The Legend of the Chessboard (WIP)
When an undead army invades an Aztec-inspired empire, strange new folk songs cast four teenage refugees as mythical heroes who will save the empire. On the run, their only chance of peace is to stop the bard spreading these rumors, or the conquerors and revolutionaries who are listening will play them and discard them like pawns.
As the golden Erakoro falls to the upstart empire of Othrins, the exiled Prince Ias joins the mass evacuation of refugees fleeing the coast. Yet ever the dreamer, Ias believes this is his chance to prove himself—to journey to the capital and defend his father’s empire. Together, with his younger bastard cousin, a disgraced temple acolyte, and a silent escaped slave, they each believe the west is a promise of safety and reinvention. But, they’re only pawns crossing the board, and every game of chess has its players. Stalking them is a bard who doesn’t care who is sacrificed, and whose songs know too much about them. And when they collapse an ancient temple on the Othrinsish army, this bard brands them as “The Chessboard” and starts a revolution in their name.
Woefully unprepared, guarding secrets, and as everything they knew about society and magic overturns, the Chessboard traverses warzones and enchanted wilderness, hunted by conquerors and haunted by folk songs. And as identities and political agendas are revealed, the Chessboard must decide if they can work together as refugees and maybe even become the revolutionary symbols everyone insists they are, or if they will always be enemies.
The Legend of the Chessboard is a multi-POV 100,000 word queer YA adventure fantasy novel with series potential. Imagine if the Qing Dynasty of China shipwrecked in the Aztec Empire—and then tried to conquer it. It has the revolutionary and colonial themes and anthropological detail of The Poppy War (2018) but draws hope and strength from friendship, youth, community, and identity, like The Sunbearer Trials (2022).
I study Creative Writing and Spanish at Northwestern University and am an alumna of Alpha Young Writers’ Workshop, Iowa Young Writers’ Studio, and Smith Creative Writing Pre-college. My work has been published by Scholastic Arts & Writing, Apprentice Writer, and more. As a queer second-generation Chinese-Vietnamese refugee, my and my family’s experiences inform themes of queer identity, refugee identity, imperialism, and colonization.
All photos are by Alyssa Wong in the Yucatán, Andes, or Amazon.
Meet the Cast
Ias Iame Teixec
Seeing Bishop (17) (he/him)
Earnest, academic, and idealistic. A blind, banished prince from a dynasty of cutthroat future-seeing god-emperors. He wants to be a worthy prince—but his empire isn’t as benevolent as he’d thought.
Azcatli/Anita Paras
Ember Knight (18) (she/her)
Skeptical, perceptive, and temperamental. A runaway slave who accidentally burned her people along with her enslavers. Intent on destroying the empire that enslaved her, but entangled in that same empire’s revolution.
Sarran Teixec
Stone King (16) (he/him, trans)
Snarky, irresponsible, and trying to figure out who he is. A traitorous noblewoman’s bastard and Ias’s cousin with powerful telekinesis he shouldn’t have. His mother promised him a welcome home if he betrays Ias.
Maiye of Chimalmaitl
Blue Queen (19) (she/her)
Honest, dedicated, and bold. An acolyte of the Temple of Chimalmaitl, disgraced after being unwilling to marry a prince. Having lost her original life purpose, she hopes she can still help people as a revolutionary.
Koya of Talape
Singing Bishop (15) (she/her)
Calculated, imperious, and manipulative. The princess of Talape, a conquered nation, raised in the Erakoran court. She’s using musical propaganda to inspire a revolution, but secretly wants to see Erakoro destroyed.
Eora of Wrath, Empress of Othrins
(53, appears 30) (she/her)
Vainglorious, poised, and devious. The commander of the undead conquering army and immortal Empress of Othrins. She and her people come from a continent destroyed by a plague so deadly it is known as Wrath.
Celi Calo
Apprentice Mage (15) (she/her)
Serene, studious, and a hint of anxiety. An Apprentice Mage under Eora with hydrokinesis, though more excited to learn a new language and culture than fight.
Nascha of Hoke
Apprentice Mage (17) (she/her)
Aggressive, relentless, and brooding. An Apprentice Mage under Eora with the ability to augment the strength of her body and weaponry with glowing green veins.
The Legend of the Chessboard is a work in progress! I plan to begin querying around Spring 2027. If you’d like to express your interest in receiving a query or sample pages, please let me know.
12.01.25 - Sep ‘26
Developmental Drafts
Sep ‘26 - Mar ‘27
Beta/Sensitivity Drafts
12.28.24 - 6.19.25
First Draft
8.22.25 - 12.14.25
Alpha read + replanning
March ‘27
Query Round 1
Mar ‘27
Polish Draft
Prologue
When the first plume of smoke rose thick and black over the neighboring city of Tlanac, the people of the skeleton city paused in their masonry, crowding together at the edge of the plateau to watch the walls fall, and cheered. A boy of nine rushed to the cliff, jumping and waving at the green banners marching into the smoke. “Hi!” he yelled, waving his thin, scarred arms over his head. The wind rippled through the holes in his milky blue shirt. “Hello, the Other Ones! Mama, do you think they will see me?”
His mother, cheeks smeared with adobe and dust, let her brick form fall from her hands as she wrapped him in her arms, in case he fell over the edge in his excitement. “No, Lucho,” she said, smiling. “I don’t think they will.”
Lucho cupped his hands around his mouth. “HELLO, THE OTHER ONES. THEY CALL ME LUCHO. WELCOME TO THE GREAT EMPIRE OF ERAKORO.”
A whip cracked. The people watching the city shrieked and scattered. An overseer stood behind us, cheeks scarred from years of sunburns. “Get back to work!” he roared.
For a moment, no one moved. The overseer hesitated. Then, with a grim smile and her long white braid swishing behind her, Dolores Peralta was the first to limp back to the construction site, swaying on her clubbed foot. Without much vigor or fear, the rest followed.
As the crowd dispersed, the overseer caught sight of the great city below and the smoke that now shrouded the sprawling pyramids and canals. He stumbled towards the edge, scars taut and mouth agape, the whip in his hand slackening as an acrid wind passed through him like a dry and loose leaf.