Chapter 17 - Parents

As Professor Knudlac said, Elizabeth had the right to spend her time as she pleased that afternoon.

She was in her bedroom so welcoming in the Ice Temple. The boys were upstairs, in their rooms, having to read the notes about the magic contest they were to participate in, so she had nothing else to do but ... meet her beloved parents again.

So after she decided to disappear completely from her room, on the table in her bedroom, the diary was open on a blank page ... which got covered with letter ...

“Hi, Dad,” she hugged her father with deep love.

The same simple but beautifully arranged room, with the tidy desk, with the bookcase full of books, with upholstered table and chairs ...

Her father waited for her, standing.

“Hello, my dear,” he said and kissed her on the forehead. He lifted her in his arms and hugged her tight, responding with the same love, then he put her down.

“You can’t imagine how I miss you all the time, Dad. I always want you by my side.”

“I’d like to be with you all the time too, my dear.”

The girl started to smile again.

“But even so, even if it's just magic, everything is wonderful. And it’s good to see you ... to see you both.”

The father smiled, just as any dad would smile if his daughter told him how much she loved him and how much she missed him when he wasn’t around.

“What are we doing together today?”

"What you want, my dear," her father replied. “Today we’ll have someone else next to us too.”

A woman showed up, an adult version of Elizabeth. "Her eyes are like my eyes ... the hair, the same ... as well as the smile. In fact I have her eyes, her hair ... ”, Elizabeth thought. As for the smile, it faded away from Elizabeth’s lips. She cried so loud that one would say she’d never been sadder before.

“Did anything happen? Don't you feel good, my dear?” the woman asked as she approached the girl.

“No, mom,” Elizabeth took her in her arms. Because yes, she was her mother ... and she could feel her and touch her hugging her tight.

Elizabeth stopped crying. She was overjoyed that her mother was there. That she could take her in her arms, that she had the opportunity to feel her silky palm and her hair so fine and balmy touching her cheeks, that she could feel her mother's breath as she hugged her in her arms ... The girl hugged her mother and didn’t want to let her go. She cried in her arms and her mother cried too, both smiling at the same time.

“I'm so lucky I can see you, feel you and hold you in my arms. I'm glad I can see and hear you. Many children aren’t so lucky ...”

“When I created this magic I thought it would be terrible without this chance. The joy of hugging you,” her mother said with tears in her eyes. Even though my heart broke to pieces then, I didn’t manage to put in the spell even half of the suffering of the moment when I knew I wouldn't see you, my daughter ...”

The girl looked at her mother with sadness in her eyes.

"But let’s be glad we’re together, as we are," the girl said, with a soft smile.

“That's my girl. Strong ...” the father smiled. “How do you want to spend this day?”

The girl thought a little and then she showed a sly smile on her face.

“I’d like to learn to ride a bicycle. If you have nothing against ...”

“Of course not, my dear,” her parents answered in a voice.

The girl paused for a few moments and then continued:

“And I’d like to fly in the zeppelin. To see what it's like to float in the air like birds.”

The parents both smiled and in a warm and loving voice they both answered:

“Everything you want, dear.”

The father used his magic wand again. And all three appeared in a park where there were a lot of people. Elizabeth wondered if those people could see her parents, and as she could see a little boy riding his scooter bypass her father, she got that her mother's magic was indeed one of the strongest.

Near a small bench, a bicycle painted in red and white, waited for their daughter.

The mother sat on a nearby bench, while the father took the bicycle and placed it on the track that was intended for those who rode bicycles, scooters or other means of transport.

One hand held the handlebar and the other hand held the saddle.

“Ride it, my dear.”

“I'm a little scared .”

"You don't have to be scared as long as you’re with me," her father replied, so gently that she forgot about fear.

So she got on the bike saddle now.

“Now hold your hands close to the outer edge of the handlebar and start pedalling.”

The father held the handlebar with one hand, and the two began to move slowly at first, then a little faster, the girl pedalling the bike and the father walking beside her.

“I'm letting go the handlebar now.”

“No!” the girl smiled, scared.”

“Keep calm. Keep your hands on the handlebar at its end and keep pedalling. I’ll continue to hold the saddle.”

The Edwards family's child continued pedalling. At one point she didn't even feel that her father let her go alone and he moved away from her, yet he followed her very carefully.

The girl went a little further, and decided to take the turn to go back. Eventually, she succeeded. When she looked at her mother and saw her father was there, she was a little sad.

“Dad, why did you leave me alone?” asked the girl, struggling to stop her bicycle.

The father smiled and approached her, kissing her forehead.

“My dear, did you see you did great?”

“But I was scared when I saw I was alone. And you are no longer with me.”

“I wanted you to see that you do very well without me or your mother. Because there will come a day when we can no longer be near you.”

Elizabeth also smiled softly.

“Dad, I know you’ll always be with me. I just have this diary.”

“Yes, my dear ... we are and will always be. Beside you ... with you and in you, in your heart. But I want you to understand as well that we can’t be with you all the time. We can’t help you every time you need it. And then you’ll have to do it yourself.”

“Yes, I know that.”

The girl smiled and got off the bike.

“What do you say, shall we go on a zeppelin trip?” her father asked.

“Of course,” mother and daughter answered in a voice.

Another magic of the father led the three of them to a means of transport that used warm air to move and flew over the Thames, offering fairy tale images. A delightful view could be seen on the windows of that flying restaurant, which was so beautifully decorated, with carved tables and ornaments everywhere.

There was even a band that played warm and soothing music, and a wonderful voice accompanied that instrumental band consisting of piano, contrabass, violin and saxophone.

"It's great, Dad," the girl said, hugging her mother. “It’s superb.”

Everything became even more beautiful when the father approached them and took his daughter in his arms. All three hugged and admired that wonderful outside view.

The daughter had tears in her eyes ... tears of joy.

“Is anything wrong, my dear?” her mother asked.

“I'm happy,” said the girl wiping her tears. “I’m very happy and I never thought I’d be so happy, considering you ... you weren’t any longer with me.”

"But we are, my dear," the father said, touching the girl's chest in the heart area. We are and will be here forever, both in your heart and in your mind…”

The father wiped away the tears on her face and his daughter started to smile. All three still admired the magnificent landscapes on the banks of the Thames, the imposing and proud buildings of London and the brilliance of the winding river. They hugged excited about what they saw being together as any family should be, at least from time to time.

…

“Do you want to ride the flying train through the Andes?”

“No.”

“Then go in the magic sphere to the Earth Centre?”

"No," replied the girl weakly for it was clear something disturbed her. “In fact, it seems very interesting. But not now. I’d like to talk about the contest in which I’ll participate... and learn to play chess. Mr. Knudlac says it can help me develop my thinking.”

“I honestly tell you I expected to talk and play chess with you. It's just I didn't expect to speak so soon about the Contest. And not instead of having fun rolling over in the magic sphere towards the Earth Centre. But I’m very proud and glad my girl is more concerned with work than fun when it comes to an event like the Magic Contest.”

“Maybe we'll go there afterwards.”

“Of course, my dear.”

The father signalled to his daughter to sit at a large table. The two sat face to face, after which the father by magic made a chessboard appear with some small and playful chess pieces.

Those pieces have come to life at once. The pawns were soldiers carrying spears and the horses had riders dressed in armour, as if they were ready to take part in the biggest tournament of the year.

Those pieces ... have come to life at once. The pawns were soldiers carrying spears and the horses had riders dressed in armour, as if they were ready to take part in the biggest tournament of the year.

The castles were larger and had some soldiers and archers as small as some maize kernels, which ran both above them and in them, prepared for any assault.

The bishops were soldiers wearing a cape that covered their face, shrouding them in a complete mystery.

The white queen wore a gorgeous white dress with wonderful embroidery. The other queen, of course, was just as charming and beautifully dressed; only wearing a black dress. Both were accompanied by armed soldiers to the teeth, and on their heads they wore a crown worthy of the greatest queens.

And the king of the white pieces was accompanied by a gunsmith who carried some dangerous weapons such as a huge sword, spear, crossbow and a huge mace and also carried a white banner with a tiger on it. The king of the black pieces had a black banner, with an elephant on it.

Unlike the queens, they weren’t surrounded by soldiers. But they were dressed in armour that seemed to protect them against almost any danger. They carried in their arms a huge sword on which they leant, a small shield attached to the elbow and to the heart, as well as a large shield carried on their back.

Elizabeth was delighted at the view offered by that enchanted chessboard.

“If I knew chess was so interesting, I’d have started playing earlier. This chess board, compared to the one at the orphanage is great. The boys who played there had a decrepit board, and the pieces were chewed by the mice ... some were missing and replaced with smaller or larger stones with the piece drawn on them with coal.”

“Both boards have the same purpose, dear, to develop strategic and logical thinking. But I created this board just to induce your pleasure of playing. Playing on this board I hope you like it even more. To attract you, and when you play on a regular board you imagine these pieces and play with the same interest. No matter how decrepit the chessboard is or how old the pieces are, chess is a wonderful game from many points of view.

The girl stood up from the chair and admired all the pieces in the smallest detail. The father stood next to her and began to explain to her each piece, how to move it and what the purpose of the game was. His daughter listened intently and was even more careful when she saw the king surrounded by three pawns easily managed to face and defeat that knight in armour, or when the same king surrounded by two other pawns could easily storm that castle and destroyed the archers perched there.

Also, her father showed her how the cunning queen, together with a bishop, that mysterious assassin, managed to get past that pawn shield and kill the gunman leaving the king without weapons, unprotected and forcing him to give up the throne. And when he gave up all the pieces surrendered to the queen.

“Checkmate is called this move. It’s the move when the king’s lost. And the whole army’s lost ...”

The girl smiled delighted at her father’s demonstrations.

“Did you understand the moves?” her father asked.

“Yes.”

“Then let's play.”

“With you? I have no chance. As I can see, you play very well.”

“My dear, if you know how to move the pieces, then you know everything you need to play. The rest is up to you. Playing with better ones, you’ll lose the battles at the beginning, but you’ll learn to win the war. You’ll learn from others’ mistakes or achievements. If you carefully watch several players’ game styles, over time you’ll gain experience, you’ll take the best from each one and you’ll improve your style. And over time you’ll become a better player than me. The student will become better than the professor. It always happens that way. And this is valid in life, for anything. Not just in chess.”

The girl smiled.

“So shall we play?”

“Of course.”

With a move of the father's wand, the pieces returned to their original position and settled on their own, correspondingly on the chessboard.

The two began to play, and the father always advised his daughter about the options she’d have, good or bad, about the moves and especially about the strategy to follow.

The girl first thought for a few moments and only then moved the piece. Her father supported her regardless of the move; he told her when she was wrong and what might happen if she didn’t correct the error. In other words, he helped her understand the game better. But most important was spending time with her family. Those child-parent moments, which she missed so much ... as it happened to everyone sometimes, were now part of her life.

…

After countless times when Elizabeth stayed with her parents and travelled by the magic boat on the thermal rivers that crossed, winding, the high and snowy Lost Mountains, after enjoying the magic sphere that carried them to the most magnificent and so hot depths of the Earth and last but not least, after diving in an air bubble into the depths of the ocean where she managed to see in that deep darkness a lot of marine life, with the help of magic lights coming out of Eliot Edwards’ wand and carried by currents that illuminated everything, after all this and many, many chess matches lost against her father, daughter and father fought again and the mother sat next to them ... a new chess game, of course.

“Check,” the father warned her.

“I liked it more when you told me what to do.”

“That was more than three days ago. Now you’re responsible for your decisions, at least in chess. But you play very well, I have to admit. Better and better ... you learned so much in such a short time.”

“I'm proud of you, my dear,” her mother encouraged her too.

The girl thought a little and then moved a piece, but unfortunately she moved it wrong. The father as happy as a child with the help of a pawn removed a knight.

“I guess you're thinking of something else too, dear. What’s bothering you?” the father asked.

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Can we help you?” her mother asked as she got up from her chair. “Are you sick?”

“No, Mom. But three days later is the first test at this Magic Contest. And yet we don’t know exactly how to pass the test with the golems. I mean, we know theoretically what might mess them up, but we wonder if we really succeed in what we thought we’d do.”

“Yes, indeed, every creature made of ice is a feared adversary. It doesn’t compare to an ice dragon, over which if you somehow threw fire and injured it, it has the ability to take a mouthful of water, to blow with ice on itself and be as before. But, I'm sure these golems are very strong, too. I find it almost impossible for some children to face such an enemy.”

“Thanks, Dad, I’m much calmer now,” smiled the girl, because she knew her father did nothing more than express concretely what the situation was.

The father looked at his daughter sighing and with some personal reproach for his words.

“I know, but I still don't think you wanted me to say you should go to sleep peacefully as everything will be resolved.”

“You’re right.”

“And then, I said almost impossible, my dear. That doesn't mean you can't succeed. It's just going to be hard.”

Elizabeth sighed.

“Why do you think the other teams will succeed and you won't?”

“They’re trained much better than we are. Mr. Hikaiddo's students are true wizard warriors. They’re powerful and they work very well together; they’re united.”

“And the other team?”

“The elves? Well, they're elves. They’re wise and will surely win. They obey to each other; they accept each other just like Mr. Hikaiddo's students.”

“I think the common advantage of the two teams is that they pay attention to each other. They get on well and are united.”

“Yes, I think you're right.”

“The conclusion is that no matter what strategy you choose to fight with the golem, you must be united and collaborate, get on well.”

The father moved the wand.

On the table, there was the proud queen, that imposing queen who seemed to be invincible and surrounded by her devoted soldiers.

And on the same board there were two pawns, which stood next to each other and defended each other.

The father moved his wand and the pieces began to move.

“When this seemingly invincible queen attacks the two pawns, one defending the other, look what can happen.”

And the father attacked one of the pawns with the queen. The queen defeated that pawn, but the pawn defending the other destroyed the queen. The other soldiers who were on the side of that queen once without queen surrendered. The piece was destroyed.

“You saw how two pieces that seemed helpless, managed to destroy a powerful piece like the queen. You must be like these pawns even stronger because you’re three.”

The father made the queen appear again and turned her into a miniature golem.

“It will be the same with the golem if you are ...”

“United,” smiled the girl.

“Excellent! Very good, my dear. In order to succeed not only at this event, but in daily life too, in any other situation no matter how difficult it may be, you must know who you can really rely on. And with that person you can achieve almost anything, if you’re always united.”

“But ...,” she interrupted her father.

“Say it, my darling.”

“The queen was destroyed only with the sacrifice of that pawn.”

“Good observation. You see, this is another lesson. Always, but always, before you do anything, you must analyse the situation in such a way that you don’t endanger the others, if you cannot save them. That means you can do anything to win, but never sacrifice anyone to get a thing. No matter how big the gain is, don't sacrifice a friend for that. You could lose a true friend forever.”

Elizabeth took her father in her arms.

“Thanks, Dad. Every time I talk to you, I’m much calmer and more confident in myself and our team. Thanks.”

The father kissed the girl on the forehead and then asked her:

“And you could also talk to the other competitors. Considering that you’ll all win the same parchment and you won’t fight for it one against the other, they’ll certainly give you some good advice, considering their experience.”

The girl nodded, as she’d only have to win if she obeyed her father.

“Are we still playing a game?” the father asked.

“Of course.”

And the two, father and daughter, enjoyed the pleasure of this game, called chess, in the presence of Mrs. Edwards, a mother and a wife so devoted and full of love certainly as she were in real life.