Inquest

by Emily Thompson

  “I’m trying to save your life, you insensitive brute!” Vane bellowed back at him, cradling his offended hand.

  “I’m not in danger, you idiot!”

  “You will be, you damned brigand!”

  “Only Twist calls me that and gets away with it!” Jonas growled, readying a fist.

  “You see?! You see what you’re like?!”

  “Call me a brute again, and I’ll beat you into a pulp!” Jonas roared, suddenly on his feet and taking a handful of Vane’s collar as he threatened with his raised fist.

  The absurdity of the scene before him snagged at Twist’s alarm as he watched in helpless silence. Kali gave an anxious sound, and Myra gasped in horror. But Hala’s laughter rang in the room like a musical note, stilling the battle as Jonas and Vane looked to her. Zéphyrin was also laughing, and he shook his head as he smiled at them.

  “This trip is going to be more fun than I thought,” Zéphyrin said happily to Hala. She nodded, fanning herself with a hand as she recovered her breath. “But please,” Zéphyrin said, holding up a hand to Jonas and Vane, “that’s quite enough of that. The meal will arrive any moment. You wouldn’t want to spoil your appetite, now would you?”

  Jonas released Vane with a shove and grumbled quietly to himself as he fell back into his chair. Vane straightened his clothing and sheepishly inspected his hand. Twist saw a tiny amount of blood on his pale skin, but the wound looked far from serious. Vane licked at it gingerly and then paused and smiled.

  “Indirect kiss…” he purred, smiling sideways at Jonas.

  Jonas’s eyes flashed with fire as he turned slowly to glance back at Vane through the corner of his eye. Kali gave a low, warning growl, her glassy brown eyes locked on Vane across the table.

  “Jonas…” Twist toned, watching the air between them seem to crackle.

  “Vane, you leave him alone and be good,” Myra snapped at him sternly.

  Vane’s expression fell into a pout, and he returned to tending to his hand.

  “Thanks, love,” Jonas said with a sigh. “That should hold him for a good thirty seconds.”

  Hala laughed again from behind a purple hand. Twist was relieved to see lunch arrive and distract everyone at the table. A handful of goblins carried plates into the room, placing one before each diner with their knobby but surprisingly deft hands. While the meal before him was hard for Twist to identify, the scents seemed oddly familiar. Jonas looked at his plate with a growing smile.

  “Jambalaya, blackened chicken, maque choux, and what is this…fresh corn bread?” Jonas asked in an amazed tone.

  “Something wrong?” Zéphyrin asked, placing his napkin on his lap.

  “If you’d told me that you would be feeding us Cajun food on this trip, I would never had said a word against coming along,” Jonas said with a smile as he took hold of his fork.

  “I’m glad you share my taste,” Zéphyrin remarked happily, and buttered his corn bread.

  Now nearly understanding what lay before him, Twist carefully tried a little bit of each spicy, flavorful item. Finding nothing too hot or at all unpleasant, he dug in eagerly. Sitting on the floor at Twist’s side, Kali nudged his knee with her jaw and gave a small, plaintive sound as she looked eagerly over the edge of the table at his plate. Not wanting to upset the tiger, Twist plucked up a bit of sausage out of his jambalaya with his fingertips and held it up before Kali’s nose. She snapped it up greedily and began to purr in a deep, low, rumble.

  “You didn’t have that tiger the first time I saw you,” the dragon said, eyeing Kali suspiciously. “Where did she come from?” he asked Twist.

  “She’s a familiar,” Twist said as casually as he could, reaching down to pet at Kali’s neck.

  “I know,” Zéphyrin said with a nod as he cut his chicken. “But she’s not any of yours.”

  Twist glanced at Hala, who had a knowing look waiting for him. “How can you tell that so easily?” he asked with naked curiosity.

  “I’m a creature of magic,” the dragon said calmly. “Magical things don’t confuse me.”

  “I find that very fascinating,” Twist toned, putting on a face to match. “Is it possible for you to sense every kind of magic in the world? Is it like having a Sight, perhaps?”

  Zéphyrin smiled at him. “I’ve been watching your race develop for millennia. I find it amazing that some of you still try to use such old misdirection tricks.”

  Twist’s gaze fled to his plate. Why had he ever thought that he could fool an ancient, mythical beast in the first place? It was utterly absurd, now that he thought of it.

  “Kali belongs to a friend of ours,” Jonas offered casually, drawing the attentions of the dragon and the djinn. “Kali’s owner is a circus clown. You should see that tiger walk a tightrope.” Kali looked to Zéphyrin anxiously. Twist held his breath. It was half true. Skye had been a clown before she’d joined the Rooks.

  “How extraordinary,” the dragon said brightly.

  “I would like to see that,” Hala added before sipping at a glass of water. “I love a circus.”

  “Doesn’t your friend miss their familiar?” Zéphyrin asked, glancing down at Kali.

  Kali stared back at him, unmoving.

  “Well, she is our friend,” Jonas repeated. “I’m sure she’s worried about us, having been scooped up out of the rain and all. But she can see, through Kali’s eyes, that we’re safe for the moment.”

  “If that is the truth,” Hala said, looking to Twist, “then why did you try to lie?”

  Twist felt everyone—Kali included—look to him. He held his features calm against his sudden unease. “I assumed that you wouldn’t like to be spied on by anyone,” he said as casually as he could. “Not even a circus clown.”

  Hala and Zéphyrin shared a glance, and Hala gave him a shrug before returning her attention to her corn bread.

  “Well, in future,” the dragon said to Twist, “I think you can see that it would be wiser to simply answer questions as they are asked of you.”

  Twist gave a tone and a nod, swallowing his smarting pride.

  Once the meal came to a close—with surprisingly delightful fried pillows of pastry that were dusted in powdered sugar—the dragon and the djinn invited Twist and the others to enjoy the rest of the afternoon in the salon. Twist jumped at the chance to sit before the wide walls of glass once again and watch the sea flow gently by. While the others went up to the second level to peruse the books or engaged each other in games or conversation, Twist sat happily before the open ocean, with Kali napping quietly at his feet. While he watched the gentle fingertips of light that managed to reach down through the ocean to him, he slowly felt his nerves release.

  “All right,” Jonas said, stepping up to Twist after a long absence, “you’ve had quite enough alone time, and I’m bored. Come play chess with me.”

  “You play chess?” Twist asked, clearly astonished.

  “Yeah,” Jonas answered with a shrug. “Why is that odd?”

  “You just don’t seem the type…” Twist said thoughtfully.

  He could easily imagine Jonas enjoying poker or billiards, or even a game of darts, but chess seemed far too sedate and complex to hold his attention. Nonetheless, he’d already laid out a board on one of the golden tables under the balcony. Twist sat down at the gaming table and smiled to see that even the chess set was made of gold and glass. The style of the ship seemed complete.

  “Let’s say that the clear glass ones are white, and the gold is black,” Jonas said. “So, I’ll open.” He then reached out and moved the glass pawn in front of the right rook forward two spaces.

  Twist frowned up at him. “You can’t open like that.”

  “Why not?” Jonas asked back.

  “Because it’s way over there,” Twist said, gesturing to the offending pawn. “A proper opening is to move one of the middle pawns out.”

  “Well, go ahead then,” Jonas said with a smile.

  Twist shook his head and then moved the paw
n in front of his queen out by two spaces. Jonas then moved one of his knights out into an immediate attack of Twist’s advanced pawn.

  “Wha—! Now see here!” Twist grumbled, startled by such an aggressive second move. “This is simply not how the game is played. Why aren’t you moving rationally?”

  “Calm down, Twist,” Jonas said soothingly. “It’s just a game. And I’m not breaking the rules, am I?”

  “You’re breaking tradition, to be sure,” Twist muttered, moving the pawn in front of his king out to support his threatened pawn. If Jonas took the pawn in the next move, Twist could easily take the attacking knight: a much more valuable piece than the simple pawn.

  Jonas copied his move, placing his own pawn one space in front of his king. Feeling somewhat reassured, Twist decided to begin freeing his pieces up a bit by moving one of his knights harmlessly out to one side. He could leave the threatened pawn for now. Jonas then moved his bishop out through the newly opened space before his king, and placed it in a direct position to attack the already threatened pawn that Twist had tried to protect.

  “Will you be sensible?” Twist snapped at him.

  Jonas chuckled to himself, smiling at Twist.

  “What’s the point of attacking that pawn with two different pieces?” Twist asked sharply. “If you actually take it with either one, you’ll lose them right away! I’ve this other pawn here, and my queen right behind it as well.”

  “I know,” Jonas said, nodding happily.

  “What’s going on over here?” Myra asked, stepping closer. Kali seemed to have woken up and was padding over to them curiously as well.

  “Jonas is playing chess very strangely,” Twist muttered as he moved his other knight out, providing a third supportive piece for his threatened pawn. Jonas moved his rook out into the empty space behind the first pawn he’d moved. “Now what are you doing?” Twist asked him darkly.

  Jonas shrugged, looking quite pleased.

  As Twist and Jonas continued to play, Vane also came to watch. Before Twist knew it, the fox and Myra had pulled up chairs to watch the match—while Kali peered over the edge from her seat on the floor—and the board was an utter mess. Nearly every one of Jonas’s pieces was placed to attack the same pawn, while almost everything Twist had was in place to defend it.

  “Is that little one very important in the game?” Myra asked Vane, who had been explaining the game to her while they watched.

  “Not at all!” Twist bellowed, overcome with nervous tension now. Jonas laughed yet again, hardly able to contain his delight. “Who taught you to play chess?” Twist demanded.

  “Adair Quay,” Jonas answered with a shrug.

  “A pirate,” Twist grumbled. “I might have known…”

  “Well?” Jonas asked, leaning back in his chair with his hands clasped casually behind his head and a wide grin on his face. “It’s your move.”

  “I’m thinking,” Twist muttered, searching for even a single move that he still had to make, given this bizarre arrangement.

  He’d placed a few pieces so that they attacked some of Jonas’s aggressively placed pieces, but there had been to no effect. Any capturing move from either side would spell instant chaos on the board, but there was precious little room left to move without creating a new aggressive action. With a reckless flare of irritation, Twist swiftly moved one of his pieces and took Jonas’s knight. Everyone around the table gasped as Twist placed the captured piece to one side. Even Kali gave a whimpering, startled sound.

  Jonas’s grin grew wider, his brilliantly blue eyes sparkling with greed, as he immediately used his bishop to take the most vital pawn. Twist took the offending bishop instantly with a handy piece. Jonas retaliated without hesitation. Twist responded, then Jonas, back and forth at a furious pace while the spectators let out gasps and tones of astonishment with each move.

  Twist stopped finally, staring in shock at what was left after the vicious bloodbath. He still had one untouched rook in the left corner, a pawn on the other side of the board, and his king left totally alone in one corner of the board like a timid fawn in an open meadow. Jonas still had a knight and a bishop, both clustered near his untouched king in the middle.

  “That was exciting, wasn’t it?” Vane asked Myra gleefully.

  “What happens now?” Myra asked.

  “One of them still has to capture the other’s king.”

  “Whose move is it now?” Myra asked.

  “It’s his,” Vane said, pointing to Twist.

  Feeling quite vulnerable after that vicious display, Twist moved his king one space closer to his rook, meaning to gather the two together as quickly as possible. Jonas moved his knight.

  “Check,” he said brightly.

  Startled, Twist realized that the knight was indeed attacking his king. He moved the king back to where it had been before. Jonas moved his bishop.

  “Check.”

  “Stop that!” Twist grumbled, searching for another place to move his king.

  His heart began to pound as he realized that there was only one move left. The corner space was gold, and Jonas’s bishop was sitting on a glass tile, so it would be forever out of the bishop’s reach, but Twist would have to move into danger to leave the corner. The knight was already in place to block the only other gold tile near the corner, meaning that if Twist moved into that corner, he would never leave it again. It was a perfect trap.

  “Would you like some advice?” Jonas offered gently.

  “Shut up.”

  “But if you just—” Jonas began.

  “I don’t want your help,” Twist muttered bitterly, desperately searching for some salvation from that terrifying corner. “Damned bleeding pirate…”

  Jonas laughed quietly to himself.

  Twist glanced up at his infuriating opponent but found Jonas’s eyes glowing softly back at him in a rich violet-blue color. As Twist glared at his friend’s smug smile, he saw the color of his eyes snap suddenly to pure purple for an instant. Jonas shut his eyes and flinched slightly, as if he’d been stuck by an invisible pin. Jonas blinked his eyes open again and cleared his throat as if to cover the effect of whatever had just happened. He then looked back at Twist with his eyes a rich blue once again, his smile spreading wider and warmer over his face.

  “Come on, Twist,” he said, his voice now smooth and patient. “You can do it.”

  Though he was reasonably curious about what had just happened, Twist turned his mind back to the task at hand and looked at the board once again. There was a long, silent pause in which Twist’s mind worked furiously. All of his problem-solving skills were fully brought to bear. He thought ahead ten and fifteen moves of possibilities, all leading right into that dreaded corner. All paths led only to certain death. Finally at his wit’s end, Twist gave a sigh and shook his head. He picked up his king and handed it over the board to Jonas.

  “Just bloody take it, you ruthless cur.”

  Jonas laughed and took the piece from Twist. Then he put it back where it had been and spun the board around on the table top. He moved Twist’s rook to attack his own bishop instead. Twist stared in surprise, tracing the moves yet again. Once the bishop had to back off, Twist would have been able to attack Jonas’s king very quickly. There were two different scenarios—maybe even three if Jonas had made a mistake after the third move—in which Twist would have been able to trap and checkmate Jonas’s king. If he hadn’t been so worried about escape and had chosen to attack instead, he could have won.

  “Holy hell,” Twist breathed, looking up at Jonas in shock. “I never saw that.”

  Jonas shrugged. “You weren’t even looking at that side of the board, and you were nervous as hell. I assumed you didn’t notice it,” he added, gesturing lightly to the rook.

  Twist held out a hand over the board. “Well played. Not only the game, but me as well.”

  “Hey, you started the bloodbath,” Jonas said brightly, accepting the handshake and splashing a sense of triumph over Twist�
�s Sight along with the usual fog. “That was deliciously impulsive of you. Very impressive.”

  “You’re really too kind,” Twist grumbled.

  “Right!” Vane said decisively. “Who wants to play against me now?”

  Twist got instantly up from the table. “I’ve had quite enough, thank you.”

  “I’d like to have a go,” Myra said brightly.

  As Vane and Myra sat down and reset the board, Jonas stood next to Twist and leaned an arm lazily across Twist’s shoulders. At first Twist thought to toss him off, but as the fog filled his mind and blurred away his defeat with cool, calm, delight, he decided against it.

  Since he had just recently reread 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Twist thought that now would be a good time to read The Wreck of the Grosvenor, that immensely popular nautical adventure by Russell of which he had heard so much. Twist usually preferred to read fantastic stories set in exotic and dreamlike locations, filled with whimsical nonsense and delight, but considering that he was currently under the southern Pacific Ocean in a ship crewed by goblins and captained by a dragon, he thought that perhaps a touch of historical accuracy might be a nice change.

  He pulled the warm, emerald covers up comfortably around himself and nestled his magical book in the billowing folds as he lay in bed under a small reading lamp that was built into the headboard. He wrote the title onto the cover of the book and watched the magical golden ink transform to his intent before he opened the book and began to read. Vane and Jonas chatted lightly as they too got ready to sleep. Twist let their voices waft around him like the spray of the sea while he wallowed in the image of the tall ships in the setting sun, the lazy breeze just off the coast of France and England, and the tranquil air of the narration that began the book.

  By the time Twist’s eyes began to sting with sleepiness, Jonas had fallen silent and still in his bed. Myra was in her room, across the hall, silent as a ghost. Kali lay like an orange sea on the floor beside Twist’s bed, but it took Twist a moment to recognize the small black fox nestled in the covers of another bed—its ears folded and its nose nestled in its own fluffy black tail—as Vane in his truer form.