“Understood.”
“Besides, you’re all interested in this Wonderland War, and I’m just a cat. I want to have fun.”
“And you want to crush your enemies. I just learned about your rivalry with The Pillar. The fourteen souls.”
“You did?” the Cheshire said. “Well, me and The Pillar go way back.”
“I know.”
“Besides, I think not only he will die soon, but Alice, too.”
Mr. Jay stood silent, his breathing, the soundtrack of a horror movie. “I don’t want Alice to die.”
“I just figured out the stupidity of my implication. I’m most sorry.” The Cheshire bowed his head a little lower.
“But I’m also not concerned with Alice’s safety.”
“Pardon me?”
“Alice is my best employee. She will beat the Chessmaster.”
“But that’s impossible.”
“Nothing’s impossible with my dark little angel,” Mr. Jay said. “I’m not here to talk about her. I’m here to talk about you.”
“Me?”
“It’s time you stick to one soul, or you’ll lose your mind.”
The Cheshire purred. Mr. Jay always knew how to see through him.
“I’m not going to ask you to work for me, but I will hand you a soul you have no means of possessing. How about that?”
The Cheshire grinned. He was thinking it was a Wonderlander — someone other than the obnoxious Queen. “Who?”
“Let me show you,” Mr. Jay said.
Chapter 75
The Last Chess Game, Chess City, Kalmykia
The Chessmaster is unbeatable. Two moves now, and two drinks, and I feel like I’m going to lose in the next set.
“Afraid?” The Chessmaster grins.
“I prefer not to talk while playing.”
“But we know you’re not playing, Alice. You’re dying.”
“Then I’d prefer to keep the last minutes of my life to myself.”
“They’re hardly minutes. I can finish you in much less time.”
“How so, when you can’t make your move before I make my third?”
“Then make your third move, drink the poison, and move on.”
His last words ring in the back of my head. I realize that to win this game, I can’t just keep on playing. It is a fool’s hope that something will suddenly happen and save me.
In my mind, The Pillar’s words pop up in the back of my head. He Who Laughs Last. It’s an old None Fu trick.
My mind flashes to memory from the hole in Tibet before me. I watch The Pillar fight the giant again, bluntly asking him to hit him more and more until the giant lost confidence in himself, and just when he did, The Pillar attacked him, full throttle.
I remember telling myself I could never imitate The Pillar’s move, but I have no choice but consider it now. This is what the Red wrote for me on the napkin.
But how can I laugh last with the Chessmaster? How can I play like I don’t care and I am not going to lose until my moment comes and I strike back?
I scratch my head. It’s impossible, because striking back in this game means making a bold, brilliant chess move, which I know I can’t.
Think, Alice. Think.
“Ready for your third move?” the Chessmaster asks.
“No, I’m not,” I say. “But maybe I could use your help.”
His suspicious look troubles me. He senses I’m onto something. I am, but the funny thing is, I don’t know what it is either.
“Why would you think I would advise you on a good move?” he wonders.
“I didn’t say you will do that,” I say. “But since I’m losing anyways, you might want to amuse yourself with my moves. Maybe use a move that makes me look like a total fool.”
“I like that.” He nods and reaches for my knight.
Knight, Alice, why did he reach for your knight? Remember when The Pillar said he’d prefer to be a knight in a chess game? Because they’ll never see you coming.
“Just a second.” I stop the Chessmaster, buying myself some time.
“What now? Changed your mind?”
“Actually, no, but I thought we could spice up the game a little.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
Why, Alice, why?
“Because of the audience behind me.” I point over my shoulder. “They need some entertainment.”
A few men and women in the dark agree.
“You see?” I say. “They don’t want to watch a game where they know I will just die in the end.”
“Then what do they want to watch?”
“A game where there is the slightest possibility I will win. Just a little bit.”
“I can’t help you with that,” the Chessmaster says. “It’s you who is dumb, not me.”
“Yes, but you could play on my behalf.”
“This is what I was about to do when you stopped me.”
“But you could play a brilliant move on my behalf, not a bad one,” I lament.
“Again, why would I do that?”
“To show your audience how you can excel and win, even with such a brilliant move.”
The Chessmaster’s smile broadens. He likes it. He just bit into a wasp’s nest without knowing it. Even when I’m only buying time, not knowing what to do.
And then he makes a third move on my behalf.
Chapter 76
The Last Chess Game, Chess City, Kalmykia
This obliges me to drink my third drink. I haven’t felt anything from the last two, but the third is definitely dizzying. That’s not good, I need my mind alert to think of something else.
Surprisingly, the Chessmaster struggles with topping his own move. A few members of the unseen crowd hiss with wonder. The Chessmaster tenses.
A few minutes later, I see him sweat. Was he really that stupid or hasn’t he played against his ego before?
But finally he manages and responds to his own move.
“Brilliant!” a few members of the audience hail.
“Now I should play your fourth move,” he tells me.
And just right there, when his hand reaches for my fourth move, I get hit with a lightning bolt in my head. I immediately stop his hand.
“What now?”
“I think I can make my next move,” I declare.
“Is that so?”
“I think I can beat you,” I say.
“Really? Again? Do you really think you have the slightest idea what you are talking about?”
“I think I do.”
The members in the dark gasp.
“Come on,” the Chessmaster says. “You don’t really believe she can…”
I interrupt him with my next move. The winner’s move.
The Chessmaster squints at it. His face dims. His brows furrow, and his forehead knots.
Then the Chessmaster bursts into uncontrollable laughter. “Do you have any idea what you just did?” He points at the chessboard. “You’re so easy, you have no idea.”
“Why?” I act surprised, afraid, worried and in shock.
“You just handed me an early win with your move,” he says.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I am. You totally lost it. This is the worst move possible. I can checkmate you right now.”
I resist a small sneaky smile from shaping on the corner of my lips. Unfortunately, he catches it.
“Wait.” He leans back. “You have a bigger plan, don’t you?”
I dim my face and tense my shoulders on purpose. “I wish I had. I really thought this was the best move.”
“Really?” He thinks it over. “You know, none of the world leaders I played with, no matter how bad at chess they were, made such a bad move.”
“Oh.” I cup my mouth with my hands. “Did I do that bad?”
“You could have shot yourself in a Russian Roulette and never done this bad.”
“Can you please give me a chance to correct it?” I plead, reaching for his hands.
The Chessmaster pushes them away. “Of course not. You know why? Because your move is so bad, I have no other move but to checkmate you. I mean, literally I have no other option but to end the game now.”