Loki: Game of Thrones

Chapter 68 - Chess Mates

Sansa stayed with Loki for the rest of the day, talking to him, and finally extracting from him how he wound up injured so grievously. She gasped when she was told that Tywin Lannister had found out (courtesy of Petyr Baelish) that Loki was really working for the Starks. "That man is evil!" Sansa hissed between clenched teeth as she stitched away at the jacket she had been studiously working on for Loki. Loki watched her closely, seeing how she vehemently stabbed the material imagining it was Petyr Baelish.

"Well, the next time I cross blades with him, I'll be sure to let you know," Loki informed her as he stroked Alfie. The cat had jumped up onto his bed, and had curled up in his lap to sleep. Since Sansa did not want Loki straining himself in anyway, she had insisted that he just sit there and they talk. Sansa nodded, putting her needle quickly through the green leather, seaming the collar onto the body of the jacket. She clearly did not care that Loki was watching her work on it, it actually made her feel good to know that he saw her doing something for him. "Sansa, I'm getting bored," Loki admitted. Sansa put her stitchery down, and raised her eyebrow at him.

"What did I say?" Sansa asked, and Loki rolled his eyes.

"Not to strain myself in anyway, I know, I know. But my mind craves something!" Loki pleaded, and Sansa smiled, standing up and waiting for him to tell her where to get it. Loki nodded, and pointed to a standing armoire against the wall at the far end of his chamber. "Open the doors, and look in the bottom drawer on the farthest left side," Loki instructed, and Sansa did as she was bid. Opening it, she found a beautiful, flat, mahogany chest inside. The lid was carved with the horns and serpent, which were Loki's sigil. Pulling it out, she returned to the bed with it. Loki scooched himself over and had her open it up on the mattress before him. The treasure that was inside made Sansa gasp. It was a glorious chess set: with the board made of porcelain, the black pieces were made of onyx, and the white pieces were crystals. Loki showed her where to put all the pieces before he began to explain. "Now, chess is a complicated game of strategy and predetermination. What move can your opponent make with what piece? It is the ultimate question. And if you don't pay attention, all your pieces will get removed before you can even figure his tactics out," Loki said, and Sansa nodded her head. "Now, the king is the piece you are trying to protect," Loki pointed out, shifting Alfie in his lap, and picking up the main piece. Sansa eyed it closely, before she glanced back at Loki. He smiled at her before moving on. "The rest of the pieces can be sacrificed in order to protect the king, who is actually the most useless piece on the board."

"Why am I not surprised," Sansa mumbled, but Loki heard her. His eyebrow quirked up, and a smirk flitted across his face. Sansa shrugged her shoulders, believing that her statement needed no further explanation.

"Indeed, I do believe that queens have more use," Loki said, subtly hinting to Daenerys Targaryen. Sansa gave him a demure smile and continued to study the board. "Afterward we have the bishop, or sept piece. He is fascinating in how he can move diagonally across the board," Loki explained, demonstrating by sliding the bishop across the spaces. Sansa just observed, her blue eyes following Loki's every movement. "Immediately below the bishop, is the knight. Now, who do think this is?" Loki asked, holding up his knight, and making Sansa giggle at the prospect of naming an inanimate object. Loki chuckled with her, and soon they were doubled over laughing. Until Loki coughed, and his hand pressed against his chest. Sansa got him a cup of water, and they settled down. "Name him. You know you want to," Loki urged her. Sansa slowly tilted her head from side to side before she smiled.

"I think your knights shall be called Ser Barristan Selmy, and Ser Jorah Mormont." Loki snorted that she had selected the two men who did not care for him.

"Fascinating. I think your knights should be called Ser Rodrik Cassell and Ser Rickard Karstark," Loki informed her, and Sansa looked at her knights.

"Nice to meet you," she said, and Loki smiled. "And these pieces?" she then asked, indicating the two that flanked either knights.

"The rooks. Yours are Theon Greyjoy and Jon Snow," Loki said, and Sansa giggled.

"Well, I declare that yours are Bronn and that new fellow you said Daenerys brought on. What was his name again?" Sansa queried, completely forgetting the poor chap.

"You mean Daahrio Naharis? Yes. That is the man," Loki said. Sansa then picked up one of the pawns and rolled him between her fingers. Glancing back at Loki, she held the crystal piece out.

"And the pawns?" Loki looked at the pawns. So many times throughout his life, he had seen countless pawns. They were the nameless soldiers that fell in battle, just doing their liege lord's bidding, and knowing that in the end, their lives did not matter.

"The pawns shall remain nameless. They are just pawns. They have no faces, and have ever been a means to an end," Loki said, a hint of sadness in his voice. Sansa nodded, putting her pawn back down on the board, before she glanced over to Loki's side. He was fiddling with one of his sept pieces.

"You are a bishop!" Sansa suddenly exclaimed, and Loki raised his eyebrow in a bemused fashion. "You can move in any direction from the center of the board, and nobody can really tell from where you strike! That is a good bishop," Sansa said firmly, and she gave him one of his bishops. Loki looked at the piece, before looking back at her. She was giving him her caring expression: the same one he had gotten when he returned angry after Tywin had told him that he would ignore Tyrion and make Loki his heir. Loki nodded and bowed his head to her, accepting her decision.

"And you are the queen," he said, picking up her own queen and handing it to her. "Determined to protect her king at any costs. Even her own life." Sansa looked at her crystal queen, before glancing at the crystal king. Her eyes then wandered to the bishop Loki was still holding in his hand.

"I think the queen would rather protect the bishop if she could," Sansa admitted timidly, and Loki's eyes widened slightly. Sansa raised her eyes and looked through her eyelashes at her patient. Her rosy lips pulled up into a slight smile and she put her queen back on the board. Loki had heard her, back when she admitted that she had feelings for him, but he had been thinking his mother had manufactured the words and planted them in his tortured subconscious. Now, they came back to him, and filled his heart with hope.

"...if you die, I'll die too. I love you."