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A less observant player than herself might easily make such a move on the plane, not realizing it left the path open. If the princess were now to take out Chrysanthos’s macer with her cup, her move would complete the opening Cassia had started, and Lio would be able to switch his owl from the path to the plane by taking Cassia’s tree. Then the temple would be alone on the plane with Lio and Xandra’s best pieces.
Chrysanthos saw it coming, for he moved his macer out of range of the princess’s cup. But she moved the torch again and took his macer anyway, which raised another collective gasp in the room. Lio followed through, taking out Cassia’s final piece. He smiled.
The temple was surrounded. No matter where it moved, it would fall victim to the owl or the queens.
When Eudias’s gaze fell to the sun, he gave Cassia the last clue she needed. He really ought to stop looking at it like that. He would give Chrysanthos away.
Cassia would have staked all her lost tokens on it. Only a war mage could move the sun. Everyone in the embassy who understood the game knew Chrysanthos could still win. But not without betraying the nature of his magic.
What a poetic victory. There was surely no sweeter way to make him lose. With his true power within reach, he must go willingly, voluntarily into certain defeat to maintain his lies.
Chrysanthos was as elegant at losing as he was at everything. He lounged back in his chair. But his body language was much easier to read than a Hesperine’s. He was absolutely seething.
“Your Majesty,” he said to the princess.
“Ah,” she chided, “that’s not what we say here when we concede to the victor.”
His smile was pricklier than a touch of the sun. His eyes promised it was dangerous to test him. He put his hand on his chest and bowed to her. “Let me guess. Annassa.”
“However did you know?” she asked.
“Go ahead. Perform the final honors.” He glanced from one queen to the other. “I can already guess which piece you will use to take out my last token.”
“Oh, no, you willneverguess.” Princess Alexandra plucked the sun off the board and knocked the temple aside.
ORTHROS’S FIRE
“Impossible,” the Dexion rasped.
The princess relaxed back in her chair and stretched. As she lifted her hands, all the fires in the room revived. “That was so much fun. We should do it again sometime during the Summit.”
Cassia looked from the sun token to the hearth. The Queens’ daughter was a…war mage?
“What trickery is this?” sputtered Master Gorgos.
“Now, now. Take care you do not insult our hostess.” How quickly Chrysanthos masked his reaction. But it was too late. They had all seen how the princess’s revelation had shaken him.
Tychon was sweating. “My compliments to you, Eighth Princess, on such a clever trick. I must know how you accomplished it. Would you be so kind as to enlighten us with an explanation?”
“What is there to explain?” she asked. “Every player’s affinity becomes evident at the board to the knowledgeable observer. As you have seen, my affinity is for fire.”
Master Gorgos looked aghast and red-faced and quite ready to subject them all to another lecture on the excruciating retribution that awaited those who dared defy the Will of Anthros.
Cassia had seldom seen a more skilled and gratifying plot than the one the princess had just carried out upon the mages.
Eudokia came to stand beside the princess’s chair. “I am sure Honored Master Adelphos will now remind us all of the Order of Anthros’s theory regarding the affinity for fire. Namely, that the mages born with this power are almost exclusively men, and that the few women who are born with it are doomed to an unfortunate fate. Because of their weak natures, females are unequal to the task of studying, much less mastering fire magic.”
“It is not a theory,” Chrysanthos returned. “It is a fact of nature. When a female is born with war magic, her own power is certain to drive her mad and eventually destroy her. To possess such power is a death sentence to any woman.”
“To possess power untrained is a death sentence to any mage,” Eudokia countered. “What fate awaits a male of any affinity who is never educated in the use of his magic? It is the lack of teaching, not the possession of power, which is a death sentence for females with an affinity for fire.”
“They would never make it through the training. The power is too much for them, and they have no hope of ever controlling it. Only men can withstand the harrowing study to achieve the necessary strength and discipline. No woman has ever survived it.”
“Has any woman ever been given the opportunity?”
“She has never made it that far. As soon as her magic manifests, it is pure chaos that is dangerous to her and everyone around her. This is a truth borne out by the sad, short lives of every female so cursed. If you are at all familiar with the primary sources, as you claim to be, Sophia Eudokia, you will know the firsthand accounts written by the mages whom the Order of Anthros sent to put the females out of their misery.”
Eudokia opened her mouth, but the princess put a hand on her arm.
