“Make sure you smile and wave. I bet your father is positively tickled it’s finally happening,” Noelle said from his right.
“I bet he is,” Cullen said under his breath.
The mention of Yemir sobered the glee Eira had felt all morning. Suddenly, the cheers of the crowd were muted, the excitement dulled. Yemir and Patrice had made it perfectly clear that they would never see Eira as someone worthy of their son. But what did that matter, anyway? Cullen was a grown man and Eira was a grown woman. They could make their own choices, couldn’t they?
She glanced at Cullen from the corner of her eye. No, there was no way he’d ever forsake his father and his family like that. Not after what she’d learned about all they’d been through.
So where did that leave their love?
The thoughts followed her every step through the streets of Risen until they arrived at the training arena. The arena reminded Eira vaguely of a ring where horses were ridden, and she wondered if the space had been repurposed. If that was the case, the Queen of Meru had gone to great lengths to give them a practice area that could contain everything they’d need. On the packed earth of the arena’s floor were all manner of weapon, practice dummy, rings, weights, and more. Spectators sat in a few rows of seats that ringed and overlooked the entire arena.
“Are we certain the tournament hasn’t begun yet?” Alyss did a turn, looking at everyone gathered. “Seems like a lot of people.”
“If you think this is a lot of people, just wait until you see the coliseum the queen is building on the outer hills,” a female elfin competitor said over her shoulder with a proud smile. “It’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. The greatest arena ever constructed.”
“A coliseum?” Alyss asked on all their behalf.
“Think of it like this place,” a man at the woman’s right said, motioning around them. “But about ten times the scale.”
“Ten times,” Eira repeated softly, having a hard time imagining it.
“You’ll see when you get there.” The man gave her a wink and headed toward the other side of the arena with his fellow competitors.
A sudden hush fell over the masses followed by a ripple of murmuring spreading across the arena. On a platform at one end of the oval, a woman covered completely in layers of silken fabrics floated to the edge of the balcony. Queen Lumeria lifted her hands.
“Good competitors, gathered from states across the seas. You have come here as a show of faith from your homelands. You have come to take place in what will hopefully become a tournament for the ages. A new tradition to celebrate our unity.” Polite applause as Lumeria took a breath. “Every day, from now until the tournament’s start in two weeks, you will have an opportunity to practice here. Heed the advice and insights of my knights to better prepare yourselves. Five kingdoms look on you with fondness—we can’t wait to see what you can do.”
More applause, louder this time.
“We know that your arrival was less than conventional. All of Meru wanted to cheer for you from the moment you landed on our shores. But now that those who would threaten you have been thwarted, we look forward to the tournament and all its celebrations before, during, and after.”
“Thwarted,” Cullen scoffed under his breath. Eira shot him a look. He pursed his lips and gave a small nod. The Pillars might be the worst-kept secret in all of Risen. But the queen was clearly trying to avoid giving them any further opportunity to gain ground in public consciousness by pretending they didn’t exist in the first place.
“To that end, it is my pleasure to announce that I will be opening the doors of my castle to all of you, your dignitaries, and my esteemed friends the night before the tournament’s start for a ball.”
The crowd cheered as Lumeria stepped away. The masses acted as though they were all going to be invited. Of course, maybe they were. Lumeria’s castle was certainly large enough and impressive enough to house hundreds of revelers.
But revelry seemed far from the competitors’ minds. They regarded each other warily. For the first time, it began to sink in that they were each other’s competition. The atmosphere at the manor had been friendly enough, but here it was already becoming thick with critical looks and assessing glances. Even if the tournament was intended to inspire goodwill, it was clear that they were all here to win and bring glory back to their homelands. Who knew what every competitor really had at stake?
“So we’re supposed to train now?” Alyss asked.
“I guess so?” Eira shrugged.
“I’m not some trained dog that’s going to perform magic for spectators like tricks for—” Noelle didn’t get to finish.
There was a wheeze, and a murmur of anticipation rippled through the crowd. The four of them looked over in time to see Harkor, the draconi prince, let out a mighty roar toward the heavens. Sound became flame as he breathed fire.
“I cannot wait to dominate the tournament!” Harkor declared with a shout. “The draconi will show every kingdom our might.” His fellow competitors punctuated the declaration by slapping the centers of their chests twice and letting out guttural noises of agreement.
“Am I supposed to be impressed by him spitting fire?” Noelle folded her arms and stuck out her tongue, a flash of fire curling off its tip.
“Let’s keep to ourselves,” Cullen suggested. “This is just day one and we have two weeks before the tournament even begins. It might be prudent to pull our punches a bit and hold back from showing what we can really do.”
The four of them continued to watch as the other groups of competitors settled into their corners of the arena. Magic pulsed off the morphi, shifting swords into roses and changing their bodies into beasts and birds. The elfin moved with glyphs of light. The other humans from Qwint spun tiny bracelets around their wrists that conjured sparks, flames, and wind gusts not unlike the elemental affinities of Solaris.
“Eira.” Deneya’s voice broke their silent assessment of their competition. She hadn’t even heard Deneya approach. “Can you come with me? I have a matter pertaining to your kidnapping that I need to discuss.”
“Of course. I’ll be back soon, everyone.”
