“Oh, is that right?” Caythis raised an eyebrow. “I liked the honest you better. This lying thing doesn’t suit you very well. You’re not very good at it.”
“I’m serious. I would tell you that after every game of Sune. Remember?”
“Sune?” The name sounded so familiar. And then it clicked, and with a burst of excitement he said, “you play Sune? I love Sune!”
“Yes I know,” she said. “And apparently you love losing at Sune because we used to play it all the time.”
“I can handle a loss every couple hundred wins or so.”
Kira smirked. “I think you got that backwards. Since you never beat me.”
“What? No, I remember, I’ve always been really good at Sune.”
“Now I’m sure you have amnesia.”
“Oh come on, we both know I probably beat you dozens of times.”
“Nope, not even one.”
“Seriously?” Caythis looking for any hint of bluffing. She stared back at him, challenging his eyes.
“And you were how old?”
“Fifteen,” she replied proudly.
“Oh that explains it,” he said. “I wanted to go easy on you. Help pad your ego. Children are fragile.”
“No,” she said, eyes livid. “I might have been a child but I was never fragile. You knew that better than anyone.”
“What's classier than a grown man beating a little girl at a silly game and making her cry? Of course I would throw every match.”
She shook her head. “A grown man? How old were you five years ago? Seventeen? And since boys mature slower than girls, if anything, I was older than you.”
Caythis paused to think, had he been seventeen? He felt about early twenties, but could he have been champion-elect and an overseer at just seventeen? Or did he just look young for his age?
“No comeback? I’m disappointed.”
“What can I say?” Caythis let out a sigh. “I thought of a really good one, but you wouldn't be able to understand it.”
"Why, because it doesn’t make sense?"
"See what I mean? Too advanced for you."
She shook her head. "I'm not going to dignify that with a response."
"You just did."
"Got me there, but that doesn't explain your delusions."
Caythis raised an eyebrow. "What delusions?"
“Your delusions of beating me at Sune.”
"I might not remember everything, but I know I was very good at Sune. I have skills you can't even imagine," he pointed to his head. “Thinking skills.”
“All right, Mister Thinking Skills,” she smiled and her eyes danced. “How about a game then? Settle this the old-fashioned way.”
“I’m on a tight schedule but, should you show up with a deck of Sune cards, I’m sure I could squeeze you in.”
“Deal,” said Kira with a smirk. “Maybe putting you in your place will help jog your memories. You'll get that feeling, you know the one like you’ve done something before—losing hundreds of times.”
Caythis shook his head slightly, “Oh, I can’t wait to teach you a thing or two.”
***
He heard a deep rumble. It was faint but unmistakable. He shot up and listened. A second one followed, louder this time. Definitely explosions. He had flashbacks of the Hiding Place being invaded and his heart raced. He dashed to the intercom and slapped the button.
“Dr. Erikson, what the hell is going on up there?”
He had no armor and no weapons down here, but he still had his magic. He kept a sharp eye on the door, the only way in or out, and waited for a reply.
“Nothing to worry about,” Dr. Erikson’s voice crackled over the speaker. “Some Rigilians nearby surprised us but the police have it under control.”
“I can be there in a few minutes!”
“No thanks, it’s almost over. Don’t leave that lab, you’re recovering quickly. Don’t change that.”
The intercom clicked off. Caythis’ eyes darted to the door and he debated leaving. Putting himself at risk. After all, wasn’t that what everyone else was doing? Putting themselves in harm’s way. Why shouldn’t he?
In the end, he decided to follow Dr. Erikson’s advice and he remained in place. And listened. The fighting continued for a long time. Maybe an hour, maybe more. Eventually it faded away into silence. It was over. And whatever contribution he could have made, he didn’t. And that bothered him.
15
Why did she have to go? He watched as the tall academy master guided his sister through the gate and beyond the academy walls. They disappeared into a dark car that sped away. He stood in place, staring at the spot. She was coming back, right? He wanted to tell himself that. To believe it. But knew it wasn’t true.
Now the academy seemed like a dark place, and he hated it for ripping them apart. For sending her back to that horrible orphanage. They'd never been separated before.
***
Kira brought more food. She was about an hour early and Caythis wasn’t even hungry yet, but he smiled anyway, and stood up to greet her.
She set the tray on a nearby stand and took a seat. He saw so much energy in her, so much vibrancy. From the glow in her eyes, to the flash of her smile. Even the shimmer in her hair seemed to bounce with happiness.
“I hope you remembered our game of Sune,” she said.
“Of course. I just hope you’re ready for a world of hurt.” He shot her his most intimidating smile, which set her off laughing.
“Oh, trust me. I’m more than ready. If you want, I’ll try to go easy on you.”
“Then you’ll lose even worse!”
“We’ll see.” By now she’d pulled out the cards. They were split into two decks, a silver one and a golden one, she handed him the gold. He flipped through it, seeing 32 unique pictures. He saw a fox, a falcon, a soldier, a sun, and several others. Everything seemed to be in order.
“Well, come on,” she said. He looked down to see her kneeling on the ground, spreading out her cards face down in an 8x4 pattern. She shifted their configuration a few times before she was satisfied.
He knew what she was doing, she was placing her pieces. The pattern you picked at the beginning was probably the most important decision you made all game.
He knelt down opposite her, meeting her eyes for a split second. He glanced down at the opaque silver of her cards’ backsides. Wishing he could guess how she would play. Was she the aggressive type? Definitely. But she was also the clever type, which meant she might play defensively to throw him off. He looked at her while she adjusted her cards, her hair spilled down over her face, and her ivory fingers flew up to comb it out of her eyes. She was hard to predict, and it wasn't fair that her attractiveness held him off guard.
He decided to arrange his own cards in a neutral position. Flexible, but not particularly devoted to either attacking or defending. The upside meant he could alter his strategy easily during the game, but the downside was that the overall effect of the deck was weaker. And he could only win after a long attrition. But it was the safest bet against an opponent he could not predict. He placed his cards in an identical 8x4 pattern next to hers. Together they formed an 8x8 playing board on the tiled floor.
“I'm set,” she said. Indicating that she’d locked her cards in place. She was now committed to leaving them how they were until the game started. Caythis frowned thoughtfully, shifting his cards a few more times.
"Where's your arrogance now?"
He looked up at her. “I'm set.”
“You're as slow as ever.”
"A spoonful of thoughtfulness now is worth a mountain of cleverness later.” He looked at her. The white lights above made her hair shimmer.
“Spoonful? Did you get that proverb from an old lady?”
“Old is wise,” he said. “Old is wise.”
She started flipping her cards face up. He sat up straighter and began memorizing them. She’d placed several aggressive cards in the back, out of reach. Her weaker cards were in d
ominant positions, which was stupid. Had she been all talk after all? He felt disappointed. When she’d flipped the last one over she looked at him. “Ready?”
“Yes,” he said, committing the last of her cards to memory. He wasn’t good at remembering them individually, but he kept track of the groupings clearly enough, which is what mattered most.
She returned her cards to their face down positions, then he began turning his over one at a time. She stiffened the tiniest bit as she looked his over. She was in a trance as she sat there frozen, memorizing his arrangement. “Ready?” he said at last.
“Yes,” she said, withdrawing a coin. It had a silver side and a golden side. She flipped it into the air.
It landed gold and Caythis got the first move. He thought for a second, double-checking everything in his mind. This was as much a memory game as it was a strategy game, and he had to remember all of his pieces as well as hers. Though, at any time, he could peek at one of his own cards.
Each of his 32 cards represented a unique piece, with a completely unique style of movement. Some could move anywhere, some could switch places with another card, and some could move in strange configurations like an “L” shape, or anywhere along an "H" shaped path. For each piece he had, she had one to mirror it, but placed differently. Only a third of his cards were free to move on the first turn.
He decided to play aggressively. Pausing at times to look at her and try to read her reactions. He didn’t glean many useful insights however, since, as he looked at her, all he could think of was how she glowed, how beautiful she was, and how much he wished she was unattached.
He grabbed one of his most mobile cards, an eagle, and switched it with a card on the farthest rank, a star. Because they were both his own cards, they only traded places, it wasn’t a capture. He still had to flip over the acting card—the one he’d moved—so she could see what it was.
Kira hesitated, then made a move of her own. They took a few turns like this with idle banter before he captured her first piece. He used one of his worst pieces, but it had the support of several powerful ones that sat face down nearby. He was baiting her, hoping she'd already forgotten his configuration.
He flipped over her defeated card, revealing it as he removed it from the board. It was a sentinel, a pretty good piece.
“You realize, of course,” said Kira. “That this means war.”
“A war that will be over in five minutes.”
“Why, are you planning to give up early?" She moved one of her pieces to attack his, capturing it. “A gull? I expected better.”
He stared at the card she’d put down where his had been. That attack had come from the other side of the board. Either he didn’t remember her pieces correctly, or she had made an illegal move. That was allowed, of course, but it was as risky to call a bluff as it was to make one. If he was right, and he called her bluff, she’d lose a turn. A brutal cost. But if he called a bluff, and she hadn’t bluffed, he’d be the one losing a turn. And that’s all it would take to cripple his winning position. He frowned, thinking this over.
“You’re stalling,” she said.
“No I'm not.”
“Either that or you’re a slow thinker.”
“You don’t let up, do you?” Caythis shook his head and moved another piece to threaten that square, deciding not to call the bluff. It would take a turn longer, but he still had plenty of pieces honing in on that spot, escalating his threat. He didn’t want to let such a good position slip away in case he was wrong.
She flipped her attacking piece face up. It was the peasant, an extremely poor piece. She had bluffed. Caythis wished he’d called her on it, but didn’t let that feeling show. He was still going to beat her. He just needed to pay better attention.
With half a smile, she made another move. An attempt to get some of her better pieces out of the disastrous positions she’d started them in. Too late. He made another attack, she countered, he deployed another piece, and she countered again. This continued for two more moves, exhausting all of her counters before his attacks ran out. The rest of the game fell apart for her from there. He wedged his pieces in and began capturing the rest of hers, trading off whenever he could. In the end, she had only three pieces and no matter where they moved they’d be captured. So she resigned.
“I don’t believe it,” she said with sincere surprise.
“Believe it.” He shuffled her cards that he’d captured. “The cards never lie.” He flicked them at her in a teasing way.
“Hey,” she said, scrambling to get them as they scattered.
“So I guess I won,” he said.
“Miracles do happen,” she picked up the last of her cards.
“So, I guess you owe me a shoulder massage, then."
“What?” Kira’s eyes were wide and confused.
“The prize, you know? For winning. The loser owes the winner a shoulder massage. That’s practically in the rules.”
“Oh, this isn’t over. We’re playing again, and you will lose.”
“But I already won. I’ll only play again if I get my shoulder massage.”
“What’s the matter? Are you afraid of me? Afraid of a girl?”
“No,” he said. “I just want my shoulder massage. I’ve been very tense lately.” The thought of her warm fingers massaging his neck and shoulders sounded very relaxing.
Kira seemed to consider this. “Okay, in the very unlikely event that you win, you’ll get a shoulder massage. But if I win...”
“I have to give you a shoulder massage?” Sounded just as good to him.
“No,” she said quickly. “Nice try though. What I want is for you to cook me a nice dinner every day for five days, once you’re out of here.”
“What? No way. I can’t cook.”
“Of course you can. You used to cook all the time.”
“No chance,” he said. “I let you get away with one huge bluff today, and that’s enough. There’s no way I’m letting you take me for a ride like that. I know I can’t cook.”
“Are you sure?” asked Kira. “Maybe it would come back to you if you tried… five times.”
“Yeah, I don’t cook. I only give shoulder massages.”
“Too bad, I guess no game then.” Kira started putting her cards away.
“What?” Caythis said. “Why not?”
“Because you don’t like my terms. I want you to make five dinners. I don’t even have to eat them, in fact I probably shouldn’t eat them if I want to stay alive. I just want to see you make them.”
“Two dinners,” he said.
“Four.”
“Two,” he repeated.
“Five.”
“Two.”
“You know I’m going to beat you,” she said. “Otherwise you’d agree to fifty dinners, or even five-hundred.”
“Okay four.”
“That ship has sailed. Now I want six.”
“All right, all right, five dinners. And it’s best two out of three, I want my win to still count for something.”
“Deal.” She handed him his cards.
As he looked at her, he felt the urge to hold her. To be close to her. He stared at her beautiful lips and tried not to think about how cute her smile was. He looked away, pushing the thought from his mind.
“Shall we?”
“Oh yes,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Bring it on.”
They placed their cards on the playing field. Caythis put even more thought into his initial pattern, deciding to go aggressive and crush her quickly. Based on her last game this would be easy. "Set," he declared. She was a bit slower, giving him a discomforting smile just before committing her position. He tried to look nonchalant.
He revealed his cards first, folding his arms casually, but a smile spread across her face as she said, "Okay, that’s… interesting. My turn." As she started flipping over her cards he knew he was in trouble. Her pieces were perfectly arranged to counter any aggressive strategy, which meant he’d hav
e to waste moves shifting his position around.
She had the initiative, and for the majority of the game, she dominated him. Whatever ineptitude she'd shown before had been a farce. She was beyond good. There was so much more strategy and logic behind her moves that Caythis felt his head ache trying to keep track of all her pieces, a task that somehow became harder as pieces were removed from the board, not easier.
He had to be extra careful, even the tiniest mistake would spell doom for him. So his thinking took quite a bit longer than hers. She never relented teasing him for his "delays of game," and poor positioning. He tuned it out, shooting back a quip whenever he could think of one, but didn’t want to lose focus.
With some luck, and a couple of minor bluffs, he was able to thwart her gameplay. It ended in a draw with only two pieces left on the field. Both able to dodge the other and avoid capture forever.
Caythis relaxed, it had been a stressful experience, but he’d rescued himself. Kira was biting her lip and still looking at the playing field. Trying to figure out exactly where she’d let him slip out of her grip and manage to draw the game.
"Your mistake was letting my sentry and falcon make illegal moves," he reconstructed the game board enough to show how he'd out-clevered her.
“You really have gotten better,” she sounded amazed.
“Funny, I was going to say the same for you.”
She rolled her eyes. Then pointed at the playing field. “Again?”
They played several games. Each shifting strategies and trying desperately to trick the other. Sometimes they guessed their opponent perfectly, but just as often they depended on dumb luck for counterplay. The next two games were quite serious, with Caythis and Kira each beginning with a strong position that was somehow sabotaged by the game's end. The more desperate player always managed, somehow, to draw the game through superior play. It was amazing how familiar she became as they played. He felt like he knew her, like they’d been close friends for years. Even though he still hadn’t shaken loose any prior memory of her.
Secrets of Silverwind Page 15
