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It seemed King Maximus had truly decided I should die tonight.
Four Pawns stood in front of me, bound by their contract and fear, to do as their King ordered.
First Pawn Loredana seemed the most flabbergasted of all. She’d held her post for nearly ten years without being challenged and without challenging one of the Rooks herself.
Marin, the Second Pawn, looked as if he’d awoken from a bad nightmare, one in which his sweet mother had died, ravaged by hunger because he’d died and failed to take care of her.
Third Pawn Serban stood firmly, his expression determined, his stance confident. He didn’t seem intimidated in the least, and why should he? The odds were definitely in his favor.
For her part, Brigita’s expression appeared less pinched than before. She didn’t have to fight me all on her own anymore.
Still not over his shock, Knight Traian stepped forward. “Challenger Nyro Stonehelm will challenge—”
“Forget the formalities,” the King said from the dais, waving a hand with annoyance. “Begin,” he ordered, then sat back on his raised chair, crossing one leg and resting his chin on his hand in a nonchalant posture.
Serban didn’t need more encouragement than that and, at once, came at me, throwing punches. I blocked them easily, perceiving them almost before he released them. Brigita came at me next. She circled around, then launched from behind, attempting to bring me down. I ducked out of the way as I sensed her. She staggered, and I shoved her into Serban, who managed to help her regain her balance without losing his own.
Loredana joined them, while Marin hung back, looking conflicted. How he’d made it to Second Pawn without the brutality that seemed so natural in the others, I didn’t know, but I sure hoped he didn’t try to kill me.
While Marin hesitated at the edge, slowly acquiring a fighting stance, the three other Pawns circled me, nodding at each other before charging. I tried to dodge, but there was nowhere to go. They crashed into me from all sides, clawing, punching, dragging me down. I fought to stay upright, but my knees buckled, and I went down.
They piled on top of me like ravenous dogs intent on picking the meat off my bones. Serban wrapped his hand around my neck, attempting to strangle me. Someone else punched my chest repeatedly, driving the air from my lungs. While the third one bit my thigh, sending a shock of pain up my groin.
I struggled, pushing and squirming, to no avail. Frustration built in my chest as asphyxia became a very distinct possibility.
“I will kill him,” a voice boomed through the hall. “He’s mine.”
Serban was yanked away and cast to one side. Marin’s face appeared in his place. He winked, giving me a second before he came at me.
It was all I needed. Unpinning my gathering frustration, I kicked and punched with all I had. Loredana and Brigita fell back. I rolled over and jumped to my feet.
My heart pounded. Three Pawns were on the floor, staggering back to a standing position. Only Marin stood in front of me, ready to fight me.
Or was he? He had just helped me.
My anger boiled, urging me to kill, but I couldn’t hurt Marin. He was a good man. He didn’t deserve it. If I killed the others, however, he would still be standing there, while the King insisted on more death.
Why was it never enough?
Something occurred to me—something that might spare Marin’s life and deny the King’s death-ridden pleasures. I had read it in one of my assigned books. Clearly, Maximus hadn’t considered it.
The Board must always be complete.
I saw the words in curling cursive letters as they’d been written in the book and they repeated themselves inside my head, dragged out of my unconscious by my own desperation.
Marin was still coming at me, his approach appearing cautious. I feigned left, then ran right. I was fast, not enough to blur like the King but enough to slide behind Brigita and snap her neck the same way I’d snapped Ungur’s.
She dropped to the floor like a scarecrow, the flame of her life extinguished forever. Trembling with the effort to contain my desire to slaughter everyone else in the hall, I stood straight and spoke loud enough for all to hear.
“I am now the First Quadrant’s Fourth Pawn. The Board is complete.”