I didn’t know where I kept going wrong. Usually, I ruled at board games with my family. I’d always been decent at games, even when they were mostly luck. Heck, the dice games that were all luck were the best, usually. Still, today I couldn’t seem to catch a break. I sighed as Indigo joined us after her lesson with Lady Twilight.

My die landed on a 5, usually a great number, except five spaces ahead was a chute and I slid down from 64 to 60.

Indigo chirped like it was the most hilarious thing and flew to pick up the die, then she dropped it. It crashed into the board, showing a 3, and she landed on spot 51, which included a ladder, which she then climbed up to 67.

The happy dance she did in the air made me smile. Though, I swore each time the die got back to me they were just a little smaller, like Indigo practiced her shrinking magic on it. The Cat batted the die with his paw and it rolled across the board, somehow missing the meeples. A 2 glared up at me, and my eyes narrowed. His piece moved from 69 to 71 then climbed to 91.

I wondered if this was how my brothers felt playing board games with me at home. This time I hoped I’d get a 6. I needed to regain some ground on the board. To my surprise, I rolled a six and moved to 66. Progress was progress.

Indigo rolled low, and then it was the Cat’s turn. If he rolled a 2, 4 or 6 he’d be sent down a chute and give Indigo or me a chance to catch up. That’s all that I needed to happen. He batted the die across the board and a 6 popped up. He made a sound almost like a growl, but cut it off. Down his black meeple went, from 98 to 78. Though, if he rolled a 2 on his next turn, he’d win.

My eyes narrowed at the potential play, but it was my turn. This time the die was definitely smaller in my hands.

“Indigo, are you making the die smaller?” I asked lightly.

She wouldn’t meet my eyes and flew up farther in the sky. “You know that doesn’t help you roll the numbers that you need.”

The Cat chuckled. “It might.”

My head snapped in his direction. “How’s that possible?”

“If she is infusing it with her magic and will, anything could be possible. Those with magic can do such things. You just have to want it more than anyone else who is trying to infuse the object with their will.”

“So, by making it smaller, it’s more attuned to her?” I asked, trying to connect the dots.

The Cat didn’t reply, but his tail flickered in the air.

“Indigo, you must return the die to its correct size.” I used my stern voice, and she flew down and landed on the island. She poked at the die in my hands and I felt a tingle where my fingers touched the die. Then, suddenly, it was the normal size again.

“Thank you,” I said, giving her a scratch under her chin. That seemed to be the permission she needed to crawl up my shoulder and take a seat. I chuckled as I rolled the die.

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A five brought me to a ladder and up to 91, right where the Cat had been one turn earlier. Indigo went next, pushing the die off my hand instead of climbing off my shoulder. Her energy level decreased from undoing her magic, which was interesting.

Again, Indigo rolled low but didn’t really seem to care, as she snuggled under my hair.

Then the Cat rolled the die. It landed on a freaking 2, and up he went to 100, winning the game.

The Cat chuckled as he sat down on the island and looked at me. “That was fun, next time you should invite the dragons. I bet all sorts of magic would take place.”

My lips parted, then closed again before I grabbed the meeples and folded up the board game. Next time, it’d need to be a different game, something not based on luck as much.

Indigo snorted at the Cats comment, but said nothing. Her eyes kept fluttering.

“How about I tuck you in for a nap?” I asked. I left the game where it was in the kitchen, then headed up to my room and tucked her into the heated blanket inside her cat tree. It took only seconds before she was out like a light. Then I marched back to the kitchen.

The Cat waited next to the board game, which was now unfolded.

“Alright, how did you do it?” I asked.

“I told you, intention and will.”

“You mean, when you rolled the die, you…” I picked up the die and thought about all the times I’d used magic in the shop. Most of the time it wasn’t my magic, it was the shop’s magic. I held onto the plastic cube with one hand, staring at it with a frown. Intention and will. It shouldn’t be hard.

I tossed it across the board. It bounced once, then landed on a 3. That wasn’t my goal.

“Actual intention and will,” growled the Cat, glaring at me. “This should be easy for you.”

After picking it back up I let it roll again, this time focusing on the number 5. The die moved across the board and landed on the number 4.

“Well, I must be doing something wrong,” I muttered.

“You might need to practice more,” said the Cat. Though this time he sounded confused, and given his comment that made sense. He believed this should be easy for me, and it wasn’t.

I spent the next ten minutes rolling the die and trying to get it to land on the number I wanted.

Nothing.

Not once didn’t it land on the number that I had been focused on.

“I’m gonna call it.” I started packing the board game up.

The Cat kept staring at the box before he shook his head. “Maybe next time we can invite the dragons. They will keep you on your toes.”

I giggled, thinking of Lord Bennit or Lady Borsal playing Chutes and Ladders. “If I’m inviting the dragons, I’ll pick someone that isn’t as much about luck. Something like Catan.” Though as soon as I said it, I paused. Playing board games with dragons might not be the best thing. They were probably competitive. Not to mention, a game like that might be above what Indigo could do.

“I wonder what age Indigo would be at if she was human…?” I asked.

The Cat’s tail flickered. “Older than you would think. Though, I’m not sure how fast you humans develop. I bet she’s smarter than that little girl that loves the dinosaur books.”

“You mean Molly,” I added. Molly was in school already. I bet Indigo would love to go to a human school. She’d eat up all of that knowledge. An idea sparked, and I dashed upstairs, a smile on my face.

***

It shouldn’t have been hard for Sable to make the die land on what she wanted. The magic sat there inside her, but she couldn’t pull on it easily. Something stood in her way.

I didn’t understand what it was, but I would find out. Sable needed to be able to protect herself. With all these dragons around, it was more important than ever.