Page 14 of Bloom
Aleric’s opponent was too quick to move. Jaime wasn’t good at chess and still assumed one with skill should take more than three seconds to decide where to put a piece. He could only see the back of Aleric’s head, but he seemed to be studying the board even before making a simple move.
As the minutes passed with the general chatter, Jaime caught the words “checkmate” now and then. The Master Steward wrote in his book to keep track of winners and losers. Most of the losers went to get another drink, and one complained that he shouldn’t have had two before playing.
Aleric beat his opponent relatively quickly, and Lord Monet said checkmate minutes later. Zacharie lost against the woman.
“Old doesn’t mean I lost my wits yet.” Lord Monet tapped his head, and the young man he’d played laughed as he stood.
Round two didn’t start until the last pair had a winner. Jaime was having trouble figuring out who was on which team. The winners went against each other, and the teams shrunk bit by bit. Jaime eventually lost interest and turned a bit to look outside.
They were on the bottom floor, so he had a decent view of the front yard. A couple who must have decided they didn’t like chess and preferred to go for a ride were leaving on horseback. The lady’s yellow cloak edged in gold fluttered as the pair rode through the open gate. Côte was on a slight slope, and Jaime could see a sliver of the ocean in the distance and a dot that must have been a ship.
The ocean had seemed so vast and endless as a child, and he remembered standing on a hill to one side of the city back home with a clear view of the water ahead. When he’d first arrived in Côte, he considered continuing and entering his old home cityjust to see it. He likely would have been safe, but he couldn’t bring himself to risk it.
That night hadn’t been to get a holding.
He stared outside, ignoring the talk and a small argument about whether the other cheated or not.
Zacharie’s loud voice made him look around. “I knew you’d keep winning and get to the end!”
Jaime widened his eyes as Zacharie stood and leaned over the table to kiss the orange-eyed lord.
“Get the pot, Lord Gautier,” called a man.
“Now I don’t know who to hope for,” said Lord Monet.
“Your son, of course.” Lord Gautier sat in the abandoned chair across from Aleric. “Blood comes first.”
“Kick his ass.” Zacharie settled again.
“Don’t talk against your brother like that,” said Lord Monet.
Jaime stared at Zacharie and tried to think of how old he was. He wasn’t quite twenty, right? Perhaps he was. Either way, Lord Gautier had to be about forty-five or so. Maybe even a little closer to fifty. The lord was handsome for his age with few lines and a fit body that said he was quite active. The silver streaking his hair and beard gave him a distinguished look, not that Jaime was into older men. He’d never been with anyone more than a few years older or younger.
A forty-something-year-old man being with anyone that young was a bit off in Jaime’s opinion. What on Ymir’s dirt did they have in common? Lord Gautier smiled at Aleric and held up a coin. “You’ll be tails. I’ll be heads.”
Without waiting for a reply, he flipped the coin and let it land on the table with a loud clink. “Heads. I’m first.” He turned the board so he could use the light blue pieces.
A few of the courtiers seemed to lose interest and shuffled out since they’d lost and the game was over for them. The rest drew in to watch the last match.
“You’re our last hope, Aleric,” a lady said as if the fate of the Soleilian Kingdom rested on Aleric’s chess abilities.
Quite a few seemed to be hoping for Lord Gautier to win. A few called him Alexandre or Gautier, with or without the title. Jaime figured he’d watch the last game, so he slid out of the window seat and dared to inch closer without invading anyone’s personal space. A lord told Aleric that he’d better win because he’d bet a lot.
“I usually win,” said Aleric.
“Usually,” Lord Gautier repeated.
Aleric didn’t reply or look up at him. He stared at the board with a blank face as Lord Gautier made his first move rather quickly with a knight.
Like with the first match, Aleric took his time and finally moved a pawn forward one square. They could go two squares for their first move, so Jaime didn’t see why he’d wasted that. He’d never quite gotten chess beyond how the pieces could move because he’d only played a few times in his life.
Aleric repeated the same moves with other pawns. The game progressed slowly with him carefully thinking before moving his pieces short distances. His left bishop went diagonally to the left by one. The other went one square diagonally to the right. The knights ended up in the center in front of the King and Queen. Jaime didn’t see the point in basically rearranging his pieces and keeping them so close to home in a manner of speaking.
Aleric took a sip of his drink that he’d barely touched before switching the position of his king and rook. Jaime hadn’t even known that could be done. Nobody said anything against it, so it must have been an allowed defense move.
Lord Gautier didn’t rush either, but he was a little faster. After Aleric moved his center pawns again, someone said locking the center with a pawn chain was always good.
“You lost, so shut up,” said another.
