Queen's Pet
by Zaina Khan
I stand in line with the rest of my mates. They all stare forward into the black-and-white distance with their eyebrows pulled into a frown and their lips pressed tightly against each other. I figure I should probably be looking like that as well, but I’m new here, and they say that if you make it all the way to the end, you will get promoted. I’m looking forward to getting promoted. I don’t know why everybody is so still. All I can do is bounce in excitement; they’ve given me a good position.
The Queen stands right behind me in a regal manner; she’s wearing her white battle gown. Next to her stands the King, with the cross crown on his head. Only the lucky ones get to stand in front of the royals; the rest either stand before[1] one of the slender Bishops or the wide Rooks from what I gather. I’ve been told that sometimes they could put us in front of the Knights. They aren’t very knightly at all; they are smelly horses that could kick us when they see fit. Some of our old ones still hate being jumped over.
But we can be jumped over any time. Because we are pawn.
Queen whispers to me from behind. She tells me I have great value, but she has this strange way of looking at me. She towers above with her husband in hand and eyes us as if she can see into our futures. She is a palm reader without any palms to read. Her laugh sweeps through the battalion, clinking like tiny wind chimes, but as the sound fades away, it leaves a cold echo in its place.
The royals and their court all discuss the upcoming match with fervour. Queen takes King’s hand and smiles. Bishop pats the Knight and argues with Rook. We do not talk to each other at all. Our entire pawn line stays silent in anticipation. But they shouldn’t be so nervous when we have our powerful Queen to take care of us.
All of a sudden, the chatter dies down; everyone is looking at the far end of our patchwork battlefield. The opponent has lined up in identical stance to ours. They have counterparts of the people in our army, but all of them are dressed in black. My own white tunic feels like a bull’s-eye in comparison to the dark shadowy robes billowing far off.
They have pawn like us, too.
Queen calls to me from behind.
“D pawn,” she murmurs in her melodic voice.
I look back shyly. Some of my pawnmates are looking at me with dismay out of the corners of their eyes. I don’t want to disappoint them before the battle starts.
“D pawn, come close,” Queen calls to me again. Seeing my hesitation, she smiles sweetly. Light fills her eyes, and she looks like an angel standing there draped in white. Beautiful.
“D pawn, don’t be scared.”
“I’m not scared,” I declare in my best brave voice.
She narrows her eyes a bit and her smile grows wider.
“I knew you wouldn’t be. You are truly brave,” she coos.
“I’m just new.”
The Knights snicker. Her smile vanishes for a second when she turns to them; her jaw is set with irritation as she clenches it.
Then she turns back to me and her face is shining again.
“Don’t worry about them, they are mere cowards. They don’t have to get out until later in the battle.”
Her voice is equal parts silk and steel. I hope to be just like her when I get promoted.
“Just leave everything to me and we will win,” Queen announces to our group. “If we’re lucky, maybe they’ll be stupid.”
Everyone laughs at this. They’ve clearly done this time and time again. They have full confidence in Queen and aren’t afraid of anything. I will be brave like them and laugh in the face of danger, unlike my pawnmates who only frown in cowardice.
“I’m sure you’ll be promoted,” she says, and it’s as if she’s read my mind.
I’m sure you’ll be promoted. If Queen says she’s sure, then maybe I can be sure as well.
A huge clock appears above us, showing us we’ve each got only 10 minutes to make our moves. If I’m correct, our side goes first and then there’s no question of who will win, they told me. If we’re smart enough we should be able to make use of our advantage. Queen smiles as if she already has a plan.
“D pawn! Move forward to d4,” and I move two squares up ahead of my pawnmates. I can see the other side much more clearly now, and the bravery I had moments before falters in the midst of loneliness. I chance a look back to see if Queen could explain why she chose me, the new one, to move first. She’s smiling at me again, nodding slightly, and I find myself mirroring the action.
It’s the other side’s turn and they’ve moved up a pawn in a black tunic to e5 so that they’re just diagonal from me on my right. Now I’m scared. Even I know what happens when another pawn gets this close to us. I try to move, but I can’t; Queen controls everything I’m starting to realize.
“D pawn, take his place,” she says.
Suddenly I’m moving forward, changing my lane and I feel the other pawn being drawn inside me as it disappears from the e5 square. This feels like true power; this feels good.
But it’s started screaming now and I see Queen waving her hand in a quick motion which makes me move faster. I am now on the e5 square and the other pawn is nowhere. I’ve eaten him. All I can think is: one step closer to promotion.
I look back at Queen, and indeed, she’s smiling at me with pride in her eyes. It makes warmth spread in my chest. This beautiful Queen saved me. They say most newbies never get this much attention.
I see a black Knight jumping over its pawn line and resting a few squares away from me. It’s lined up exactly with my position and I’m a little nervous. But Queen takes care of it, and she draws out our white Knight to protect me as I stand here. I’m safe.
The next few moves happen in this way. The other side ignores me completely; then they notice me and try to extract me. Queen protects me like she always does.
Some of their army have fallen. Some of ours have fallen. The Knight that snickered at me a few minutes ago isn’t here anymore. Queen must have gotten revenge on him for me; I flatter myself with the thought.
I stand; I move; I stand. I’m always safe. We’ve almost won this, and I’m almost on the other side. I have one square left to move.
Now I’m standing diagonally from a black Knight, but no one can do anything about it because Queen has me covered with a white Bishop and one of our white Rooks. She will get me to the end.
At our next turn, I move forward and draw up the Knight. I extract him. Queen changes me into a beautiful Queen and I’m overjoyed by the moment. I’ve finally gotten what I deserve. I look at her and she’s smiling at me again, though not with pride. She looks a step away from victory and I feel myself swelling with happiness for her.
I look at her again and it seems like she’s expecting something. She’s waiting intensely for the next part of the plan to be carried out. Her face only relaxes when a Rook slams into me from behind. I’m too much in shock to completely register the pain of being extracted and drawn into something else. When I look at her for the last time, she doesn’t seem surprised at all. Neither do my pawnmates.
She’s standing in front of the protection of another one of her pawns and doesn’t look at me anymore.
“Checkmate,” she says.
But I never get to see it.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, D pawn,” is what I wanted her to say. But all she does is line up another pawn for the final kill.