56
Kaya’s POV.
A game of chess?!
Wait, that’s what he wants to use to teach me the secrets?!
What?
“I see that you look shocked.” The physician calls back my attention. I have come to know his name as Pete, by the way.
“Of course, this is a chess.” My hands outstretch to the box of chess game atop the table of which he’s said I should sit.
Pete chuckles softly. “I see there’s a lot of correction we’ve got ourselves to doing. Anyway, please sit once again.” He repeats himself and I shake my head, huffing out softly before I agree hesitantly.
“Don’t tell you hate the game of chess, or more importantly, lack the importance behind it?”
I’m giving him an awful look, and while my head still hurts mildy, I say, “because it is. It’s naturally an awful game. I wonder whatever it is people see in it.”
Pete holds out his hand which made me pause in my words. He closes his eyes for a second, breathing out and when he is ready, he reopens them and fixates his gaze on me. “The game of chess holds the secret of life. It hides the very essence of which we move in our routines till we achieve that greatness from our wishes.” He sucks in a sharp breath through his teeth. “You must understand that every creature, whether strong or weak, want to be at the top of something, and that’s how competition, ecology, and other forms of adaptation comes in.”
A small snicker erupts from his throat when my face irks at his words. “You must learn the virtue behind patience, commitment, determination, and more importantly, the goals. The goal is to focus on your goals till when along the results comes. When you do the opposite, you become a slave to the chasing.”
He pauses again to laugh, this time he takes his time. “Haha, I see I’m starting to bore you.”
I want to say no and wave my hand as a gesture of my disagreement, but trust me, I’d only be lying. I am getting bored, to be frank. “Let’s just play. From there, you’d understand better.”
“Hm, okay...” My voice trails off into the air as I proceed to begin. I have nothing else to do anyway, so this would probably help me with passing time. My life has turned into a wheel that just rotates from start to end in a loop, so I can just utilize some of it here.
In the first game, I thought I was just going to be moving my players, until suddenly, I find myself out of players and he says, “Checkmate.”
Wait, he’s won?
“You’ve won?”
When he nods his head with a smile on his face, my face squeezes. It hasn’t even taken us up to five minutes or so.
In the second one, I thought I was smarter until he won again.
I’m huffing.
In the third game, he wins swiftly. And this time around, I’m starting to wonder if I’ve got any brains to make strategic plans at all.
Then, we are on the fourth when I see that he’s almost winning, and I shake the table to disrupt the whole player.
“That’s cheating!” His voice is raised as his eyes bore into mine.
I frown deeply, “no, you’re the one who’s cheating. How could you win four straight games? It’s not real.”
“I’ve known the game of chess all my life. I have learned its secrets and all that it takes. Maybe not all, because there’s always more to learn in life, but then I can say I’m a guru of some kind.” He points out, sounding so sure of himself, and I laugh.
“I hate you, Pete. This is cheating, and there is nothing more you can tell me. I’m done here.” I’m about to leave when he chuckles and quickly says.
“Please, sit. I shall tell you some things.”
My eyes drift away from him as I fake disinterest in whatever he’s got to say.
“You must understand the difference between using your brain for daily routines and for daily strategic plans. Every day, a person wakes up and knows what they’ve got to do for that day. Other events come in and disrupt that day’s plan. At the end of that day, I say they aren’t able to achieve their goals. Imagine now that you’ve written down your plans for the day; when other events show up, what happens? You fix them in-between. You have killed two birds with just a stone. Smart, you would agree.
I nod my head slowly. Maybe this physician is more than just a physician but also a guru of smarts or something of the sort.
“Notice something, Kaya. Every time, we play. I begin by moving the lowest of my players, the pawn. It’s the most useless, but it sacrifices parts of itself until it continues moving and moving and moving, many of which are dying along the way. Maybe parts of it. Should it not give up? But what have you sensed there? There is a determination; there is a persistence; there is a focus; there is a patience; there is a belief; there is no doubt; and lastly, there is a fear in its heart. Not the fear of losing, but the fear of not winning.”
I raise my brows there and say, “Um, what’s the difference there? Lose, not winning, there’s no difference.”
His smile grows as he pinches the bridge of his nose. “There is. Think, Kaya. Anyway, that’s not the main point.” He adds, “the main narration is about the pawn. You are blinded by its power, thinking it’s so weak until it emerges to be strong. It is the only one that moves from zero to hero. It is the only one who dies and rises again. It is the only one who allows the chance for the queens and knights to win.”
“Okay, okay, okay...” I wave my hands at him. “Just go straight to the point. What’s the use of all these?”
“Patience, Kaya. You lack that. You have determination and strength in your mind. Your body is strong, but you aim for results. You aim at when you will gain your powers. I can see the hate in your eyes. You want to crush all the people who’ve hurt you.” When he says that, I am taken aback, and it’s evident from the change in my demeanour.
“No, I don’t...” I lie. Maybe he’s a spy. I can’t afford to let him into what’s on my mind.
He chuckles again. “I do. I don’t need the powers of a werewolf to read you.”
My brows come together there. Maybe this man is more than he actually portrays himself to be. I wonder how we’ve come to this stage. He was supposed to just provide a medicine for me to heal from the food poisoning and also make a potion that would abort the pregnancy, but it’s strange how he is now wanting to teach me the secrets of life, a pattern that I’m starting to see myself as so naive of.
He is very learned in the medicinal course and also smart for someone like him. I wonder why he’s now working here if he’s so smart to shape his life.
“Are you not a werewolf?” I ask because I thought he was. That’s why there is a hatred in my heart for him.
He’s laughing at me. “Woah, not even the little witch is blinded by it.” It? He’s still laughing. “I get that a lot. I’ve just lived most of my life with the triplets enough to act like one. They’ve taught me how to be stronger than a natural human being. I might start to call myself a creature in between the bridge of human and werewolf.” He laughs at that suggestion of his, obviously not believing that is true too. But I’ll let him enjoy his jokes.
“Tell me about it.” I’m gaining interest.
“I was raised by foster parents in Middleville, but they got attacked by the triplets because they were witches. However, I didn’t come to hate them. Rather, I learned from them. And I became what I am today. I am able to sit here today with you and sharpen you up.”
The physician suddenly shifts forward. “Aiden and I were raised together, and that’s why I’m here today to help you with the things he wasn’t about to. We are part of the pawns who would die just to help you—that one lucky pawn who would someday grow into the beautiful queen that you’re destined to be. But that doesn’t mean you won’t suffer too. You will, and a great one at that. Now, tomorrow, I may not be here just like I wasn’t here yesterday or any other day before this moment.”
He holds my hands as he continues. I have found myself engulfed by his words. “Kaya, survive and win this race. Learn from the game. Become the top and win the competition of adaptiveness.”
A knock lands on the door suddenly before a maid enters. “Your highness requires your presence.” She’s talking to me, and as I stand up, Pete reminds me.
“Remember: the virtue of patience, the act of determination, the presence of persistence, the love for faith, and the fear of not winning. Be well, child.” He finishes, “and take this. It’s a medicine to clear your headache. Trust me, I am not destined to be the cause of you losing the baby,” and let me go.
As I leave the room, I wonder what those things have to do with me. But yes, I shall find out. And one more thing: what does he mean by saying he won’t be the cause of me losing my baby? What is that supposed to mean—that someday I’d still lose them?