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Dallear furrowed his brow in concentration as he looked at the board before him. Ashan had just moved his black and violet ice piece in front of the water one the Monk was planning on moving to destroy his fire. If he tried to move it, he would simply feed the ice with his water and wouldn't be able to destroy the fire, which would probably mean he was defeated. He studied the board for long moments, his chin resting on his united fingertips, looking for some other way out. He found none. He had never been very good at those types of games. He could never look at the bigger picture and plan a strategy. Maybe that was because he was so bad with politics. Or maybe he hated the game because it reminded him of politics.

He sighed deeply and was about to admit his defeat when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kairha closing the book she had been reading and getting up from the couch. He turned on his chair and smiled when she looked at them.