The moment of escape arrived with Calder’s escort. Several men in gleaming sleek silver breastplates over crimson robes fringed with gold approached the furious captain. The attention of the crowd and sailors turned to the armed squad, and the Stellapuer uncovered themselves. Calder pushed himself off the ground as his companions made for the water. As they splashed into the sea Calder was only a few paces away from the only soldier who wore a helmet.

“I presume you're here for me.”

“Ekburts son?” The man stared him down and lifted his gaze like he was pondering a confounding piece of art. “I’ve met your father before. He’s a man of great caliber. I know the situation. I won’t ask questions.” The captain's red face seemed about to pop. “We will be leaving now Leclere.”

“I’ve told you, my cargo’s been stolen. Is no guard in this country worth his salt? Isn’t it your job to find thieves? So do your damn job.”

“Leclere, I know you run a good business. You're a reliable trader and a reliable man. But, and I mean this with the utmost respect, it is not our job. Our job right now is to escort this man. We will search for the thief after our most pertinent business has been attended to.”

The leader of the guardsmen turned and gave a signal to his squad. The dozen or so men parted and as Calder walked towards the center they closed to form a barrier around him. Leclere shouted behind them, but the escort continued to push through the crowded harbor.

The street became smoother as they progressed through the city. Limestone buildings lined either side and the soldier’s footsteps echoed off their walls. They passed under a line of laundry strung between two houses. The colorful clothes whipped in the sea breeze like festival flags. One day there will be flags for my homecoming. My glorious homecoming. The day I strike down my father.

The group turned, and the street opened into a plaza with a fountain in the middle. None of them stopped to admire it, but Calder caught a glimpse through the heads around him. A woman with a child on her back tended to a small tree. Its branches spread wide, and its flowers were sculpted with life that belied their stone. Water flowed from the potted plant and into the pool below. Children splashed in the pool. One slipped and fell into the water as others laughed. Then the escort went further into the city.

The streets were wider here and the houses less clumped together. About five men could walk abreast, yet his guards stayed close. People appeared less frequently and when they did they often wore silk robes.

“We’re here,” the helmeted man said.

The house in front of him was made of similar stone to the rest of the city. An arched doorway with a dark wood entrance lay ahead of him. The building was two stories tall and the second story was dotted with several arched windows. The crystal panes hung on hinges and were now open to let in the morning air. A plain tile roof angled to both a small cylindrical tower and an open courtyard. The tower could barely be called such. It only stuck above the roof by less than Calder’s height. It would be a suitable residence for any wealthy patron, and the open-air design agreed with Calder’s taste. Grand yet not gaudy. Yes, this will do just fine.

Standing behind the open door, a balding sun-darkened man with gray hair flecking the sides of his head gave a short bow and opened his arms to welcome the guests. “Esava, I hope our guest hasn’t given you any trouble.”

“None at all. I trust you’ve made the necessary arrangements.”

“Of course. Come in. Come in.” He waved his arm, beckoning them to get out of the heat.

Esava nodded to several of his men and silently commanded Calder with a level stare. He understood and followed the man into the house. The older gentleman closed the door behind them and led them further in. As they exited the foyer, the hall split into two around a square courtyard. A knarled emerald tree covered the garden's center, and beds of colorful flowers lined pathways around it. White and pink were the chosen colors. Calder preferred the blue lilies his mother used to plant, but he doubted they would bloom in such a hot climate. They were native to the northern nations, and even his mother had to take great care to ensure they didn’t wilt in Obsidius. She had a habit of drawing beauty out of unfortunate situations.

The old man took them on a brief tour of the house. Various guest rooms were tucked along the sides of the courtyard, and as they passed the kitchen, a staircase cut through the stone to the second floor. Near the back of the house, a hidden sunroom provided another place for leisure. Along the second-floor walkway, several square windows faced into the courtyard. Double doors waited at the end of the hallway, which the old man promptly pushed open. Inside, books covered the walls of the circular room. A hardwood desk sat in the center with a bookwheel off to the side. On the desk, an unfamiliar board game arranged with carved wooden pieces neatly rested as if it had been untouched for years. The domed ceiling signaled to Calder this was the location of the cylindrical tower he had seen earlier.

He spotted several book titles he recognized along the wall such as ‘A Treatise on the Unity of Chuhoku’, ‘Serenity Among the Fields of Alveron’, and ‘The Sun Warrior.’ The last one was a favorite childhood story of his. Several book titles like, ‘The Red Emperor’, ‘Crows of Caulthwin’, and ‘Harmonious: A History of Music’ were less familiar.

“Are you an avid reader my Lord,” the old man said.

“Yes, and just Calder will do.”

The elderly man gave Esava a sidelong glance. “Well,” he cleared his throat as if the name had clogged it. “Calder. The previous owners of this house gathered this collection from many places. The literature spans the past five centuries. I am sure you will find something that will suit your taste.”

“I am confident I will.” Calder turned for the doors and paused once he gripped the handle. “I never got your name.”

“Dao, sir.”

“Shall we finish this tour, Dao?”

“Yes.” He glanced at Esava again and then took the lead as Calder held open the door. Halfway down the corridor, Dao began the tour talk again. “On the other side of this floor is a study and the master bedroom. An art room containing a vast collection from the previous proprietor can be found in the basement, which we will visit last. This collection contains. . .”

Calder’s mind went elsewhere as he was guided through the various rooms. His thoughts turned to the Stellapuer and the task he had attached them to. Why did that thief capture his attention? He was a Stellapuer. That of course had been a factor in attracting his favor, but there was something more. Perhaps it was the thief's confidence—the willingness to stare death in its face even when you were its prey—for Star Children death never stopped hunting. That was a fact everyone had accepted. Even under rigorous protection none of them ever made it past young adulthood. Disease or an unfortunate accident took them if the cruelty of their circumstance didn’t. Time was short for them, so he would have to act fast. The time for timid action has long passed. That was one thing he had realized on the boat. He needed a Stellapuer with boldness where he lacked it, and that thief on the docks carried the required spirit.

“And that ends our tour. Any questions about your accommodations, Calder?” The name still reluctantly exited his mouth.

“There is one, but it’s not about the accommodations themselves. If I wish to leave the house what rules must I abide by?”

Esava took to answering the question. “There are only two regulations. Under no circumstance are you to leave the island, and at all times you will be accompanied by Dao. Under his watch, your safety will be of no concern.”

He noticed a white scar across Dao’s left forearm, and it started to make sense. The man was likely a retired guardsman. The man’s skill was still a mystery to him but enough told him not to be on the wrong end of Dao’s sword.

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“If that is all,” Esava said, “I will be leaving. There is much to attend to.”

“May the wind wish you forward my friend.” Dao guided Esava to the door, and Calder followed to the main floor. The door was shut with barely a sound, and a curt shout signaled the departure of the garrison. Dao refocused his attention on his guest. “If you wish to rest after your long journey the bed upstairs has been prepared.”

“I have never felt comfortable wasting daylight. Rest can come later.” Calder took in the illuminated courtyard again. The tree cast shadows that waved across the pavement. “Perhaps you can teach me that intriguing game in the library. That is if you are familiar with it.”

“It is a game of antiquity, but I have taken quite a liking to it in recent years. I would be honored to teach you.”

They made their way upstairs and reentered the library. The wooden board, shaped like a hexagon, sat in the center of the long desk. Dao pulled a velvet stool from the far end of the room and Calder sat on a padded chair to the other side. A bright wooden box with a silver latch rested next to the board. Calder opened the box and saw forty-four carved stone pieces. One piece, bigger than the rest, looked like a man in flowing robes clutched to a tree that bent over to offer him shade. The man gazed into the distance with a look of determination. Another piece, slightly smaller, lay to the left of the man; a sphere with an obelisk piercing its top. The other forty-two pieces were of similar sizes.

“Do you wish to play the emperor or his court?” Dao said as he reached for the man wrapped around a tree. He placed it in a single circular spot in the center of the board. “The emperor must defend while the court attacks. If the emperor survives sixty-four turns he wins, but if the court captures him in that period they win.”

Calder reached for one of eight pieces with a slender frame, bulbous head, and a hollow conical section below the head. “I will play as the emperor. This may seem a trivial question but why sixty-four turns?”

“The longest reign of any emperor in Suratori is sixty-four years. It has been a tradition for so long the emperor's name has been forgotten to history. He ruled nearly eighteen hundred years ago. When I was a child, there was a frenzy about the rules being adjusted when Aminiasi Khorilartai ruled for sixty-one years. He grew sick the following dry season, and his son became Emperor during the next New Year's festival. But excuse my rambling, let me teach you the game’s rules.”

The longest-ruling king of Obsidius had reigned for a hundred-sixty-eight years and his name had been lost to time too. Aminiasi or even this ancient emperor was a blink of an eye in royal Obsidius history. That made it easier for Obsidius nobility to track their heritage. Shorter family lines allowed for less dispute over birthright. It was one problem his country didn’t have to deal with even though it had created many more for itself. “You said eighteen hundred years ago was when this ancient emperor ruled.”

“Yes, why do you ask?” Dao had begun to set several pieces on each side of the board.

“Just curious about ancient history.” The longest-ruling Obsidius king occupied the throne eighteen hundred years ago also. Two men lost to time at around the same period. It could be mere coincidence, yet it always struck him as odd the previous and preceding rulers were known; Adalberht and Hroderich Von Brandt. They couldn’t be truly called kings under the rule of Obscurses, but they were the closest to it back then.

“It's not often I meet a fellow scholar of history. Perhaps, the word scholar flatters me too much. It is simply a hobby for me.”

Calder flashed back a smile as he shook off his tangle of thoughts. “It is a hobby for me also.” He leaned into the game and pulled his chair closer. “You were about to explain the rules, continue.”

“Ah, yes,” Dao said, setting the last few pieces into position. “As the Emperor, it is your role to defend against your court. This piece in the center is the Emperor. You will choose a defensive position using your twenty-one other pieces. That includes the queen,” Dao picked up the spherical piece with the monolith protruding from it, “eight princes, and twelve primary ministers.”

“I am familiar with Suratori’s system of meritocracy and Anajima, an intriguing form of divine right, but I am less aware of its structure. Are these positions in the modern government of Suratori?”

“Yes, but their actual numbers are reduced to simplify the game. There are not always eight princes, but we are lucky to have the divine number now. The rest of the court I will be playing consists of the Office of Censors, Esteemed advisors, and the Emperor's concubines.” Dao pointed to a silver circle halfway between the edge and the emperor. “You may place your pieces within this circle. The queen must be the closest to the emperor and two princes must be placed no further than one tile away from her at the start of the game. The other pieces can be placed how you please. I won’t bore you with the starting rules of the court, but I will mention they must all start at least two tiles away from the palace border.” He tapped the silver line again.

Dao went on to explain the movement patterns of each piece, occasionally trailing off into a historical allegory. As the light from the surrounding windows grew a little brighter with the afternoon sun, they finally began.

After a few moves into the game, Calder decided to poke at Dao’s unwavering focus. “Have you met any of the higher-ranking officials near here?”

Dao took his move and blinked as Calder’s question registered. “Why, yes I have. Joni Khorilartai. When he was only a young boy.”

“One of the eight princes. Is he the youngest? I can never seem to remember their ages.”

“The second youngest.”

Calder moved one of the primary ministers to form a v-shaped defensive position on the right side of the board. “And how did you meet Joni?”

“I watched over his family's vacation home when I was a member of the Emerald Shields.” Dao refocused as if the conversation was nothing more than the buzz of a fly.

Calder’s eyes widened to feign surprise. It was not all a lie. Even though he had already deduced Dao’s time as a soldier, he had not expected him to have been a part of the famous royal guard of Suratori. But that was information he would probe about another time. “What was your impression of the prince.”

Dao grumbled under his breath as he surveyed the board. He pushed two members of the Office of Censors past the palace border. “He was a typical child with the occasional spoiled tendency all royal children have. Although, he did make friends easily. I would often catch him wandering off into the village deeper into the island. He told me his friends were waiting for him. How he made friends when he was always at the vacation home or in the royal palace on the main island is beyond me.” His eyes flashed with a realization as his gaze remained fixed on the board. “A curious child. I wonder how he fares now.”

Calder pulled two princes further towards the center and Dao followed, ready to strike at the Emperor. Two Primary Advisors pressed in from the left side. Dao quickly retaliated and took both of the pieces. Calder repositioned the Queen behind the Emperor, and Dao struck the back side with two concubines. Calder wondered if the woman in the palace fought as fiercely as these pieces did. One prince lured a concubine to the right, and the Queen lured the other to the left. With the path open, Dao led two members of the Office of Esteemed Advisors to the Emperor. Calder expanded the Primary Minister’s defense on the right. Dao paused and took in the rapidly changing board as he stroked the gray wisps of hair on his chin.

“What a marvelous defense,” the old man sighed. “My pieces have been used against me. I’m locked in the front and you’ve pinched them in on the sides. And only one move left.”

“An emperor that does not see the value in his whole court deserves to be swallowed by it.” Calder casually dangled one of the captured Esteemed Advisors in his hand. “I may not control your pieces, but I must guide them to win the game.”

Dao chuckled as he continued to puzzle a way out of his predicament. “And I was none the wiser. How were you so confident your strategy would work?”

“I was never fully sure,” Calder leaned back into his chair until the front two legs lifted slightly from the floor, and dropped the piece onto the table with a terrible thud, “but I never lost sight of the end condition. You know we establish similar conditions throughout our own lives. Conditions to win or lose. The only problem is that those conditions are stretched so far across our lives that people choose to ignore the end of the game, for a fleeting sense of pride now.”

“Are you saying I lost because of my sense of pride?”

“Prephaps. Perhaps not. I wouldn’t presume either way.” CaIders eyes scanned the board. The pieces almost seemed trivial at this point. “Did you know the longest-ruling king of Obsidius reigned for one-hundred-sixty-eight years? What do you think this game would be like with a hundred-sixty-eight turns?”

“Quite tiresome I imagine.” Dao lifted a piece into the air before deciding to take a different approach.

“Tiresome yes, but wouldn’t it also obscure the end condition? We want to have more time to change the conditions we settle with. More time to make an impact and win the game. But it's natural for us to only see so far, and it is hubris to try and seek further than our capabilities. We can’t begin to imagine what would happen a hundred-sixty-eight years from now. So why try to invoke change so far ahead? Why try to win a game that can never be won?”

“Then I am glad this game is not nearly as long.” Dao tipped the Emperor over. The piece’s lifeless marble eyes gazed into Calder’s. “You observe your enemies so closely you become blind to the dagger behind their back.”

Calder let his chair fall forward and laughed off the comment. “It is easy to guide pieces. Harder to guide men.”