One King, One Queen

Adriana Patroi Miu
Sometimes, she sets an alarm on purpose, in the dead of night, just because she's afraid of getting trapped in one of her dreams. She wakes up. She stands, and that's when she hears the wind howling, whispering something to her, something that happened long ago, something about her. Or maybe she just read a book once, one that made her carry the weight of a forgotten character on her shoulders. She's forgotten the story, too. She talked to the building manager about replacing the broken windows. But what if the wind's whisper stays?
 
 George Dometi
He sat there, gnawing at the fat under his nails after the feast of His sacrifice, spitting into a pot wrapped in snakeskin. His eyes burned with fire. So he took off his crown, revealing the gap in his gold-plated teeth, and set it on the table. In a corner of the Garden, Eve was plotting to steal it. She tied a vine around her forehead, covered her face in clay from the ribs of the earth, and sharpened the dagger she had hidden inside a pomegranate-wood cane. By morning, rotting apple blossoms carpeted the ground at the feet of their new ruler.
 
 Alex Micu
There should have been snow and frost. But a few weeds sprout between the stone slabs of the pavement. In one corner, the cement and mosaic table is broken. Some of the red squares, meant to stand for black, are cracked. There, someone, once, was defeated. The sovereign, alone and powerless, bowed his head, striking the board. His crown was too heavy. His opponent's mind was too sharp. I pick up my little princess and place her on the chessboard. Her shoelace has come undone, and now I tie it. Make it a bow, says the queen.

 
(Translated by Larisa Marta Mreană / University of Bucharest, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, MTTLC, year I / Corrected by prof. dr. Nadina Vișan / Edited by Silvia Petrescu, coordinator of the translations)