Pieces

Bits of adventure, pieces of life.

Chapter 3: A quiet night with friends (Set between book 1 and 2)

Clank, clank, clank!

'Annad, not so roughly.' Rowan's quiet voice drifted out from the kitchen and into Allun's keen ears, over the cackle of the fire and his friends' conversation.

'Timon, of course, outscored all of us by a landslide,' Jonn recounted. 'And I told him he should challenge Rowan to a game. Has he played anyone other than us?'

'I do not think so,' said Jiller.

'I wonder if he would enter a competition?'

The five of them snorted.

'What of Maris?' Sara suggested. 'I think Rowan is clever enough to compete there.'

'Maybe,' Jonn mused. 'It depends on which game. Skinny Rabbit almost always bests me at chess.'

'Annad could be good at chess to,' said Jiller. 'If she could sit still long enough.'

'Your entire family is good at intellectual games,' Allun said.

'They get it from you,' Jonn added.

Clank, clank.

'If frogs and tadpoles are family, why do they look different, Rowan?'

Jiller smiled.

'Do you remember the first time he and Sefton played chess?'

'I do. It was that night you had us and your cousins over for dinner.'

Allun remembered that night too. Years ago, when Annad was barely two weeks old they had spent a long, happy night at this house celebrating with food, talk and games. Most of the children were playing with marbles but Rowan had stayed close to his parents.

'Yes, that is right. The horse moves two across and one ahead. Whoops, I mean, the bukshaa. ' Sefton smiled at his small son, drawing out a matching expression.

The two of them shared dark hair and smiles, looking very much like father and son in that moment.

'Who do you think is the best chess player in the village?' Allun wondered. 'Timon?'

'I think Lann is,' Marlie said.

'Only if she is in good mood,' Jiller shook her head. 'Or she will not be patient enough. Maise beat her once like that.'

'I believe Sheba is still the best,' Sara said confidently. 'Although she cares little for human company, Sheba is a fine chess player. I remember when we were younger; she could beat nearly everybody who challenged her.'

Allun leaned in eagerly.

'Who did beat her, Mother?'

Sara grinned.

'Myself, Ogden-'

'Ha!'

'-Lann, that Maris girl - Larsh, Timon and Todd the woodcutter.'

'Todd?' asked Allun. 'That fellow we buy our firewood from?'

'The very one.'

'Oh.'

Clank. Click. Thud. Click, clank, click.

Allun built a picture in his head with sound; Rowan and Annad were putting the dishes away. Plate into a cupboard. Shut the door. Move a chair to reach the next cupboard. Open it. Pots in. Shut.

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud...

'Skinny Rabbit, do you feel like a game of chess?'

Rowan looked at Jonn and blinked.

'Ah, yes. I will get our board.' He took a carved wooden box from a cupboard in the sitting room and he and Jonn settled on the floor together. Out came the black and white painted board and carved pieces all made by Rowan's grandfather.

Annad plopped down next to her brother and helped him line up his black pieces.

'Is this bukshaa star?' she asked.

'I think so,' he said. 'And who is this one? Is she Dawn?'

'No. This one is Twilight.'

'I see.'

The adults smiled at each other.

XXX xxx XXX

'Oo, bad move Jonn. You have walked right into his trap.'

'Shush, Allun.'

Tap.

...

Tap.

Rowan smiled.

'Checkmate.'

His warrior was two squares away from Jonn's king.

'... Blast. I cannot move. You win.'

'Yes!' Annad cheered.

'He was going easy on you!'

'I was not. Jonn is not that easy.'

'Easy?'

'My turn! Let us see if you can defeat me, Rowan.'

Allun joined them on the floor and took over from Jonn on the white side. He was a stronger player than Jonn, able to predict his opponent's plays.

'Hey Rowan, next time you play Jonn you should make the loser wear one of your mother's dresses.' There was his mental attack.

Rowan snorted in surprise.

'Imagine him in that red dancing dress!'

'Ha ha ha ha ha!'

'Oi!'

Click.

Bother!

Allun took Rowan's bukshaa with his pawn.

'Better get your head in the game, Rowan, or it will you wearing a dress,' Jonn said, sitting in the chair next to Jiller's. Marlie and Sara had the couch.

'When you grow into them, anyway,' he snickered.

From then on Rowan tried hard to not laugh when Allun cooked up pictures of Jonn in various dresses and skirts. He lost a tower when an imaginary Bree walked casually through the village in pink silk skirt.

'I should like to see Bree's face if he heard,' Marlie muttered.

Eventually, with both sides cut down to a few pieces, Allun won the game.

'Good game,' he grinned. 'Now, who wants to play with Rowan next?'

'I do not mind watching this time,' Rowan said. 'Someone else should have a turn.'

'Marlie then. Care to match wits with me?'

Marlie sat down across from Allun took the black pieces from Rowan and Annad.

'If you lose, Allun, I really will have you put on a dress.'