Rommy paused again for longer this time, furrowing her brow and peering down in consternation to try and find a way out of the trap he had laid. She moved her king, because there was little else to do to avoid the check, but she felt sure he would soon have her at checkmate.
“Oh, all sorts, you wouldn’t believe the sort of hexes people put on things,” Rommy said, blowing out a breath and becoming more candid in conversation the less she was focused on it. “There was once a board that made its players start walking in chess moves, after they’d used it – like a knight, two steps forwards and one to the side.” She did not understand why, but if there was anything she had learnt from working at the hospital, it was that humanity was often incomprehensibly stupid. “Books are worse culprits for putting curses on people, though, usually,” she teased – not that Mr. Ainsworth would have experience of those sort, necessarily, at the library.
“Oh, all sorts, you wouldn’t believe the sort of hexes people put on things,” Rommy said, blowing out a breath and becoming more candid in conversation the less she was focused on it. “There was once a board that made its players start walking in chess moves, after they’d used it – like a knight, two steps forwards and one to the side.” She did not understand why, but if there was anything she had learnt from working at the hospital, it was that humanity was often incomprehensibly stupid. “Books are worse culprits for putting curses on people, though, usually,” she teased – not that Mr. Ainsworth would have experience of those sort, necessarily, at the library.
