15 Chapter Fifteen

Cheryl fell on the chair next to the King's office with a huff and a pout, crossing her arms over her chest to show her frustration to those around her, in case it wasn't obvious.

“Brat” James whispered from next to her, taking advantage of the few minutes he had left to insult her considering that would be difficult with her father in the room. Cheryl huffed, sticking out her tongue

“Useless” she bit back, not feeling a little bit guilty of throwing his incompetence in his face knowing that he would have to bite his tongue as they heard footsteps approaching the room in hurried and long strides. The man still managed to send a glare her way from the corner of his eye, only getting a smile in return, which Cheryl immediately regretted when the pain of the scratch she had acquired in her small journey hit her. “Ouch” she whispered her hand flying to touch her wound, pulling it back she was relieved to see that her fingers came out clean of blood.

James furrowed his brow in a worry that was uncharacteristic of him when he looked at the albino. He unfolded his arms from behind his back to place his hand on her shoulder, albeit quite hesitantly as to not scare the kid but also because the two were not used to a feeling other than hostility hanging in the air when they interracted with each other. While the softeness of the vampire was quite shocking, Cheryl responded with an action that was just as shocking, she looked up to him with a small smile of reassurance and a nod.

Feeling a bit more relaxed James pulled his hand away, returning her nod and getting back into a guarded stance just as the albino man entered the room. For the very first time Cheryl noticed his stance, and she had to admit, it was obvious he did not come from a humble background. He was taught to stand tall, with his head held high, giving those who stood lower than him a haughty look fitting of his character and standing. Cheryl wondered if every king and queen who spend their entire lives standing tall, would they crumble in the face of defeat and fear that they had never faced before?

The answer was yes. All of them would, Cheryl was sure, then she added; Except Dracula.

Then the girl couldn't help but list the situations where they would feel fear and be stripped of their dignity and arrogance. Your child being attacked in your own castle and leaving her seemingly traumatised didn't appear of be one of them. But he did try to at least act concerned. Cheryl felt quite proud of the fact that she was the one with the acting talent in the family, because the King just didn't make the cut but she played along.

After fussing over her for some time and receiving reassurance from the girl that she was indeed fine the King took James to talk about the incident in private and while the idea of stopping them did cross Cheryl's mind when she saw the anger hiding in the King's eyes, she decided to ignore her feelings and be logical about it. So, since she decided against it she was left alone in the huge office. Setting her lips in a thin line she slowly got up and stood still, looking at the floor of the office that was decorated in black and white squares. It reminded her of a chess board, she liked chess. And she was rather good at it, too.

James shallowed when the pale man silently stood with his back turned on him. In his opinion, it was better when angry people raised their voices, at least this way you knew what to expect and screaming your guts was a better way to get over the anger. Silent anger, was much worse, far scarier and that's the anger that hurt the most.

“James,” the man finally spoke, and just by hearing his voice he could tell what his future held “you are the leader of your team. I gave you that position because you were older, more experienced yet , as of lately, you've been acting like a human. You are getting weak, and irresponsible and that isn't like you.”

James, who knew better, did not say or do anything to deny it, instead he only spoke to say “I will take any punishment you think is fitting for my wrongdoings, my King. But just me, as the leader I will shoulder my mistakes”

And so, he did.

For many, chess resembled reality, with pawns and players, and Kings and Queens. Cheryl begged to differ. Because chess created the illusion that your pawns would always stay loyal to you in spite of your wrong decisions that cost them their fellow comrades. That wasn't the case in reality. The first pawn you lost? They could forgive you for that, make excuses for your mistakes and carelessness. The second one? Okay, fine, sure, let's forgive that but that's when the doubt starts setting in their hearts and slowly, pawn by pawn, everything came into perspective and forgiveness and making up excuses was no longer in the table.

In her experience, three loses where enough, sometimes, if need be, four were needed. But one was sure, the side with the fewer loses, with the less signs of carelessness, was the one that won. Maybe not the battle or the war, but what are wars and battles without the people fighting them....

Cheryl, who had now reached the middle of the room, jumped on the next black square when she heard the sound of lashes heating flesh, first and she smelled the blood second. Bending her knees, she supported her elbows on them, placing her face in her hands, tapping her cheeks with her fingers with an amused expression. “I guess sometimes, you can take wins without moving your pawns at all"

With a grunt she pushed herself up. Taking another sniff of the air she let out a pleased sound at the blood filling her nostrils before she jumped on the next black square. Looking back she threw her hands up in a form of celebration when she won against an invisible opponent.