Photo credit: Iwan Gabovitch
Staring at the game board, Lamantas considered his opponent. The new jayanta’s mistake exposed his eastern flank. Lamantas wished he knew this gruff warrior well enough to predict his reaction to losing. He held his shaking knees, but his stomach still churned. The previous jayanta had beheaded advisors for no worse an offense.
The younger man frowned at the board. Had he seen it?
Lamantas was too old to fake ignorance. His hand flashed out, taking three opposing pieces from the board. There, it was done.
The jayanta’s frown deepened. He hadn’t seen it. His finger traced patterns in the air, his eyes darting over the earlier positions, forward to the next steps.
The guards shifted closer, metal clanking, boots scraping. Lamantas had survived the last ruler. He wondered how much longer his luck would hold.
The jayanta’s deep voice rumbled. “You’ve won.”
Lamantas shrugged, oddly calm. “Perhaps.”
The jayanta laughed. “Well spoken. We start again, then. New game, new lesson.”
The guards relaxed. One even smiled. For the first time in years, Lamantas hoped.
Word count: 175. Written for this week’s Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers challenge. Thanks to Priceless Joy for hosting, and to Iain Kelly for providing the original photo, below. Click here to read the other stories, and to submit your own.
Photo © Iain Kelly
I was holding my breath till the end there, Joy. Such suspenseful writing! The new jayanta sounds wise, but I wonder how he will react if he keeps losing… 🙂
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I had originally wanted to include a lot more (as always) about how, for instance, the jayanta wanted to play by the more complicated “western rules” and that’s why he messed up, and also that he kept speaking brokenly in the local tongue, insisting on practicing it with his new advisor — the idea being that he’s more interested in bettering himself than worried about embarrassing himself while he learns. I also had him saying something about that directly, that he wants the challenge because how else will he learn. Still, even he might lose patience if he keeps losing; hopefully his new advisor can teach him better st
rategy before that happens.
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Phew, glad he was a good loser! Nice take on the prompt Joy, great tension built up.
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Thanks Iain – and thanks for the inspiring prompt! I’m glad the tension came through.
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I agree! This is excellent! Great tension build-up and I loved the ending! Great story, Joy!
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Thanks PJ, glad you enjoyed it! It’s nice to have a happy ending for a change, I think. 🙂
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Yes, it is!! 🙂 🙂
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I am glad you kept it to the game along, it worked so well. Great tension, I felt as if i was Lamantas
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Thanks Mike! I wasn’t if it was tense enough, so I’m glad that worked.
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Love this Joy! Glad it ended the way it did!
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Thank you! I’m pretty glad it turned out well for him too. 🙂
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An exciting scene, Joy – definitely one to keep us hooked throughout. Great characterisation and an ending to make us sigh with relief. 🙂
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Glad you liked it, Millie, thanks for reading!
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I agree great tension build-up here, I was waiting for Lamantas to lose his neck, but reason prevailed.
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Thanks, I’m so glad it worked! And three cheers for reason prevailing — it’s a wise leader who sees the value in advisors who know more than he does.
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