The Fire Katherine Neville The only goal in chess is to prove your ...
The Fire Katherine Neville The only goal in chess is to prove your ...
The Fire Katherine Neville The only goal in chess is to prove your ...
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And more. It was a face he knew. A face he had imag<strong>in</strong>ed he would never see aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong> th<strong>is</strong> life.<br />
<strong>The</strong>n she was gone.<br />
He heard himself speak. “It cannot be.”<br />
How could it be? People do not r<strong>is</strong>e from the dead. And if they did, they would not look the same after<br />
fifty years.<br />
“Do you know that lady, Papa?” Xie asked <strong>in</strong> a wh<strong>is</strong>per so no one could hear.<br />
Solar<strong>in</strong> dropped <strong>to</strong> one knee <strong>in</strong> the snow beside h<strong>is</strong> daughter and <strong>to</strong>ssed h<strong>is</strong> arms about her, bury<strong>in</strong>g<br />
h<strong>is</strong> face <strong>in</strong> her muffler. He felt like weep<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
“For a moment she looked familiar,” he said <strong>to</strong> Xie. “But I’m sure I do not.”<br />
He squeezed her harder, as if he could wr<strong>in</strong>g her out. In all these years, he had never lied <strong>to</strong> h<strong>is</strong><br />
daughter. Not until now. But what could he tell her?<br />
“And what does her card say?” Xie wh<strong>is</strong>pered <strong>in</strong> h<strong>is</strong> ear. “<strong>The</strong> one with the fly<strong>in</strong>g bird?”<br />
“Apahsnah—it means ‘danger,’ ” Solar<strong>in</strong> <strong>to</strong>ld her, try<strong>in</strong>g <strong>to</strong> pull himself <strong>to</strong>gether.<br />
For God’s sake, what was he th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g? Th<strong>is</strong> was a fantasy brought on by a week of stress and bad food<br />
and m<strong>is</strong>erable cold. He must be strong. He got <strong>to</strong> h<strong>is</strong> feet and pressed h<strong>is</strong> daughter’s shoulder between h<strong>is</strong><br />
f<strong>in</strong>gers. “But perhaps the <strong>only</strong> danger here <strong>is</strong> of you forgett<strong>in</strong>g <strong>your</strong> practice!” He gave a smile that Xie did not<br />
return.<br />
“What do the other words say?” she asked.<br />
“Byrihgyees pahzhar,” he <strong>to</strong>ld her. “I th<strong>in</strong>k it’s just a reference <strong>to</strong> the firebird or phoenix <strong>in</strong> th<strong>is</strong> picture<br />
here.” Solar<strong>in</strong> paused and looked at her. “In Engl<strong>is</strong>h, it means, ‘Beware the fire.’ ” He <strong>to</strong>ok a deep breath. “Now<br />
let’s go <strong>in</strong>side,” he said, “so you can beat the pants off of that Ukra<strong>in</strong>ian patzer!”<br />
From the moment they entered the Vestry of Sergiev Lavra, Solar<strong>in</strong> knew someth<strong>in</strong>g was wrong. <strong>The</strong> walls<br />
were cold and damp, depress<strong>in</strong>g like everyth<strong>in</strong>g else <strong>in</strong> the so- called Women’s Summer. He thought of the<br />
woman’s message. What did it mean?<br />
Taras Petrossian, the dash<strong>in</strong>g nouveau capital<strong>is</strong>t <strong>to</strong>urnament organizer, <strong>in</strong> h<strong>is</strong> expensive Italian suit,<br />
was hand<strong>in</strong>g a large wad of rubles as a pourboire <strong>to</strong> a sk<strong>in</strong>ny monk with a big r<strong>in</strong>g of keys, who’d unlocked the<br />
build<strong>in</strong>g for the game. Petrossian, it was said, had made h<strong>is</strong> fortune through under- the- table deal<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>in</strong> the<br />
several designer restaurants and nightclubs he owned. <strong>The</strong>re was a colloquial word for it <strong>in</strong> Russian: blat.<br />
Connections.<br />
<strong>The</strong> armed thugs had already penetrated the <strong>in</strong>ner sanctum—they lurked everywhere <strong>in</strong> the Vestry,<br />
lean<strong>in</strong>g conspicuously aga<strong>in</strong>st the walls, and not just for warmth. Among other th<strong>in</strong>gs, th<strong>is</strong> low, squat,<br />
unobtrusive build<strong>in</strong>g served as the monastery’s treasury.<br />
<strong>The</strong> glut of the medieval church’s gold and jewels were d<strong>is</strong>played on pedestals <strong>in</strong> brightly lit glass cases<br />
scattered around the floor. It would be hard <strong>to</strong> concentrate on <strong>chess</strong>, thought Solar<strong>in</strong>, with all th<strong>is</strong> bl<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>g<br />
glitter—but there was the young Vartan Azov, already seated beside the <strong>chess</strong>board, h<strong>is</strong> large dark eyes<br />
focused upon them as they entered the room. Xie left her father and went <strong>to</strong> greet him. Solar<strong>in</strong> thought—not<br />
for the first time—that he would like <strong>to</strong> watch Xie wipe the board with the arrogant brat.<br />
He had <strong>to</strong> wipe that message from h<strong>is</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d. What did the woman mean? Danger? Beware the fire?<br />
And that face he could never forget, a face from h<strong>is</strong> darkest dreams, h<strong>is</strong> nightmares, h<strong>is</strong> worst horrors—<br />
And then he saw it. In a glass d<strong>is</strong>play case far across the room.<br />
Solar<strong>in</strong> walked as <strong>in</strong> a dream across the wide-open floor of the Vestry and he s<strong>to</strong>od look<strong>in</strong>g down at the<br />
large glass case.<br />
With<strong>in</strong> was a sculpture he had also thought he would never see aga<strong>in</strong>—someth<strong>in</strong>g as impossible and as<br />
dangerous as the face of that woman he’d glimpsed outside. Someth<strong>in</strong>g that had been buried, someth<strong>in</strong>g long<br />
ago and far away. Yet here it was before him.<br />
It was a heavy gold carv<strong>in</strong>g, caked with jewels. It portrayed a figure dressed <strong>in</strong> long robes and seated <strong>in</strong><br />
a small pavilion with the draperies drawn back.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Black Queen,” wh<strong>is</strong>pered a voice just beside him. Solar<strong>in</strong> looked down <strong>to</strong> see the dark eyes and<br />
<strong>to</strong>usled hair of Vartan Azov.