קרוב

It was like watching someone doing tai chi, the painful slowness of that trio of paces.

We've been playing chess for over two hours, when it started. Jopin had a new chess set with beautifully carved pieces which held the faces of the royal family. Apparently he'd just won it playing poker with Random, a few weeks earlier. It gave me new appreciation for this strange old sailor, to know he had beat the best poker player I've ever met. When I asked him about it, he just showed me the face. I learned nothing from it. Which is to say the opposite.

I was playing the black ones and leading, though he's queen was still standing. I was considering the best course of action that would allow taking it, and must have been staring at it, when I noticed it had the portrait of Vialle, and it was sensing me.

A strange feeling indeed, to have a blind woman's head watching you. The fact that it was sitting among game pieces did not help.

As I noticed myself noticing this, the head grew, though I'm sure only in my mind, until it filled most of my vision, and I was looking at Random's queen in person. She had not even ask me to join her, but I had respected her enough to ignore the obvious arguments, and known her well enough to realize she must have had a very good reason for such an act. From Somewhere, far away, I thought I could hear Jopin curse and say "Not again" while he must have seen my body turn to a prizmatic rainbow of colors and disappear.

"Nice trick, the chess thing" I said to Vialle.