DAMON'S POV

"You sure you know what are you doing there, brother?"
Theo said as I moved my King.

I raised my eyebrow.
"Why do you ask, Brother?"

He chuckled and replied.
"That's a pretty bold move there, putting your King up front like that. Especially when your Queen is already in danger."

"Well what can I say? I believe in foreplay. I believe in taking risks."

He smirked and moved his rook.
"Check," he said as he leaned back on the chair.
"This was exactly what I was telling you. Why should the King fight the war when he has his soldiers to do just that for him? It only puts him in danger ultimately."

I moved my King one more step forward.

"You're doing the same mistake again, Damon, because to me, it looks like your King is being a little selfish here and only thinking about himself. At this pace he will leave his poor Queen alone, defenseless, vulnerable and easy to kill," he said with a smirk.

Hmm. Looks like we aren't talking about the game anymore. But then again, when were we?

"On the contrary, actually, I think my Queen is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. Just like this," I said as I soon moved the Queen and killed one of his pawns.

"Ah, going after the weak ones, I see. Well I guess that was all she could do in the first place."
He moved his knight so that it too, gave me a check.

"Tsk tsk. See this is exactly your problem, Theo. Always seeing the smaller picture. Always beating around the bush. Always so careless,"
I said as one of my pawns killed the very same knight he just attacked me with.

"No one is Ever truly weak in wa- oh! I mean chess, Theo. It just depends on the way you play. Funny, however, the way you talk about my Queen when yours left yo- Oh! I mean the game a long time ago."

One of the veins in his head popped up as he said, "Lot of slip ups happening there, Damon. Be careful. You might end up saying something you wouldn't want to."
He said and moved his Bishop to E5

"I'll take care of it," I said as I waved my hand dismissively. "You, however, need to take care your King over there," I said as my Queen killed his Bishop and now stood giving him check. "I think she took the attack to her King a little too seriously. Like I said though, my Queen is no damsel in distress."

He just gave me a look and moved his King toward a corner.

"And what you said there, about certain pieces being the weak ones....I don't agree actually," I said as I moved my pawn such that it gave him a check. He didn't have a choice but to move further into the corner as my pawn, too, stood guarded.

"So much for the King taking the lead though, right?" he said with his eyes narrowed.

Just then I heard a knock on the door.
"Ah, Joseph, come in."
One of my soldiers came in and very discreetly gave me the very news I was waiting for.

It got a smile to my face and with the same smile, I moved my rook such that it gave him a check.
His King was blocked from all sides. The one way he could have used to escape, stood my King only one step away. By rules of the game the two Kings can't stand next to each other and must have at least one step in between them.

"You see, Theo, my King supported his Queen very well and is standing exactly where he should, right next to her. They believe in fighting together, you see."
I leaned back into my chair, folded one leg over another and said, "Checkmate, brother."

***

AMELIA'S POV

"So did it work? Are they caught?" I asked Damon as I saw him at my door.

He simply smirked and replied, "That microphone of yours has turned out to be really handy, I must say."

"My ideas are always good," I said proudly.

"How modest of you," he said feigning admiration.

I laughed at that.
"Anyway, you caught any important guys?"

"I'll have to call my men again to get a proper report about what happened exactly but one thing is for sure, we have acquired that document."

"We have?"
He nodded.

"And you are sure that it is safe in the hands of the people who had gone to get it for you?"

"I won't just send anyone to get a piece of paper that has the information of all the illegal trades my Father has done, will I? Besides, according to Francis, it has some dirt on my dear brother too."

"You let Francis read what's written in it?!" I asked incredulously.

"You don't know how important is he to me," he said with a smile on his face. "All the beatings I got from Father, he was the one to treat my wounds. All those nights that could have passed with me still starving, he was the one who sneaked in some food for me. Mother couldn't really go against Father, so she had told him take care of me. I trust him with my life, Amelia. Don't worry, those documents are in the safest hands possible."

"Well that's great then but won't Theo and King Rupert come to know it was you behind all of this?"

"They will no doubt."

"And then what? I don't think they'll let it go, Damon. They will fight back and they definitely won't make it easy for us."

"Is there a reason for you to be stating the obvious suddenly?"

"Yes, there is. I want you to promise me you won't leave me out of the fight. I don't care however dangerous it may be."

He walked towards me and very gently touched his right to my cheek. I didn't even have to think a second before leaning in to his touch. His hand was warm and comforting. It was like it said that he knew I wont just sit idly and he would finally let me get into the fight now. Like he knew I was capable enough of not only protecting myself but my people too. Like he knew we were stronger together. He knew.

"I know."

***
THEO'S POV

"NO!" Father boomed as he threw down everything from his table in anger.
"How is this possible? Who would dare to cross me?! "

"Damon would," I said.

"Damon? That bastard son of mine?!"

"Yes, Father," I said confidently.

"Impossible! He isn't capable enough to do something like this on his own and neither does he have the guts."

"He isn't alone, Father, he has Amelia. Besides I can think of a few traitors who might side with him," I said with distaste as I thought of Francis, that butler that follows his every order.

"I still don't think so, son. No one knew that such a document existed. Let alone that some of our men were delivering that it back to us. How is it possible that that insolent boy did?"
Father said as I saw something shining from the hilt of my sword that I had kept in Father's room in the corner. I walked towards it.

"Do you understand the severity of the situation? If that paper has gone into the wrong hands you and I are both in some serious trouble," he said.

I stopped near the sword, turned and replied, "You didn't see him when we were playing today, Father. That arrogance with which he was speaking to me with and not to mention the fact that one of the soldiers whispered something in his ear mid game. You should have seen that look, Father, it was the look someone has when they have something over the people they don't like a lot and despite all the theatrics in front of everyone, I have a feeling he doesn't like me much. The feeling is mutual though," I said and turned back to sword.

"So what son? You were playing a game of chess which he ultimately won."
I lifted up the sword and anger fueled inside me and only kept growing by the second after I saw what the mysterious shiny object was.
"The only thing he could have said was 'checkmate'," he said.

I turned with the sword in my hand and showed him what I found.
"Exactly, Father. He said 'checkmate'."