The Piece System

Chapter Two: ALEX

Forty-six-year-old father Brennan Geller only has one child. A daughter, Alex. Alex is the model child: smart, pretty, full of joy, a Bishop. She even gets on with his fiancé. Total dream, right? Wrong.

Alex's skin prickled as she read the paper, skipping words as her blood simmered. When were they going to stop treating her like someone who didn't deserve to be a Bishop? Or, worse still, something delicate that needed protecting. She was twenty for goodness' sake, she could handle herself.

Alex Geller's leg deformity prevents her from walking or running properly, needing a walking stick and a brace. Although it isn't visibly deformed, there is no doubt she cannot walk without support. Or can she?

'She' raised her eyebrows. This was a new one.

We have reasons to believe Alex Geller is lying, getting sympathy votes to keep her as a well-respected Bishop. She is a—

The words blurred as they were snatched from her hands.

"Hey!" Alex looked up from the plush brown armchair at her father. Brennan, now holding the paper, scanned it and glared at her.

She whistled, "If looks could kill."

"You need to stop reading these! Reporters write about whatever they can get their hands on, even if it's not real." Brennan said. Alex watched him open the curtains in the study, the dim morning light flooding the room through the huge windows. She grimaced at the murky clouds, then at her leg brace.

"I wish it wasn't real." She said, tapping it and laughing, "Look at it! It looks normal! It's straight and the right length so why can't it just work properly?"

Brennan chuckled, tidying his desk, "It's what's inside that counts,"

"Wow, dad, you've found a real-life scenario where that phrase actually applies." Alex leant back, "I'm proud."

He smiled, "I would say that about you but you're beautiful inside and out,"

Alex pulled a face, "Alright where's Lisa? She's never as cringy as you."

"Still asleep,"

"Of course."

The study fell into a peaceful silence as Brennan began to sort through some of his papers in front of a laptop. Alex eyed the newspaper in the mesh bin by his desk. His grand, mahogany desk in the middle of the study.

For something so old, that newspaper seems to get more views than the tv. She thought.

It wasn't surprising, though. The Daily Checkmate was written by many higher-ups. Mostly Queens but some Bishops got articles and, every now and again, there'd be a Knight who slipped into the mix. Although most lower downs were stuck in papers that were nowhere near as prominent.

Creaking snapped her eyes from the folded paper to the ceiling.

"Sounds like Lisa's awake," she said, pulling her phone out of her pocket as the sound of someone trudging down the stairs stopped. Lisa was her father's fiancé.

"Yeah," he said, pushing away from his table, "she might need help with breakfast."

Alex watched him go in his dressing gown, amusing herself with how he wouldn't be caught dead in anything but a suit if he wasn't in his own home. Sometimes it felt like a privilege to see her father as he was instead of dressed up for work.

Reassured he and Lisa were in the kitchen, she grabbed her stick and pushed herself to her feet, limping over to the desk.

A Bishop's desk. Her father was one of the only Bishops to work for The King in her Set.