Friday, December 4, 2015

Chess Table Girl (illustrated by Kai Martin)

When Sergei was a young boy he, along with his Uncle, Aunt and cousins had a picnic on a small island near Venice. He wandered off and encountered a woman near a gate, waiting for it to open. Sergei tried to pull it open for her.

Sergei returned to the island many years later and once again encountered the woman. This time, he was able to kick open the gate, allowing them to enter into Alain’s court, which had hidden itself from Death’s touch.

While Death and Sergei enter the court, Alain is in one of the rooms of his palace playing chess with a woman named Marie. They are using a nude woman, as a table for the chess board. One of Alain’s servants rushed into the chamber and announcing that people were dying. As he did so, the chess table girl raised up, spilling the chess pieces all over the floor.

The chess table girl appears in the Death story from Endless Nights on page 19.

This is a wonderful portrait from Kai. I love the expression on her face. She seems slightly bored. I like her hair and how it frames her face. I also like how the chess board is balanced on her back. It almost looks like it is stable, but could slide off her back at any moment.

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