PLEASE READ THE FOREWORD!
| enemies to lovers | dagger to throat | morally grey oc | slow-burn | dark themes | gore | violence | toxicity | corruption arc | golden era | mythology references | dark fantasy | 18+
Ariadne smirked at him, staring at b...
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𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖋𝖎𝖛𝖊
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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 the lamp above cast long fingers as the shadows danced and swirled around young Ariadne. She was sitting before a small oak table where a chessboard with sixty-four squares was laid in front of her; the chess pieces were of black and white porcelain, but Ariadne did not dare touch them as her stepmother walked around the wooden table.
Ariadne was only six then, and her stepmother was teaching her the game. She could have been playing around the Manor fields for her age, but Ariadne was starting her training, and she had to learn a valuable lesson first.
Her stepmother, who went by Poppy, picked up a piece. It was small and probably the least distinct out of all the sets. Her stepmother had questioned, "Do you know which one this is?"
Ariadne had shaken her head, not knowing the piece though she knew it was expected since they were lined up facing each other.
"This is a pawn," Poppy had said, scrutinizing it. "They are controlled for the king's needs. They are used and discarded easily."
Ariadne nodded wordlessly and tried to hide the yawn as sleep crawled into her body, coaxing her to fall asleep and risking Poppy's anger. But young Ariadne had seen how Poppy could get, and she did not want to tempt her fury. Few thought that since her stepmother looked nice and sweet, she was always like that in most circumstances, but Poppy was one of the fiercest people Ariadne had ever known.
Her stepmother picked up another piece from the corner of the board, which was more significant than the pawn. It looked like a castle tower. Ariadne glanced at the white marble. The pieces were heavy, no doubt. "Do you know this one?"
Ariadne shook her head, and Poppy sighed, "I suppose I should stop asking that question since you don't know anything." The young girl was discontented as Poppy stated, "This one is a rook. They protect their superiors and punish those who undermine their leaders. Devoted but clingy."
At this point, Ariadne was getting annoyed with Poppy's class. If it were any other day, Ariadne would have preferred this over Tao's brutal training for more than twelve hours, but this time she only wanted to crawl back to bed and sleep. She did not have nightmares in her sleep, not yet.
Poppy had picked another piece again, the more distinctive of all of them. She spoke with elegance. Poppy enunciated every word carefully. "This one is the knight. They only work for one thing, and they are stubborn. Very stubborn."
