Dance of the Knights → 𝘳. 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘺

v. an alliance

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five

an alliance

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The first time Juniper competed in a chess tournament was also the last.

It was an under-eighteen national junior competition that took place in a London secondary school gymnasium that smelled of chlorine and had mercury lights overhead that gave off a droning buzz. Years later, Juniper could close her eyes and still be transported back to that day with perfect clarity. Being eleven at the time, she was mostly playing kids many years older than her. Though, truthfully, the ones younger than her were the ones who scared her.

She finished second place. While not quite first place, the feat was still impressive. Even her ultra-perfectionist Soviet-born grandfather seemed pleased as she prepared for her final round, regardless of whether she would go on to win or lose.

She had no experience with real competitions prior to that day, so her second place should have been impressive. And, if things had gone normally, she most likely would've had her picture appear in some local newspaper under the headline: Juniper Sokolova, granddaughter of grandmaster Kirill Sokolov, places second in her first amateur chess tournament at age eleven.

But, things did not go normally. Not only did she not appear in the news, but no one, apart from herself and her family, remembered that she had been at the tournament at all.

Well, that wasn't quite true. The team of Obliviators who erased everyone's memories after her accidental burst of magic sent chess pieces flying across the room remembered it. The court at the Ministry of Magic who tried her case certainly remembered it.

It hadn't been the first time she lost a game, of course. She'd lost to her father on many an occasion. She had never even won against her grandfather.

But, when it was them, she didn't mind defeat. It was less of a game then, and more of a lesson. After the game was over (and, more likely than not, she'd lost), they would go through the entire play and point out what she did wrong. What she could have done better.

When she made a mistake, her father and grandfather would speak to her with identical steely, dark eyes. Never with disappointment or pride, always with calculation, voices even. Perhaps that was what made it bearable to be corrected. If they were emotionless, she could be too.

"It's always about gains. You want gains in material or in time. Anything else is a weakness."

That had been her first mistake during her game against Dominic, the fifteen-year-old boy she'd ultimately lost to.

"If you see a good move, find a better one."

As the round wore on, following this advice got harder. With her heart racing and her vision blurring, she couldn't focus long enough, especially with Dominic staring at her with the trace of a self-satisfied smirk on his lips. Her blood simmered in her veins.

It was her fault for being careless. She let her focus wander, she let his patronizing arrogance anger her. And she lost.

"Don't look upset, you held your own better than expected," Dominic had said after she knocked over her king in symbolic defeat. He sneered when she met his eyes and offered his hand over the chessboard for a customary handshake.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked. The applause in the room nearly drowned out her voice.

"Well, you know, considering that men are biologically better at chess than girls, you've done rather well," he said, taking her hand. His grip was strong and assertive. "You could always enter a women's competition next time. You'd have a much higher chance of winning then."