“I will, in time.” Creasey had the audacity to send me a smile over his laced fingers.
I lunged at him, brought up short by four men who held me hard. “Now,” I said, my voice strengthening. “That was the bargain.”
“Yes, but Mr. Denis has not kept his part. His toughs are surrounding my house even now, ready to battle it out. He has used my summons as an excuse to put himself in a position to best me, and he knows it.”
“Whatever our differences are.” Denis’s tones were frigid. “They have nothing to do with Lacey and the boy. Take that rag out of his mouth and hand him over.”
Creasey signaled to a man standing behind Peter. The man cut loose the gag and pulled it away. Peter tried to bite him.
I raised a hand in a calming gesture. “My friends and I will take my son and go. You have Denis. That should be enough.”
“Unlike you, I have no trust in him,” Creasey said. “I apologize for the gag. The boy has a foul mouth and a vile temper. I’d watch that, were I you.”
“Come, Peter, we are going.”
“Now, now.” Creasey lifted a finger. “I do not trust you either. But I know you are a man of honor. You wear it like a cloak. What I propose is this.” He folded his hands once more. “You were an interesting opponent in our game of chess. You and I will have a match. If you win, you take your son and leave unheeded. Your friends and Denis and all his men will be free to as well. We withdraw to fight another day.”
“And if I lose?” I asked tightly.
“You and your son will still be released. But all the others, including your army friend and your lackey, stay with me. To dispose of as I see fit.”
“This is not their fight.” My voice took on a growl.
“I could kill all of you on the moment.” Creasey ceased smiling, the steel in him coming forth. “Gratify me on this one point, and you and your boy, at least, will live.”
I drew a long breath. The chessboard lay waiting, the pieces in their rows. He’d planned even this, no matter that he pretended the proposed game was a spontaneous whim. He knew he had to let Peter go or risk the wrath of every magistrate and the entire House of Lords and most of the judiciary. But he could humiliate me and take his revenge on Denis at the same time.
“Major Eden has nothing to do with this,” I said. “He should leave now.”
“He made his choice,” Creasey said. “Now you must make one. Decide.”
The game? Or take our chances battling our way back to the street? And then every moment after that until Creasey was dead.
I tapped my way to the game table, which remained alone in its corner. “I have the advantage of moving first?”
“If you like.” Creasey pried himself to his feet and made his way to the board, guarded at every step.
I glanced at my friends. Brewster tried to signal me with agitated eyes not to accept. Eden’s brow furrowed in concern. Only Denis remained implacable, his expression a careful blank.
I’d seen Denis face his enemies before, outwardly calm, but inwardly raging. This time, even his eyes showed nothing. He protected everything from Creasey, including his true thoughts.
I pulled out a chair and sat down. “Then let us begin.”
“I will make it easier for you,” Creasey said as he seated himself. “We will play not just one game, but three. Whoever wins two of them will be declared the victor. That way you may learn from your mistakes.”
I did not want to learn a thing from this man but how loud he screamed when Brewster broke his bones. I removed my ruined gloves and set them on my knee.
“Very well,” I answered.
I immediately lifted a light jade pawn and moved it two squares forward. Creasey drew a breath at my abruptness but countered by bringing out his king’s knight.
We shifted the pieces one by one. Creasey expected me to pause and study before making each decision, so when I simply fanned out my pieces with decided clicks, he blinked a little.
Soon I had my pawns in a guarding line and had castled to move my king to a safer position.
Creasey formed a pawn chain of his own, taking control of a long diagonal. I moved my rooks to one corner, readying them to swoop. Creasey placed his queen to block this setup, and I took it with a knight.
While another man might curse at this loss, Creasey simply tookmyqueen with his bishop. He was setting up to check my king, and I sacrificed a pawn to prevent him.
