The New Hand, Part Twenty-Two

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Slash Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: PG-13

LINK TO PART ONE

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Adam and David had their heads bent over the chess board for almost five hours. They spoke very little during that time—each man was too wrapped up in his strategy. It was one of the toughest games Adam could remember playing.

Adam won, but it was a near thing. He had to rely on some high risks moves in the endgame to secure the victory—and he was pretty sure those risks wouldn’t pay off a second time.

David had an appreciative gleam in his eye when he shook Adam’s hand and congratulated him. But Adam knew that his mind was already at work. He was figuring out where he had made his mistakes and what he could do to beat Adam in the inevitable rematch.

They remained at the board when the game was over. Now it was time to discuss each other’s moves and motivations, starting all the way back at the openings. And then all the what-ifs began: What if you had brought your queen out later? What if you’d been able to promote that pawn? And, of course, each what-if required the two men to go back to that point of the game and play it out from there.

They didn’t head back to their rooms until early in the morning. Not that it mattered—Adam knew that it would be impossible to put his plan into action until Monday anyway. David could rehearse his role in the meanwhile, but that was all.

That left plenty of time for more chess games, Adam thought as he entered his room and loosened his cravat. Moreover, it left plenty of time to figure out just what he thought of David—and just how deep of a friendship he was willing to form with him.

LINK TO PART TWENTY-THREE