Of course, she didn’t actually look old. At least, not this time. Her face held an almost timeless quality to it, putting her somewhere between her late thirties and…well…the dawn of man. Rafe had a few guesses, but nothing he was sure Zelda would ever confirm for him. She just was and he was glad she was on his side. This time.
“But first, I want you to play a piece for me.” Zelda held out a white stone toward Philippe.
His companion cocked his head to the side just a little and his smile turned quizzical, but he accepted the piece. “What are the rules? I’ve never played.”
Excitement flashed across her face, and she sat up a little straighter as she quickly explained the placement of the stones and the very simple rules. Go wasn’t a complicated game, but it was an incredibly difficult one to master. Rafe could never sit still long enough to suffer through a game of chess. Aiden had taught him and his brothers Go years ago when they were still human, but Winter had been the only one of them to actually enjoy it.
After everything was explained, Philippe leaned a little closer to the board, surveying the pieces in play. There were only a couple dozen placed on the squares, indicating that Zelda and Aiden were still early in their game. In one far corner, there was a tight grouping of white and black stones as if Zelda and Aiden had fought for territory there, but there was a smaller grouping of four white stones off on their own at another corner as if Zelda was starting a new grouping.
With his lips pressed into a hard, thin line, Philippe seemed to be contemplating all the available points before finally placing his white stone up with the other grouping of four stones.
“You’ve got almost the whole board available. That’s where you want to put it?” Zelda asked, narrowing her eyes at him.
“Yes. It strengthens your claim on that territory,” Philippe replied without hesitation.
Zelda winked at him and lightly touched the top of the stone Philippe placed. “Let’s watch what Aiden does.” As a minute ticked by and a new black stone didn’t appear, Zelda giggled and clapped her hands. “Oh, you’ve confused him! You’ve got him wondering what I’m up to.”
Philippe looked over at Rafe, and he chuckled. If Zelda could distract Aiden from his grief for a short time, then he’d happily take it.
Nearly another minute passed before a new black stone magically appeared on the board, and it was near the larger grouping. Even though they couldn’t see the expression of the other player, Rafe had to admit that the placement felt hesitant if that was even possible.
“Now that we’ve got that settled,” Zelda said. She clapped her hands together once and rubbed them together. “Let’s get to your business, so I can get back to kicking his ass.” To Rafe’s surprise, she turned her attention to him first. “You and your brothers have stirred up a hornets’ nest.”
“We never started this,” Rafe snapped, and Zelda shot him a warning look to watch his tone. He wasn’t stating anything she didn’t already know. “They killed my mother. Came after us.”
Zelda’s eyes turned sad for a second at the mention of Julianna. On the few times that Rafe had met Zelda over the years, helping his mother had been the one and only request he ever had for the old witch, and she couldn’t help. He always got the impression it hurt her greatly that she couldn’t.
“I know, and you bought yourself some time by getting rid of the Black Wolf clan. Everyone is watching, being cautious.”
“But that’s going to last for only so long.”
Zelda nodded, her eyes moving over to the Go board. “The field is changing quickly. Some new, important players are going to be introduced soon. People you and your brothers might not be expecting.”
Rafe glared at the board, wishing he could see what she could, but there were only black and white stones. “What’s your advice?”
Zelda’s smile returned and there was amusement in her eyes. “Remember who you are.”
“Rafe, purveyor of fleshly pleasures.”
She sighed and waved her hand at him as if she were demanding that he continue.
“I’m a Varik.”
“Good boy.”
This time Rafe sighed in return. “And that’s enough? You don’t have some magic sword or maybe some fucking fairy dust tucked in your bag of tricks over there?”
“Being a Varik has always been enough.”
“You’re exhausting, Zelda,” Rafe moaned, but it was only to cover up the little swell of warmth and pride he felt in his chest. He wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that statement, but it was nice to know. If they stayed true to who they were, Rafe and his brothers would find a way through this mess.