The Waters of Lethe

Disclaimer: I don't own FMA, only the OCs I've created. I just like to play around in it's world and torture Ed for awhile

Author's note: post series and very AU. Some movie events may happen, but differently

Warning: May contain movie spoilers. This story will contain violence, bad language, death, and perhaps sex.

Beta: Kittygirl109

37. Checkmate (Niederlage)

Edward awoke with a start, sweating and shaking from an unpleasant dream. He just lay still for a moment and tried to calm down, while the dark shadows of the dream began to fade from his memory. The house was silent, and he couldn't hear any sound past the closed door of his room. To judge from the angle of the sun, and the heat, it must be early afternoon, all the servants were probably resting out of the scorching heat.

Because he woke up groggy and disoriented, Edward hated sleeping all day.Yet Dr. Forbes told him it was normal. The deep sleep which dragged him down for hours at a time was his body's way of recovering from the effects of the malaria. "After you've regained your strength, you will find your circadian rhythms will return to sync, plus your body will better withstand the next bout of malaria."

It had been only three days, no, wait, or was it four? that Major Howard "terminated his services" and (grudgingly) granted him five days to recover. Edward spent almost all of it sleeping and even now, the siren call of the Land of Nod was pulling his eyelids back down. He knew better than to fight it. With a sigh, Edward relaxed and sank back into the velvet arms of Morpheus...

It was dusk when he awakened again and Edward knew at once he wasn't alone. His bedside lamp was throwing it's usual weak halo of light and he could sense someone was sitting in the chair next to him. He shifted his gaze left to see, not Dr. Forbes, or Daoud, but a person he missed seeing.

Emmeline.

Lady Howard's companion, Miss Childers, otherwise known as just plain "Childers". She was a poor relation of her ladyship's, and forced by circumstance to be the doormat of her better-off cousin. It seemed a million years ago when Edward had met her and the Howards in Cairo and he'd determined not to get involved, to keep his distance. His resolve had lasted all of a fortnight before they happened to meet long enough to do more than exchange bland pleasantries.

Edward had gone up to to Major's study to show him the lesson plan he had worked out for the twins. But the Major already had visitors, some amateur archealogical society he was involved with and they didn't show any signs of taking their leave any time soon. Edward had been forced to cool his heels, sitting on a delicate wooden chair next to a small table with a chessboard inlaid into it's surface. After roughly five minutes, Edward was getting very bored and had begun to drum his glove-clad metal fingers on the table top.

"Excuse me, Mr. Bauer, but would you care for a game? The Major could be in there for the better part of the morning when he's talking about archealogy." Edward started and he looked up to see Miss Childers standing there, with a thin sheaf of papers in one hand. She pulled out the mate to Edward's chair and sat down, neatly tucking her feet underneath the table. Edward hadn't seen her so near before, he covertly studied her face and decided that close up, she was a fetching woman.

"All morning?" Edward echoed with dismay. He wanted to get right on his new job, and this news gave him an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Well, all right. I've not played chess before, but I'll give it a try."

Miss Childers reached to the front of the table and pressed the head of a woman wearing a crown which was carved into the dark cherrywood. Instantly, a drawer full of the pieces - pawns, knights, rooks, bishops, kings, and queens - shot open. Edward followed her lead in setting up the pieces, and listened patiently while she sketched out the rules of the game. He was a quick learner and thought he grasped the fundamentals when she let him make the first move. This game shouldn't take long, and maybe I'll enjoy it.

Edward was right in feeling the game would end quickly.

She creamed him in just a dozen moves.