Castling Queenside - Part 2
Castling Queenside: Alice/Mirana, this little game we play
Part 2
Mirana quickly settled back into their normal routine. Their games of unconventional chess continued, and though Alice had made significant gains in skill it was still their conversation she most valued.
But something told her tonight was different.
Alice had turned up at her door at their normal time, but she had forgone any type of greeting. Grinning mysteriously, she had crossed the room with short, assured steps and begun setting the chess board.
Confused, Mirana took her place across from Alice and watched as the board was set up with all the pieces in their normal positions. What sort of game would they be playing tonight? Perhaps Alice would try to play without taking any pawns. Or maybe this game she would try and possess the center squares for as long as possible.
Or perhaps, in one of her favorite of Alice's chess variations, they would ignore the king entirely and treat the queen as the piece upon which victory depended. Once, after checkmating Alice's king, she had simply waved her hand and said, "Take him! I don't see how the king is of much use anyhow." and continued on playing without one.
But as the game progressed, Mirana could not quite determine what Alice was up to. Was she trying to play only with her knights again? Or occupying only white squares?
Why, if she didn't know better, she would almost think that Alice was playing... well, normal chess! The positions of her pieces controlled several important strategic squares. She had not carelessly lost any pieces since the game began, and instead seemed to be cautiously setting up for something.
Mirana, suspicious, decided it would be best to try and end the game as quickly as possible. But her aggressive strike at Alice's king was neatly cut off.
The queen watched in shock as Alice's bishop pinned a knight to a weak position, and her own king was put into check. She had not expected... too many of her pieces remained on their opening squares.
She attempted to maneuver out of whatever trap Alice had planned, but as the girl brought her queen into play she began to feel a sense of impending doom. Two moves later she was proved correct as her escape routes were increasingly cut off.
A bishop and queen sealed off several of the king's surrounding squares, and when a knight moved forward to attack, she realized she had no escapes left. Her hand hovered over the board in shock. Alice tipped over her king gently with a single finger, smiling in a way that managed to be both sheepish and mischievous.
"Checkmate."
Mirana's eyes flicked between the board and her champion as what had just happened sunk in. Impossible... she could not have just...
She began to laugh. Hand held at her mouth, she erupted into great gales of laughter, and it was not long before Alice joined in. How the pair of them must have looked, sitting at a chess board in complete hysterics.
Alice's eyes, full of affection and joy, arrested her and as Alice stood she did as well. "Well. What do I win? After slaying the jabberwocky, you gave me a vial of its blood. So what do I get for completing this impossible task?"
What could Alice mean by this? But there was only one answer she could give in such a buoyant frame of mind. "Anything you wish, Alice. Whatever you want is yours, if it is within my power."
Alice smiled slyly, scratching a finger along her jaw. "Well. There is one thing..." her voice trailed off playfully.
The queen stood stunned as Alice moved a step closer. She couldn't possibly...
But though Alice wasn't touching her, she was certainly well inside the platonic bubble maintained for propriety's sake. All inner debate was completely halted as Alice's hand came up to rest on her cheek.
The queen felt like a burning weight had settled on her chest, and she could barely breathe. Alice was... she was... her thumb stroked gently across the queen's cheekbone, and Mirana swayed forward.
Alice leaned in until their foreheads were touching and met her eyes hesitantly. The queen realized that Alice was giving her a chance to back away, and in a jolt of emotion her hand darted up to hold Alice's own against her face.
Breathing deeply through her nose, Alice's eyes squeezed shut and she darted forward, placing a gentle kiss on the queens lips. But the contact lasted only a second before Alice staggered back, tense and frightened looking.
Mirana gazed at Alice in shock once again, but this time with hope and joy burning through her veins and a desire that could not be denied.
She stepped confidently towards Alice, one hand burying itself in her thick hair and the other around her lower back, squeezing their midsections together. Pulling the younger woman towards her, she pressed their lips together once again. Gently pulling at her lower lip, the queen let her hand roam across the smooth curves of Alice's back and her strong shoulders.
Alice, still tense, seemed to have no idea what to do with her hands and was capable of little more than shaking in Mirana's arms. Pulling back slightly, Mirana realized she might be going a bit fast, considering there was little chance of Alice having done... something like this... before.
Chuckling, Mirana took Alice's face in both of her hands, her smile blindingly joyful. "Alice." she whispered. Waiting until the younger woman opened her tightly shut eyes, she tried once again to shift her focus.
As soon as Alice met her eyes, the girl started to speak nervously, "I... sorry, I don't..."
"Alice." the queen cut her off. "My dearest friend, my champion, my wild, otherworldly girl, I love you more than I ever imagined was possible. So, you do not need to be nervous..." her words were cut off as Alice flew into her arms, burying her face into the queen's shoulder.
Wrapping her arms tightly around the younger woman, she felt more than heard Alice's soft mantra of 'I love you' against her dress sleeve. Burying her nose into Alice's curly hair, she could not imagine a greater happiness than this.
And when Alice hauled herself up to Mirana's lips once again, this time her kiss was wild and uncontrolled. Mirana felt Alice's hands brush across her stomach and trace along her sides, moving up to the bare skin of her neck. The queen shook at the sensation of Alice's nails grazing lightly up her neck, and tore her own mouth away to lavish open mouthed kisses along Alice's jaw, and to trace the lines of her neck with her lips and tongue and teeth.
At Alice's surprised, desirous yelp, Mirana's hands darted around and practically tore off her overcoat and set to work on the clasps of the dress underneath. Alice leaned against her, panting heavily as Mirana shucked her of multiple layers of clothing. Eventually the girl darted in, lips pressed hotly against Mirana's ear, to ask "This had better be the part where we go to bed, or I am going to fall over."
Laughing, Mirana steered them to her bed. Pressed against silk covers, the queen finished divesting her champion of clothing and started on her own. And, hands roaming against smooth skin, they laughed and kissed and moaned in the darkened room. Thighs and arms tangled, they reveled in the feel of curved hips and soft breast pressed tightly together, and in the knowledge that they would be doing this a great deal in the future. A future that would be filled with companionship and love, and a happiness the white queen had not imagined possible.
This was Alice, after all, who would never stop surprising her into fits of hysterics. Mirana was reminded of this anew when, the next morning, Alice had asked entirely seriously if she had ever heard of queening. Mirana, unable to figure out which meaning Alice intended, had collapsed into shocked laughter instead. And in this moment she felt profoundly the knowledge that she had finally found the person she loved, who would share her life and its dangers and frustrations. When she told this to Alice, they were both made extremely late to breakfast. But, what did she care? She was the queen, after all. She would have breakfast sent up to her room. Perhaps lunch, as well...