Work Text:
“I challenge you to a duel!”
A grin spread over Alisaie’s face. She turned to her shocked companion, the Warrior of Light, and explained, “Don’t worry, Moonflower. It’s not a duel with pistols or swords.” Then she turned around to face her challenger. “Name your weapon then!”
He was young, one of the junior professors at the Studium. He was a midlander hyuran man, with fine blond hair and brown eyes. “I’ll be black this time,” he declared. “I have a table prepared already.”
“Excellent! Come on, Moonflower, watch me crush him.” Alisaie pulled on her friend’s sleeve, but the Warrior of Light refused to move.
“Alisaie, explain what is going on before we end up in a trap and I have to stab someone.” Her green eyes narrowed, expecting an answer.
The young woman laughed. “His name is Oswyn, and he and I were in the chess club together. He didn’t really believe that someone like me could play chess well, and was only in it for the fun of it.” Her grin came back, eviller and wider than before. “I absolutely destroyed him. Little eleven-year-old me.”
Moonflower snickered at the image Alisaie was painting. “And he waited for you to get back from your adventures to challenge you again? He didn’t waste time when we entered.”
Alisaie nodded and pushed a door open. “Oswyn and I respect each other, I promise you. We played a lot while I was still at the Studium, even after he graduated about halfway through.”
“How did you start pointing fingers across hallways and loudly demanding duels then?” That was the confusing part for Moonflower. It had sounded like a threat, even though Alisaie was calm.
“Because it is a duel!” Oswyn answered, having heard the question. “A duel of the fates! A—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Alisaie interrupted, taking her seat. “You say that every time.”
“Today I am going to win, Alisaie,” he swore, and sat down himself. “Does she play, too?”
“Not nearly as well as Alisaie,” Moonflower replied. She pulled up a chair next to Alisaie, but not close enough that he might accuse them of cheating. “She taught me one afternoon. It was fun, but I didn’t even manage to draw.” Unfortunately, chess was not one of her many talents. “So once you play against her, that’ll be it, I’m afraid.”
Oswyn looked at her speculatively, but was almost immediately snapped out of it by Alisaie, who did not want him to pressure her friend into playing. Steadying himself as if this were an actual duel, he reached out and they shook hands. “Shall we flip a coin to see who goes first?”
His opponent nodded and a coin was produced. It landed squarely in the middle of the board, showing that Alisaie was first. From there, the game was on, and silence settled over them. The only sounds were the occasional humming in thought and the clicking of the timer.
Moonflower was no expert at chess. After that afternoon, she had not had much opportunity to see the game in action, especially done at a professional level like this. She knew that there were a lot of names for maneuvers, and a lot of sub-maneuvers, and she was certain that Alisaie knew them all. People tended to underestimate Alisaie, because she was so lively and fierce, but she had proven time and again that she could think critically and act carefully. Alphinaud mentioned that his sister was a champion, and Moonflower could believe it.
But she didn’t know anything about this Oswyn character. If he and Alisaie played frequently enough over the years, then he must also be a champion, or at least an expert player. Would he be able to win? Neither he nor Alisaie mentioned if he ever had, only that he was going to win today.
Pieces disappeared from the board. To Moonflower, it seemed as though Alisaie were toying with Oswyn. The two lost pieces big and small, but never the ones Alisaie seemed to rely on most… at least until she lost her second bishop. That made Moonflower worried; she knew rooks and bishops were almost as important as the queen in chess, and now Alisaie only had one rook.
Alisaie moved her knight. “Check.”
Maybe she’s not worried.
Oswyn was able to get out of it, though, and the game continued. Then he put Alisaie in check. “Check!” he said, looking triumphant.
Once again, Moonflower was worried. She’d never seen Alisaie take this long to beat someone. Would this end up as a draw? Or would Alisaie actually lose? No way, Alisaie will definitely win. They were both running out of pieces though, so she wondered how much longer they could play.
Alisaie moved her rook to the end of the board and flipped it. “I’ll make it a knight.” An odd choice to Moonflower, who thought one would always choose to make a rook a queen, but Alisaie knew best. A couple turns later and the knight-rook was halfway across the board again.
“Checkmate!”
Oswyn groaned and slumped back in his chair. “Again?! It’s been four years! How can you still beat me?”
Laughing, Alisaie reached out and shook his hand. “Thank you for the excellent match as always, Oswyn. You almost had me a few times.”
“Let’s play a rematch,” he said, shaking her hand a few more times. He began cleaning up the board with her assistance.
“Maybe another time, I’m here on business you know.”
Oswyn paused, his brown eyes serious. “Yes, I heard something about towers in the rest of the world. You’ll be careful, won’t you?”
“Of course I will! How else will we play?”
This made her—friend? rival?—chuckle. “Glad to hear it, Alisaie. Well, you won this time… So I suppose you can be allowed to walk free.”
Alisaie flicked her braid and put a hand on her hip. “I’ll see you later, Oswyn.” Once the board was put away, they parted ways until the next time one threw the gauntlet.