by Claire Luana
I shrugged. “It’s as good a theory as any. I don’t see how we’d be able to move them without at least speaking to them. Let’s check it out.” I glanced down the street a few yards to where Ruth was standing against a building unobtrusively, filming us. I turned my head so she couldn’t see what I was saying, and whispered. “How the hell are we going to find the last anchor point if we can’t even move from these stupid squares?”
“I don’t know,” Orin said under his breath. “One problem at a time.” Orin took the board from me and tucked it under his arm.
I turned to the leprechaun. “Peachkin, we’re going to visit our other pieces now. We’ll see you later, right? You have to stay here?”
“Peachkin will be here in wait, my lady.” the leprechaun flourished an impressive little bow, and I had to fight the smile on my face. The weird little guy was kinda growing on me, mice-eating aside.
We turned back the way we came, jogging through the black-painted streets towards the white square. When we came to the boundary, I held my breath, bracing for the purple border to halt our progress, but we passed through with ease. Relief welled in me. “Maybe it allows us to pass back through the squares we’ve already traveled through.”
“That would make sense.”
We walked side by side, me striding as fast as I could without jogging, Orin, peering at the gameboard. “Jacq, our other pieces…you’ll never believe who they are.”
“Who?”
“Molly, Duncan, and Niall.”
“What?” I ground to a halt, peering into the chessboard. He was right. The little figures were unmistakable. I’d been so focused after seeing my mother that I hadn’t even looked. I hadn’t seen Duncan since his and Yael’s unfortunate run-in with the red caps during the Sorcery Trial.
“Molly is one of our rooks, Duncan is one of our knights, and Niall is our nearest bishop,” I said, surveying their positions on the board. It seemed that somehow, there were two of each of them on the board. I couldn’t even begin to understand how that kind of magic would work. Our pawns appeared to be eight little Peachkins.
Now I was more confused than ever. “Do you think they agreed to be a part of this voluntarily?” But then why the hell was my mom here? My mom had a certain toughness—she faced double-black-diamond ski runs and a mother moose passing through our backyard without blinking—but taking a dangerous trip to Faerwild didn’t seem like her style.
“I don’t think my dad would have agreed. But it’s hard for me to imagine the other racers could be compelled to participate, let alone Niall. We need to talk to them,” Orin said. We redoubled our pace, breaking into a run.
Niall was as much of a mystery as my mom. A Brotherhood member was one of our pieces? But Niall had always seemed like a bit of a loose cannon—he tried to help me, then he got booted off the race staff, and then he and Patricia had been arguing. Was it possible that he was on the outs with the Brotherhood? That he could be a resource for us? But if he wasn’t…what did that mean? Was the king onto us? The Brotherhood? They’d already sabotaged our rings…perhaps suspecting my connection with my sister. Now that we were really working for the ICCF, was it possible they’d placed Niall to undermine or expose us?
The thoughts spun in my head like wild tops, and in the end, I shoved them all aside. I needed more information to figure this out. And there was only one way to get it. Keep moving.
We neared the edge of the white square and slowed to a walk. “This is one of our pawn squares,” Orin said, looking at the gameboard. “We should be able to cross.” We both braced ourselves as we stepped across, but we passed over the division without event. I blew out a breath. “Okay. Now we know. We’re free to move among the squares holding our own pieces.”
It was easy to make our way to my mother now, just a matter of crossing the squares bearing our pawns and then cutting over to the queen’s square. I could tell Orin wanted to go to his father, but he silently conceded that my mom was the priority. She was a human in an unfamiliar city. Orin’s father could wait.
We came to a halt in front of a columned three-story building that declared itself as the Elfame Library. “This is the main building in this square. I’ll bet she’s in here,” Orin said. It was all I needed.
I ran through the front doors, taking in the huge antechamber cradled by dual staircases and a crystal chandelier.
“Mom?” I cried, my voice echoing in the cavernous space. “Helen?” I’d pounded up the steps to the second-floor balcony when she appeared before me. In the flesh. My mom.
I crashed into her, wrapping my arms around her in a stranglehold. “Holy hell, mom,” I said into her short blonde hair. “Are you okay?”
She sighed into me, her arms squeezing me just as tightly. “It’s so good to see you, darling,” she said, as we rocked back and forth. I couldn’t believe she was here. As much as I wanted her as far from Faerwild and the FFR as possible, I couldn’t deny how comforting it was to have her here.
A cleared throat sounded behind us, and I remembered Orin. I untangled myself from my mom’s arms and turned to Orin. “Orin, this is my mom, Helen Cunningham.”
“Hello, Mrs. Cunningham,” Orin said, his hands in his pockets, his head ducking. I’d never seen him look so contrite!
My mom opened her arms and closed the distance between them. “We Cunninghams are huggers, Orin. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
I held back happy tears as my mom embraced my faerie boyfriend. Ha! That was something I’d never in a million years have predicted. Her mention of us Cunninghams made me think of Cass. I desperately wanted to tell her that Cass was alive—that I’d seen her—but I couldn’t with Ruth filming everything. Damn cameras. I supposed a few more days of ignorance wouldn’t hurt, as much as I longed to spill the good news.
They broke off the hug, and my mom patted Orin’s arm. “Thank you for taking such good care of Jacqueline.”
“It’s my pleasure,” Orin said, rather than the normal snarky comment I expected about how I always ran into danger. I guess Orin was determined to be on his best behavior.
I inspected my mom surreptitiously. She looked none the worse for wear—she was wearing boots, jeans, and an FFR zip jacket. Her short hair was fluffed in its usual style, and she wore just a hint of makeup—mascara and lip gloss. She didn’t look like a woman who had been stolen out of her home by faerie operatives.
“Mom, how are you here?” I asked. “This is crazy! Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?”
“Oh no,” she said, her hand flying to her chest. “The race staff have been wonderful. They told us they wanted to do something dramatic for the final trial and asked if we’d be willing to help out. They promised we’d be perfectly safe.”
I pressed my lips together, fighting the dread that lanced through me. They’d promised Ben he would be perfectly safe too, and look where that had gotten him. But I couldn’t tell her that. I didn’t want to scare her. She was in it now. We’d have to finish it. To keep her safe.
“So they didn’t…force you to be here? Against your will?”
“Oh, no, of course not!” My mom seemed shocked by the very idea. “I admit I was a little ambivalent about the idea of coming here, but I’m not going to let myself be frightened of something just because it’s new or different.”
Orin must have been thinking the same thing I was because he spoke carefully. “I know they promised to keep you safe, but there have been things in the race that even the FFR producers didn’t foresee. Just…be careful, okay? For your sake and Jacq’s.”
Mom nodded. “Of course. I’m taking everything seriously. But I couldn’t pass up a chance to see you, honey. And I want to help. Is it my turn to move somewhere on the board?”
“Um, not sure,” I said. The gong hadn’t sounded, indicating Tristam and Sophia’s turn was up. But maybe it wouldn’t if they had moved.
Orin was examining the little chessboard. “Yes!” he looked up. “It’s our turn. Time for our next move.”
I grabbed my mother’s hand, but before I’d even moved one step, she pulled me back.
My heart plummeted when I realized why. Taking my mother with us meant putting our queen into play. She was the most important piece on the board and taking her out this room too soon would be a colossal mistake. It was possible as Peachkin had moved out of one of the spaces diagonal to her, giving her a free path, but I wasn’t prepared to lose her in any sense of the word.
“Where did they move?” I asked, trying to figure out if there was any possible way to move her with us without jeopardizing the game. I already knew the answer. Of course, she couldn’t come with us. Maybe it was possible to play a whole game of chess with only a queen, but it was way beyond my skill level.
“They moved a pawn two spaces forward,” Orin answered. “It’s diagonal from Peachybum or whatever he’s called. Does that mean we can take him?”
I checked the board over his shoulder, finding it hard to care. I didn’t want to leave this square, not without my mom.
“Theoretically, we can take their pawn, but it leaves Peachkin open to attack.”
“So where do we move?” he asked, peering down at the board, his face screwed up in concentration. I gave him a crash course on chess, pointing out which pieces could move where.
“See here...This guy on a horse is a knight,” I said, pointing at one of Tristam and Sophia’s pieces.
“Ario, you mean.”
Peering closer I saw the little figure had wings. It was, indeed, Ario. They must have had their top faerie healers work on him if he was ready for action again this soon after the Elemental Trial. I thought he and Molly had resigned? I wondered how much they promised to pay him to get him back here. No doubt, the producers thought it would be that much more compelling to make us fight our old rivals. I fought the urge to slam my fist into his little playing piece and tried to concentrate on the game.
“Knights can move one to the front, back, left or right,” I explained, “and then two squares along making an L shape.”
“I can’t see a problem with us taking their pawn,” he said. “I can’t see where anyone would attack us.”
I shook my head and examined the board again. “You can’t go in all guns blazing in a game of chess. You have to think two or three moves ahead and try to anticipate the other team’s move. It’s a tactical game. Maybe Peachkin will be safe now, but we have to ask ourselves why the other team basically sacrificed one of their pawns on the first move.”
“Jacq,” he said, pulling the gameboard away from me. “You’d be right if we were talking about a normal game of chess. When you’re cozy in front of the fire playing games with your father, I’d say you know the best way to play, but remember, this is also the Fantastic Faerie Race. We can anticipate the hell out of it, but the truth is, no matter what we do, the FFR will screw us over somehow. We need to move, and to do that, we need to leave here. Your mom is safe for now. Let’s not get bogged down in the intricacies of the game. We need to move forward. For all we know, Tristam and Sophia don’t know how to play and are just blundering along.”
I nodded, knowing he was right. The timer was ticking down too, and if we didn’t move soon, our turn would be lost. I’d memorized the positions of the pieces on the board. I could plan as we walked.
I gave my mom one last hug, swallowing the secret she, above any other, should know. That Cass was alive and well, not more than a few miles from here. But I couldn’t tell her. Even uttering my sister’s name would cause some reaction, be it good or bad. I had to be content in the knowledge that Cass would be able to see her on TV.
“Bye, Mom. Please be careful.”
“I wasn’t allowed to say much, but they promised me a nice cup of tea when you leave. Now get out there and kick some faerie ass. Present company excluded, of course,” she added, turning to Orin and hugging him too.
I hated to leave her on her own, but she seemed safe, and I had to remind myself we were on TV. Knowing my mother, by the time this was all over, she’d be running her own chat show and writing her memoirs: The time I had a cup of tea on the Fantastic Faerie Race, by Helen Cunningham.
Finding Peachkin was pretty simple. He was exactly where we’d left him, but now, he was riding a unicycle and playing a harmonica.
“Peachkin,” I called.
He turned and gave me a merry little wave with his free hand. “Howdy doodly o’ho,” he answered back after taking the harmonica from his mouth.
“We need you to move one square northeast.”
Peachkin pulled a compass from his waistcoat pocket and studied it. “Northeast, you say? We’ll be taking another piece?”
Orin nodded. “Another pawn like yourself.”
“Yippee!” Peachkin hopped down from his unicycle, which vanished into thin air. Then he started a little jig.
As quickly as the unicycle disappeared, new items magically materialized around Peachkin—battle armor on his body and a long sword in his hand. “Let’s do this!” he sang and charged off ahead of us.
Orin looked over at me and shrugged.
We pelted off down the street to catch up with him. For a fellow with such short legs, he sure was fast. At the end of the street, he turned left until we were right at the very corner of the white square. He hopped through the magical field as if it wasn’t there and carried on his way. Orin went through after him, and I brought up the rear, trying to get a glimpse of the black squares at either side.
Peachkin was already way ahead of us, so Orin and I redoubled our pace to keep up with him. At the speed he was going, the little man could compete in the Olympic Games. When we finally caught up with him at a crossroads that I estimated to be in the very center of the square, both my chest and Orin’s were heaving with the effort.
Peachkin was already locked in battle with another leprechaun, who for some inexplicable reason, was dressed as a pirate. The leprechaun in black bore a curving sword which he swung in wild arcs while Peachkin ducked and rolled out of the way. Wow, they were both pretty good.
I gripped Orin’s arm as the two tiny folks fought, my heart racing in my chest. Even though Peachkin was annoying and more than a little weird, that didn’t mean I wanted to see him get a sword to his chest. “Should we help him?” I asked Orin, gnawing on my lip. The pirate pawn knocked Peachkin’s sword out of his hand, and our pawn had to scramble across the ground to snatch it back up.
“I don’t know if we’re allowed to,” Orin said. “What did the clue say? Don’t take the bait?”
I hated to think it, but Orin might be right. It took all of my self-restraint to hold myself back, to stop from running in to help.
But it turned out, Peachkin didn’t need it. The little leprechaun spun out of the way of a particularly vicious swipe, and then with a cry, ran at the other leprechaun, his sword outstretched, ready to come down on the other leprechaun’s head.
I closed my eyes and cringed against Orin when a shock wave seemed to pass through me, followed by the chime of a bell. I opened my eyes to see a wave of purple around the opposing party’s pawn shimmering and undulating. He was protected by some sort of shield! But, Peachkin’s blow must have “won” the bout, because a shower of purple confetti was raining down around him.
The two little men bowed down to each other and then did a complicated double jig before the other guy turned and walked away.
“What just happened?” I asked, waving my hand in front of me to clear some stray confetti.
“We won the battle,” answered Peachkin while he jumped up and down trying to catch as much of the confetti as he could.
I let out a surprised laugh. That was it? In my head, I’d expected carnage, but instead, we were treated to a little highland dancing and a ticker tape parade. Maybe the FFR execs were going easy on us this round, and it really was just a game of skill.
The gong sounded somewhere in the distance. Out there, Tristam and Sophia would be planning their next move. De
spite Orin’s thoughts that they might not know how to play chess, there was no doubt in my mind that Tristam would. His father wouldn’t have come up with a trial that didn’t give Tristam at least some advantage.
The gong sounded out again pretty quickly. Looking at the gameboard, I saw that they’d moved one of their pawns forward. As far as I could tell, it didn’t put Peachkin in danger, but it did open up space for their rook.
“Come on,” Orin said, moving forward.
“Wait!” I called, picking up the gameboard and racing after him. “We can’t just keep going forward. This is chess. We need to figure out where to go. One pawn won’t do it alone.”
But it was already too late. Orin, with Peachkin by his side, had already walked across to the next square—they’d made a move.
The black cobbled streets gave me a sense of foreboding as we ambled through. Peachkin was open to attack from two pawns and the knight. I crossed my fingers that the other team decided to ignore us and open up the gameboard further down. But before I’d had a chance to complete that thought, a black shadow loomed over us.
12
“Nice to see you again, Jacq.” Ario grinned down at me from a horse with a coat as dark as night. With Ario’s black wings outstretched, he could easily pass for Death himself. I gave an involuntary shiver as I addressed him. “I wish I could say the same about you.”
I’d thought Ario was bad enough, but Tristam stepped out of Ario’s shadow, followed by Sophia, who tossed her glossy hair over one shoulder.
“Now, now, Jacqueline, play nice,” Tristam said, smirking.
I flipped him the finger, not caring how this was all coming across on TV. If the viewers wanted to think I was an uncouth bitch, I was cool with that.
“We’re here to fight your pawn,” Ario said, spurring his mount forward so that it towered above Peachkin.
Peachkin retaliated by balling his hands into fists and waving them around in front of him in an almost comedic fashion.