TBATE - What if Tessia was the legacy ? - The legacy of it all

Planning 4 steps ahead

{POV: Tessia Eralith}

-Touché, coulé." Said Art in a weird accent as I glared at him with growing frustration, feeling my eyebrow twitch in annoyance.

-You're cheating." I hissed at him as I squinted my eyes to look straight at him.

-Well, unless you are trying to argue that the study of human psychology can be used as a way to read people's minds, I'd say that I won fair and square." He answered with a smirk as he put away the small figurines he had placed on his side of the board.

-You're winning because you're challenging me at games I never played before and which you seem to have studied far too much." I answered as I leaned toward him with eyes full of suspicion and frustration.

-Beyond the rules, I don't know much about them; I didn't learn any of the specific tactics; that'd be far too slow." He answered nonchalantly as he turned the board around and started collecting my pieces to put them back in the bag.

-What did you do then, Mister Genius?" I asked with heavy sarcasm as I got even closer, my head only being a few centimeters away from his.

-Human psychology." He repeated as he tapped his head with his finger while still wearing that smug expression.

-I'm an elf." I hissed back with exaggerated anger.

-Close enough." He shrugged before closing the folding board we had put together for this game of battleship. "So, want to play anything else, princess?" He asked as he gestured around, his smug face almost shouting that he was convinced he would win.

Sitting back down on my seat, I glanced around the large playroom we were in, which had seen hundreds of games, arguments, laughs, and moments of incredible tension in the past year. I took a second to reflect on how fun this had been and how much I had loved to see Art smile so often.

Focusing back on reality, I narrowed my eyes on the bookshelf where most of the boards and pieces we had been using were, toys that we had made ourselves using a combination of my plant magic and Art's earth magic, along with quite a fair amount of recycled scraps we borrowed from around the castle; my eyes landed on a very particular square-shaped board.

-Let's play chess." I said with a fire in my eyes as I looked back at him.

-Didn't you say that you would never, ever play chess again after I beat you without a queen last time?" He asked with a devilish smile that infuriated me, especially after reminding him of what happened.

-Because you withheld information from me!" I shouted back after smacking the table.

-Well, I had already explained all the rules, and we had seen those in action. Really, it's your fault for not seeing the line." He answered while rolling his eyes and using a very nasal tone that made my blood boil.
-You'll see who the last one to laugh will be." I answered with a menacing tone as I stepped off my chair and walked to grab the board and piece. "I won't lose this time!" I shouted back as I threw the box at him, only for Art to effortlessly catch it midair before gently placing it down on the table.

Getting back to my place, we placed down the pieces on the board, and after a long standoff where we glared at each other with all the malicious intent we could muster, I graciously let Art take the white pieces.

-Your arrogance will lead to your demise, princess." He answered after a slight chuckle with a devilish smirk, as I really wondered which one of us was the most arrogant before seeing him place his king's pawn two spaces forward.

-Always the same first move." I pointed out with a mix of disappointment and mockery as I moved my own king's pawn two spaces forward to meet his.

#Author Note: Images provided to help visualize the game, taken from chess.com