved his beer away.

“Callimachus of Cyrene,” Dan read out his answer. “One hundred and twenty scrolls.”

There was a short beat as everyone stared at him, bemused, and he couldn’t stop himself from going on.

“The catalogue also noted,” Dan added, “whether each work was genuine or falsely attributed, which makes it arguably the first known exercise in textual criticism as well as the first library catalogue. The word the Alexandrians used for the catalogue sections was Pinakes, meaning tablets. The same root gives us the word encyclopedia.”

Tom Horner looked up from his card. He waited a moment, letting the crowd wonder. Then finally, he boomed, “Another correct response for team Read the Room! And we’ve all been schooled!”

Saoirse, two seats down, caught Dan’s eye and raised her glass a fraction.

Vance Priest was busy staring at his hands. His stone suddenly appeared to have gone missing, and as a result, he was eliminated on the next question, as were all the rest of the contestants, one by one.

In the end, Dan won, just as he’d always known he would. Just as he always did. Forty years old and he had yet to lose a trivia contest to anyone. Ever.

“I heard about the fire.” Tom Horner pulled Dan aside afterwards. “Everything still a go for the finals on Samhain?”

“Absolutely,” Dan reassured Tom with a confidence that was mostly faked. He wasn’t sure how he was going to make it happen, but tonight’s prize money was certainly going to help. There were several more events with a decent pool between now and the end of October. “The Wildernest will be ready, don’t you worry.”

“Congrats on the win tonight. Does this mean you’re back on the circuit now?” Tom asked.

“You might be seeing a bit more of me.” Dan grinned.

“Good for you, but too bad for the competition.” Tom handed him the prize envelope with a handshake and a slap on the back. “Let’s talk logistics when it’s closer to the date.”

By the time Dan returned to the table, Will was starting to sing along with the music playing in the background.

“Well done,” Arthur praised.

“It’s a start,” Dan said, tapping the envelope down on the table. “But it’s going to take a lot more trivia night wins to raise enough cash to fix the fire damage.”

“I have complete and utter faith in you,” Arthur said, raising the same glass of beer he’d been nursing all night.

“To the Dandy Lion!” Will crashed his glass into Arthur’s, splashing all three of them in the process. But for once Dan didn’t mind Will’s excess. He was hopeful.

Vance crossed the room before leaving. “Well, well, well,” he said. “I guess the rust wasn’t as bad as all that.”

“Good set of questions tonight,” Dan said. “Good room.”

“Yes.” Vance looked at him for a moment, eyes narrowed. “So, you think you’ll be doing the full circuit then? All the way up to the big tournament?”

“That’s the plan,” Dan said. “But we’ll see.”

“Samhain’s still a long way off.” Vance’s smile did not extend to his eyes. “A lot can happen between now and then.”

“Sure can,” Dan agreed, and turned back to his friends.

“Zani is going to kill me,” Will groaned as he staggered down the street. “I promised her I wouldn’t overdo it tonight but I dunno. I needed to unwind. I have a weird feeling about this mission.”