Chess Game

The duke liked a good chess game. So did the king. The duke liked the rich smell of wine. So did the king. The duke liked cheese and crackers, and so did the king. They shared much common interest, and that was why they did not like each other.

It was almost spring. As the duke was heading out, he could see a frog leaping out from his long slumber. The small pond in his front court was filled with life, though there were still ice floating around.

"Alas, the spring is here," the duke said as he inhaled the fresh air. He was smiling. A fine day it was to start a "business."

Around his belt, there was a knife. A fine sharp knife, it was. It was the treasure of his family. His grandfather got it when he defeated the Wizard of East. It was Damascus Folding Knife, which meant that it was the best knife in the kingdom. The clear wave pattern proved the quality. The knife will surely bring him power.

He could hear the carriage from far behind. He looked back, and it was pulled by his used-to-be-best horse. He used to ride on him in his shiny armour. Yes, the old days, when the duke was with the king, protecting the country. Did the duke miss it? No one could tell.

"Open the gate!" The gate guard shouted, and the gate was lifted up.

As the gate was opening, his servant brought steppingstone. The duke stepped on it. It was made of red jade. It was his trophy from the war against the Eastern Countries.

Among the enemies he fought, only few remained now. The king completely annihilated the armies, but the victory was not free. Increased tax with lack of water caused famine over the years. He could not say the filth outside his castle was not there before, but now his beautiful castle was filled with it.

The carriage began to move. As it went through the castle gate, he could see pond on the street. It was different kind of pond though. It did not have life, but filth. Made out of human waste, the swarms of bugs lived in the pond. All of them were food for the frog.

Thump! The carriage suddenly stopped. He was annoyed. Today meant a lot to him. It was the day of leaping frog, when leaping frog becomes the king of the pond.

"What is it?" He asked to his knight outside the window.

"A boy was hit by the carriage, sir," the knight replied. The duke looked outside through front window. He could see a child bleeding, and next to him, there was a young boy, no man. He had his beard, though it was still vellus hair.

"Open the door." The duke said, and his servant opened the door. He stepped outside.

"Murder! Somebody help! Sam! Wake up!" the boy cried, holding his brother's corpse. He looked like he haven't eaten for days. He was a filth.

"Bring the sword," the duke asked quietly to the knight. The knight gave him the sword. The duke swung it.

"Clean it up." There was one less filth on the road, and the duke liked it. The carriage moved on to the king's castle.

While the duke was on the road, fully armoured knights passed by his carriage. It was normal, for there were many gang fights nowadays. What was not normal was their numbers. It didn't matter though. It was better for the duke actually. Less the number of knights in the castle, more chance of succeeding his business.

The duke entered into the castle. As he imagined, there was almost no guards left in the castle. 'Good,' he must have thought. The butler of the castle led him to the king.

The king was looking outside the window in his quarter. On the table, there was chess game set up as always. Right next to the board, there was crackers, cheese, and red wine.

"Long live the king," the duke said.

"May peace be with you and your family," the king replied.

They sat on the couch. The duke moved the pawn in front of the king. That was the beginning of the game.

"I heard you were busy lately?" King asked as he moved rook for castling.

"Not that much, sir," the duke moved his pawn to block rook's path. It also opened a way for his knight to jump in.

"You sure? It is amazing how many soldiers you train. Take a break sometime. Beside, you should think about your age," the king took out the pawn with another pawn. Over several turns, there was mass slaughter of pawns.

"For the kingdom, I shall die, sir," the duke replied and brought out the knight. It was his favourite piece in the game.

"Oh, have you met Princess Elaine from the last conquest?" the king brought out bishop.

"No, sir," the duke replied.

It seemed that the game was open game, where many pieces are gone due to last slaughter. The duke did not like the situation, for knights were not as strong as bishops in an open game.

"Bring her in!" The king ordered, and a woman about 20 or so was standing outside the door. She was wearing thin white dress. She looked beautiful, no, more than that. The tear in her eyes glowed, and there was this sense of formal glory in her stance.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" The king rose her chin, and that was when she slapped the king.

"Don't you dare to mock me anymore," she said firmly.

The king smirked, took out his sword, and swung it. The princess's head fell, then the body. Her dress slowly turned to crimson red. Some soldiers came in and cleaned the body.

"Shall we get back to the game?" The king asked as he was cleaning his sword. There was blood all over his body.

"Yes, sir." The duke moved his knight. It was check, but he did not call it. He wanted to surprise the king. Today was the day of leaping frog.

"Hmm......." The king moved rook and took out the duke's rook. From there, one by one, the duke's pieces were taken out. First the rooks, then one of the knights, bishops, then queen.

"You have to be better than this," the king said, "Checkmate."

"It seems I lost sir," the duke replied. The duke looked around. The only guards in the room were the guards he bought with money. It was the perfect chance for the duke.

"Sir, I want to give you this, my father's treasure." The duke brought out the knife. The king knew about the Damascus Folding Knife. As far as he could remember, it was a fine knife which can cut through anything. He was more than glad to receive it. He leaned forward, and that was when the duke stabbed the king. The king was dead.

"What did you see?" the duke asked to the guard.

"Princess Elaine killing the king with the knife on the table sir," the guard replied nervously. He was sweating. "I heard the scream and came here, but I was too late. With anger, I cut her head."

"Good." The duke was satisfied with the answer. He took his coat, left the room, and got on the carriage. It seemed that everything went well. All he had to do was to gather those pigs and force them to acknowledge the new king.

Half way to his castle, he saw the knights going back to king's castle. There were some familiar faces. They were all drenched with blood. Something was weird, because they were not from the mountain range, but from his castle. He told his horseman to hurry.

When he could see the castle, he was terrified. The carriage stopped where the gate used to be. The duke got out from his carriage. His son and wife, both covered with blood, were lying on the ground. The frog was not moving too. The walls were still burning.

The duke laughed. His soldiers were no more. His family was no more. His possession was no more. His power gone with his dream. He laughed. He laughed and laughed. He rose up, and walked toward darkness.

None saw the duke afterward. Perhaps, the duke was stoned to death for his tyranny. Perhaps he was executed in the foreign country for his war crime. However, one thing was for sure: that the children in the streets sang this song.

"People are moaning and groaning.

Hear us the rulers of the people.

Tyrants and conquerors learn.

With your games, you rise.

With your games, you fall.

The moan and groan, no more.

Hear the people sing.

New dawn arrives."