she says.
Nathaniel turns. “Really?”
I raise my eyebrows as she nods. “Okay,” I say. Then we reset the pieces.
She doesn’t put up much of a fight the first time, but it does nothing to quench her curiosity about the new game. “Again,” she says.
I beat her again and say, “Checkmate,” triumphantly.
She scrutinizes the board and says, “Okay. Again.”
Partway through the next game, she is stuck on a particular move. She cannot figure out what to do, and then her face lights up and she moves her knight in an enormous ‘L’ across the board to take my queen.
“Knights move in little ‘L’s,” I explain. “Two up and one over, or vice versa.”
“Oh,” she mutters, taking her move back. Her nose scrunches and she studies the board. Then she moves the horse in a different direction and takes one of my castles, effectively setting me back. “Like that?” she asks, looking for my approval.
“Yes,” I mutter. “Like that.”
Despite my victory in the third game, she is willing to try again. After I checkmate her, she analyzes every corner of the board and then says, “Okay. I’m ready.”
I glance to Nathaniel, who is still sulking by the fire, and he mouths to me, “Ready for what?” I shrug discreetly and reset my pieces.
Within a few moves, what she was ready for becomes more and more obvious. I’m stunned as she takes yet another of my pieces, and I am forced to take several minutes to think about my next move. Regardless, within another three moves she has taken my queen and has my king in check. Her next turn, as she sets down the piece a few squares from where it began, she says quietly, “Checkmate.”
I’m flabbergasted. By this hour, we are playing by candlelight and the light from the remains of the fire in the hearth. Shadows dance across the board, taunting me with her word, “Checkmate.”
Nathaniel is equally as stunned. “How the dingflies…” he mutters under his breath.
I shake my head as she leans back in her chair and folds her arms. “Every time?” she asks Nathaniel. His eyes widen and he shrugs excessively. Her face is smug as she turns back towards me.
“Let’s leave it there for the night,” I say. “We will play again tomorrow.”
“Agreed,” she says emphatically as she stands. “I’m going to bed. It’s late and I’m tired.”
“Good night,” Nathaniel says. I echo him as she walks down the hall. When she is gone, Nathaniel gives me a look that says the exact thing he had uttered earlier.
“No idea,” I answer. “No idea…”
The next morning, as we play our rematch, she asks me a question. “Why did you join the army?”
“To avenge my father,” I say bluntly, taking her pawn. “And to destroy anybody who brings upon other people the pain they have brought upon me.”
Her eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the leaders of Tygnar and Diagrall. They bring their clan to war for their own personal gain. They want power, land, wealth, whatever, and they are willing to kill as many people as it takes to get there. It’s sick, and it destroys so many people and families who otherwise would have been happy.”
“Like yours?” she says softly.
I nod. “Yes,” I respond. “Like mine.”
She pauses after she sees my bishop land in a particular square. “You loved your father?” she asks, almost at a whisper.
“Yes,” I nod. “Still do.”
She hesitates. “How?” she asks. When she sees my questioning look, she clarifies, “How do you still love your father if he has passed on?”
“Because he was my life,” I answer. “All the good memories I have involve him in some way or another. He taught me everything I know, not only in the forge, but how to read, how to fight, how to be a good person. I remember him, and as long as I do that he will always be with me. That’s what he told me before he… died.” It’s almost impossible for me to get the last word out.
“I see,” she says. Then she takes another of my pieces and puts me in checkmate simultaneously.
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I mutter.
Silent Blades
That night I sit up, awake in the night. I twirl one of my throwing knives, resisting the urge to throw it into the table, not only because of the noise it would make, but because of the fit my mother would have when she finds the table scarred.
Then I freeze. I have heard nothing, but something is wrong. Even the