The Chess Queen Enigma by Colleen Gleason Read Free Book Online Page A

since. The last I’d heard, she was in Paris—or so the letters and their postmarks had indicated. Three notes, the last of which had arrived more than ten months ago, and none of them gave a real clue as to her location or motive for leaving.
    My eyes stung. I blinked rapidly, keeping my face averted as I pretended to search through my small jewel box for more hair adornments.
    â€œWhy don’t you tell me why the Theoph—whatever—chess set is so important, and I’ll finish the back of your hair. Otherwise we’ll be here forever.”
    I sat rigid as Evaline moved in behind, taking up the heavy hanks of my chestnut brown hair and deftly pinning them into place. “What is known as the Theophanine Chess Set was created and designed for the Byzantine King Otto II, and his wife, Theophano. Scholars believe it was one of the first instances of the game in which the chess queen piece makes an appearance.”
    â€œDo you mean the queen wasn’t always part of it? But chess is a very old game, isn’t it?”
    â€œYes, indeed.” I relaxed slightly and launched into my lecture; Miss Stoker seemed surprisingly well-versed in playing lady’s maid. “The game we know of as chess was first playedin India and Persia in the fifth century, although it resembled more of a war strategy exercise rather than a game of entertainment. Along with the king and his men, there were chariots and elephants as well as horses as pieces—all of which were common to Arabian armies.
    â€œThe earliest versions of the game that came West from the Far East included a piece that was called a vizier, which as surely you know, is the king’s most trusted advisor and confidante. And that piece began to be replaced by a queen around the year 1000, or more specifically, in the 1030s . . . when King Otto was married to Theophano. The particular chess set of which I am speaking was commissioned with a chess queen replacing the vizier—for the white player only. Not only is it a unique set because of the mismatched pieces, but it could be the first one ever with a queen.” I eyed Miss Stoker’s work critically, but could generate no complaints. If anything, she made my hair look softer and more feminine than usual, which was fortunate, considering the size of my proboscis.
    â€œYour hair is such a pretty color,” Miss Stoker said as she jabbed—none-too-gently—a glittering sapphire and jet pin into the top of my coiffure. “It’s brown, but looks auburn in some light. And it’s got threads of gold in it, and even a little copper.”
    â€œThank you,” I replied, surprised by her compliment. But there was more to tell her. “The Theophanine Chess Table, as you have seen, is currently housed in the British Museum,but for centuries it was in the custody of the Betrovians until it was brought to London fifty years ago during the last State Visit. However, the chess pieces themselves have been in the possession of the English since Eleanor of Aquitaine, the mother of Richard the Lionheart. The entire chess set, with the exception of the queen, has been on display in the museum since the return of the chess table. The queen has been missing for centuries, and the last person known to have had it was Queen Elizabeth.”
    â€œRight. So this letter—which has been stolen—supposedly tells where she hid the chess queen. I do not understand all this fuss about an old chess piece.” She sounded bored.
    â€œIt’s not just an old chess piece, Evaline.” I rose impatiently from my chair. “It’s part of a combination-like key that opens the bottom of the Theophanine Chess Table. Surely even you noticed it yesterday, and you can see how massive the base is. Legend claims a cache of Byzantine jewels, as well as some ancient writings, are hidden inside.”
    The mention of jewels seemed to perk up my companion.