Nowhere To Go But Up

Checkmate

"So, what was the food from the last two days anyway? I don't think I ever asked." Magolor seemed to be in high spirits today, but his highly selective knowledge of things still concerned Taranza, who had brought him a bowl of cereal. Weirdly, he did not ask this about the cereal.

"The first thing was waffles with maple syrup, the second was an omelette. Any reason you're not asking about this?" He indicated the cereal.

"Oh, I've seen this before. It looks like what goes flying everywhere whenever the doomers blow something up by accident. I don't remember it tasting this good, though." Had he been eating shrapnel?

"Hey Taranza, why do you always look at me like that every time I say anything?" He tried not to sound as self-conscious as he felt, but wasn't sure if it worked.

"Oh, it's nothing really. I just think it's very impressive that you're able to stay in high spirits with how rough your life's been." Four contractions in one, that can't possibly be true.

"All right then, why do you have a chessboard with you?" Taranza seemed a little surprised by the question.

"So you know what chess is?"

"I get the general idea, but I don't know how to play. Did you come to show me?"

Taranza smiled. "Yes, that was the idea. I thought you would like it."

They set up the chessboard on a table next to the bed. As Magolor was placing his pieces on the board, he asked: "Why are you spending this much time with me?"

"I already told you, did I not? Sectonia wants to make sure you aren't getting yourself killed. That, and..." Taranza's expression darkened. "She seems to be in a bit of a bad mood lately. She has been getting more annoyed when I mess up, so I figure that if I stay away from her, she will not be bothered by my incompetence."

Magolor didn't know what to make of this. Taranza, from his perspective, had never done a single thing wrong, let alone enough to be responsible for something like this. It's probably my fault. It started after I got here, after all. "That's... unfortunate." Magolor paused for a moment before continuing.

"What are these pieces supposed to look like? I know the rooks are castles, but nothing else looks like anything I've ever seen. Do you know?"

"No, I don't. I imagine the bishops are supposed to look like they are wearing some kind of hood, because of the religious origins, but I do not understand any of the others."

Magolor had finished setting up his side of the board. "Alright, so how do these guys work?"

Taranza went on to explain all the rules of chess, ending with the pawns. "...for example, I will start by taking the pawn in front of my king's bishop, and moving it forward two spaces, but I can't move it forward another two spaces."

Magolor nodded. He seemed to have understood it all.

"I really can't imagine it's your fault that Sectonia's in a bad mood." He was trying to help with Taranza's predicament, while he was moving the pawn in front of his king forward.

"I can't think of any other possibility. Nothing else has happened recently, after all."

Something about the way he said "can't" made Magolor feel a little uneasy. Did he have the same idea? "Well, maybe I can help. As long as it's nothing too strenuous, the Lor thinks it'd be okay for me to start moving around again tomorrow." They kept moving pieces as the conversation continued. Taranza had taken two pawns, while Magolor had taken a bishop.

"I do not think that will be a good idea. Yesterday, a citizen asked to meet with her about a legal problem she was having, and Her Majesty asked me to add more security to the prison path. I had to lock some doors that were necessary for people to get through!" He took a third pawn.