Checkmate

Madir grasps his locket, and closes his eyes. “I must convert every man, woman, and child that I come across. In case it’s not clear, I mean every race. I wrote down ’person’ and I was thinking, someone might mistake that as meaning only human—”

“We know,” Jonan says flatly. “In case it’s not clear, this is Diana.”

He tightened his lips, and forced a chuckle. “Selene, you mean.”

“Let’s make that Jonan,” I suggested. “It does work.”

“I vote in favor,” Charlotte said, and so it was done. “Go on, Madir.”

“My head hurts,” said Roslyn. “Wait, let me talk as Sarah for a sec. I’m all confused between the layers.”

“It’s almost like a fugue,” I added, as both a Bach enthusiast and the referee. “I like it, to be honest. I can say, for example, It is a dark and stormy night.”