https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png "I think you should strive for what you want." What did he want, exactly? Thomas spent a lot of time thinking about what other people wanted, or what he'd always felt denied. He did not spend all that much time thinking about what he wanted. Maybe it was fairness. A ...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Thomas' lips quirked. "Oh, if I win, we'll play again. And we'll keep playing until you win or I tire of checkers, and I'm rather fond of checkers, so that could take some time." He said archly. Clearly, he did not mean it. If Zilrud wanted to stop, he need only say ...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Zilrud surprised him, again and again, both on the board and in general. He had been paying attention in round one, sure, and he was intelligent. Thomas had considered both of those things as givens. What surprised him, though, was to watch Zilrud experiment with tac...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Thomas was darkly fascinated by the stark, brutal picture of his young life that Zilrud painted. Rokhan, or at least his clan within it, seemed like a chaotic place. Thomas knew, though, that for all of its violence, it was also home to many brave and noble people. F...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png In the first game, Thomas didn't really have to try very hard. He paid attention, sure; Zilrud was a novice but not a fool. A smart beginner could be a devious opponent and Thomas was aware that when it came to games of strategy, he was no master. This round was goin...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png One of the many things Thomas appreciated about Zilrud is that he asked good questions. Even when he knew nothing of the context surrounding a situation, his lines of inquiry were direct and tended to hew to the core of the matters. As someone who had spend many year...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Thomas had been fairly certain he would win the first game. He had taught Zilrud the rules of the game right at the beginning, but had made no attempt at teaching him strategy. The reasons for this were not nefarious. He thought that Zilrud, not unlike Thomas, would ...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Thomas had no desire to make this some kind of uneven match where he trounced Zilrud because he knew how to play and the Orkhai did not. When Zilrud had shown him how to whittle, he had been fair and understood that Thomas' facility with such practices was nowhere ne...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png "No one who is stupid could live the life you've lived and survive, Zilrud." Thomas said, mirroring the orkhai's solemnity and use of his given name. "It is no small thing to do what you've done. Perhaps to you it just seems like you were doing what you had to do to ...

https://i.imgur.com/TZFDaPS.png Thomas was oddly cheered by the thought of Zilrud murdering people for him. Or rather, it would be odd to others were it not one of the primary ways many of his lovers showed their affection. He didn't enjoy being so weak that he needed protection, but he appreciated...