𝕭𝖔𝖔𝖐 𝕺𝖓𝖊
𝔖𝔲𝔪𝔪𝔞𝔯𝔶: A high-school project gone wrong sends Astraea Aphelion fifteen centuries back in time, where she has to face a world of dragons, magic, and evil sorcerers. Luckily, she is not alone. In between hardships, she finds a...
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📍 Camelot
⏳ July, 504 AD
During one of my afternoons with nothing to do, I had crafted a crappy chess board and its pieces out of some wood and charcoal that I'd stolen from a fireplace. Well, 'crappy' is putting it lightly. It looked horrible. A preschooler could've done a better job. And I seriously wondered how I'd managed it without losing a finger. But in the end, I accomplished my goal and provided myself with some good entertainment, despite the fugly aesthetic.
After Gaius gave up on trying to beat me at the game, I decided that I would then go to find Uther and teach him how to play. "He will send you away," the physician warned when I teasingly told him that I needed a worthier opponent. "He wouldn't, he loves a challenge," I argued. "He has got more important things to deal with," the man retorted. "Wanna bet?"
Half-an-hour later and one silver coin richer, I was sitting in front of Uther after having explained the rules to him, both of us engaged in the King's first ever game of chess as Gaius watched with a defeated look.
"No, Utah, bad. You can only move it one square forward," I scolded, setting back his pawn. "You said it could be moved twice!" he argued, narrowing his eyes up at me. "But only the first time it is used," the physician cut in as I sent the King a pointed glare to let him know I wouldn't allow him to move it. "Fine," he gave in and moved his queen instead. "Your turn," he mumbled as he leant back on his chair and crossed his arms, his lips almost pouty.
I smirked as I looked down at the disfigured board. Poor, little, unsuspecting amateur had decided to let his queen out early – claiming that she was the most powerful, which meant she's hard to kill (after complaining that the King was useless) – and here I was, laughing my butt off as I easily wiped the queen off the board with one of my knights. "No! A knight would not dare kill a queen! You are cheating!" the King grumbled. "Oh, but I'm not, and they would," I replied, still giggling like a maniac.
He turned to Gaius for help. "If the rules she wrote down are honest, she is not cheating," the physician informed as he motioned towards the paper parchment where I'd written down the rules of the game, per his request. "Of course they're honest! What's the fun in winning a game if it's not done out of pure intellect?!" I protested against his outrageous accusations. Uther huffed and moved a rook, throwing his arms up when I quickly killed it with a bishop.
Our game was interrupted by Arthur, Merlin and some knights bursting into the room, all of them dirty and sweaty. "Astra, stop bothering the King," my best friend scolded jokingly as he moved to stand next to where I sat at the table. "Joke's on you, he loves chess," I shot back, sticking my tongue out.
"Father! A unicorn's horn to grace the walls of Camelot," the Prince announced as one knight stopped in front of the King, a pillow in his hands, and on it, a swirled white horn. My eyes widened. "Wait, an actual ducking unicorn?!" I asked, shooting out of my seat and moving closer to the thing, mouth agape as I inspected it. There was blood on one end and I instantly felt nauseated.
