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I have been patient.
That was what I told myself as, two weeks after the masquerade ball, I walked into Knight Traian’s office and stood at attention in front of him as he finished his paperwork.
I’d waited until everyone had left the dining hall after lunch to come in here and announce my intentions. I had been Fourth Pawn for ten weeks, enough time to issue my next challenge.
Normally, a Fourth Pawn would challenge a Third Pawn. A Third a Second. And a Second a First. It was the safe progression. However, there was nothing in the contract that forbade a Fourth Pawn to challenge a First. And that was what I intended to do.
I have been patient.
The repeated chant inside my head was the voice of denial. Deep down I knew I was taking a big risk. Loredana Enescu had been First Pawn for ten years. She was agile, clever, strong. My four months of training were nothing in comparison. But the decision had been brewing in my mind since the night of the Hallows Eve ball, when I tried to tell Talyssa to be patient, to endure.
But how long could she bear this? A lifetime was too long. What would be left of her in a couple of years? And what of her spirit? Would it return to her after being gone for that long?
As far as Talyssa was concerned, I didn’t know the answer. She was a stranger to me, and I ignored whether or not her will was strong. What I did know was that Timotei’s small, innocent spirit couldn’t possibly be that resilient. How could it? He’d barely begun to learn its shape.
Knight Traian finally looked up from his paperwork and acknowledged my presence. I stood across from his desk, hands clasped behind my back, posture erect.
“What do you want, Pawn?” he said, not bothering to hide his animosity toward me, which made his face appear longer and more unpleasant than normal.
“I’m ready for my next challenge, Knight Traian,” I said, my gaze locked on a spot on the wall behind him.
He set down his quill, left his seat, and walked around the desk. Knight Arcos’s desk sat empty next to his, all his papers orderly and neat. They both occupied this office, and I wondered how they dealt with each other, what they talked about, what plans occupied their minds. Did they wish to become Bishops? Did they share pointers and strategies on how to beat them?
Knight Traian braced his hip against the desk, reclining his tall, slender frame. He looked at me down his long, hook nose.
“Your greed to climb up the ranks is unparalleled,” he huffed.
I continued to stare straight ahead and said nothing.
“But no matter,” he said with a dismissive flip of his hand. “The quicker we’re rid of you, the better. You will find that Serban Caskmourn is more than ready to take you on.”
“It is not the Third Pawn I wish to challenge, but the First,” I said firmly.
There was silence for a second, then Knight Traian burst into laughter. It was a hearty laugh that shook him and made him take a few deep breaths when he was done.
“Loredana Enescu will wipe the floor with you, boy.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure,” I said, even though doubt had already made itself comfortable in the pit of my stomach.
The amusement that lingered on the Knight’s face disappeared. He narrowed his eyes, distrust taking root. I met his gaze, then smirked as if I knew something he didn’t.
The fact that the King had ordered me to fight while his blood ran in my veins was no secret. No one spoke about it. No one even dared insinuate it, lest the King saw it as a challenge to his authority. Everyone believed Ungur or Brigita should have killed me, that I’d won only because I’d been faster and stronger than I should have been.
But I was still here, and everyone was left to wonder why the King had favored me so. Would he give me his blood again before another challenge took place? Did he plan to let me climb up the ranks quickly, despite all their precious rules?
I had no idea, but I certainly wanted everyone to think so.
“Whatever you hope to accomplish,” Knight Traian said, stepping forward and putting his face a mere few inches from mine, “you won’t succeed, Stonehelm. Many of us have been at this game for a long time, longer than you’ve been alive. I sincerely doubt you will become First Pawn, but if, somehow, you manage to do it, you won’t get any further than that. I promise you.”
His metallic breath filled my nostrils, reminding me of the scent that had permeated the King’s drawing room, of Talyssa’s puncture marks on her neck.
“Do let me know when the challenge can take place, Knight Traian,” I said with a bow as I took a step back. “For now, I plan to spend a few Chekes down in the city this afternoon. It’s a glorious, sunny day for that.”
I saluted, my arm held at a forty-five-degree angle with the floor. I even clicked my boots for good measure, then, as I walked out of his office, I pushed away the fear my rash decision had caused and thought of Bianca instead. I would see her again today, if only once more.
Today was our afternoon off.