Page 9 of The Road to Avalon
Merlin didn’t hesitate but jumped his threatened Warrior forward to safety in the spot three places in front of my King. Unlike me, he never seemed to have to think about the moves he made. “You could try talking to Amhar– reasoning with him.”
I snorted, and moved my Bishop to threaten his Warrior, preventing him from moving his King’s Pawn forward to consolidate his center. “Chance’d be a fine thing that he’d listen to me.” I paused. “Youcould try talking to him. He might listen to you. Suggest that maybe Medraut isn’t the right friend for him.”
“Are you deliberately trying to distract me?” Merlin asked, moving his Warrior forward to directly threaten my Queen.
I moved my King one square and took his Warrior. “Maybe.”
He pounced and took my Queen’s Bishop’s Pawn with his black Pawn and smiled. “Do you really think he’d listen to me? Check, by the way– with my Bishop.”
So it was. I’d walked into that one.
I sighed. “Probably not. But you at least know how important it is that Medraut doesn’t end up doing what we think he might do. And having him come to Din Cadan with us, as a friend of Amhar’s, isnota good thing.” I studied the board again, considering how to get out of check for a long minute. Hah– there. I moved my King to the square in front of his Warrior’s Pawn, so he could lurk.
His sneaky little black Pawn took one of my front-line Pawns in front of my Queen’s Warrior and threatened both my Queen’s Rook and my Queen’s Bishop. Drat him. If I wasn’t careful, he’d have a second Queen. Merlin really was too good at this game. I should have known better than to teach it to someone who had the Sight and could probably guess what moves I was going to make even before I thought of them.
I took his Pawn with my Bishop, as that was the only possible move to make.
“If he’s at Din Cadan,” Merlin said, his hand hovering over the board again as though in indecision, as ifthatever happened, “then at least we can keep a good eye on him. There’s that, at least. Better than having him elsewhere plotting unrest.” He glanced up and gave me a cheeky grin as he moved his Warrior to take the space in front of his King. “And it may never happen. The stories you know could still all be wrong.”
I took my time over my next move, enjoying the warmth of the spring sun. Swallows darted into the eaves of the building with nesting materials in their beaks, ready to reoccupy last year’s accommodation. Maybe I needed to be a bit more aggressive, and not just over this chess game. I moved my Warrior forward to threaten Merlin’s front-line Pawn. “I hope you’re right, but I can’t help fearing that everything’s falling into place for what we fear will happen.”
He promptly moved his Warrior forward and took my Bishop, exactly as though he’d been expecting me to do that. Of course he had. My strategy hadn’t worked.
Now what? I took the Pawn, anyway, putting my Warrior right beside his King and threatening his Queen and the Rook still in place on the corner square. Only the King threatened me, but I couldn’t take him.
He grinned in obvious delight and castled, so now his Rook was right beside me and it was my turn to be under threat. “There is one thing you haven’t considered,” he said, sounding a tiny bit smug. “That you don’t know how far in the future your Camlann might be. Arthur’s comparatively young, yet, and Medraut’s younger still, so it could be many years off.”
“And you haven’t considered this,” I said, taking his Queen with a flourish.
He chuckled, and moved his Bishop forward to sit beside my King. “Check.”
What?How had I not seen that coming? If I took his Bishop, I’d be in the direct firing line of his Rook, so I retreated the King one space.
He cleared his throat and moved his dead Queen’s Pawn forward one space, and now my King was in direct line of the Bishop he had hiding on the back row. “Check.”
I moved my brave Pawn forward to stand in the way. “I can only hope you’re right, or I might have to consider lacing Medraut’s food with poison.” Did I mean that? Maybe.
Oh no. He ignored my poison comment and moved his Warrior to threaten the King. “Check.” I was beginning to feel besieged, and not just on the chessboard.
But a King, even though he can only move one square, can still take another piece, so I moved the king forward to beside the Warrior, mentally crossing my fingers.
Now under threat himself, Merlin moved his Warrior back. “Bit drastic. Poison, that is.”
I took his Warrior with mine and humphed. “Not really. I’d do anything to keep Arthur safe. Anything.” Half of me was wishing I’d done something to harm Medraut when he was born, but back then Camlann had seemed an eternity away, and I hadn’t even decided I was staying in the Dark Ages. How swiftly the years had passed.
He took my Warrior with his freed-up Bishop. “Check. I believe you would.”
I stared at the board, the sound of someone sweeping under the colonnade suddenly loud. How to get out of this. Only two squares I could move the King to. I moved him forward one, closer to his enemy. Was this where Arthur was headed with Amhar’s invitation to Medraut?
Merlin brought his Rook forward to sit beside my King, but that also put him between me and the Bishop. I moved back a square, definitely on the retreat now and about to lose.
Merlin brought his Pawn forward so my King was attacked on both sides.
I took my King back another square, retreating into the corner in front of the useless Rook and his unused Pawn. Down came the Bishop, and I was caught. Merlin grinned at me. “Checkmate.”
Was that what would happen to Arthur? Was he like my white King? Would he be driven into a corner he couldn’t escape from by Medraut, and would Camlann be as unavoidable as this checkmate? I shivered at the thought.
Chapter Five
