by Lou Anders
The frost giant found herself outdoors in the central courtyard of the Twin Palaces. There were buildings on three sides. She ran to the fourth, saw the daunting cliff face that dropped away to sharp rocks in the waters below. There was no way she could scale that, at least not quickly.
Turning from the precipice, Thianna’s gaze fell on the centerpiece of the outdoor courtyard. An oversize Queen’s Champion board.
Then a sea of soldiers issued from all three wings of the Twin Palaces.
“Sometimes,” she said with a rueful smile, “the only way out is through.”
The soldiers met her when she was roughly at the center of the checkered ground. She took the first three down with the force of her charge. Then booted feet crashed into her side.
Thianna swung and kicked. She noticed that the women didn’t draw weapons, so Thianna didn’t either. Hopefully this meant they were under orders to take her alive. If that were the case, she wouldn’t make it easy for them.
The next woman to come at her paid for her bravery with a fist to the jaw. The one after went flying into the stands. Then they rushed at her en masse and at least a half-dozen Calderan soldiers grappled with Thianna. She fought to throw them off, but the numbers were too great. Like the worst knattleikr pileup ever, soon she was facedown on the game board struggling under a heap of armored women.
She resisted a moment longer, straining under their combined weight if only to show them she could, but it was no use. Then she saw that her captured companions had been dragged out into the courtyard as well. Thianna sank to the ground, gritting her teeth in frustration.
“Troll dung,” she swore.
“Such language,” said Queen Xalthea, striding onto the playing field. “Though it’s precisely what I’d expect from an uncouth barbarian.”
“Let me up, and I’ll show you something else to expect of a barbarian,” Thianna replied.
The Sky Queen laughed. It wasn’t a friendly sound.
“That might be interesting,” the queen said. “But it might be more so if I order these women to strike your head from your shoulders.”
“You need me,” said Thianna.
“Do I?” The queen wasn’t addressing Thianna. Beside her, Sirena stepped forward and knelt to peer at the giantess’s face. Thianna scowled as her cousin reached out to lay a hand on her forehead. Then her eyes opened in surprise.
I bet you’re surprised to see me in here too, Sirena thought into Thianna’s mind.
Then the Keras Keeper rose and faced the queen.
“Not anymore,” Sirena said to the monarch.
“How?” asked the stunned frost giant.
“You’ve rubbed off on her,” laughed the queen. “It seems her contact with your own mind, primitive though it is, has awakened her latent abilities.”
Thianna grunted. She knew that her own exposure to Orm’s thoughts while using the Horn of Osius had enhanced her telepathic abilities. It shouldn’t have surprised her that Sirena’s repeated contact with her, most of it while one or the other of them possessed the horn, had done the same. They shared the bloodline after all.
She put her face down, staring at the checkered marble floor of the Queen’s Champion board. She had failed.
Thianna heard the sound of a sword being drawn from a sheath.
“I will do this one myself,” said Xalthea. “I won’t let you ruin us.”
“Ruin you?” said Thianna. “You are ruining yourselves! You don’t let the dactyls vote in your society, but it was a dactyl who designed your mirrors. You don’t let men take part in running your city, but it was a man who forged your horn. You sit on your throne at the top of the hill and rule over a city where almost nobody is a citizen. It doesn’t matter what you do to me. You’re still not going to last. Sooner or later you’re going to crumble. You better start thinking about another way to live if you want to stick around at all.”
“We endure because we are the strongest,” said the Sky Queen.
“There’s more than one way to be strong,” said Thianna.
Xalthea snorted derisively. But another queen spoke.
“That almost sounds like a challenge,” said Melantha. “Truly you are Talaria’s child.” She walked over to Thianna and bent to meet her gaze. “There is still a way forward, one that doesn’t end with your head leaving your shoulders. At least not in the next few moments.”
“What are you saying?”
“There is one option open to you now. Only one. If you can grasp it…”
Thianna didn’t understand.
But Karn did. He opened his mouth to tell her, but a sword poked him in the ribs.
“She has to make the challenge herself,” the woman whispered. “Or it holds no weight.”
He gritted his teeth in frustration, willing his friend to understand. He’d followed her so far. He wouldn’t lose her now. Not when there was a chance. If only she would look his way. Kvir, the Norrøngard god of luck, was thousands of miles away. He couldn’t be trusted to help now. But Karn’s trust was in someone else. They’d been through too much, learned to rely on each other for everything. Thianna wouldn’t face this challenge alone.
Sure enough, the frost giant looked his way. As their eyes met, Karn mouthed the words “Look down.”
But Thianna didn’t grasp his meaning. She stared at him in puzzlement. The soldier gripping Karn noticed and pulled him aside.
Thianna hung her head. She didn’t understand what Karn meant. “Look down.” Down where? Off the mountain? What option could there be? It was over. The two queens had won.
Two queens, she thought. Then suddenly she noticed the ground in front of her eyes. The solution, literally staring her in the face. The Queen’s Champion board. The stage upon which political disputes were settled.
Thianna smiled, the biggest grin of the evening.
“I challenge you, Xalthea,” she said.
“You challenge me?” the queen repeated, not understanding.
“I challenge you to a live Queen’s Champion game.”
“Don’t be absurd,” said the Sky Queen. “You have no right to challenge me. Only citizens of Caldera can compete in the game.”
“Actually,” said Melantha, “Thianna has every right.”
Thianna lifted her head to stare at the Land Queen.
“Her mother, Talaria, was never tried for her crimes,” the Land Queen continued. “So Talaria’s citizenship stands. As her only child, Thianna is entitled to all the rights of citizenship. In fact, Talaria still has a business operating in the helot district, if I’m not mistaken. You may even have thirteen years back income, child.”
Thianna snorted at this. The people who were about to kill her might owe her money.
“This is preposterous,” said Queen Xalthea, her cheeks burning angrily. “Even if I accepted her challenge, what Calderan citizen would stand with her? She cannot play in the game unless she can gather supporters for a full team.”
Thianna’s brief hope died in her. She knew none of the Calderans would dare oppose their queen, certainly not for a barbarian outsider bent on overturning their way of life.
“I will stand with her,” said Asterius, tossing his horns in the air in defiance.
“Impossible,” said the queen. “You’re not a citizen.”
“Actually, I am,” said the minotaur. He turned to Queen Melantha. “You said so yourself.”
“Did I?” asked the Land Queen, smiling slyly.
“You did,” said a newcomer to the scene. All eyes turned to see Talos, the automaton, striding toward them. “Your exact words were ‘You will all be honorary citizens of Caldera. In time you will appreciate this honor.’ I believe that time has come. We appreciate the honor now. I too will stand with Thianna Frostborn.”
“And I,” said Daphne.
“And I,” said Desstra.
“Me too,” said Karn.
“Wait,” objected Xalthea. “These last two children are certainly not citizens.”<
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It was true. While Desstra and Karn had temporarily been housed in the hostage suites, no honorary status had been granted them. Thianna thought about this for a moment, then an idea occurred to her.
“Isn’t it true that you allow the perioikoi to compete in the game?” said Thianna.
Queen Melantha smiled.
“We do,” she said. “It is their one chance to participate in matters of Calderan government.”
“Well,” said the frost giant, “these two are my perioikoi.”
“Preposterous,” said Xalthea.
“No it isn’t,” replied the frost giant. “They go into battle with me. Karn is my strategic advisor, and this one”—she pointed her chin at Desstra—“doubles as my advance scout, spy, and medical support.”
“Triples, not doubles,” said Desstra. “That’s three things.” But the dark elf was smiling.
“There you have it, Xalthea,” said Melantha. “If that’s not the very definition of perioikoi I don’t know what is.” The Sky Queen scowled at this, but before she spoke, Melantha continued, “We accept Karn and Desstra as viable competitors.”
“You are still shy two players,” Xalthea said. “You need eight individuals to make up a full team.”
“We’ll play,” said Jasius, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. Behind him was the dactyl king. Although she was as surprised as anyone to see them, Thianna knew they must have appeared from another of their secret doors.
“Who are you?” said Xalthea to the older dwarf.
“King Herakles Hammerfist,” said the dactyl. “Pleased to make your royal acquaintance.”
“King who?” stammered the Sky Queen, her control of the situation spiraling away from her.
“Never mind, we’ll get around to formal introductions later, I’m sure. Right now we’re here to play.” He turned to Thianna and winked. “Told you we all look alike to them.”
Xalthea was at a loss for words, but not so her co-monarch.
“Very well,” said Queen Melantha. “The game will commence at daybreak tomorrow. That way we can resolve this matter before the Great Hatching.” She addressed the frost giant. “I have your word as a Calderan that you will abide by the rules of the challenge? No hostilities or escape attempts until tomorrow’s game?”
“I’ll behave until tomorrow’s game,” said Thianna. “I give you my word as a Calderan, but also as a Ymirian!”
The Land Queen nodded. She turned to the soldiers still pinning Thianna to the ground.
“Let her up. Show all the contestants to quarters where they can properly rest and prepare for tomorrow’s conflict.” Then she strode to the Sky Queen. “I hope you can find seven supporters as easily as this ‘barbarian’ girl has,” she said.
“She has one,” said Sirena, stepping proudly to Xalthea’s side. Her aunt gazed at her in disappointment, her lips set in a grim line.
“Very well,” said Melantha.
Sirena strode to Thianna as the soldiers released her, and the frost giant regained her feet. “You’re going to wish you’d never left your mountain when we toss you off of this one.”
“All we have to do is beat your side at a board game,” Thianna said. “How hard can that be, right?”
“You big fool,” her cousin replied. “Don’t you know? This is a fight to the death.”
Dawn did not arrive early in Caldera. The sun’s rays had to climb the steep cliff walls of the actual caldera before falling into the courtyard of the Twin Palaces. For Thianna, the anticipation proved worse than any actual battle to come. Her stomach was in knots. It surprised her how nervous she felt. So much lay on her shoulders.
When they finally came for her, it was almost a relief.
She stepped blinking into the morning light. The courtyard was packed. Both the Land Queen’s and Sky Queen’s stands were full with their soldiers. There were no men, no nonhumans, no perioikoi or helots. Only the soldier-citizen women of Caldera were allowed to witness the game.
A special cushioned seating had been installed midcenter of the Land Queen’s section for Queen Melantha. Under most circumstances, she would have been on the field, not watching the game. Thianna waved as she was led onto the board. Melantha nodded slightly back at her in what might be encouragement. Still not a friend, but clearly not an enemy.
Thianna stopped in the Queen’s starting square, with Karn in the Champion’s square. To their left, Jasius, King Herakles, and Asterius. To their right, Desstra, Talos, and a very nervous Daphne. They had agreed on the order the night before during a strategy discussion. Ordinarily the queens would be very aware of their team’s individual fighting capabilities. Unfortunately, with the exception of Sirena, Thianna had no idea how the other side’s soldiers would perform. Nor did she have full knowledge of her own side’s strengths and weaknesses—apart, of course, from Karn’s and Desstra’s considerable abilities.
Opposite them across the board, six soldiers were already standing at attention, each armed with a sword and the distinctive pelta shield. Sirena approached and took up her position as Champion. The trumpets blew and Queen Xalthea marched out of her palace accompanied by a small retinue. They followed her to the edge of the board, then took up places in the stands. The queen did not immediately take her position, however, but strode to Thianna.
“One last chance to back down,” said Xalthea. “There is no sense in all of your friends dying as well. If you surrender now, I promise that I’ll spare them. You will have accomplished that much.”
Thianna thought about that. She turned to her team.
“Anyone want to back down?” she asked.
No one spoke. She felt a surge of pride.
“I guess we’re going to play,” she said.
“But surely you don’t think you can beat me?” asked the queen.
“You’re right,” Thianna said. “I can’t beat you.”
“You admit it?”
“Sure,” she said. “I can’t beat you. But he can.”
Stepping aside, she exchanged positions on the board with Karn.
“What are you doing?” said Xalthea.
“I’m switching places,” said the giantess. “I’ll be the Champion. Karn can play the Queen’s position. Maybe we could call it a King’s position.”
“How about the Jarl’s position?” Karn offered with pretend helpfulness. “I usually play Jarl’s side in Thrones and Bones at home.”
Xalthea ignored Karn.
“But you are the one who challenged me.”
“I challenged you to a game of Queen’s Champion. And brought my team. Now here we are. Are we going to play or not? I’m still playing. Only in a different position.”
“You can’t do that!” objected the Sky Queen.
“Why not?”
“The queen always plays the Queen,” she said, then caught herself when she realized her mistake.
“There you have it,” said Thianna. “I’m no queen. Just an uncouth barbarian from Ymiria. So it shouldn’t matter which position I take, should it?”
“She has you there!” called Melantha. “Come on, let the girl play whichever position she wants.”
“Fine,” said Xalthea. “You can be your own Champion. It won’t make any difference in the outcome. In fact, you’ll go off the cliff even faster this way.”
She turned and stormed back to her position on the board. Sirena straightened beside her, trying her best to look confident and proud. She glared at her cousin. Now each of them was playing the same position, but for opposite sides.
“For Caldera!” she called.
The six soldiers on the Sky Queen’s side repeated this call. Thianna thought they seemed more stiff than confident. Their eyes betrayed their nervousness. She imagined that they may not have been given much choice in “volunteering” to stand with their queen. And if they were used to serving under Xalthea, then they’d have a pretty good idea of the value she placed on lives not her own. The giantess smiled. She looked at her own m
ismatched forces. No matter the outcome of the game, she knew which side she belonged on.
“Ready when you are!” she shouted.
“Let’s get this charade over with,” Xalthea replied.
Queen Melantha stood and addressed the assembled crowds.
“The game of Queen’s Champion has long been used to settle political debates. Today Queen Xalthea is challenged by Thianna Frostborn over the matter of the Horn of Osius and the future of Caldera.
“Before we begin, a brief demonstration for those contestants who are new to our game.” She nodded at Thianna’s team. “When two opposing players meet on adjacent squares, battle ensues. The fight is to the death. Should either player step outside the confines of their position, they forfeit the match. When either death or forfeit occurs…”
Melantha nodded.
A square in the center of the board fell away.
“That’s a trapdoor!” exclaimed Thianna.
“A one-way trip down the mountain,” Desstra said. “Not a ride I’d like to take.”
The square slid back into place.
“Any questions?” the queen asked.
“I think we get the point,” said Thianna.
“Good,” said the Land Queen. “Play will continue until one side surrenders or is entirely removed from play. Those remaining after a surrender will have their lives spared, although the challenger herself forfeits her life in defeat. As the defender, Queen Xalthea has the first move.”
Trumpets blew. The game commenced.
Xalthea began by ordering Sirena two steps forward.
“Was that a good move?” asked King Herakles, in a somewhat too-loud whisper.
Thianna looked to Karn.
“It’s a bold move,” he replied. “It means she isn’t afraid to risk her Champion, rather than keep Sirena back for her own protection. Also, it suggests that she doesn’t think highly of our chances.”
“She doesn’t know us,” said Thianna.
Karn was less assertive in his own move. He sent Desstra ahead only one space.
“That was a good move. Was that a good move?” asked Herakles again.
“Timid,” said the Sky Queen with a sneer. She ordered another piece forward.
