DPx collapse
The selection was over, the choice made. “For the most beautiful”, the trophy sat on the mantelpiece of ornate carved ivory. The sisters lay on the rugs playing a game of chess. It was a golden afternoon and a delicious breeze stirred the air. There was nothing to do and no-one to see, they had all the time in the world.
“Darling, you know he made the best choice. Her skin is supposed to be dewier than a leaf in morning mist - say, dewier, is that a word? I caught a glimpse of her once, down below, in passing. Nice hair, for a mortal I mean.”
The other sister said nothing, solemn eyes intent on the game at hand. With a flick of the wrist, she captured the queen adding it to the neat little pile on her side of the board. She raised an eyebrow, “Aphie, you’re losing. Badly.”
Aphie rolled her eyes, “I hate this game and you know it. It’s so much thinking.“ She stretched languidly, enjoying the warmth of the dusty sunshine filtering through the white gauze drapes. “The world, does not need more thinkers! Love - love is all we need.” She looked at her dark-haired sister lazily from the corner of one eye and moved a pawn to an innocuous position.
The other shrugged and drew her knees close to her chest, “That poor boy. You’ve doomed him.”
Aphie scoffed, “Please, you’re just sulking because he didn’t pick you.” She plucked a grape from the fruit bowl and rolled it around in her mouth, a cool little marble so pleasing to the senses. She smirked, “Thene, when was the last time you looked at a man… or woman if it please you?”
Thene frowned. Those cold grey eyes, so closed and distant, gazed at the board as if it contained the entirety of the universe. She glanced up suddenly, as if she had just remembered that Aphie was there beside her. Then slowly, quietly, she said:
“All games must end, in victory or defeat. Giving up is a defeat. Limbo, an eventual one. You gave him what he thought he desired, but at what price? It ends in blood and ruin. As it always does.”
Dust motes drifted down from the vaulted ceiling, freefalling in the vast silence. Thene made her move. “Checkmate.” Far beyond the tall archways, the clashing of men and steel echoed faintly like a distant dream.