Third Heaven's Throne by Devyn Kennedy

Author:Devyn Kennedy
Format: epub

It had been something in the preamble that had first set Caitlyn on edge, well, that and the general feeling of anxiety that came anytime she was put on the spot. The rules that she and Zef had agreed upon didn't help the matter, either, that was for sure. If she won, then she'd get three questions answered at no extra cost. If she lost, she was to stay in the hovel for three seasons, which Caitlyn took to mean something like autumn, winter, and spring. Still, when she mentioned this, Zef smiled at her in a way that made her feel childish for assuming such a thing.

Setting up her pieces—she had chosen red—had been enough to turn her cheeks a ruddy red. Caitlyn's first few moves were with shaking heads and a stomach that felt as hollow as an oil drum. Still, as she went on, advancing her pieces, taking what she could, minimizing what she could not save, her hands steadied. Everything seemed to fade around her, except for the board and the pieces on it. No chatter, no click-clack of pieces slapping the antique wooden board, not even the sound of her breathing. There was the game and nothing else, not even herself, not really, not beyond the brief sketches of thought before a move or the quick blur of a hand as she turned thought to action.

She wasn't even aware that she was winning until a voice pierced the trance Caitlyn had found herself in.

It was Goh's.

The words didn't register but succeeded in drawing Caitlyn away from the game, "Huh?" she said lamely.

"I said you should watch that piece there. It's getting close," Goh repeated, not unkindly.

He was right. One of Zef's pieces was only a single move from becoming King, and there was nothing Caitlyn could do about it. Worse still, Zef was in the perfect position to take two of Caitlyn's pieces, which would put him ahead of her on the board.

"Oh no," Caitlyn muttered under her breath, "what should I do?"

"Forfeit," commanded a different, supercilious voice that possessed all the warmth and cruelty of the desert in the dead of night, "You're clearly outmatched. Every move you've made has been the move of a silly fool, pretending to be clever and brave. Just as you pretend to be—"

"Stop! You aren't my mother; you aren't my guide," cried Caitlyn, shaking.

Like Goh before her, the Matriarch's voice vanished and the next to speak to her was altogether different, "Did you ever consider that this is the end for you? Did you ever consider you were sent here because you stuck your nose where it doesn't belong? Or did you think I gave a damn about you or your God?

Caitlyn covered her eyes, trying to block out the voices, trying to focus on her labored breathing. The catch in her breath as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat and stifle tears threatening to fall. But it did nothing. The voices whispered in her ear, paralyzing her so that when it was her turn to make a move, she simply sat.

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