Chapter 25 War Chess

❄️Snow❄️

The game room was made of black and white tiles and decorated with various banners representing all the houses in the Mountaineer realm. The thing that immediately stood out was the floor, not the tiles themselves but what was piled on top of them. Scattered all over the room in piles were hundreds of praefectus pieces. Some broken, some new and in the middle of all the piles was a table, the table was carved from stone and atop this ancient but unique table was a praefectus chess board. The board was unlike any Snow has ever seen; the sides were made of glass which made the board appear like it was floating. The board itself was twice the size of a normal praefectus board along with its pieces. The pieces themselves were made of stone, some clearly newer and some older.

Sir Harper led her to the table and pulled back the crimson cushioned chair that resembled the shape of a throne. The chair was facing the side of the room they had just entered from.

“Please have a seat.”

Snow took her seat on the throne-like chair.

“Comfy.”

After seating her, Sir Harper went around the table to the opposing side and took his own seat.

“I hear the Lotus royal family are good at practically everything. A simple game while we discuss your business should suffice. You claimed you played before, I assume you know all the rules?”

“Yes.” In their family, Snow was the only one who could not activate the frostblood. She was terrible at political appearances, could not fight like gravis, nor was as smart as Lussuria. She was the only one that wasn’t ‘practically good at everything.’ Thinking about all of which led her to this seat, Snow couldn’t help but smile. Maybe fate was throwing her a bone, because this game was one of the only things that she was good at.

“I know them well, councilor.”

The goal of praefectus was the same as chess, to checkmate the king. However, the board was larger, with twice as many pieces, and split into two parts: the main battlefield and the supply board. On the supply board each player controlled a supply tower. There was also a new piece, the ‘Lord Commander’ piece, which could move omnidirectional and could not be killed by pawns. Each player controlled four Lord Commanders. Each player was also allowed to move three separate pieces per turn. If they manage to attack the enemy’s supply tower their opponent’s number of moves would be reduced to one.

“Would you like the first move?” Sir Harper was giving her a judgmental gaze as she looked at the board pondering her opener.

“No, you may have first.”

The start of the game is arguably the most important. On each player’s first turn they must choose to send any number of pieces to their supply board. On any other turn it costs three moves to transfer a piece from one board to the other. Another requirement is that the piece you want transferred must be in the back 2 rows unless it is a pawn, In which case it must be in the first 4 rows. Simply put, You must decide how many pieces to send over to defend your supply tower at the start of the game. Snow was thinking of just that.

“Princess, are you familiar with the Mountaineer variation?”

Snow looked up at him.

“No, I am not.”

“As you are playing in our kingdom, it is only fitting we play our variation.”

“What is the variation?”

“It is quite simple, It has to do with the ‘Lord Commander’ pieces.”

Snow looked at the pieces on the board as she put on a peculiar face.

“What can they do differently?”

“Any pawn within one square vicinity of a ‘Lord Commander’ can not be killed by another pawn.”

“That sounds… powerful.”

“You would be correct, Lord Commanders in this kingdom, in other words: generals, heads of houses, and traditional lords are very powerful. You may argue that we are the hands of his majesty, orchestrating the defense and matters of the kingdom. Commanding our houses for his benefit, this variation represents our country.” He raised his fist to his chest.

Snow’s eyes veered to the sides of the room around them, at the piles of praefectus pieces scattered around them. She didn’t notice it before but the vast majority of the pieces on the ground were white and Sir Harper was playing black.

“Is it traditional for captured pieces to be thrown to the ground in the gameroom with your variation?” She questioned him.

He gave her a smile.

“Yes. Tossing your pieces away is no different than real life; soldiers, servants, and commoners toss their lives away for their king and country. This game of praefectus represents that. It is also tradition for each player to toss their own captured pieces as their defeat is directly your fault. You will toss their lives away.”

There were hundreds of white pieces spread around the room, this must have been why they weren’t cleaned up, it was effectively a graveyard, a trophy for Sir Harper to relish in his must have been hundreds of games.

“Do you typically play black?”

“Always.”

Out of the few black pieces scattered throughout the room she did not see a single specific piece. She looked at the back of his board as surprise radiated from her face. His oldest piece, nearly cracking as it was, was his king.

“I have never lost a game.” He answered the unasked question. “Worry not, victory is not required for my judgment.”

Snow leaned in.

“Let us begin then.”

Harper began by moving three pawns backed by one Lord Commander to his supply board. The supply board was three squares wide which meant he effectively created a wall that could not be killed by pawns. Snow took an extra minute thinking. Sir harper was undefeated, with this and the variation in mind, Snow had to adjust her strategy. The Lord Commanders were powerful enough that she needed to play around them instead of playing around single pieces like the Queen. Thinking about all of this she noticed Sir Harper had been waiting on her.

“Take your time.”

“One more moment, apologies.”

Her eyes wandered up the squares of the board until they reached his pieces. Looking upon the stone pieces which represented his force, she mimicked his move, mirroring his supply board.

This variation changed the outlook upon praefectus itself, her pawns were no longer pawns, they were an army. The key to fighting them was to take down the Lord Commanders.

“Shall we enter the discussion of your business here princess? What can I do for you.” Harper began his main board by pushing three pawns on the left forward. The pawns all marched together, as if they were a single unit.

The half-elf slave girl entered the room, methodically approaching the table and serving each side their own cup of tea before taking one step back and waiting on standby. Snow noticed her observing the board.

After a sip of the sweet honey tea, Snow began her pitch.

“Sir harper we are aware that a certain vote is coming up during the next Mountaineer council meeting. There is a great opportunity to be had for both of us, from dropping the wall and allowing the labor guild to be brought into fruition. I am here to strongly encourage you to vote in favor for it.”

“So, It is about the wall. I had a feeling, yes I am aware of it.”

Snow made her next move; her knight charged from its starting position backed by two forward pawns. A chariot formation.

“Dropping a portion of the wall poses no outside risk to the Mountaineer Kingdom, as knight councilman you should know that.”

Sir Harper made his next move; his center three pawns advanced, forming a long line of six pawns.

“Of course not, and you wouldn’t have come all this way to explain the process of stonemasonry, and the defense of the Mountaineer Kingdom to its knight councilman and retired general.” He smiled.

Snow’s Queen emerged, backed by a knight and a pawn.

“No, that’s not why I came here, I have no interest in rocks or stones. As a general who has fought for this kingdom, you should see just how beneficial this expansion would be for the Mountaineers.”

“Unfortunately princess, I am inclined to disagree with you. Dropping that wall to allow the construction will not bring benefit to this kingdom.”

Sir Harper commanded two of his Lord Commanders forward, they marched up and settled behind the two pawn units that had previously advanced. These two pawn units were now backed by a Lord Commander. It appeared to be an approaching front line, an army that spanned nearly the entire width of the board.

Snow looked at the approaching force, there was a flank. The right side, the space created when he had transferred three pawns to cover his supply tower.

“So you're telling me that building a new district which will need masons, bricklayers, painters, carpenters, sentries, officials and lords as well as increasing the amount of taxable revenue this kingdom generates is not a benefit in its entirety?”

“My concern is not about the immediate effect of the district, it’s about the long term effect on the kingdom.”

“Let's stop dancing around the issue then. We both know the council wants to exert some pressure against the ban of slavery that will come in effect come five years.”

They both made their moves in silence.

“The decreased quality in materials, hiring of less qualified workers, the outsourcing of major refiners….All of which to compensate for the loss of profit. Too many issues will result from it.”

Snow had to stop his advancing pawns, she began to advance her own frontline on the left. Three of her pawns marched forward to meet the oncoming army.

“Let’s talk upon these issues one at a time then shall we?”

Sir Harper’s bishops and queen filled his right flank, sealing the opening against any entry or attacks.

He now had a pawn army on the left and a force of special pieces on the right. At this rate, Sir Harper was going to flank her from the right side with all those special pieces. All the while his pawns will march on her territory. Snow was behind.

Snow’s knights scrambled to guard the right flank.

“First off. Food laws exist for a reason, competition breeds quality and if it breeds degradation then we have laws against such practices.”

Snow prepared for Sir Harper to advance his pawns again. But something else happened instead; Sir Harper summoned his knights back, protecting the Lord Commanders that were backing his army.

Snow's eyebrows went up at that move before she glanced again at the tea girl whose eyes were still staring at the board before a revelation was revealed to her, the half-elf slave girl’s curious eyes gave it away. Snow had a feeling what his plan was now, his next move would confirm it.

Harper was eyeing her closely.

Snow broke the chariot formation she had on the right and beckoned her knights to meet the line of pawns on the left.

This would leave some of her pieces vulnerable on the right flank but she had a feeling Harper had no intention of attacking them.

Sir Harper’s bishops that were on the right flank, the ones that were in position to exploit her, pulled back. They didn't attack.

She was right. His pawns were not an army.

They were a wall.

Looking at the board, all of Harper’s pieces were now in square formation. He had created a fortress on his corner of the board.

If she engaged in any way, she would start losing trades.

“Continue.” He said.

She needed to break his fortress.

“‘Hiring less qualified workers.’ So you admit they are doing quality work so they should be paid as such, is that not how life works? Paying them more would only increase their capabilities of doing better.”

Snow could not open an assault by taking a pawn, if she wanted to win the oncoming battle she needed to find a hole in his defense. She looked at the supply board, at his supply tower, if she took that, she would gain a massive advantage. There was a problem with that plan though, all her pawns were past the transition point, she would need to send special pieces and then she would really be open for attack.

If she attacked his supply board, he would attack her. If she attacked his main board, she would lose as it stands now. Harper had effectively made a turtle shell of defense.

She only had two options, attack the supply board or attack him?

She couldn't be reckless here, she needed to think, she needed more information. Looking at Sir Harpers fortress, there had to be a weak point somewhere…

She saw it.

There was a weak point, but attempting to exploit it would be risky.

Snow sent word to her supply board and the Lord Commander guarding it. The Lord Commander keeping watch on it transferred itself back to the main board, to join the main force.

“Bolstering your forces I see. I will do the same.”

Harper responded by summoning his own Lord Commander off his supply board.

Snow sent word for more reinforcements and the supply board gave her a pawn back, leaving just two pawns to defend her tower.

Harper did the same.

“Waiting for something Sir harper?” She addressed his obvious stalling.

Sir harper only gave a smile. “A Fool would break their best defensive position. A good commander needs only wait. All you are doing is bolstering my defense. Now I believe you are going to address my last point.”

Snow called forth another pawn from her supply board, leaving it with a single pawn.

Harper copied her once again.

“Yes, if people outsource they will have to pay an import tariff on top of the fact that they will leave the greatest market in Lucredia. Not wise in my opinion.”

“Let’s say I believe that the wages aren’t as bad as people predict. Whose to say that freed slaves will fit in this society, who is to say that they will be accepted. What will you say to the Lords and Ladies who simply do not want to lose their position of power over them?”

“Sir Harper, servants in which you can call at a whim to fulfill whatever urges come about you can still be arranged, you can deduct part of the wage as a living expense if they stay in your estate."

Harper seemed silenced by that one. Snow continued.

“There won't be all of a sudden a massive ruination of profit as you claim. Right now you are paying for food, drink and clothing for a slave as well as taking a risk of their health. You don’t have such expenses for a free man. So the cost is not as different as you think. It's close to 30% more. Not double or triple as you are insinuating.”

“I see, however my answer is still ‘No.’” His stubbornness was showing. Lazerous was right, Harper was stubborn and unmoving. She needed to incentivize him further.

“No you say?”

Snow demanded the last remaining pawn out of her supply board, abandoning it and leaving it completely exposed.

Harper did the same, the supply boards were now exposed for both sides.

“I have addressed each one of your concerns. For what reason do you have in voting No.”

Harper said nothing as he was considering his next move. Snow knew it was now or never to initiate her plan. She leaned back before saying,

“Your overconfidence in that packed fort will be your downfall. Sir Harper.”

Harper looked up at her. Snow had a smug face, the type that said ‘You are beneath me.’ His mouth tensed downward, along with his eyebrows.

“Because. That’s a change nobody will accept. It will only cause unnecessary conflict.”

Snow rose her hand out with her elbow resting on the arm of the chair.

“You have commoners in this country who are starving and homeless. You have slaves whose potentials are being stifled, all because men and women as you described don't want to lose their power over them. Ironic how someone my age can judge such behavior as ‘childish’. The ‘Lords’ and ‘Ladies’ of this district will do just fine. You will have first grabs for investments on the properties or perhaps they have lost their common sense of how finances work. After taking review of dozens of financial records even I can tell, at this rate, your vaults will run empty. I am trying to save your economy but you are resistant to our aid. What is the reason, pride? Greed? Or something else?”

Sir harper was surprised at the lashful remarks before his eyes dropped to the board. While she pressed him further.

“Will you continue to hide behind your walls? Against a child such as myself? I understand, for even cowardly tactics are cunning sometimes. I don't blame you, we Lotus are ‘the best at everything’. As you so kindly put it.”

Sir Harper gave her a smile, the smile on his face contrasted with the veins that were now visible on the sides of his head. A struct nerve, maybe?

“Leaving your tower open like that is an act of desperation, I can pressure it with a mere pawn before your Lord Commanders would even make it to your frontline. Your taunting efforts to break my formation are cute, so cute that I’ll would entertain the spectacle of this futility. Sure I'll alot you a ‘single’ opening.”

Harper transferred 1 pawn back over to his supply board, his wall formation now had a hole exposing his left Lord Commander.

Snow now had an opening to attack that Lord Commander. The hole in the wall however, could only be exploited by her Queen, which would be a sacrifice.

“Will the Queen lead this suicidal charge?” He responded simply, while staring at the leader of the army in white.

“Yes, she will.” Snow replied with the one sentence.

The Queen pushed forward, right through the gap in his formation, capturing the Old Lord Commander, knocking it down.

“You have the same temperament as your mother,” he took the Lord Commander piece and tossed it off to the side. The piece broke upon hitting the floor. “However this is praefectus and the rules of this war are written in stone.”

The Mountaineer knight that had been covering the Lord Commander moved to kill the Queen, pushing her off the square.

Snow reached forward and grabbed her Queen. Instead of tossing it she leaned off her chair and placed it on the ground next to her.

The conflict ignited as the back and forth killing began, Snow sending everything she had into the left pawns that were not backed by a Lord Commander. An onslaught ensued. Pieces fell left and right as one after another were flung off the battlefield, crashing against the floor. The bloody battle continued with no end, pawns charged into pawns, knights charging into bishops, knights slaying knights, Snow sacrificed half her army just getting past his wall, once inside her army was halved again against the resistance. The bloody conflict only seized when Snow had about a quarter of her force remaining. The now tiny force was approaching the darkened stone king.

Harper smugly laughed.

“That did not work out too well. By abandoning your supply tower and not waiting for your Lords to get to the frontline, you have been defeated in this war. I will give you credit though, you nearly managed to reach my King, a good attempt, but too late.”

Harper was in position to take her supply line in the next turn. He had been advancing the one pawn on the supply board the whole time. Next turn she would be reduced to one move per turn. Her force was so close to taking his King, but they would not make it in time.

Snow sighed.

“What kind of life we live where your greatest sin is being born into something you didn’t have any say in. Where you can't make decisions for yourself. That is something no one should go through.” Snow was looking directly at him.

“Some people are not capable of making their own decisions. It may be a burden for some but it is a blessing for most. You make a good voice for the voiceless, but that voice is rejected here, The city of Vulcas is engrained in Mountainair values. We value our pride over principles for the weak. That is our cornerstone.”

He slammed his pawn down claiming her supply tower.

“It seems you have lost your supply tower. You have been reduced to a single move. You have no resources and your force is dwindled to a third. I am sorry to say Princess, but your surrender… is imminent.”

“Pride is a sword that is easily fell upon.”

“And Wisdom is simply the shedding of Naivete that we are born with. If you think otherwise you are just not old enough.”

"While I will admit, I don’t claim to know everything. I may also be naïve. However, I don’t need to shed my naivete to know that owning properties by stealing deeds from corpses and laying claim to them by siring half bloods are the legal or reputable thing to do, no matter how good it makes your tea or income. Naivete doesn’t stop me from seeing how knights of an old republic are paid to train members of an illegal mercenary guild. Debauchery is also a sin but let's be honest every Lord and Lady commits some form of it, so that wouldn’t be worth bringing up. We as human beings really aren’t kind at all if you think about it. Kindness is a virtue these days. So we are lucky to have a High Queen who is willing to forgive such moral dilemmas because kindness is better than animosity.”

Sir Harper leaned back adjusting his neck before staring right back at her.

“Your move.”

Snow pushed a single pawn forward.

“I have broken your defense. Your defeat is imminent, Knight Councilor Harper, check the board.”

The knight councilor checked. There was a single pawn on the left side of the board. It was about to get queened, which will lead to a check. If he used a move to protect the check, Snow’s corner rook would be able to slide down the right side of the board capturing his rook and checking his king from the opposite side. He was flanked from both sides. The barrage of trades, the bloody conflict wasn't just bodies being thrown at the wall of his fortress, it was specifically to clear the lane for the rook on the right causing his king to imminently be surrounded.

He still couldn't understand how. His eyes darted left and right over the board, envisioning all the moves he could make until he saw that all of them would lead to a checkmate against his King.

“It should not have been mathematically possible?!”

“You would be correct, If only you hadn’t wasted 8 moves on taking my supply tower, that along with about two mistakes you made during the big battle. You would have eradicated my whole army. But now, I believe your surrender is required, less you want to lose all your pieces before you do so.”

His mouth opened in shock as his eyes quivered in vivid remembrance.

I believe your surrender is required, less you want to lose all your men before you do so.

“General… Deamonia’s… pincer…”

Snow rose from the chair, leaned down grabbing the Queen that had been on the floor next to her and placed it on the center of the board.

“No matter what the outcome of your decision, this Queen will remain on the board.”

Harper's hands began to shake before he grabbed the arms of his chair and calmed himself before rising from his chair.

“I have been defeated twice now. It seems.”

They had just finished shaking hands in the middle of the gameroom.

“Perhaps I was too stubborn. I have little hope in my beloved Kingdom being able to change its values, but evaluating you makes me see that it may be possible.”

“I would be happy if you at least had an open mind to it, also to see that we wish nothing for success for those under our rule.”

“You have made that clear, very well Princess Snow Regalia. That will conclude our business,” He sighed heavily, “I will vote in favor of the Lotus Family’s construction project.”

“Thank you so much Sir Harper, My family, especially my mother would be very pleased with that decision.”

“Oh boy,” Sir Harper scratched his head, “Perhaps it's time I move on from the past. Just like my strategy, it can not hold forever.” He took the King that was still on the board and dropped it off the side, It hit the ground breaking into dust. He looked towards the half-elf slave girl who was still on standby.

“Veriya, Do me a favor and have some people clean up this room.”

Veriya was surprised.

“The praefectus pieces?”

“Yes, It's time to clean the slate. Clear everything, even on the board but leave the White Queen.”

“Ok Master Harper.” She bowed and exited the room.

Sir Harper and Snow were standing near the glass-paned doors to the outside of the manor, where lights were seen flashing. Seems Lady Grace was still never ending with her requests.

“By the way, Mind telling me what led you to that strategy?” He questioned in curiosity.

Snow replied with a subtle smirk.

“That girl, Veriya. She was curious at the state of the board, more specifically, my board. Which led me to believe that you always use the same exact setup since she didn't look at your side once. After that was determined, my only decision was deciding where to strike.”

“Still, a Queen for a Lord Commander was a bold take, especially for the start of that trade.”

“That Lord Commander was the second oldest piece on your board. That told me you rarely experienced being attacked from that side and would be much less experienced in defending against such a push.”

“Nobody has ever used the age of the pieces to obtain information about a potential weakness or deduct my own servants' behavior.”

“It wasn't her fault, hope you aren't angry at her.”

“Why no, I am happy I learned as much, Veriya has always been interested in praefectus. Perhaps I’ll start teaching her officially. Or perhaps, pay you to teach us both!” Sir Harper laughed.

“Thank you for the praise, Sir Harper.”

“Seems I have a lot of self reflection ahead. Thank you for your visit, Princess Snow.”

“Thank you for the great hospitality, Sir Harper.”

____________________________________________________________

Snow went to fetch Lussuria and Arthur preceding their goodbyes and they left Sir Harper’s fortress estate. As they were crossing the bridge back to Vulcas’s nobles district Lussuria asked her what happened.

“How did it go Snow?”

“We played a game of praefectus, then he said yes.”

“Nice work sister, I knew you could do it. You beat him too I assume?”

“Yup, beat him so bad I gave him a cold sweat! He even uttered something about mom afterwards too. I guess Ares was right, I gave him a taste of mom's blood. How about your time with Grace? How did that go?”

“Lady Grace was fun. She isn’t the most comprehensive type but she is very entertaining. I know Arthur likes her.” Lussuria turned to Arthur who was trailing slightly behind them. “I didn't know his face could become that red. That’s the type of women you like Arthur? I figured you would be attracted to someone who could at least comprehend mage books.”

Arthur was taken back.

“She was all over ME! She couldn't get her hands off me!” He complained in his defense before turning to Snow. “Princess, please do not leave me to such women again. It was worse than a tea meeting.”

“I dunno Arthur, Tea meetings are pretty bad.” Snow joked.

_________________________________________________________

They reached the center of the nobles district before taking another short break. The sky was growing red as the sun was drawing a close on the day. Snow was staring at the gargoyle statue again, the longer she looked at it the longer it looked like one of those praefectus pieces.

“You look uncertain Princess, what is troubling you?” Arthur asked her.

“Lussuria was able to get Augnem's vote, I was able to get Harper’s vote. I don’t know, I feel like things are going a little too smoothly.” She couldn't help but feel pessimistic for some reason.

“Princess, I am sure you have nothing to worry about, for either the vote or your safety. Once you finish talking to the Mediator we can return home.” Arthur reassured her.

“Don't forget I need to get my outfits made first! Lazarus promised me.” Lussuria made sure to remind them.

“Of course Lussuria…” Snow shook her head. Maybe it was all in her mind.

“It's getting dark, we should get going.” Arthur suggested.

“Okay.”

When they got back to the inn the innkeeper was behind the desk and asleep as usual.

“This guy is always asleep. How do you run a business like that?” Lussuria said in question.

“You talk a lot.” He said in between his snores.

“You sleep a lot. Do you wake with the moon? Do we have a werewolf in our midsts?” Lussuria leaned over the counter staring at him.

“You already have a key so leave me be miss curly hair. I know your attention is starving but get it somewhere else will ya.” He lazily waved her off before resuming his sleep state.

“What! And your.. nutrient starved! Have you ever been awake more than five minutes?”

“Alright, stop bullying the innkeeper Lussuria, let’s go.”

Snow once again took Lussuria and pushed her up the stairs.

“He’s the rude one!” she said in a fit of annoyance as they disappeared into the upper floor.

Snow and Lussuria were back in their room.

Lussuria removed her boots and fell back on her bed.

“Aw my back and feet. So much walking today.”

“Say Lussuria.” Snow got her attention.

Lussuria turned her head to Snow.

“What's up?”

“What do you think about mom’s ban? On the Mountaineer slaves.”

“What about it?”

“The rational Sir Harper gave me. He basically said the benefit of most is better than the benefit of all. That the indentured servants being slaves allows everyone else to live such a better life.”

“Sounds like you're inclined to agree with him. Is that what's troubling you?”

“Sounds like a lot of people are inclined to agree with that statement.”

Lussuria leaned off the bed making close eye contact with her.

“You want to know what I think?”

Snow gave a quick nod.

“I could care less about the well being of slaves.”

Snow was surprised at her own sister’s statement, Lussuria picked up on her reaction and followed it up with,

“However, what I do know is that the system of slavery is already considered primal. We aren’t animals and taking the rights away from a quarter of the population slows our development down as a society, that includes the speed of our collective research and science. That is why I don’t agree with it.“

Snow didn’t say anything.

“If it makes you feel better, Sir Harper's logic was total hogwash.”

“Why’s that?”

“The day the slaves revolt is the day their economy breaks with this current system. When that day comes, all of that extra profit will be lost or used to regain control of them. Plus, the percentage of servants and slaves combined is well over 40%.” Lussuria sarcastically chuckled “If anything helping *them* could be considered the “betterment of ‘most’.”” Lussuria held her hand over the candle. “Early start tomorrow, lets get this over with so I can cash in my favors with Lazarus.” She was giddy at the mention of Lazarus.

“Okay, good night.”

“Good night dear sister.”

🔥Arthur🔥

Arthur was keeping watch outside, until a shadowy crow landed at his feet.

“Crow?”

The crow kept cawing repeatedly.

“Ares? Trouble? What happened to him?”

The bird cawed one final time before flying away.

“Gotcha. Can you swap with me and watch the girls?”

The crow nodded and flapped before flying up to the roof.

“Thanks.” Arthur stepped into the shadows and began sprinting.