When Soral had claimed he would craft the most perfect enchantments, he hadn’t been kidding. The pawns would feel weighed down and find it difficult to move. The bishops would find themselves leaning oddly to the left or the right. The rooks would become a bit stiff in the neck and have trouble changing directions. The knights would jump a good distance when they went to move, but it would tire them out for a moment or two.

  Then there was the queen. She did not have any movement restrictions, but her object was tied closely to the king’s like a bond. She would feel when he was in danger of being captured. The king was also weighed down, but unlike the pawn’s Soral added a nasty little taste of something called paranoia. A bit too much for a game, but it would certainly get the job done.

  The objects themselves, for the sake of a blind draw, looked almost identical at first glance save for the team color. What object had Soral chosen for a game involving high level enchantments that would be watched by a king? Candy bracelets.

  "Soral, it won't work," Ruena told him with a grimace, "You can't use enchantments like that on something edible. There is no telling what it will do."

  That was without even mentioning the fact that the candy had a low chance of surviving long into the event. Fighting was a workout and the sweat was bound to melt the sugar beads. She did have to admit the sight of seasoned warriors wearing candy bracelets would be hilarious.

  "Then what do you suggest we use?" Soral demanded, pouting a bit now that the downsides of his heavily enchanted candy were pointed out.

  Ruena thought for a moment. "Bracelets aren't a bad idea. Is there any way we could make the team color and role appear only after the bracelet is chosen? Kind of like the bands Oasis uses."

  Soral hummed thoughtfully. "I think I can do that! And I will bring cupcakes for the event as a special treat."

  As always, Soral was as good as his word. The bands were perfect, appearing gray until touched. Xandus was chosen to oversee the game, a role he all but demanded with great excitement. After that it was just limiting who got to participate, trying to keep an even number on each side. The hardest part was deciding who got the extra slot since Ruena represented both Alodan and the Warriors. Since Xandus was overseeing the game, she couldn't use him as an uninvolved third party.

  It was a bit late to invite someone, so Ruena settled on Taiga. She was new to Alodan, but not part of the Warriors. Most of all she was Ruena's person and the most fitting choice to use as a balance. Soral was banned from participating and instead placed in charge of obstacles and refreshments.

  With that sorted, all that was left was to select fifteen participants from Alodan, and fifteen from the Warriors to make the full thirty-two positions offered in a normal game of chess. Ruena allowed Leopold and Rosalie the right to choose the participants from their respective sides, though there was some light complaining from the Warriors that Soral was not allowed to participate.

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  Before she knew it, the training ground was filled with obstacles and Xandus had been set up on a podium that had definitely not been there before. In his hands he clutched an overly large purple and silver crown, held upside-down and filled with the bands Soral had enchanted.

  "As the King of Valen, I have never been more proud than to be part of such an incredible event," he began, his eyes brimming with tears that Ruena could not tell whether or not were fake, "To see chess brought to life in such a glorious way, and to even have a hand in it is an honor only someone like me could have even dreamed of. Let us start off with my dearest friend, Ruena, in the choosing of roles."

  Ruena approached the podium as Xandus held out his crown to her, and she snatched one of the bands from the top. To make sure things were completely fair, she would also have no idea what team or role she would end up playing. As her fingers wrapped around the band, it turned from gray to black, the image of the role she would be playing showing through the cloth in a stark white.

  A rook. Ruena let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. Part of her had expected that she would end up as a pawn, or worse, the king. "I am the black rook!" she announced to the crowd before moving to take her place on the black side of the training ground.

  Once she was in place, Ruena tied the band on her wrist and she could immediately feel the restrictive enchantments doing exactly what Soral described. Watching the battle was going to be a pain when she could barely move. Taiga went next and drew the white pawn, and the others soon followed. The Warriors and Alodan each took their turns to draw, each position filling up quickly.

  Leopold, who was for some reason participating, had drawn the white king, with Rosalie as the white queen. On Ruena's own team, Jazz had taken the position of the black king. Alodan had questioned the ability of a cat to play this game at all, but Rosalie had insisted their chief of espionage be allowed to participate. Ruena had to admit that it was an odd feeling to be on a team led by a cat. Justus, who had drawn the black queen, also seemed to have his reservations.

  "All roles are final!" Xandus announced cheerfully as the last band was chosen, "There is no backing out now! All you need to do is take the bands of the other team. If your king loses his band, your team loses. Good luck!"

  "That means begin," Soral added helpfully from behind the Valen King.

  With no other explanation of the rules given, the training ground erupted in chaos. Mostly because they all realized why there had been no need to dig deeper into the rules. The enchantments Soral had carefully crafted into each band prevented them from going outside the bounds of what was allowed. The knights in particular seemed to be having a difficult time with their new restrictions. Ruena heard Ember scream in frustration when her unexpected jumping power caught her on an obstacle and in the way of one of her own team's pawns effectively blocking both of their paths until she could move again.

  Needless to say, chess without turns was chaotic. Only a few minutes in, and it barely resembled chess at all. At least Xandus seemed pleased with the result since Ruena greatly doubted anything would actually come of this mess. Alodan could not be inspired by the leadership of a rook who couldn't even move. Then again, it was Alodan knights were preventing her from moving in the first place, protecting her more fiercely than their king. Then again, their king was a cat who was actively taking a nap as if nothing of consequence was happening.

  The tide of the entire game changed when Xandus stepped down from the podium and approached Dillon, a black pawn who had mindlessly rushed to the other side of the training ground.