Reed’s heart sank to his feet. What was the king doing? He’d never played a game of chess with live players before. This had to be the king’s way of distracting him.
“What are the rules?” asked Reed. “What happens to the players if they are captured?”
“Usually when I play live chess, the players fight,” said Edward.
“To the death?” gasped Reed.
“Yes, sometimes. Other times, those captured are vassals of the winner.”
“I dinna want slaves,” he said.
“I didn’t say slaves – although I’m guessing your pawns will be made up of servants. So, if I win, the servants will be mine.”
“I dinna have servants!” shouted Reed. “Ye ken that. I also have no one for my team, so I canna play.”
“Then you’ll go to the dungeon. Guards – take him.”
“Wait!” Rook stepped forward. “I’ll play on Reed’s side. I will be the bishop.”
“And I’ll be a knight.” Rowen stepped forward next.
“Nay,” said Reed, shaking his head. “I canna let ye do this.”
“I’m in,” said Ross next, taking his place next to Reed’s brothers.
“Thank ye all,” said Reed, “but it willna matter. Even if I agreed to have ye play, I dinna have enough players. I would need sixteen total.”
“Ye’ve got ten Scots to back ye up.” Gair stepped from the crowd along with Murray and eight other Scots that used to go with him on raids when he was the Demon Thief.
“And I’ll volunteer as well.” Lord Ramsay came forward next.
“We’d still need two more,” said Reed, trying to talk them out of it.
“I’ll volunteer since ye’ll need a queen.” Maggie stepped forward, but Reed pushed her back. “Nay, lassie. Dinna even think of it.”
“How about me?” It was Rook’s new squire, Wardell.
“And who better to play a bishop than a monk?” Rook’s friend and Lady Calliope’s brother, Brother Everad, joined them.
“Here are your sixteen players,” said Rook.
“What do you say, Brother?” asked Rowen.
Reed’s heart about burst in his chest. His friends and family were all willing to give their lives to support him and to keep him from the dungeon or possible death. They all meant the world to him. And he realized, now, that blood was thicker than water. He’d give his life for each of them as well. But in his heart, he knew this was wrong. Still, he had to suffice Edward.
He turned back to face the king. “All right. I’ll play the game.”
The crowd cheered. Edward smiled.
“But only under one condition,” he added.
Edward frowned. “What is that?”
“I willna let any of my family or friends go to their deaths for me. I would die for each one of them, but no one’s life should be lost in a silly game. I’ll only play if it is no’ a game to the death.”
The king smiled and nodded, not even consulting the queen this time. “I like that in you, Reed. You are just as loyal as your family. A good man wouldn’t put their loved ones’ lives at stake. I agree to your terms.”
“Nay, make it to the death,” shouted the baron.
“Do you really think so?” asked Edward. “Because you are going to be playing on my team.”
That shut up the baron quickly and he slinked back into the crowd. “We’ll need a chessboard set up in the practice yard, as well as costumes for the players,” announced the king. “The game will start in two hours.”
As the crowd dispersed, Maggie grabbed Reed’s arm. “Reed, ye were wonderful,” she said.
“We’ll knock them flat on their arses,” said Rook, always fired up for a fight.
“Rook, be careful out there,” said his wife, Calliope. “All of you,” she added, looking over to Brother Everad and Wardell. Rook, the fierce warrior from the crypts, turned into a gentle man as he took his wife into his arms and kissed her.
“You be careful, too,” said Lady Cordelia to Rowen. “Our baby needs a father.” Rowen kissed Cordelia.
“We’ll need the ladies up in the solar anon to sew the costumes,” said Rowen. “The pawns will use burlap sacks. We’ll need them dyed two different colors.”
“I have some extra robes from the monastery that can be used for the bishops,” suggested Brother Everad.
“Aye,” said Rowen. “And I’ve got armor for all the knights.”
“We can make hats that look like parapets of a castle for the rooks,” said Wardell excitedly.
“Who’ll be the king and queen?” asked Maggie. “Perhaps I should have played the queen after all.”
“Nay, Edward will still expect fightin’,” said Reed. “Someone will have to dress up as a woman, instead. It’s too dangerous for a real lady.”
“Wardell will do it.” Rook offered up his squire.
“I will?” Wardell made a face and they all laughed. “All right,” he agreed. “I’ll do it, but only this once.”
Everyone worked together, not only making the costumes but also painting squares right onto the grass in the practice yard that made up the chess board. It was actually fun. If there weren’t so much at stake for Reed, Maggie would have enjoyed it. Instead, she felt sick to her stomach. Reed had to win the game or he’d be thrown into the dungeon.
“What’s the matter, Maggie?” asked Ross.
“I’m afraid for Reed,” she admitted. “I dinna want him to lose.”
“Dinna fash yerself,” said the man. “Reed never loses a game of chess.”
“And the king doesn’t like to lose either,” added Rowen, joining them. “I didn’t want to say anything to Reed, but King Edward will do anything at all to ensure he doesn’t lose a game. It would be wrong to humiliate a king.”
“But you won the chess game against Edward,” Rook pointed out.
“True. And he bribed me dearly to let him win, but I wouldn’t mention that to anyone if I were you.”
“Do ye think Reed can win against King Edward?” asked Maggie.
“For your sake, I hope he can,” Rook answered.
* * *
“Players to the board!” shouted the marshal of the field two hours later. The practice yard had been made to look like a giant chess board. Squares of white and black were painted onto the grass with numbers down two sides while there were letters across the other two sides. The onlookers filled the wooden benches in the lists. Queen Philippa sat on a chair atop a raised dais with Edward and Reed leaning over the rail in front of her where they’d overlook the game and instruct their players where to move.
“We’ll start the game as soon as we have a chess game brought in for us to us on the dais,” said the king.
“What for?” asked Reed. “I thought we were havin’ the game with live players.”
“We are. But this will make it easier since we’ll be able to see our moves up close.”
“I dinna want to make it easy. I like a challenge.”
“Aye, so do I,” said the king, as a page hurried up the steps with a chessboard. “We won’t need that after all.” With a wave of his hand, he sent the boy away.
“Edward, I’ve never seen you play this way before,” said his queen.
“I like a challenge,” said the king, matching Reed. “Just like my son.”
Reed was playing with the black pieces today. The king had insisted on white. Reed didn’t care. He didn’t even need to look at the board much since he remembered each play in his mind. This was why he had learned to be a much better player than his brothers. He remembered things. And this was one game he would never forget.
“Ah, this looks nice,” said the king with a nod and a smile as he surveyed the people taking their places on the board. Reed’s Scots took the positions of the pawns. They wore black-dyed burlap bags over their plaids. They, as well as everyone on the board, had weapons.
Rowen played one of the knights, while Ross played the other. They were both dressed in armor and sat atop black horses. The king’s knights were atop white horses. Of course, Rook depicted a bishop and so did Brother Everad. They wore black robes with hoods pulled up over their heads. Reed should have been one of the rooks, but his Scots took his place. They wore long, black tunics with hats that had little parapets cut out atop their heads.
Lord Ramsay – Annalyse’s father, played the king. He was the oldest of the players. Reed thought it best since the king did very little in a game, and he didn’t know how well the man could fight. Reed wanted to make Ross the king, at first, because of his bad leg, but Ross refused, wanting more action. So Reed decided Ross would ride atop a horse and be one of his knights. Wardell was the queen, wearing a long, black gown and veil over his head. He still had all his weapons attached to his waist.
Reed noticed that the baron was one of the knights for the king. He didn’t like the man and was still upset that his sister was now the wretch’s wife. He had plans for him.
“Tell them the rules,” the king said to the marshal who stood by them atop the dais.
The marshal nodded and shouted loudly so everyone could hear. “This is not a fight to the death,” he announced. “However, fighting is still allowed, but only between the two pieces in play before one is taken.”
Reed wasn’t surprised to hear that and was now glad he hadn’t positioned any women in the game. He noticed the king had a man playing the piece of the queen as well.
“White goes first,” shouted the marshal. “Your Majesty.” He bowed and held a hand out toward the chessboard. Tension filled the area. There were hushed whispers amongst the crowd as they waited for the king to move.
“White pawn at E3 moves to E4,” said the king, and the marshal called out his move for all to hear.
Reed took a turn next, moving a pawn as well. A few moves later, he directed one of his Scots that was a pawn to attack one of the king’s pawns.
“You bloody heathen,” said the king’s man who played the pawn. And before anyone knew it, the two were in a fistfight. The crowd was in an uproar.
“Get him off the board,” the king shouted.
The marshal nodded to two guards who rushed forward and dragged the king’s pawn off to the side. This happened a few more times. When it was Reed’s turn again, he saw a way to take the king’s knight – that is, Baron Norbert. He would be sacrificing one of his pieces to do it, but he didn’t care. He wanted the baron gone. It couldn’t be from anyone who had made an alliance with him because Reed wanted a good fight.
“Black bishop at G2, capture white knight at D5,” Reed said, and the marshal repeated the move.
“Damn,” he heard the king say under his breath. But that was not the reaction he got from his brother, Rook.
“Yes!” shouted Rook, running across the board with his sword drawn. “This’ll teach you to push my sister and want to throw my brother in the dungeon.” Even though the baron had the advantage being atop a horse when Rook wasn’t, it didn’t make much of a difference. Rook reached up and pulled the baron off the horse, throwing him to the ground. He threw a few punches, roughing up the baron, and then they continued to fight with swords while standing up. Reed loved every minute of it.
Rook even drew blood on the baron, but for some reason, the king wasn’t telling his guards to go in and stop it.
“Edward?” asked Philippa, leaning forward in her chair. “Shouldn’t you stop that before someone is really hurt?”
“In a minute,” said Edward, stroking his beard. “I’m watching my son fight. Besides, the baron needs to be brought down a few notches.”
Reed was surprised to see that Edward was enjoying the fight. He’d fought against the brothers for many years, but now he almost seemed proud to watch Rook fighting the baron.
“All right. Bring the baron out of there,” he told his guards. They dragged the baron away kicking and screaming and then continued to remove his horse from the playing field.
The next move took Rook out of the game, but Reed had willingly sacrificed him to get the baron. Rook wasn’t happy and fought against the king’s bishop.
“Leave me alone, I’m not leaving,” said Rook, starting the fight.
“Get him out of there. Now,” the king told his guards, not waiting for Rook to get hurt.
Reed yawned, being so tired that he could barely keep his eyes open. He wished this game was over so he could get some sleep. He sat down on the chair behind Edward.
“What are you doing?” asked the king.
“Just restin’,” he said and yawned again.
“But you can’t see the board from there. You can’t call out your move that way. You’ll also miss my moves from that position. You’ll need to stand up to play.”
“I assure ye, I dinna need to stand up to play and I willna miss a move,” said Reed. “I can play from down here just fine.”
Reed called out for his knight, which was Rowen, to move, not even looking up.
“Suit yourself,” said the king, seeming very distracted that Reed wasn’t playing from the proper position. Reed liked it. It would be even easier to win this way. The king called out his move and Reed knew exactly where the pieces were. He remembered every move and continued the game from the chair, leaning back and putting his feet up on the rail.
“Look at that cocky bastard, calling out his moves from the chair with his feet on the rail,” complained one of the king’s men.
Maggie looked over to see Reed sitting down and yawning. She jumped off the bench. “Reed,” she said under her breath knowing how tired he was from not having much sleep at all in days. But this wasn’t the time to be sitting down on the job. It made her nervous.
The game continued for over an hour and it was well matched. Every time Reed looked like his eyes were closing, the king seemed to catch up to him. Maggie had heard what a good player Reed was, so why hadn’t he won by now?
Maggie made her way through the crowd, joining the captured players of Reed’s. She walked up and stood between Brother Everad and Rook.
“Nay! Reed, you fool!” shouted Rook, slamming his hand atop the fence as the next move was called and Reed’s queen was taken. Wardell ran off the board before a fight could start, ripping the black veil off his head and throwing it to the ground.
“I’m glad that’s over,” said Wardell, hurrying to take off the woman’s gown next. “I don’t ever want to be dressed like a woman again.”
The game was pretty even. When Rowen came riding off the board next, Rook got even madder.
“What the hell is our brother doing?” asked Rook.
“I don’t know.” Rowen slipped off the horse and handed the reins to a squire. “There were a few moves of his that even I questioned, and we all know how bad I am at chess.”
“He’s falling asleep up there, that’s the problem,” said Rook. “I’m going to go give him a piece of my mind or mayhap a good swift kick.”
Rowen’s hand shot out and he gripped his brother’s wrist. “Nay. This is his fight with Edward, not ours. We already had our turn. Let him be.”
“He doesn’t know what he’s doing,” protested Rook.
“On the contrary,” said Brother Everad, “I think he knows exactly what he’s doing.”
“How so?” asked Maggie.
“He’s playing a cat and mouse game with the king,” said Brother Everad. “I’m sure of it.”
“He could be right,” agreed Rowen. “I told him how the king doesn’t like to lose. Mayhap he’s trying to make it look like it’s a close game before he beats him.”
“That way Edward won’t be so mad when he loses?” asked Wardell.
“I hope that’s all it is,” said Maggie, looking back to Reed again. He had yet to get up from his chair and the game was almost over. She clutched her hands in front of her and prayed for a happy ending. She wasn’t sure if Reed had made his decision yet if he wanted to win or not. Because if he was as good of a player as his brothers said, then he was going to have to come up with a clever way to win without insulting the king and to keep from being thrown in the dungeon. “Listen to yer heart,” she whispered, watching her husband intently. Because one way or another, the game was nearing an end.