The truce between Gaant and Enith is young and tenuous. As Calla, a former military nurse from Enith, walks into a busy city of Gaant, she is met with curious stares. The Gaantish people are no longer a threat, but their natural telepathy is still unnerving. Calla carries a small game of chess in the hopes that her friend is awake and feeling well. Officer Valk and Nurse Calla, despite being on opposite sides of the decades-long war and both being a prisoners of the other, have developed an unlikely friendship.
The short novella, That Game We Played During The War, reveals the history of a friendship through a games of chess. Typically, chess is a strategy game, but as the Gaantish are telepathic, games of strategy are pointless when you can read your opponents mind. Calla learns to play chess with spontaneity that surprises even herself. The warm relationship between Calla and Valk is even more effective as a symbol for two warring countries who learn to make peace despite their differences.
Recommended for fans of games and all they can symbolize!
“I remember you. You were kind.”