©2025 SammyC

Half an hour after lunch in the palace, I strolled into the vast courtyard enclosed by tall spear-shaped trees, accompanied by my little entourage of Merlyn, Amos, Daisy, Edward, and, of course, Malcolm. We were all dressed in costumes appropriate to the chess game Prince Kelvin wanted us to participate in. Merlyn was dressed as a bishop, Amos and Malcolm as knights, Daisy and Edward as rooks, and me as The Queen…all in white.

My gown was splendid. A floor-length white tunic with embroidered filigree trim on the shoulders and down the sleeves was bisected by a broad woven fabric belt upon which hollow gold balls hung. On my head was a tiara of gleaming, burnished metal. As I led our tiny procession into the courtyard, I kept my chin up, eyes bright and wide, and took small, measured steps.

The scene before us was dream-like. A chessboard had been laid out on the ground. Each chess piece was impersonated by members of the court and our little band. In white regalia stood Prince Kelvin, his jeweled crown worn at a rakish angle on his small head, holding his hand out to me. On the other side of the board, Kelvin’s parents, King Cyrus and Queen Melora, stood in place all in black, surrounded by royal subjects we had seen at lunch. The King, especially, smiled broadly at me. One of the black bishops was Lydia, an odd grin on her dark visage.

“Your beauty enhances the gown and tiara beyond imagination, dear Rani,” Queen Melora gushed.

“It’s the most beautiful gown I’ve ever worn, your Highness,” I responded, attempting to curtsy gracefully.

“Enjoy it then, Princess. Your wedding dress is the same design but in azure blue. Please wear this to the feast tonight. I’m sure it pleases The Gods more than the odd clothing you wore when you arrived today,” remarked Lydia. “Prince Kelvin, let us commence the game. And remember everything I’ve taught you about winning strategies. Good luck, everyone!”

Kelvin’s opening gambit was the simple advancement of his King’s pawn. King Cyrus answered with a similar move of a pawn, calling out the coordinates on the board. Rows were in numerical order, columns in alphabetical order. Even with my cursory knowledge of the game, I could see the first few moves as perfunctory. It seemed that we were all in for the long-term, cautious strategy followed by both sides. I must admit I was more engrossed in admiring my gown than following the progress of the game. After all, as the most powerful piece on the board, I wouldn’t be needed until the endgame.

I was shocked to feel Kelvin take my right hand and call out “Queen to H5!” I hesitated for a moment but reassured by Kelvin’s smile, I minced my way to the square he had specified. Standing there with a goofy grin on my face, I first looked over at King Cyrus and then Lydia, who was standing to his immediate left. She nodded her head at me, a smile creasing her stern face. It was then that I realized the knight next to Lydia was one move away from taking me out of the game.

I was somewhat shocked to conclude that Kelvin had committed such a faux pas. Even a neophyte like me would know not to lose as crucial a piece as The Queen so unwittingly. As I expected, black’s move was to move his knight to my square. He gently placed a finger on the embroidery on the sleeve of my gown and smiled nervously. My head bowed, I trudged off the board, shooting an accusatory glance at Kelvin, but he was already calling out his next move.

“Bishop to H6.” Merlyn marched to the assigned square and stared down King Cyrus in her diagonal sights. “Checkmate!” Kelvin shouted, the pride of victory resounding in his alto voice.

“Bravo, Kelvin! You’ve made quick work of us…again,” King Cyrus marveled. There was applause from both sides and the throng of spectators in the courtyard. More puzzled than angry, I took Kelvin aside after he shook hands and received congratulations from everyone.

“What was that all about? Was that planned or just a fortuitous mis-step?” I asked.

“Oh no, it’s a classic game played by Gioachino Greco in 1620 on our home planet. Checkmate in 8 moves with the Queen sacrifice as the bait,” Kelvin replied cooly.

Lydia walked by, saying in passing, “It’s a game I reviewed with Kelvin, oddly enough, right after The Dagger of Heaven first appeared in the night sky.”

“I’ve played very little chess, and what I have, I’ve played badly, but isn’t sacrificing your most powerful piece quite risky? Especially against an experienced player?”

“Oh, I wasn’t concerned about that. No one in our kingdom knew how to play chess before Lydia arrived. She was the one who taught the game to us. When I showed an interest in it, she sort of made me her special student. She taught me the Queen Sacrifice just recently, like she said.”

I stepped away to rejoin my fellows and return to our rooms when Kelvin turned back to me and said, with a strange expression on his face, “Sometimes you have to sacrifice even the most precious things to achieve victory. It’s true for a simple game of chess as well as for far, far more important things.”

I followed Lydia’s advice and wore my chess Queen gown to the feast that evening. I even wore the tiara. They escorted me to a seat next to Kelvin at the head of the enormous roundtable. King Cyrus and Queen Melora sat to Kelvin’s right while Lydia flanked me to my left. Merlyn and Amos sat to Lydia’s left. Daisy, Edward, and Malcolm were not invited to the feast. Rather, they ate with the servants in another part of the palace. Malcolm was not very happy about that.

We were served slices from the centerpiece of the table, an enormous rack of Rumperdon ribs, roasted to a fare thee well and garnished with chopped leaves of a plant Lydia informed me was akin to the coriander on our home planet. When I asked if the plant was native to the region, Lydia told me she had brought the original seeds to the Kingdom when she arrived.

“How long ago was that? And where did you come from? One of the outlander tribes?”

“It must be almost 15 years now. And, yes, I’m from one of those extrinsic tribes, as you call them.”

“That’s fascinating,” I said sincerely. “I would like to hear your life story. Perhaps after the wedding, we can sit down with Merlyn and you can tell us all about it.”

“I doubt that—”

“Why?” I smiled, taken aback by her response.

“Oh, I mean you’ll be occupied with other concerns. Your honeymoon will take you on a long journey unlike anything you’ve experienced. The details of my life story will matter little in the scheme of things.”

I was puzzled over her statement, unsure how to continue our conversation. Kelvin pointed at my plate.

“You haven’t touched your food.”

“I don’t know if I can eat this. I’d feel like a cannibal. I’ve never eaten Rumperdon. Just the thought of eating one of Emma’s cousins gives me the shivers.”

“It’s impolite to reject the delicious meal your esteemed hosts have prepared for us,” Merlyn admonished. “Buck up, buttercup. Eat!” She turned to Queen Melora. “Rani is still such a child. She considers her Rumperdon a pet, not a beast of burden.”

“It makes her all the more charming. So beautiful, so innocent,” Queen Melora declared.

“I do believe The Gods are smiling down on us, your Highness. To send us such a virginal vessel of innocence and beauty,” Lydia said, looking up and folding her hands together, shaking them slowly.

Appropriately shamed, I stabbed a rib with my fork and used the knife in my right hand to carve a sliver of meat off the bone. As I brought the morsel of meat to my lips, eyes closed, Queen Melora interrupted my reluctant movements.

“It’s alright to just pick up the rib and chew away. No standing ceremony here. You are among family now or soon will be. And you will need all your energy to go through your big day tomorrow without collapsing. Think of it as the last best day of your life.” She took her husband’s hand in hers. “My wedding day was the best day of my life. I could have died then and there.”

“Well, since you put it that way, I’ll try to eat my fill.” I smiled at the Queen and picked up the rib, opening my mouth as I brought it to my lips.

I don’t know how I was able to consume half a dozen ribs but I did, throwing down the last one on my crowded plate and letting out an unladylike belch. Smiling, I accepted a cup of wine from Kevin.

“Here, wash it down with some wine.”

“Aren’t you too young to drink wine?” I laughed after I swallowed what seemed like a half a liter of liquid.

“You know what they say. You only live once.”

Amos leaned back behind Merlyn and Lydia and whispered to me, “King Cyrus has been staring at you all evening. He looks like a bird of prey ready to jump on a woodland creature.”

“I’ve seen that look on his face before,” Kelvin interjected from behind us.

“What do you mean?” I asked in a tremulous tone.

“It’s called Droit du seigneur. The King has the right to sleep with any female subject, particularly on her wedding night—”

“What?!” I slapped my mouth shut with my hand, fortunate that the cumulative noise of dinner conversation in the room meant that no one except my interlocutors heard me.

“Sometimes the King can enjoy his right before the wedding night. It’s the law.”

“But he can’t. I mean he couldn’t—”

Amos jumped in. “Rani, make sure you bolt the door to your room tonight.”

Kelvin grimaced and whispered, “My father has keys to every room in the palace.”

“Oh, the Gods,” I muttered.

“There’s a simple solution,” Amos declared. “I’ll stand guard in Rani’s room. He won’t get past me.”

“Thank you, Amos,” I sighed.

Kelvin shook his head. “Of course, it might not happen tonight. Father is deep in his wine. It might be an early night for my parents.”

After Queen Melora led a wine-drunk King Cyrus to their chambers, Lydia invited Merlyn, Amos, and me to take in the night air on the balcony that overlooked the courtyard.

“Look, everyone, there! That shiny, lenticular object in the sky to the right of the smaller of our two moons,” Lydia directed our attention excitedly. “The Dagger of Heaven!”

“It’s approaching us at a constant speed,’ noted Kelvin in a subdued tone. “It will be upon us within two days.”

“But it looks like a blurry blob. It doesn’t look like a dagger to me,” I observed.

“It reflects the sunlight. After all it’s metallic,” Merlyn assured us.

“Yes, you’re absolutely correct, Merlyn. Let me take the opportunity to tell you how delightful it is to find someone as intelligent and knowledgeable as you in the Eastern Kingdom. Without your enlightened receptiveness to my warnings about The Dagger of Heaven, we wouldn’t be able to put this plan into motion and save the world.”

Merlyn reached out to stroke Lydia’s arm. “The disrespect for scientific knowledge in both kingdoms is a sad state of affairs. Bless you, for your sense of duty. What we are about to do…no less than saving the world…will bring unity to our peoples after centuries of conflict.”

“I feel the same, Merlyn.” They looked up at the sky in silence for several minutes.

“Does it make me vainglorious to swell with pride for what we are about to do to save our planet?” I asked Kelvin.

Yawning, Kelvin turned away from the blurry spectacle in the night sky. “You may feel pride, but I’m not sure what to feel about my own role in this.”

“You’ll be famous across the planet for your role in this, Kelvin. And someday, when people from our home planet finally rediscover us, your name will be known to humans across ten light years,” I said, excited by my own words.

“I’m sleepy. Let’s all go to bed. Tomorrow will be a long day.” Lydia nodded at Kelvin’s suggestion and led us back inside the palace.

I lay in bed, unable to sleep. The anticipation of the day to come filled me with a heightened level of energy. Perhaps it was the half-dozen Rumperdon ribs or the cups of wine. Sitting at the foot of the bed was Amos, his broadsword in hand, acting like a large watchdog, his eyes focused on the bolt on the door that kept it shut. Kelvin had told us that his father had the key to move that bolt and unlock the door.

“Are you awake, Amos?” I whispered.

“Yes, Rani. Go to sleep. It’s just like watch duty for me. Vance and I did a lot of night watches.”

“Can’t sleep. Tomorrow I’m getting married. It’s silly, isn’t it?”

“We all have to do our duty. Your duty is to save the world.”

“Sometimes I wish I were actually a girl. Do you think I would’ve made a presentable girl?”

“You make one now. A beautiful one.”

“The Gods are cruel, Amos. First off, a whole colony from our home planet gets stranded. Centuries pass and the colony splits into multiple factions. Some of us revert to primitive savagery—”

“Like the underground people Malcolm made up stories about?”

“Oh, you think Malcolm was just pulling our legs about that?”

“Everything Malcolm says is dubious,” Amos said with derision.

“But what about the train? How did we get on that? Who put us on it?”

The sound of a key turning the door lock stopped our conversation. Amos jumped up and ran to the door, raising his sword in anticipation of the door opening. The bolt moved to the left and the door slowly opened. Amos’ sword stopped its descent just a few centimeters from the neck of the person who entered the room.

“Kelvin!” Amos and I shouted in unison.

“It’s a good thing I’m half your height, Amos. Otherwise I’d be headless right now.”

“Didn’t you say your father has the only keys?” Amos asked, breathing heavily.

“That’s what they all think but I had a duplicate set made up by the royal locksmith. A few Rumperdon steaks can be very persuasive.”

“Why are you here, Kelvin? Our wedding night is until tomorrow.”

“As if,” Amos muttered, relaxing his grip on the sword, now at his side.

“I had a change of mind. I was all committed to carrying out Lydia’s plan to completion but when you showed up…” He walked up to my bedside. I reflexively covered myself with my hands, although the nightgown they had given me was quite modest. “You’re different from what I expected. You’re nice and respectful of me despite everyone thinking of me as a mere child—”

“Well, you are nine-years-old,” I pointed out.

“But you listened seriously to me. Only Lydia pays any mind to what I think. Even mother treats me like a brainless homunculus—”

“What?”

“Never mind. What I’m telling you is that I’ve come to help you escape—”

“Escape? What are you going on about?” Amos was standing right behind Kelvin.

“We’re not getting married tomorrow. There’s not going to be a wedding.”

“But why am I here? Just come out with it. All of it!”

Kelvin looked at Amos and me in turn, then audibly swallowed before speaking in a rush. “I don’t have time to explain it all. But you have to leave immediately. All of you. They’re going to sacrifice you to The Gods tomorrow! That’s Lydia’s plan all along to divert The Dagger of Heaven. Not a wedding. A sacrifice!”

“Am I having a nightmare, Amos?” I cried, slapping myself to wake up.

“This is real, Rani!” Kelvin ran to the door and peeked outside. “No time to dawdle. I’ve rounded up everyone else. They’re waiting at the stables. I know a spot in the battlements where we can go unnoticed. But we have to hurry.”

“But what about you, Kelvin. Won’t your parents and Lydia be very angry, to say the least?” I whispered as we moved quickly through the palace in the dark.

“I’m coming with you,” Kelvin whispered in response. “We’re still betrothed, you know.”

Stunned by these outrageous developments, I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I concentrated on keeping up with Amos as we ran through the streets of the city toward the stables, my right hand tightly enfolded in Amos’ large left hand.

At the stables, Merlyn stood by Emma’s massive side, her arms beckoning to us.

“Hurry, Rani!”

Amos lifted Kelvin up into the basket. Merlyn had a worried look on her face.

“How could I have trusted Lydia so completely? I’m an old fool, Rani.”

“It’s all right, Merlyn. You’re our old fool.”