Chapter 29: Strange Games

When Cinnamon was feeling better, the rest of the morning was spent fitting her for a cloak. She'd been very reluctant when they first told her what they were going to do. She didn't want to put Lancos out. Lancos finally put a stop to her protesting by saying, "It's ok, Cinnamon, I wouldn't have offered it if it wasn't".

Around lunchtime Lancos put on his cloak and went to fetch his fish. The rain had lessened, but it was still falling steadily.

When he came back with the fish, Cinnamon was surprised to see they hadn't gotten away. Muriel took them out of sight to prepare them. Cinnamon turned a little green at that. She had to admit, afterwards, that they had tasted good. While she sat, she said a silent prayer thanking the fish. She thought it was silly, but couldn't help feeling a little guilty. It was one thing knowing something had been living, and another seeing it alive. Still, that was life. Cinnamon sighed, and put it behind her.

After lunch. Lancos and Ernon went out hunting. They didn't expect much, but they hoped to catch something for dinner. The others helped sew a hem on Cinnamon's new cloak. It would be a like a poncho, as that was the easiest to make and required fewer stitches. Cinnamon tried to help sew the hems, but had to stop after a while. Her fingers weren't as strong as the others'.

Harnley stopped when she did, and taught her how to play a game that was similar to chess. It had all the pieces chess had, although some of the pieces were replaced by others. The castles were replaced with siege towers, and the bishops were replaced by priests and priestesses. There were also a number of extra pieces. There were wizards who could move like the queen and deflect attacks. There were also catapults and cannons, which attacked the space three spaces ahead of them. There were bowmen and musketeers, which could attack anything two spaces in front of them, and cavalry which looked like knights, but could go only three spaces forwards, backwards or to the sides — not in an L shape like knights. In addition to the cavalry, there were charioteers which could carry one pawn and moved two spaces. There were twice as many pawns, but they were called infantry, and were divided into pike-men and footmen. The pike-men could only move forward. The footmen moved like regular pawns.

That was the white army. The black army swapped a warlock and witch for the priest and priestess, and sorcerers and sorceresses for the wizards. The black knights used dragons for mounts instead of horses. There were other differences between the armies as well, however both sides were functionally the same despite their differences.

When Harnley asked if she wanted to play, she was surprised, but quickly agreed. She had watched with interest as he set up the board. It reminded her of a travel chess set, only the pieces were finely carved out of wood. She was amazed by how well detailed they were. Each piece was no more than an inch and a half tall, and each figure was slightly different, with a different weapon or shield.

Cinnamon could even make out humans, elves, and dwarfs, as well as other types of people she couldn't identify. Harnley identified some for her as Ankliens and Drokans. They were similar, both had wings, but the wings were different, and the Drokans had tails. He also identified trolls, goblins, gorgons, harpies, gargoyles, orks, ogres, giants, and changelings. The last had animal-like faces.

When Harnley finally had the board set up, there were 48 pieces on each side, in 3 ranks of 16. The board itself was checkered — 16 spaces wide by 16 long. It had taken him a while to set up, as he explained each piece and how it moved, in addition to identifying some of the races for her. Cinnamon was relieved that they'd be sticking with the basic rules for now. She didn't think she could keep track of which piece was flying and which wasn't. When Harnley was done explaining everything, Cinnamon sat back while looking at the armies arranged on the board and said, "Wow."

Of course by that time lunch was ready, so they stopped there and joined the others for soup and sandwiches. Ernon and Lancos hadn't come back yet. Cinnamon hoped they were ok. Muriel reassured her that they were, even though she hoped the same.

They were all relieved when Ernon and Lancos appeared a couple hours later. Harnley was grumbling good naturedly about the help Sharmon was giving Cinnamon, and about her cheering section of Muriel and Vanessa, when they came in to camp.

Sharmon couldn't help smiling as she watched Cinnamon try to play. Every now and then she'd stop and stroke the fur on her sweater, or rub it against her cheek. Sharmon felt especially happy seeing that.

Muriel and Vanessa were also glad Cinnamon liked the alterations they'd made to her sweater. They were even happier to see how Sharmon was taking to Cinnamon, however. They shared smiles with each other as they watched Sharmon sit next to Cinnamon and advise her on how to play.

When Ernon and Lancos arrived they were wet, but their cloaks had protected them for the most part. They'd each managed to bag a couple of ducks. Muriel took them away to prepare them, while Ernon and Lancos retrieved dry clothes from their packs and went around the tree to change.

Cinnamon offered to help Muriel, but she said, "That's ok, Cinnamon, enjoy your game."

Cinnamon had to grin when Ernon stopped to look at the board and then gave her some advice, much to Harnley's disapproval. Ernon's advice cost him a knight.

Muriel and Vanessa sat down and began to pluck feathers from the ducks. Vanessa leaned over and said conspiratorially, "Have you noticed the way Sharmon's been treating Cinnamon?"

Muriel smiled. "She's finally healing. I'm so glad."

"I am too, and Cinnamon seems to get along well with her. I think they're good for each other."

"So do I. I think they're healing each other."

Vanessa looked at Muriel. "Yeah, I think you're right."

By the time the dinner was ready, Cinnamon conceded defeat. "Ah good game lass," Harnley told her when she finally gave in.

"Thanks." She had to admit she'd enjoyed herself. The game was complicated, but fun, and she appreciated Sharmon helping her without taking over.

Sharmon also complimented her on how well she did.

"Aye lass, ye made me work for it."

Cinnamon blushed at the praise.

After dinner Harnley and Ernon began to play. Cinnamon watched for a while. She was amazed by how fast the game moved, as well as the different styles they each used. Harnley was trying to drive a wedge into Ernon's defenses, while Ernon used his cavalry and chariots to flank Harnley's forces to take out his catapults and cannons. Both sides were skilled, however, and despite the fast pace of the game, it would be a while before it was over.