The Game Room 01, the Game Room

Roni reached over slowly and touched Greg on the shoulder. Greg stirred, and not really knowing what position he had moved from, found himself sitting upright in the dark. "Where am I?" he asked in a whisper.

"Think as if it is a dream, Greg. That is the best way."

"But I'm sitting up and I am not asleep," answered Greg. "How can I be dreaming?"

Roni sighed, but so softly that Greg could barely hear. The dimmest of rosy lights brought definition to their surroundings, and both sat almost perfectly still on carpeted stairs. Their eyes slowly roamed the limits of a lecture-hall style room with a table in the center. Two ornately upholstered chairs sat facing each other at the table, and the tabletop had a chessboard inlaid in it.

"We are supposed to take seats at the table," Roni offered, and she and Greg slowly moved to the table and chairs.

"How do you know that, Veronica?" slipped past Greg's lips.

"I have been here before. Twice. It was different before, but you learn to know. They want us to sit so the game can commence."

"I do not play chess, you do not play chess. What game will we be playing? And who are they?"

"You will learn to know," Roni said quietly and moved toward the hall's center and took a seat. Greg slowly followed, inspecting rows and rows of empty seats. The level of light was rising, and shifting, as in the morning, toward a bright yellow. He sat also.

At the edge of the hall's seats a figure took shape, a dark woman wrapped in saffron colored silks.

"Who is that?" Greg whispered.

Roni responded, "The Queen of Sheba. She is always so glorious to behold. She highlights any color she chooses!"

Greg again, "She is dusky, and beautiful!"

Roni, "Shh!"

The Queen moved toward the table where Roni and Greg sat. "I commence this meeting of the many Daughters and the several Sons of Jerusalem."

A murmur passed through the hall, yet only the three were visible, Veronica, Greg, and the Queen of Sheba. Greg asked in a speaking voice, "Who else is here? Where do all the voices come from?"

The Queen of Sheba turned on Greg and cried in a rich alto voice, "Silence, Greg! The many Daughters of Jerusalem are here in their chosen aspects. None of the several Sons of Jerusalem are here. You may leave as a Son of Jerusalem, for this is an initiation for you. But you must learn to know, you must be more quiet, you must feel, perceive, and respond more from the heart and less from the tongue."

Greg sat stiffly in place, except for a slight nod. Roni smiled broadly at him, nodding small quick nods. Someone more stern than her had finally told him to be quiet.

Sheba continued, "Your longevity as a couple has come into question. It is not your decades together, but your beginnings. One tiny issue has arisen, and it is central to every play of every game determined from your ancestry and the fate of generations of your heirs. Past, present, and future, all are at risk, all are in our hands."

Roni jumped straight up and faced the Queen. "What issue, and where does it arise? My first times here I was applauded for my virtue and good record!"

"There is a Stephanie, and we came across her diary. Do you remember Stephanie, Roni?"

"My cousin sent her out with us as a chaperon in our first days together," Roni replied.