A Game of Chess

Valeur: Empty

Jeune woke up from a thudding sound outside the hall. Looking to the patched rag that covered her window, she took it and laid it on her shoulders like a shawl. She glanced around her tiny room, with a metal-rimmed bed and a small desk that held an open journal and an unlit candle. She lit the candle, grabbed it, and stepped out of the door into the hall.

Looking around, she realized she was alone. The children's home seemed to be empty. Confused, she kept exploring and saw no one. "Hello? Anyone there?"

A little scared, she went back into her room. She suspected the rest of the children had been scrapped. 

She opened her journal and went back a few entries. "Ah, here it is."

She found a paragraph and read aloud, "The process of scrapping is when a king decides that a certain piece is useless and unable to do its job. It is scrapped and then recycled into a new being for replacement." Jeune shuddered.

"Did this really happen?"

Holding back her anger and sorrow, she packed up her things. A box of matches, a journal, an ink pen, and a pocket knife were pushed into her blanket, which she tied into a bundle and picked up.

She looked out of the window, knowing that the whole village was probably gone, but she still had a bit of hope left.

She saw that even the chickens had disappeared. Her last bit of hope was shredded into pieces.

Walking out of the children's home, she contemplated what to do next. She had never left the village before since pawns in training were supposed to stay in the village until they were ready to fight. Sighing, she decided to check the bar for some money.

The bar was still as dark as ever. "Lucky I have my candle.."

She ventured cautiously towards the money box on the counter when she heard a sound. Startled, she lost her footing and tripped. She quickly grabbed her knife and spun around. "WHO'S THERE?"

A creature was lurking in the dark. She didn't know what it was. She was terrified, but had too much pride to act the like. "W-Where are you? Show yourself!"

She saw a movement to her left and spun around again, but was shocked.

Cowering behind the table was a white knight.