Reluctant King

Aedric's group begins playing the arcane chess game.

13.

Reluctant King

 

Aedric was greatly relieved when the others began to come through the enchanted doorway into the tower.    Only a half hour to three-fourths of an hour of time elapsed in between the appearances of each person.    But even at that accelerated rate, nearly four hours of time passed within the tower, before they were all assembled.  

They all watched the chessboard in the room, but no piece moved during the entire time of their wait.    Valmiai was the last to arrive, but unlike the others, she did not wish to eat and rest for a while.

“We need to begin at once.” She told the group as soon as she appeared inside the room.  

“The chess pieces have not moved.”  Snoe told her, “There is time for you to rest.”

“Do not be deceived, Your Majesty”, the fae lady told Snoe, “Time passes slowly here, but the need is still very pressing.   What lies before us is a terrible challenge.”

“You act as if you know for certain.”   Gamel said to her as he finished his meal.

“I do, indeed.”

“You’ve been here?”   Mattleos questioned.

“I have, Lord Mattleos.    Long, long ago.     When the Great Forest was much wider, but before the Faesidhe had taken control of it.     Helios lived then, and worked his magic from this tower.    For years he captured creatures and intelligent beings in the Great Forest and brought them into his tower.”

“What did he do to them?”   Snoe asked her, dreading the tale she would tell.

“Experiments of all types.    He desired to produce hybrids that would serve as his slaves or soldiers.    When he had made a creature that pleased him, he would release them into the forest to see how they fared.   Most often these creatures were crazed and they would kill and destroy all they would encounter.”

“My sisters and I would have to track them and usually slay them.   After years of these desecrations,   we decided to stop the mad wizard.   Three of my sisters and I recruited four Sylvan Rangers from the people of Tarmard  -- as they too were tormented by Helios- and the eight of us journeyed here to confront the wizard.”

“When we arrived, we found the tower stationary in the same position it is in now, and with the same wards that remain upon it.    We managed to enter, and learned that the small board controlled movement of the tower, and locked it in place by hedging the rook piece as Snoe has correctly done.   Then we came to the door that stands before us now.”

“Did you enter?”   Mutt asked.

“Yes, Goblin, we entered, but only after we learned the way we must enter.”

“Learn the way?   Another puzzle?”   Allea asked.

Valmiai shook her head, “Not exactly.    If you will look closely at the door, you will see that it has the same reoccurring rhyme: Reluctant King, Virgin Queen, Bishop Forsook, Deadly Rook, Blackest Knight, Pawns of Light.”

“Did the group you were with the first time you came here, match those in this rhyme?”   Aaron asked.

“We thought we had ‘made it work’.    I was selected as the ‘Virgin Queen’ and one of the Elves who were with us was a younger son of the Sylvan King and he took the role as ‘Reluctant King’.”

“What do you mean ‘took the role’?” Aedric wondered.

“To get into the room past this door, we must each enter in with the title we attribute to ourselves.   On the other side is a room set up as a chess board.   You will enter on the spot that corresponds to your chess piece.”

“We’re going to play a living version of chess?”  Snoe asked, alarmed.

“Yes, and you will only be able to move to spaces in the same way that your piece moves.    There will be opponents coming toward you from the other side.    They are some of those who lost their chess match at an earlier time.    Helios’ enchantment puts the losing team into a suspended state.   When the need arises and a new group challenges the tower, some of those suspended will be brought out to do battle as chess pieces.”

“How did you get free, then?”   Mattleos asked.

“There are perhaps hundreds of suspended beings, and only the number needed to fill one side of the board will be selected.  All of my sisters and I,  as well as the Sylvan Elves were put into a frozen state for many, many years.”

“When I was brought forth, it was as a Black Queen, representing Helios’ group.   The others reanimated with me were people I had never met, but we played as a team.   When we defeated our opponents, the black chess pieces that remained on the board were teleported outside of the tower.    I was one of these pieces and I hurried to rejoin my sisters in the great forest, only to learn that hundreds of years had passed since my group had departed for the valley.”

“My people had been persecuted and scattered.    I alone remained, and I hid in the forest from the Faesidhe until I took on a mythological nature in their eyes as ‘The Lady of the Forest’.”

“So what exactly ARE you?”   Gamel questioned her, but Aedric knew the answer and spoke it.

“Inion Sidhe - you are like my grandmother, Mathlyn.”

Valmiai smiled, “Your grandmother has nearly forgotten what power she had as one of the sisters.    She lives as one of the Sylvan people, but I am as I have always been.”

“Were any of your sisters released later on, after another victory against another group?”   Mutt asked her.

“No, Goblin, not that I know of, though it could be that they were released without my awareness.    Only three of my sisters were trapped with me.   It is possible that they were released before I was.”

“Then you could encounter some of them when we go into this room.”   Gamel said, and the lady nodded somberly.

“I greatly fear that.   If we are victorious, then they could be lost forever.   I do not know what will happen to them if we win.”

Everyone was quiet for a few moments, understanding the gravity of her fear.

“Valmiai, you mentioned that we will be ‘doing battle as chess pieces’.   Yet in chess there is strategy, but nothing you could actually call ‘battle’.    What exactly did you mean by this?”   Mattleos asked her as he pondered what fate awaited them.

“It is not exactly chess, Lord Matt.    When you take up the role as a game piece, you can only move like that piece, on the floor of the room.    When an opposing piece comes into your space on the board, they must battle at once.    The combat is real and deadly, but the one who dies is removed off the board, healed, and put into a suspended state, to remain as one of the tower’s chess pieces.”

“So either piece could triumph, even the defender of a space?”

“Yes.   I do not know what would happen if our group was to defeat the tower’s game pieces.   Apparently it has never occurred.   Certainly we will be free to leave the tower and hopefully access the doors that are on the enemy’s side of the room.    There, I believe, we will find Helio’s quarters and his spellbook and scrolls.”

“Will any in our party that are killed in the match be brought back to us alive again?”   Allea asked the Sidhe lady.

“I don’t know with certainty, but I would imagine so.   Helios was known for his sporting interests.    He thought that any contest should include a chance for one side to win.    I would imagine that this would be the case.”

“But what if we are victorious and are teleported outside the tower as you were when your team won?”   Aedric asked, “Then our work will be in vain.”

“No-one can say with certainty, King Aedric.”  Valmiai responded, “There has not been a challenger to Helios that has ever defeated him at his chess games.    There is no precedent.   My group was made up of Helios’ defending team, so we were released rather than won.   So I don’t know what will occur.   But we should at least try.”

“I see no other way, but I am hesitant to expose everyone to danger.”   Aedric said while glancing at his wife.

“None can back out now, King Aedric.”  The Inion Sidhe lady responded, “Any that try will meet with certain death.”

“Well, then let’s get this over with.”   Aedric sighed, “Alright, Valmiai, how do we begin?”

“Each piece enters the game board through the same door, but it will take you to a specific spot on the board for each piece.”

“So if I am the Reluctant King, I will be on the White King’s spot?”

“Yes.    When all are assembled, the dark side will move a piece first.    You will be allowed to move on the board for the same distance that the piece you represent can move.   Only one member of your team will be allowed to move, and then it becomes the other side’s move.    If you try to move out of turn or jump to a space where your piece could not move, you will receive a shock of electricity to stun you.”

“Each side moves in turn, and combat is joined when two pieces occupy the same spot.   If you do not fight, then both pieces will be shocked until they begin to fight.”

“So what pieces do we represent, and since we do not have enough for all the pieces, what happens?”

“Perhaps pieces will be given to us from Helios’ stockpile.   Or maybe not, I do not know.”

“Will they be released if we succeed?” Mutt asked.

“I don’t know, Goblin, but I would guess that they would.”

“We need to select our game pieces.” Mattleos stated, “Obviously Aedric is King and Snoe is Queen, but what of the rest of us?”

They all looked at Valmiai for guidance.    The lady thought for a moment, “You must not take offense at my suggestions.”

They agreed to her terms and she looked first at Allea, “You are certainly the ‘Bishop Forsook.”

“Really?   Why?”

“You are the daughter of Archbishop Zeatt?”

“Yes, so?”

“She wants you to become a cleric, like her, and while you are fascinated with the spells, you have hesitated, as you also find arcane magic fascinating.”

Allea’s mouth dropped open, “How did you know that?”

“Telepathy, child.  But your condition would most closely match this piece.”

“Alright.”

Valmiai looked at Gamel, “Blackest Knight.”

Gamel smiled, “I understand - I’m a Drow and I’m a Knight; that seems clear.”

Valmiai now looked at Aaron, Mutt and Mattleos, “The only other mentioned pieces are ‘Pawns of Light’, and while I would rather have you as Knights, Bishops or a Rook, I must advise you to take the roles of pawns.    I will be the Deadly Rook, for reasons I do not wish to share.”

“So will Helios - or whatever magic spell he has set up to do all of this- give us the other pieces from those who are frozen in his tower?”   Mutt asked the Lady.   He knew she greatly disliked Goblins, but he thought this might be time to find this out.

“I do not know, Goblin.    I would think it would be two sides, playing with all of their pieces.   But it may not be so.   You would be best suited as a pawn.”

Mutt grinned, “We Goblins have been pawns of wizards and dictators forever; it is a role I do not mind at all.”

“Excellent!   If we are ready, I suggest that we begin this game.”

Her enthusiasm was not exactly matched by the others, but they knew that they did not have time to delay.   They gathered around the door on the other side of the room and Valmiai instructed them to touch the line of verse carved into the wood of the door that corresponded to them, then open the door and go in.

“The game will start as soon as the last person enters.   Remember, only one team member can move one time, then it is the other team’s move, and then it comes back again to our side.   In this way it is just like a real chess game.   But the outcome of a battle is up to you.   Do not hesitate to kill your opponent, as they will certainly be trying to kill you.   If some of our own fall in battle, do not despair for if we win, they should be brought back to us again, restored.”

“‘Should’ is the key word.”   Allea mumbled, but they had no time to consider it.  

Aedric took a deep breath, “Well, I pray that Yesh will grant us victory.”

“Remember, King Aedric, that if you are defeated, the game ends.    As in real chess, do not endanger yourself against the enemy.    Let the others protect you.”   The fae lady instructed.

“That is hard for a Paladin to do, but I’ll try. “   He glanced over at Snoe and felt like he should kiss her or something, but it all was still so new, he just smiled at her and said, “You all be careful.   I guess I’ll go in now.”

Before he could move, Snoe suddenly grabbed his arm, leaned in and kissed him on the lips.

“For luck.” She whispered to him, worry evident in her eyes as she pulled away.

It did nothing to curb his own nerves, but Aedric touched the script on the door, opened the door, and walked through.

Reviews

[Elina]

"I and my sisters would have to track them..." This ought to read "My sisters and I..." This same issue pops up in a sentence just after this bit and should be "Three of my sisters and I..." You always want to list all others before 'yourself.'
"I and all my sisters as well as the Sylvan Elves..." Same as above.
"...give us the others pieces from those who are frozen..." You can take the "s" off of "others."