Lily POV
I returned to the library almost without thinking.
My feet knew the route better than I did.
The room was empty, exactly as I'd left it that morning, save for the chessboard still sitting open on the small table beneath the window.
Checkmate.
The white knight remained where I'd moved it. The hidden compartment beneath the board stood open a fraction of an inch. I reset the position carefully.
Black king. White queen. Pawns lined up neatly like shields. Every piece returned to its proper square.
For several minutes, I simply stared at the board.
There were twenty legal opening moves. Hundreds of established continuations. Millions of possible games. The mathematics were beautiful Elegant. Predictable.
And utterly useless.
A chessboard required another person. An opponent.
