Pawn caught her before she hit the ground. He helped her up, and Erin sat down while the other Workers surrounded the area. They paused as they surveyed the wreckage of the inn and corpses and then seemed to come to a decision. As one, the Workers began hauling the corpses away while others of their number began digging several hundred feet away from the inn. More still entered the inn and began dragging out broken wood.
Slowly, Erin brought the board out and set it down in the grass outside the inn. The Antinium formed a huge circle around her, and Pawn stood in the center next to Erin. She sat down and placed the board in front of her. She gestured, and Pawn hesitated, then sat opposite her.
Slowly, Erin brought the board out and set it down in the grass outside the inn. The Antinium formed a huge circle around her, and Pawn stood in the center next to Erin. She sat down and placed the board in front of her. She gestured, and Pawn hesitated, then sat opposite her.
Slowly, Erin put the broken knight on her side of the chess board. Pawn rearranged the pieces on his side. She stared at him. She stared up at the sky. It was too blue, too pristine for a day like this. It wasn’t even night yet.
And there was nothing she could do about it. So Erin moved a piece on the board. The broken knight moved up to C3. She looked at Pawn. He stared back, and the rest of the Workers stared with him at the Human who wept for Antinium.
Pawn. He was staring at the board, pondering his next move. His shaking was gone. He no longer spoke in a trembling whisper, and he was—calm. Calm, and as if he were the very grass upon which they sat. Blown away by the wind in this vast sky. Yet he did play, quickly, placing the pieces with the same confidence as Erin did, if not more.
Krshia shifted in her seat in the grass. She sat with Selys, inside the circle of watching Antinium Workers, but distinctly apart from them. She was calm, at least in that she was watching Erin play Pawn, but Selys kept glancing around at the silent Workers nervously.
Selys nodded. She was the bigger expert on classes, apparently. It probably had to do with her being a receptionist. Erin frowned, looked at a knight, and nearly ran right into the trap Pawn had set. How had he become so good?
Erin looked at Pawn. He and all the Workers were staring hard at the board. Erin pushed her king over. She’d lost. They reset the board, and she began again. And once more—he moved so surely she felt like he had been playing longer than she had. How had he done this overnight? He’d been an amateur when she met him in her inn. Now…she glanced up, and all saw his antennae waving slowly in thought. It made her smile.
