Work Text:
Gabe carefully placed another book on the stack he was balancing in his left hand and secured it with his right one. He crossed another item off his mental list.
"Now where can I find poetry…" he muttered to himself.
Holding the books he'd already chosen he continued his walk through the forest of bookcases, reading the little bronze plaques on the shelves and finding more and more fascinating categories he hadn't thought about before, and more and more titles he simply had to check out. When he finally found the poetry section, his stack had already grown at least three times its height. Scanning the wall of book spines he found the surname he looked for - unfortunately, two shelves above his head.
Gabe inhaled slowly, determined to get the book. He moved his right hand from securing the pile to only propping it with his elbow, and tried reaching up, but it wasn't enough. So he carefully extended his hand, leaving the books to balance on his left palm, and finally, extending onto his toes, he reached the right shelf. Or at least the lower edge. Still not enough. He quickly looked around, to make sure he was alone… and jumped.
He reached the book! But at the same time the dozen he was already carrying, fell with a cascade of thuds onto the floor, sending a thundering echo across the whole library.
"Ah!" Gabe exclaimed ashamed by his own clumsiness.
"Aaaaaaah!" Exclaimed someone from the other side of the bookcase, startled by the sudden noise.
Gabe left the books on the floor and ran to explain himself and apologize to the person on the other side. But just as he came to the corner he skidded to a stop, so as not to bump into princess Isabel.
"Oh, it's you, Gabe." She sighed in relief. Still, her eyes were big as saucers when she asked. "What was that noise?"
"I'm sorry your highness, I'm afraid it was me." Gabe bowed quickly and sheepishly gestured behind himself, at the books scattered on the floor. "I simply dropped a few books."
Isa looked behind him and her eyebrows rose.
"A few?"
"I planned on taking only three but…" Gabe laughed, crouching down to pick the books up. "Well they all just seemed so interesting."
Isabel nodded in understanding and crouched down to help him. Gabe gathered them all on a new pile, this time holding it carefully with both hands and prepping it with his chin. Isabel though took a few of them herself, realizing that carrying too many things at once is what probably caused the accident the first time.
"Poetry?" She asked, reaching for the last book.
"Oh it's for my mom," Gabe explained, heading to the other side of the bookcase, where the tables were set up. "She loves Avaloran poetry from the Ignacian era, but there aren't many of those in the city library. Luckily, now that I'm a lieutenant I have access to the palace one." He finished with a proud smile. Then his gaze fell on the other table. "You were playing chess?"
"Yeah." Isabel answered shortly, walking back to the board and picking up a few knocked over pieces. She started to put them back into the starting positions.
Gabe looked around, but there wasn't anyone but them in the library at the moment.
"Did I scare your opponent off? I didn't think it was that loud," he chuckled.
"No, I- I was playing by myself." Isa answered quietly flopping back into the armchair.
"Ah," Gabe muttered, only after an awkward pause not sure what to say at that.
He secured the book pile so it wouldn't fall again and hesitated. He looked from the books and at the little princess. At first he planned to check the books out and spend his free afternoon with his family but… well, no one plays chess alone by choice.
"Would you mind if I joined you for the next round?"
"You play chess?" Isabel looked up from the board, her brows once again raised almost to the half of her forehead.
"Of course I do." Gabe scoffed jokingly, sitting down opposite of her. "Although I'm a little out of practice."
Isabel smiled wide and turned the board, white pieces towards him.
"You start."
And as such, the game has started. A knight to F6. A pawn to D4. A pawn to E5. Soon almost all of the pieces had been moved and an intense battle was going on in the center of the board.
Gabe analyzed the placement of Isabel's pieces and decided on a more defensive strategy for now. He grabbed his king with one hand and moved it two spaces to the left and at the same time with his other hand he moved the rook two spaces to the right, so now it was blocking the king from the enemy pieces.
"Wait, what? What was that move?" Isa broke the silence and furrowed her brows.
"Oh?" Gabe looked up at her and his brows rose. Already pulled out of his concentration he started to explain. "Well this is called castling. Since I haven't moved either my rook, or my king yet, I can make them switch, so the rook protects my king."
Isabel thrust her gaze into the pieces in question.
"I've never heard about it." She scowled and suddenly Gabe remembered that this girl isn't just a girl, but actually his superior, and a second most important person in the whole kingdom. For a second he considered just laughing the whole situation off and turning to an easier strategy, letting the princess win and excuse himself from this unusual situation, when she spoke up.
"Can I do this too?"
Gabe looked at her and realized her annoyance had turned into a look of curiosity as she tilted her head and analyzed the pieces she had left. He smiled softly, realizing he was worrying for nothing, before looking back to the board and estimated the possible moves for his opponent.
"Hmm not with your right rook, since you've already used it, but if you move your queen one space ahead, you'll have a clear path for castling on the other side of your board." He explained pointing at the right pieces as he talked. Isa nodded and executed the move he recommended. The game carried on.
Just as they were finishing their fourth game, the chiming of the clock reminded them of the passage of time. Quickly each of them made their last moves and the game ended with the white queen and rook blocking the black king in a corner.
Gabe stood up and extended his hand over the board.
"It was an honor playing with you, princess."
"Just call me Isa, like everyone." She smiled, shaking his hand. "And you're also a worthy opponent, Gabe. Do all guards learn how to play chess?" She asked as they put the pieces back into the box.
"No, unfortunately," Gabe chuckled, a memory of how he tried to teach Rico the basic rules coming back. "My mentor taught me when I was around your age. How about you…" he hesitated for a second, before continuing with a careful smile. "Isabel, was chess part of your royal education?"
She started to shake her head before he even finished.
"Also no, Esteban taught me. We used to play quite often but now he doesn’t have the time because of his whole chancellor job.” The bitterness in her tone was amplified by a quick scowl.
“Well, I doubt I’m as good of a player as the chancellor," Gabe carefully weighed his words. He didn't want to risk offending the crown princess' right hand man, but he did understand how Isabel was feeling. "But I also haven’t had a good opponent in quite some time and I could definitely use some training from time to time. What do you think, Isa?”
The box snapped closed and she looked at him with stars in her eyes. A wide smile stretched on her face and she extended her hand to him to seal the deal.
“If you’re going to teach me more tricks like that.”
Gabe returned the smile and with his most official expression and shook her hand, to which Isa gave him a strong hug. Gabe, although surprised at first, returned it, encircling her small frame in his strong arms.
When they parted, he turned to the other table and his shoulders dropped, when he was reminded just how many books he had taken.
“I should probably put some of these away…” he said with a weak smile.
“I’ll help you choose.” Isabel said, already taking the matter in her own hands and sorting them out into two piles. Consumed by her work, she could not see a fond smile blooming in Gabe's face.