Malachi, their third teammate, simply nodded his silent approval, his dark eyes never leaving the board. I still couldn't tell if he was deeply invested in their aggressive strategy or contemplating the existential emptiness of board games as a metaphor for the futility of human ambition. With him, it could genuinely go either way.
Team Queens was perhaps the most fascinating to observe, and not just because of the sheer aesthetic contrast they presented.
Isabelle managed to make sitting cross-legged on a floor cushion look like she was holding court on a throne. Everything about her posture screamed royalty—the straight back, the lifted chin, the way she held their property cards like they were royal decrees. Each acquisition and decision was made with the kind of regal certainty usually reserved for monarchs declaring war or choosing their heirs.
