A Game Of Chess

“Aizawa,” the same ethereal voice called out again as I found myself floating in an abyss, books surrounding me like a sea of leather and paper. The observer towered over me, and she let down a finger for me to grab onto, which I promptly did, raising myself into her hand as she picked me up to her face.

“Things will change,” her voice echoed from all directions at once, as was usual, her red eyes piercing through my very being, “but you must not.”

She waved her arms, and the books came swirling up, like birds floating through the night sky. “You have gained lots of knowledge,” she observed. With another wave, they disappeared into nothingness. “And they will be your guide.”

She brought her hand closer to her face, until her eyes were mere feet away from me. They were like a giant red mirror; I could see myself reflecting off her pupils.

“Now go, the test awaits you,” she declared. She dropped me from her arms as I fell into the void, screaming and trying to grasp for anything at all.

“Be brave, Aizawa,” were the last words I heard as I found myself waking up to Faelar’s hand on my shoulder, my head resting on top of the various history books I had read through the night.

“The King awaits your presence,” he said softly. The Archive was now completely empty save for the both of us.

We walked through the labyrinth of hallways and corridors once again. I tried rubbing the grit from my eyes only for a splash of water to fall over my head from apparent nothingness as Faelar whistled in front of me, feigning innocence.

Eventually, after countless staircases and corridors, each resembling the last, I found myself standing on the balcony of a tower, the sun just beginning to rise, with Fredreich sitting on a couch that overlooked the entire city. For a second, I was awestruck by the mountains in the distance, the glimmering sun peaking from behind them, and the hustle of aristocrats walking to and fro, getting ready for the day that was to emerge. I was brought back to reality as Faelar forced me down by grabbing my arm into a kneel.

The King stood up and turned to face the both of us, instructing Faelar to wait outside while he gestured for me to sit in the seat opposite his, where a chessboard lay at the very center.

He opened with pawn to e4 and then gestured for me to make my move.

“So, Mr. Aizawa, I have heard you were at the archives, is that correct?”

I tried remembering various openings and then settled on an opening I had learned when I was still in school and played pawn to c6.

“Yes, your majesty, something from yesterday’s encounter had caught my interest.”

“Oh? It did? Was it the demon girl’s fascination with my mother?” he said as he played pawn to d5, a sly smile spreading across his lips. “Or your wife, I should say; I do not wish to be rude.”

My heart sank, and I grit my teeth as I continued playing the next move. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t refer to her as a demon, despite what your father may have believed.”

“Yes, the correct term would be Urian, would it not?” he smiled as he played his next move.

“You would know more about that, your majesty; would you not? Given your lineage,” I responded, testing the boundaries.

His expression dropped, his eye twitched just for a second. “What do you mean by that?”

“Your majesty, I do not wish to pry, especially about your childhood, but is it not true that you were born to a consort of King Aldric?”

A sly smile spread across his lips as his piercing blue eyes peered into mine, almost as if they lacked a soul behind them. “Yes, that much is well known.”

“Well then, is it also not the case that this consort was a captured member of the royal family of Ur?”

Fredreich turned his head from the board onto the city below, his eyes fixed on the people traveling below. A faint smile spread across his lips.

“Then, I take it that you’re my brother-in-law?” he smiled, almost letting out a faint laugh. “Ambrose Ashvale; how I envied that name.”

He let out a sigh, his smile unwavering as his blonde hair fluttered in the wind, his piercing blue eyes glimmering against the rising sun. “She did her best to love me, a son from a man whom she detested,” he said. “Even up until she died, but she could never forget her daughter, her beloved daughter.”

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, facing the sky. “How I envied her daughter,” he repeated softly.

“Tell me, Aizawa, how did you know?” he finally gazed into my eyes. For once, he seemed to have been relieved of a heavy burden he had been carrying. “I’m certain none of the books mentioned my mother being from Ur, let alone the royal lineage to begin with.”

“Well, your majesty, when Amber recognized the mural as her mother, even down to the mole on her neck, I had a suspicion,” I said, playing my move and then looking down at the city. “Given the uncanny end to the 17-year war, the coup led by Alaric, it was just too good to be true.”

“Go on,” he lowered his head into his hands, his eyes now back to their cold, unnerving look.

“Well, from the perspective of an outsider, it seemed as if Alaric and your father had been working side by side, and that his possession of the princess of Ur had been enough of a victory for him to agree to a truce, even if barely any land was gained as a result of the war,” I explained.

I looked back at Fredreich who seemed to greet this information with a very slow, deliberate clap. “Sharp as an arrow, aren’t you?” he said as he moved his bishop to a square I didn’t expect.

“However, your majesty, why tell me this?” I asked, castling my king to safety.

“The magic on the bandits,” he moved his knight, attacking my queen, “was magic known only by the people of Ur.”

I tried moving my queen to a safer square, only for him to try and attack it with another bishop. “And given her resemblance to my mother, I knew almost instantaneously that she was the woman whom my mother had yearned for all these years.”

I moved my queen once more, moving it to the best of my extent to a safer square only for him to attack it with his rook. “Aizawa, what was the original intention with which you were sent here by Remus?”

“To get you to lower the taxes on Luxion, your majesty,” I responded.

“Correct, but when is it common for a Kingdom to increase their taxes on their subjects?”

“Famine, drought, to show authority…” I hesitated for a second as I moved out my own bishop to block an attack, “...and lastly for war.”

“Sharp as ever…” he said softly as he took a minute to inspect the board before playing a waiting move, having run out of immediate attacks.

“I presume…” I said as I used my bishop to deliver a check on the unguarded King, “...your intention is to continue the war against Alaric?”

“Precisely so,” he moved out of check.

“Becoming the king of both Ur and Mittengrad?” I said as I checked him again using my knight.

“Correct again,” he said, moving out of check.

“To avenge your mother?” I said, lining up an attack on his King with my queen.

“Yes,” he tried blocking with his knight, hesitating for a second, before committing to it fully. “For justice.”

“How many more lives?” I said, taking his knight with my bishop.

“As many as it takes.”

“How many more years?” I took a rook that he had left unguarded.

“Many.”

“How much more bloodshed?” I placed his King in check one last time, forcing him to topple it over in defeat.

“Rivers, if necessary,” his eyes peered intensely into mine.