Chapter Nineteen

During his convalescence, Senjian taught Wishbone to play riverbridge.

For a while after the poison incident, Senjian mostly slept. Then, since he had lost so much flesh, he mostly slept and ate, leaving bed to receive a seemingly endless series of gifts from Duke Arlefantar. Their host for the solstice had lost considerable face over the poisoning and was desperate to disown the acts of servants who were arrested and condemned by the Church. There was no strength in Senjian for the normal businesses of trading and spying, but he could sit up in bed and move the carved stone bridge counters over the honeycomb board.

Wishbone found he had a knack for keeping moves in his head. From there, he built up an understanding of strategy and soon could play well enough to provide Senjian with a modest challenge. As his understanding of the game progressed, so did his picture of the culture that had devised it. He could almost visualize the warm, lush land of many rivers, the bridges that turned the rivers from barriers to tactical crossings, and the formalized battles fought by Senjian's ancestors back and forth across these bridges.

"Or each hexagon is status, title, and influence. Or a powerful Church, corrupt Justice, and an indifferent King," said Senjian. "Or again, gifts that bear charms, as did the comb. Each gift presented to a human, who may put it away in a drawer with similar gifts or, if we are fortunate, carry it...