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Rooklyn heard their voices even before she'd stepped through the doorway leading to the Memorial Gardens.
"Check!" hissed Manfred.
"No, Manfred," said Emmrich. It was clear from the tone of his voice that perhaps this lesson had been going on for far too long and his normally boundless patience was starting to wear thin.
"That's your King. He can only move one space in any direction. Not five."
Myrna had summoned Rooklyn back to the Grand Necropolis to provide a morning briefing for both the King's Privy Council and the Mourn Watch. She'd given a first-hand account of the current situation in Arlathan and survived questioning on the team's progress in tracking down malign spirits at large across Thedas — a task Myrna and Vorgoth had both taken great personal interest in.
Emmrich had offered to accompany her to the meeting, but Rooklyn had declined, making a counter-offer instead. She insisted that he bring Manfred, and that they should both come to spend the day back home in the Necropolis. She knew just how much Emmrich missed home, and was sure that Manfred would appreciate having Emmrich's undivided attention.
Her formal duties attended to, the rest of the morning was hers to enjoy as she pleased so she'd set out to find Emmrich and Manfred. Her first guess had turned out to be correct, though in all fairness it had been a fairly safe bet. She stepped through the doorway and into the Memorial Gardens, where the first thing she saw was Emmrich and Manfred, seated at opposite sides of a table.
She sighed with a smile as soon as she saw them. They were sitting in the exact place where she'd taken tea with Emmrich to mark her homecoming to the Grand Necropolis, the day he'd begun to court her in earnest.
"Checkmate!" hissed Manfred excitedly.
"No, my dear boy, that's not Checkmate." Emmrich saw Rooklyn approaching out of the corner of his eye and turned to greet her. "Ah! Hello, darling," he said, his voice brightening at the sight of her.
"Rook!" hissed Manfred in greeting with a wave. "Rook, Rook Rook!"
"Hi Manfred," said Rooklyn with a laugh. She loved how affectionate the spirit of Curiosity had become since having his vocabulary expanded.
"Hello, love," Rooklyn said to Emmrich as she came to stand next to his chair and placed a hand on his shoulder. "So what are you two boys up to?"
"You won't believe it," said Emmrich excitedly, "but Manfred managed to open a door that's been locked for at least a decade! He'd just put some flowers in a vase, hoping to cheer up one of the wisps, when the door opened by itself. Inside, we found this dusty old box of games." He pointed at an open wooden crate on the ground beside them. "I have a strong suspicion it may have belonged to Johanna."
Rooklyn raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"It's full of complicated rulebooks, rulers, and lots of those minuscule figurines she loved for some reason. She was always trying to convince me to play when we were students." Emmrich sighed at the thought of Johanna, his old friend whose brilliance was now reduced to a skull in his office back in the Lighthouse.
"Well maybe we can bring these back, and you can finally take her up on it," said Rooklyn with a grin.
"I believe I'm already suffering quite enough under the arrangement, dearest," Emmrich said, wryly. "However, what I did find of particular interest was this!" He gestured to the table between them, where a square board, inlaid with a grid of alternating coloured squares, was topped with intricately carved figures representing opposing armies.
"I've spent the morning trying to teach Manfred to play chess," said Emmrich.
"Oh, a square board?" asked Rooklyn. She was not so familiar with this version, which looked quite different to the hexagonal chessboard she had in her quarters back in the Lighthouse.
"Yes, I hoped it would be a little easier for him to learn as a novice," he said, "as the moves are just a little simpler than regular chess." Emmrich sighed. "However Manfred does seem to be struggling with even these rules today."
A plan began to form in Rooklyn's mind.
"Is there a deck of cards in that box of Johanna's?" she asked.
Emmrich nodded. "Several, I believe."
"Why don't we teach Manfred to play cards instead?"
"We've already established that I'm not playing cards with you, dearest," said Emmrich with a frown. "It's unfair."
Rooklyn laughed. "No, no. Not that game, Emmrich," she said. "It's far too complex anyway. Something simpler that Manfred will enjoy more." She baited the hook. "Perhaps something he can teach other people, too."
That caught Emmrich's interest. "What do you have in mind?"
"Have you ever heard of Fifty-Two Pickup, Emmrich?"
"I can't say I have, dearest. It does sound a bit—" He smoothed the corners of his moustache thoughtfully. "—Ferelden. Is it?"
"You know, I've never really thought about that," said Rooklyn with a smile that she was trying desperately not to turn into a smirk. "I'm sure Manfred will love it."
Emmrich began to rummage through the games box then pulled out a small glass container holding a single deck of green-backed playing cards.
"Well, perhaps you'd care to instruct us both in the rules of the game?" he said, handing her the deck of cards and inviting her to sit as he cleared the chess pieces away from the board between them.
"Gladly," said Rooklyn, taking a seat at the table.
She took the deck out of its case and started fanning the cards out in her hand, inspecting the deck to make sure it was complete before removing the Jokers and returning them to the case.
"What a lovely deck," she said. "Hardly used, and Nevarran by the look of it. Do you think that's King Markus?" she asked, pulling a red-suited picture card out of the deck to inspect it closely. She handed it to Emmrich.
"There's definitely a resemblance," said Emmrich, peering at the card. "Although he definitely looks a little more—"
"Lively?" said Rooklyn.
"I didn't say that," said Emmrich, placing the card back into the deck that Rooklyn was holding.
Rooklyn laughed. "Ready Manfred?" she said, smiling at the skeleton.
"Yessssssss!" hissed Manfred excitedly.
Rooklyn cleared her throat. "The rules of Fifty-Two Pickup are very simple," she said, squaring the deck of cards in her hand.
"First, the dealer shuffles the deck," she said, doing a simple overhand shuffle. Then she cut the deck evenly, holding one half in each hand, then placed the halves face down on the table, the deck corners together.
She paused and looked between Emmrich and Manfred, making sure she had their attention.
Manfred's eagerness found an outlet as his fingers wiggled in anticipation, emerald eyes glittering, and his jaw slightly agape as he watched her hands intently.
Emmrich sat back in his chair, elbows propped upon the armrests, observing Rooklyn over fingers steepled together against his lips.
"You must really shuffle the deck well," Rooklyn said as she riffled the cards together. "I can't stress how important a well-shuffled deck is to this game." She cut and riffled the deck twice more, then squared it off into her right hand.
"Now the game begins with the deal," she said, her eyes bright with mirth and her smirk no longer suppressed. Emmrich and Manfred's eyes followed her right hand, which she raised with a flourish, facing the deck of cards into the air, then curving her hand to force the deck to flex a little.
It was only then Emmrich noticed Rooklyn's smirk was now a wide, mischievous grin.
"What are you…" began Emmrich.
Rooklyn squeezed the cards. They streamed out of her hand spectacularly, high into the air in a fountain, before showering the trio in hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades.
"Fifty-Two Pickup!" shouted Rooklyn with a laugh.
Manfred clapped his hands together excitedly and hissed as cards landed all around him.
"Off you go, Manfred," said Rooklyn, her delight doubled at the sight of his. "Make sure you get all fifty-two!"
Manfred jumped to his feet and started gathering the cards, counting and sorting them in suit order in his hands as he went. The cards had scattered far and wide, Rooklyn had made certain of it, so he was bound to be busy for a little while.
"I can't wait for him to teach this to Bellara," said Rooklyn with a smile as she came to her feet.
She looked over towards Emmrich who was already giving her the slightly-vexed look he often wore when he was trying to decide whether to be exasperated and chide her, or just give in and participate. It seemed to her that the longer they'd been together, the easier it was to convince him of the latter — but today she didn't allow him time to finish his deliberations.
"Oh, you seem to have a card stuck…" she said, reaching towards him to pick something out of his collar.
"Seriously, darling?" said Emmrich, only mildly indignant. Part of him considered that perhaps he ought to have been a little more accustomed to this by now.
She pulled the card out, and showed it to him. "Is this your card?" she asked, her eyes sparkling in triumph.
Emmrich looked at the card and King Markus stared back.
It was the King of Hearts.
His eyes widened as his eyebrows shot up abruptly, mouth falling open in surprise as he looked at Rooklyn. She was smiling broadly, but not this time with mischief, only with delight and adoration at the look of unabashed surprise upon his face.
"Darling… How did you…?" he stuttered, unable to quite fathom what had just happened. "Your hands were empty! I saw you shuffle them!"
Rooklyn laughed, then bent down and silenced his questions with a kiss to his forehead, before bringing a hand to gently stroke down the side of his face and rest beneath his chin. "King of my heart," she said with deep fondness in her voice. "A magician must never tell her secrets."
Emmrich smiled up at her. "If I am to be crowned so," he said, reaching up and placing his hands upon her waist, "then you, my love, are surely Queen of mine. And you shall share my throne!"
A mischievous glint of green caught in his eye, and with a chuckle he quickly grabbed her about the waist, pulling her down onto his lap and into his arms before she could resist.
There they stayed, embracing one another upon a throne made of love, overlooking their tiny kingdom of precisely one subject — who would be merrily occupied for at least a little while.
After all, Rooklyn was still holding onto the King of Hearts.