White knight to E5. Knight captures pawn.
“What if I don’t want to be in this world anymore? What if I want more out of my life?”
Black knight to F6.
“What more could you possibly want, Quin? We have given you everything!” Her mother waved at their surroundings, the lavish furnishings and creature comforts. “The best education, the nicest housing, the most secure financial future. And you still ask for more?”
White knight to C3.
“I just want to be happy,” Quin said, hating how much it sounded like pleading.
Black pawn to E6.
“And happiness comes at a cost!” her mother shouted, raising her voice for the first time. “And I don’t know if you’re willing to pay it. You can’t have it both ways. You don’t get to have everything you want.”
White castles queenside.
“So I have to sacrifice everything instead? How is that fair?” Quin seethed.
Black bishop to B4.
“Don’t be naive. Life isn’t fair, and you know it,” Claryn spat, expelling smoke with every word she spoke. “Listen to me, and listen carefully. You want to live happily ever after with a woman? Fine! But it will be a woman we approve of. You will break up with Waryn because of infidelity or abuse—take your pick—and you will play the heartbroken, spurned lover until we deem it’s enough.”
White bishop to B5. Bishop checks king.
“You can’t,” Quin said, even though they could, and panic settled deep in her bones, turning her veins to ice. “I won’t let you ruin him. He’s my friend. He has been nothing but wonderful and understanding, and I won’t let you destroy his life just to get back at me.”
Black king to E7.
Her mother scoffed. “You think too highly of yourself, my dear. It has nothing to do with you and everything to do with our image. You will leave him, not the other way around, and we will give a good reason.”
White pawn to A3.
Quin laughed, though there was nothing humorous about any of this. “Why isn’t my sexuality a good enough reason? Why do we have to destroy his reputation?”
Black bishop to C3. Bishop captures knight.
Her mother smacked a hand on the desk with a loudwhack, making Quin jump in her seat. “Because actions have consequences, Quin. Of all the lessons I have taught you, this was always the most important. You want to be with a woman and ‘live your truth’—or whatever nonsense the woke mob is spouting these days—then you’ll have to live with the price of that privilege.”
White bishop to C3. Bishop captures bishop.
No, Quin couldn’t do that. She couldn’t ruin Waryn’s life. He was her friend, her ally, her partner. In every way she was capable, she loved him.
“And if I can’t live with it?” she said, voice breaking. “If I won’t?”
Black pawn to A6.
“Then you get the fuck back in line and do your duty,” her mother said, so simply, so casually, like she wasn’t asking Quin die inside. “You marry Waryn, and, I don’t care if you have to get black-out drunk to stomach it, you will bear his child andgive this family an heir. You still need pussy? Have all you like, but you keep it in the shadows and deities help you if you get caught.”
She breathed in deeply and picked up her teacup, taking one final, victorious sip. “You toe the line, like all the ones who came before you, and you do it with a smile on your face. Becausethatis what loyalty costs, my dear.”
White bishop to B4. Bishop checks king.
No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. But it was. She was trapped, boxed in on all sides, and she was out of moves.
Checkmate.
Her mother waited patiently, hands folded demurely on the desk, a pleasant smile on her face. Tears strangled her, but Quin refused to let them gather in her eyes. She wouldn’t give her mother the satisfaction of making her cry.
