Black pawn to C5.
Her mother narrowed her eyes. “Is that a dealbreaker?”
White pawn to D4.
Porcelain clinked hollowly as Quin set her teacup on her saucer. “It is.”
Black pawn to D4. Pawn captures pawn.
“That is… inconvenient,” her mother said delicately. “But I suppose we can spin it in our favor somehow.”
White pawn to C3.
“My sexuality is not up for interpretation or debate,” Quin said, carefully, carefully.
Black pawn to C3. Pawn captures pawn.
After another sip of tea, her mother added another small scoop of honyl and stirred, metal scraping against porcelain. “Fine. You break things off with Waryn—we’ll think of a good reason for why—and after an appropriate amount of time, we’llannounce your bisexuality and your new relationship with a woman. I’m sure we can find an advantageous match.”
White knight to F3.
“I’m not bisexual,” Quin bit out.
Black pawn to D2. Pawn captures pawn.
She waved her hand dismissively. “Bisexuality plays better with the public. It always has.”
White bishop to D2. Bishop captures pawn.
Quin grunted, temper catching. “Why? Because me being bisexual, instead of a lesbian, still caters to the patriarchy somehow?”
Black knight to C6.
“Don’t be childish,” her mother snapped. “You can still eat as much box as you like as a bisexual.”
White pawn to E5.
Smoke huffed from Quin’s nostrils, hoof stamping in offense. “But it’s not true.”
Black pawn to D6.
“No one cares if it’s true, Quin! The truth doesn’t matter; it never has. It’s how you spin the story.”
White bishop to C4.
“It matters to me!” Quin cried.
Black pawn to E5. Pawn captures pawn.
Her mother smiled, a sharp slash across her face. “We all have to make sacrifices.”
White Queen to D8. Queen captures queen.
“Sacrifices?” Quin set her half-drunk tea back on the desk, and the porcelain rattled from her shaking hands, giving her away. “You’re asking me to lie aboutwhoI am. And for what? Because men I don’t even know will find me more palatable if they think they have a chance at fucking me?”
Black knight to D8. Knight captures Queen.
“There’s no need to be crude,” her mother sniffed. “I’m just being realistic about the world we live in. A world you have benefitted from your whole life, I might add.”
