Flowering Heart Chess Age Novels & Stories

“Are these hand-carved?” “Yes, each chess piece is done by hand,” I tell her, letting her explore each piece. “The board’s walnut and beech, and the pieces are ash and black oak. I thought about getting a stone board, but I decided a folding board so that you can store it or take it with us wherever we go would be more appropriate. It’s an important gift for me, both in the actual chessboard and in the admission that I want to go wherever this woman is. Hailey caresses each piece before closing the case and looking up at me through those beautiful mile-long lashes of hers.

Ash smirks, “What have you got?” She just grins at him and walks past him and over to the sofa bed. Jessie starts bouncing gently and scoots to the edge as Elza sits on the far side of the coffee table and puts the bits down. She opens the box, and he looks down to see a chess set. It was not an ordinary set though. He picks up a queen to look at. “I’ve never seen a set like this before. Gods, they’re beautiful.”

It was only when I got closer that I saw what they were playing. “You can play chess?” I asked Chelsea, shocked that a ten-year-old could play chess when even I couldn’t. Chelsea nodded eagerly. “Mm hm. The nurses at the other hospital taught me.” She paused, a small frown on her face. “Mum doesn’t know how to play, though.” I swallowed, feeling a thickness in my chest that refused to soften. Chelsea hadn’t started asking about Rhoda’s whereabouts yet, but it was only a matter of time before she would start. And I would have nothing to tell her.

He was still looking at the pot of Symplocos paniculata and waved his hand carelessly. I smiled. “The heir you choose is quite good. By the way, she has already left.” Only then did Leon raise his head and grit his teeth. “That damn girl left again. Now, her time for me is getting less and less. Today is my birthday, and she hasn’t played chess with me yet.” Leon pretended to cry for several seconds. When he looked at the pot of Symplocos paniculata on the table, he laughed and said, “But this is a pot of Symplocos paniculata is so good. The girl is filial.”

Make him stop playing with me! I saw a chess board on the table. Some chess pieces have been eliminated placed on the side. Only a few were left on top of its board that were still on the game. Auntie Matilda taught me the game of chess, but I was not very good when it comes to strategies. The only thing in my mind is to attack, so in the end I would usually lose. I left my seat and let the two have their conversation. I just paid attention to the chessboard which made me advance the black knight. When my heart almost fell from my chest because of a knife suddenly struck the board. I am about to get a hard attacked because of that!

After a moment, he moved a piece. The little girl reached over and moved another piece, then looked up at Case. "Check." Case's eyes almost bulged out of his head. "No way!" "I'm afraid so." The little girl sighed. Kiki bit her lower lip to keep from laughing. Case had turned into a regular Chess master over the past few months and here this little girl was beating them both. Case studied the board and then moved another piece. "I see you've met my granddaughter, Abby," Evelyn said as she set a cup of hot chocolate at the edge of the table near Kiki. Then she leaned in and stage whispered, "Don't play her for money. You'll lose your shirt."

That was already a huge handicap and that is why I didn’t want to lose again. After five minutes, I watched in dismay as Hunter announced, “Queen D3 to C2.” He turned to me and with a proud smile he added, “Checkmate.” I groaned. “How did you do that?” He stood up from his seat. “Hunter Vaughn, Chess Master since the age fifteen!” And he bowed left, right and center. He looked so proud of himself, it made my loss even more frustrating. “How is that even possible?” I asked him. “Are you sure you’re blind?”

"That's more like it. You used to be the pool champ who could shut a room full of men up without raising your voice." My father taught me billiards. He said the harder your heart shook, the steadier your hand had to be. Later, Luca said I looked too cold when I played, too much like a woman who belonged in lecture halls and federal briefings, not the woman standing beside him. So I stopped. I was lining up the next shot when familiar voices came from the corridor. "Luca, that clean run last time was insane. When are you teaching me?" "Please," another man said. "Other than Vivian, who has ever seen Luca teach anyone himself?"

The tiny, playful touches while distributing or returning cards drew them closer on the couch. “Watch out, here comes the trap,” Aria said, snatching one of Kai’s cards and adding it to her own in a swift move. Kai grinned and lightly touched her hand to reclaim the card. “Not fair!” he laughed, and Aria only smiled back, as if to say, “It’s just a game, but you know you like it too.”

"Something like that. But you know what? In chess, sometimes the king has protectors." "Like knights and rooks," Griffin nodded, warming to the theme. "And queens," James added with a raised eyebrow in my direction. "The most powerful piece on the board." A ghost of a smile crossed my face despite the situation. "Why don't you go get dressed, sweetheart? Clara will be here soon to take you to school." Clara, the former military police officer who now served as Griffin's nanny and covert bodyguard. Another chess piece on my side of the board.