White Knight Boyfriend: Amir (special preview)

Before there was the Royal Family, Miror had once been ruled by the Court of Chess. This Court was made up of two warring families who, every five years, hosted a great battle to determine who would be the next ruler of Miror. For those five years the King and Queen of each side would train their troops and build up an army as strong as possible to win and claim the ruling throne.

When they were challenged by the human form of the Goddess Alice, the two families worked together in order to defeat her. Unfortunately, it was for naught, and Alice won, becoming the first united queen of Miror, and beginning what is known as the royal family today. She did take pity on the Court of Chess, and while she did banish both kings and queens, she kept their armies. Yet again, though, fortune did not smile on the two armies, as Alice used them very little. What was once a mighty army was now nothing more than a plaything of the royal family.

My ancestors were once part of the Dynastinae Court, who had held the throne the most in their day. We were once considered the mightiest army in all of Miror; well trained, intelligent, and ruthless. Nowadays, we were lucky to even talk about our former glory. Thanks to our ancestors trying to stage coups and uprisings, we’ve been kept in a sort of village prison.

The Chessboard had once been where our ancestors fought their battles to see who would take the throne. Now, it was used to keep us prisoner. Both the Cyphochilus Court and Dynastinae Court were contained in this village, and once a year the Royal Family made us reenact the War of Alice. Humiliating, to say the least.

Sometimes we were trotted out for special events at the royal palace, nothing more than decor and glossy pieces for the royal family. I get it, both sides of the Court of Chess are a bit volatile. Some of the elders still speak of uprising and overthrowing the current regime, but some of us younger ones have gotten, dare I say, lazy? None of us have that drive that previous generations did, none of the fire, no call to revenge. Most of us don’t even remember the Battle of Alice or the way things used to be. Some of us have never even been outside of the Chessboard. What are we supposed to fight for anyways?

The old Chess Pieces are barely touched anymore, basically just giant landmarks dotting the outskirts of the Chessboard. The large mechanical suits of armor that once served as the main vessels for battle were growing moss, vines, and sinking into the earth. Whenever we are forced to do the reenactments, we have special props that pop out to resemble the mech suits. One person operates one of those props, meanwhile it takes two, sometimes three people to make one of the Chess Pieces fully operational.

My parents had once been the pilots of the Queen Piece, and they still talk about it to this day. “Oh it was wonderful, Zari. It was captivating, Zari.” They would say about their days as top warriors. “The Queen Piece was the highlight of all the battles! We were always the center of attention.”

I can’t imagine what going from center stage to nothing felt like. I’ve always known nothing, I’ve not lived as long as they have. I was born just before the Battle of Alice, so I have no context for what being on top was like. The only idea of the view I had was when I climbed the Chess Pieces and looked out over all of the Chess Board.

Each side still kept themselves separate, the Cyphochilus Court and Dynastinae Court really stuck to their rivalry guns, not even being defeated by Alice could stop it. If you crossed the line separating both sides, it would cause a fight. Every so often this would happen, and I suppose it was as close to fighting for the throne as we could get these days.

From the top of the Chess Pieces, I can see a little beyond the Chess Board. The Royal palace is a jewel in the distance, with the Tulgey Wood spreading out far on the other side. I could sometimes see smoke rising from the chimney of villages nearby, and on clear nights, I could see their lights glowing like a halo. I’m too young to remember a time before we were trapped upon the Chess Board, but I do want to go beyond it someday.

It’s growing dark, and I can see the halo coming around the closest village. I should be getting home, but I do love to watch the stars come out. I have quite a large family; I have six younger siblings I help wrangle at the end of the day. They also rely on me to tell them stories before bedtime.