The Game

 The captain, as it turned out, was early, for a fortunate wind had carried his ship to the port as if borne on a protective, invisible hand. Once the business was seen to of unloading cargo – grain and silk, for this leg of the voyage – and taking on local pottery, figs, and smoked fish, Guozi, owner of the Wild Fox, walked through the inn's door.

He was a stocky, solidly built man, tough but so sure of himself as to move with something akin to grace, every movement exactly as he intended with nothing in excess. His black beard was streaked with gray and his eyes took in everything at a glance, including the way the inn's owner glanced toward one of the tables in the common room.

“The usual for me,” he said as he walked to that table. It was a cheerful voice that seemed at first at odds with the weathered sailor's appearance, yet it came to him as easily as every other aspect of his bearing. He sat across from Tex.

“Here's a new face,” said the captain, who then introduced himself.

“I'm Tex. You might call me an adventurer. Heard you're the guy to ask about passage south.”

“Maybe. I'm just a trader. How many?”

“Two more. They should be here soon.”

“Where to?”

“Nar, eventually, but if you can't take us all the way... well, they'll work it out with you. I never scored high in geography,” Tex said.

“You're the bodyguard, I take it,” Guozi guessed.

“Kind of.”

The innkeep brought out a tray filled with food and drink, which he set on the table along with a candle. Guozi thanked him and unfolded a scrap of papyrus, held it at just the right angle before the flame, and studied it as he reached for a wooden skewer heavy with shrimp, peppers, and roasted fruit.

“These old eyes aren't so keen anymore,” he said, scrutinizing the writing. “Go ahead and help yourself.”

“Thank you kindly.”

For a while they ate, the captain occasionally pulling some other note or manifest from a pocket and holding it similarly to the light, his stolid face betraying none of his thoughts. When he was done he swept up the little pile and stowed it away, likely with many other pieces of errata organized only within his mind.

“These other passengers, are they from Nar?”

“I couldn't say,” Tex replied.

“And they'll meet you here.”

“They're already in town. Could show up anytime. To be honest, they're the ones you'll want to ask about anything important. I'm along for the ride, more or less.”

Guozi nodded. “I've known a lot of men like that. Excitement is a powerful thing, isn't it? Seeing new places, meeting new people, finding some new trinket or bauble to take home.” His voice was softened by the fondness of recollection. “Whenever I sail home there are old friends or the children of friends who eagerly ask for new stories. Even secondhand adventures will do for such people who otherwise enjoy a peaceful life. But to see it oneself...”

“It's fun,” Tex said. “Besides, you get bored staying in one place all the time.”

“Right you are. But that kind of fun is a young man's game. So these days I prefer to sail the same routes. It's been a long time since I was ambushed by pirates or saw a sea monster or anything so exciting. Or been to Nar, for that matter. It's hard to give up that kind of life. A bit like these,” the captain said as he grabbed a handful of pistachios. “I can never have just one.”

“What's the worst scrape you ever got into?”

“Are you sure you want to hear about it? You might decide you'd prefer a different ship,” said Guozi, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

“Better tell me once we're underway so I don't have a choice.”

Guozi laughed softly. “All right, then. But I truly don't go out of my way for trouble like I used to. These days I play games where the most at stake is my money, not my life.”

“Well, we've got time to kill.”

“That we do. What's your vice? Regicide, maybe?”

“Sorry, I don't know that one.”

“Really? Red raven, then,” said the captain.

“Nope.”

“Ah... senet?”

“Can't say I've heard of it.”

“All right then, tell me what you can play.”

“Blackjack, bridge, rook, baccarat, old maid, solitaire, Texas hold'em, Uno... and chess,” said Tex. “Everyone likes chess.”

“Now you've got me at a loss.”

“It's easy, I'll show you. Got any blank paper?”

The captain spread a sheet on the table. Tex took the skewer from his plate, held the end to the candle flame, and waited for it to blacken. Once it was ready he drew a grid on the papyrus sheet, filling in every other square. It was crude, but it would work. He unwrapped the bundle in which he'd carefully packed the clay figures back at the palace. The other man watched curiously as Tex arrayed them on the charcoal squares and the null spaces between.

“These are your pawns here,” he said, indicating the front row, “and then your two rooks, bishops, knights, the king and the queen.” He described the unique movement of each piece, made a few example moves, explained the difference between check and checkmate.

Guozi nodded, absorbing everything in silence, and said he was ready to play. Tex let him take the first move.

The captain picked up a win on the third game, trapping Tex's king with clever use of his knights. The older man played cautiously yet had a finely honed eye for opportunity and punished mistakes with an almost gleeful ruthlessness. He took to the game as though he'd been playing his whole life and by the time Neteth and Asphodel returned the score stood at 7-5 in the captain's favor. Tex waved them over, happy for the break as he tried to figure out his next move.

After the requisite introductions – for which the prince took the false name Reza, concealing his true origins and identity – they discussed the voyage, pointing to different routes and destinations on a map Guozi pulled out of his seemingly bottomless pockets. There was a way that led to a narrow coastal plain from which they could ascend, through a cut in the mountains known as the Path of the Gods, to Horon, which Asphodel said was near her home and would be the best place to leave her. There was haggling over the fare and they had to call over the innkeep to borrow his scale. Once the gold was broken from the ingot and weighed out Guozi nodded with the professional satisfaction of one who makes such deals as easily as he breathes and then returned to the game.

“Now then, I believe it was your turn,” he said.