Checkmate

Prologue

"Lio."

I looked up as my name was called. 

There was no expression on his face. Nothing to tell me what I wanted to know. Inscrutable as always, much as he had been when we first met, that day I'd found him waiting at my chambers in Warrior's Quarters, completely out of the blue. 

Just as the proposition had been. 

"Why me?" I asked, taken aback, curious and, I admit it, a little flattered.

"We've been watching." He said, simply. "So. What do you think?"

I met his eyes briefly - not many could have held that steady, almost too perceptive gaze for long - before nodding. That they even considered me a candidate was something. 

"Good." He stood up. "Start packing."

I didn't ask questions. I packed while he watched and was done within minutes. He glanced at my one bag and then at me. I shrugged. 

"A man of few words. And possessions." He said, and I got the uncomfortable feeling he could see right through me. 

"Follow me."

That day, I'd followed him out of my chambers in Warrior's and into a completely different world. Today, I was going to find out if I was going to stay in it. If I'd earned my place in it.

They'd pushed me, taken me to my limits, physically and mentally, thrown me into a variety of situations, shoving me off the cliff - literally, on one occasion - to test me. If I'd thought Warrior training rigorous, this had taken things to a different level. 

I'd revelled in all of it. 

It had given the predator in me room to roar.

And now, here I was, a year later.

As I entered the room, I scanned it, an automatic response, noting the exit points, the furniture, possible weapons - and the occupants. 

Only two, apart from myself. Him and another, standing in the shadows so it wasn't easy to identify much, apart from the fact it was a male and more slightly built than I was. 

He gestured for me to take a seat. After a moment, I sat where I had both of them in my sight, as well as the door and the windows. His eyes flickered, but his expression didn't change.

I waited. The ball was in his court, after all. 

He was silent for a while, that unnerving gaze steady on me. I'd learned over the past year to meet it calmly, but it was no less imposing, no less uncomfortable to bear. 

Eventually he spoke.

"You must be wondering."

I shrugged. 

"The man of few words." He said softly. "But many thoughts." He levelled his gaze at me again. "One of the things we've observed this year. Would you like to know the rest?"

I watched as he reached for the goblet on the table beside him, his eyes never leaving mine.

"You have combat skills, with and without weapons. You have speed and strength, agility and flexibility, to be expected of anyone with Warrior training." He sipped from his goblet. "Your tracking skills are the strongest in your arsenal. For the rest, you're good, better than good even, but not the best." He set his goblet down again. "So do you know why you were approached, Lio?"

I didn't say anything. There was no point, he was going to tell me anyway.

"There it is." He said, leaning forward, eyes intent on me. "That patience. The ability to wait. To be still and watch. You're careful, cautious, you watch before you make your move."