Chapter 3—Checkmate

Maybe it was the fact that her father was the only particularly smart man in Alberich, but Xenia could not help but respect Ivan. She was quite interested in his account of his travels and would have preferred to have had more time to read before dinner was called. Still, she figured she could learn enough just from dinner conversation. For someone with no magic ability at all, he was quite knowledgeable about the theories of magic (and just knowledgeable in general). It was quite a shame that Ivan was going to leave tomorrow; he was such an interesting character in her opinion. Xenia and Feodor were different in their reactions to travelers—Feodor viewed them as liars hoping to become famous through their stories, but Xenia envied them for being able to see the entire continent. Both of her parents were born outside of Lycia, and both had done much traveling. Xenia, on the other hand, was born and raised in Caelin, never traveling farther from her home than a farm on the outskirts of the capital's region. Travel was in her blood; staying in Alberich seemed to her a waste of her life.

"So you are the famous Ivan," Xenia's mother said. "You've done quite a bit for Caelin, if not Lycia in general."

"Thank you," Ivan said. "I feel I must say I was rather surprised to see Xenia practicing Elfire; few mages her age are so skilled. Also, Igor seems to have the most impressive knowledge of the theories of magic."

"Considering Volga's prices for dark tomes, I need something to study while raising money to buy the next tome," Xenia's father said.

"Volga is the most rotten witch I've ever had the misfortune of meeting," Xenia said. "She hates my father and even sees fit to torment me as well just because he practices dark magic. I still haven't forgiven her for 'accidentally' dropping that Fimbulvetr tome my father had saved up so much money to buy for me."

"Fimbulvetr?" Ivan asked in disbelief . "You are skilled enough to use a tome as powerful as Fimbulvetr?"

"Magic is in her blood," Xenia's father said. "If the place were more tolerant of dark magic, we would move to Etruria to further our magic studies. Unfortunately, I would probably be tortured if not killed."

"Such is the Eliminean Church. It's disturbing how much power those bishops have. Magic is magic, dark, light, or anima. In fact, I probably take the most interest in dark magic simply because so many people are foolish enough to view it as evil. Dark magic is certainly a difficult codex to master, but those who do master it without being corrupted by its power are the most knowledgeable and powerful people in existence."

"Which is exactly why I viewed Lady Niime with such reverence. All four of her sons are quite intelligent. Poor Canas seemed to be struggling when I was still in Ilia, but I feel he is probably a great shaman now, if not a druid."

"I am sorry to say I have never met Niime, but I have always wanted to; sages and druids are far more interesting than warriors of any sort. Yuno is one of the few close friends I have made who does not use magic. In fact, she and Niime are the main reasons why I hope to visit Ilia again."

"Where haven't you been?" Feodor asked.

"Nabata, Missur, Kafti, the Western Isles, and Valor. Of course, there are supposedly also other continents that I would not mind visiting someday."

"It would not surprise me," Xenia said. "Scientists have done the math and concluded that Elibe is only a small part of the world; there might, in fact, be over four other continents according to their theories."

"Bah!" Feodor laughed. "Since when have scientists ever been right?"

"They were right about certain substances burning with different flames," Ivan said. "In fact, there are a number of things they have been right about. Some have actually managed to predict the weather."

"You are really not the best liar. I've learned from Wil how to spot a whopper, and your stories cannot possibly be true."

"Believe or disbelieve—that is your choice; there is only one truth, but beliefs can conflict at any point." Ivan put a last apple slice into his mouth and swallowed it. "May I be excused?" he asked Xenia's father.

"I suppose nothing's wrong with that. I was hoping to talk a little more with you."

"Ivan?" Xenia started, "Do you have anyplace to spend the night?"

"I suppose I do not. Are you inviting me to stay here?"

"If you're willing; we have a guest room."

"That sounds wonderful; usually, I have to sleep outside. It may seem odd, but I have a number of reasons for traveling the way I do." Ivan got up and walked over to the chessboard, where Xenia promptly joined him. Ivan laughed. "Are you interested in a game?"

"My father never loses, so I was hoping to see for myself how good you are."

"Then let us begin. I believe the challenger goes first."

"Very well." Xenia moved one of her pawns forward a space. "So, what exactly went on in Ilia?"

Ivan moved one of his pawns forward two spaces. "I visited the capital, Edessa, looking for a group to train with, and I ended up with Yuno's troops." Xenia moved her bishop out to put Ivan's king in check.

"Check," she said, quickly being countered by another pawn move.

"Anyway, we traveled south to train against bandits, as was typically the case with any new mercenaries." Xenia moved her knight to protect her bishop. "Reports said some bandits were terrorizing the border regions, burning villages, looting homes, capturing civilians, typical bandit stuff." Ivan moved another pawn, ignoring Xenia's own move. "Imagine our surprise when it turned out to be a part of the Kutolah tribe!"

"The Kutolah?" Xenia moved her knight again. "I'm beginning to understand why Feodor doesn't believe you. Well, story or not, it's interesting, so keep going."

"Very well." Ivan moved another pawn. Xenia noticed a pattern in the pawn moves. "It was far from easy going after archers. Fortunately, some of the soldiers had experience on the ground. Yuno was the most skilled of the group, so I gave our single Delphi Shield to her. She would employ hit-and-run tactics over the forest." Xenia finally moved her other knight out from behind her pawns. "Yuno would swoop down and strike a nomad, then fly away and lure the group toward the forest, where our temporary foot soldiers were waiting in ambush." Ivan moved yet another pawn. Xenia had a good feeling what his next move would be. "The strategy was one the Kutolah themselves used on the plains. Of course, with the thick forest, we now had the advantage."

"Were they that foolish?" Xenia asked while castling her king and rook.

"They did not expect us to have foot soldiers; they saw us approaching only on pegasi, so they figured they could use the terrain to their advantage."

"And?"

"The troops the enemy sent after Yuno were slaughtered," Ivan said, moving another pawn two spaces forward. "Needless to say, they would not fall for that strategy again. With the brush serving as cover, our troops had been able to get in close and kill the nomads while their bows were essentially useless." Xenia moved a knight directly next to one of Ivan's pawns. Right away, Ivan's queen was in that same space. "From there, the battle was much simpler. Our foot soldiers took advantage of the ruins to strike from safety, be it with javelins at a distance or with lances up close." Xenia moved her own queen out to prepare for the battle Ivan was inviting. Until Ivan had moved his queen, the game had been mainly defensive. "Yuno would rescue anyone who got hurt and take her safely behind the woods, where five of our foot soldiers still were for defensive purposes." Ivan moved a pawn forward. To Xenia, the strategy seemed to be a pawn-wall strategy. Noticing the lack of a pawn or other piece to protect the newly-moved pawn, she captured the pawn with her queen. Ivan laughed as he captured Xenia's queen with the knight she had failed to notice. However, despite the loss of her queen, the pawn wall now had a gap.

"I still broke your wall," she said.

"I know; I knew you would eventually try to break it. In fact, I was counting on you to do that to free my rooks."

"So, the battle with the Kutolah?"

"Yes, of course. From the ruins, it was a fairly simple strategy of keeping the battle in the town. With Yuno cutting off their retreat by swooping in on anyone who tried to flee, the leader eventually surrendered. My role switched from strategist to diplomat at that point."

"So you tried to negotiate?" Xenia asked as she moved her other knight over the pawn wall.

"With the exception of one nomad who we sent to Dayan as a messenger, we held all the survivors captive until the messenger returned with Dayan's response. We had decided that we would release the survivors if we got Dayan's word that he would not attack Ilian border towns again."

"Did he agree?"

"On the condition that Ilia would not build towns on the plains. That message was sent to Edessa." Ivan moved his endangered rook forward a space. "Anyway, the people at Edessa agreed and sent their consent. The town was rebuilt in the forest, and all other Ilian plains towns are being abandoned. There are some stubborn people who want to stay on the plains and be protected by Ilia, but they're on their own." Xenia moved her knight and captured Ivan's white-space bishop. Knowing his rook was doomed, Ivan responded by moving his other rook a space forward. Xenia captured Ivan's rook.

"Well, you sure have… odd methods of fighting."

"Focusing a soldier on only one use is wasteful and predictable. By keeping the enemy fenced in with my strategy, we were able to do far more than what our initial orders commanded of us. We had been ordered to wipe out the 'bandits', but we instead managed to protect the borders from the Kutolah for what will hopefully be a very long time." Ivan moved his remaining rook toward the gap. If he moved his knight aside, Ivan would be able to get his rook out into the battlefield. Seeing an opportunity, Xenia moved one of her pawns two spaces forward, enabling her own rooks to get out. Ivan just moved his queen forward a space to avoid the capture attempt.

"Did the other tribes agree to the terms?" Xenia asked.

"No, but Yuno said she had learned quite well from my strategy. She said that if other Sacaen tribes attacked Ilian towns, she would know how to proceed. Of course, my strategy would not be overly effective on open plains." Xenia moved another pawn two spaces forward. Ivan moved a pawn one space forward to put Xenia's infiltrating knight in range of his rook. Xenia moved her knight out of range, to which Ivan responded by moving his rook directly next to it. Trapped. Xenia looked for a move she could make to save her knight—none existed. Defeated, Xenia moved one of her rooks out into the field.

"How do you think she'll fare?"

"Quite well; she's a good learner." Ivan moved his rook and grabbed the knight that had been bothering him. Xenia sighed as she moved her rook out into the field. Tired of being menaced by Xenia's bishop, Ivan moved a pawn and captured it. Xenia was about to move her rook into the opening, but then noticed the black rook in the way.

"Did you fight any other battles with her?"

"No, but I spent some extra time in Edessa before leaving; the Union expected me to go through a whole campaign, but it took only one battle." Xenia moved her rook forward a space, hoping to slip through a different opening. Ivan moved his knight into range of the rook. Xenia sighed again and pulled back her rook. "To be honest, I had fallen in love with her by the time I moved on."

"Another result of Araphen Syndrome."

"One could say that." Ivan moved his queen past Xenia's pawns to endanger two of her rooks. The rook had only one safe place, so she moved it there. Ivan moved his bishop out into the field. Plenty of bad moves could be made, a few ordinary moves, and no good moves. It was then that she noticed the safe place for her rook that could be useful and moved there. Ivan moved his bishop to endanger the rook.

"Do you miss her?"

"Of course. I've learned to cope, though." Xenia moved her rook to endanger the bishop, which resulted in Ivan protecting the bishop with his queen. No move could save the rook, so Xenia simply took the bishop and lost her rook to the queen. Xenia moved her pawn forward to keep Ivan's queen from menacing her bishop, but that proved useless; Ivan moved his queen and put the bishop in future danger. Not willing to surrender, though, Xenia moved her castled rook out. Ivan moved his knight toward Xenia's wall. Xenia moved her rook to the edge to avoid the knight's trap.

"Checkmate," Ivan said after moving his queen next to Xenia's bishop. Xenia examined the board and sighed.

"You are good. After you started getting past my defenses, it was more a matter of when you would beat me than a matter of who would win."

"Not to sound arrogant, but I am a tactician, after all."

"So, you said you had reasons for traveling the way you do?"

"Yes. When there's nowhere indoors to sleep, I sleep under whatever natural shelter I can find rather than in a tent. By doing that, it's a lot harder for bandits to find me. Of course, when I was in Ilia, I slept in a tent. Similarly, I never bring anything that might be considered valuable. I have my log and my food, but otherwise, I don't bother with any supplies. As for traveling alone, it's for a reason similar to the reason for not using a tent; a single traveler is more likely to get by bandits undetected than a group. Considering that I'm a lousy fighter, everything I do when traveling has to be done right."

"If I ever travel, I'll have to remember those strategies."

"You needn't use them; I only plan that way because I would be no threat to a bandit if I came across one. You can use magic, though, so you don't have to worry as much about being attacked."

"I suppose."

"If you will excuse me…" Ivan got up and went off to the guest room. He seemed to be a very social person, but only if there was something to do while talking. Scientists said that it was natural for men to be less willing to talk for the sake of talking, and Xenia had plenty of good reasons to believe that, considering how many examples she could take from men she knew of in Alberich. It was a shame Ivan was only passing through; she did not know how well she could connect to him, but he had some very interesting stories, true or not.