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Ophelia spent the rest of the day in the Andrade family’s private viewing deck. The rest of the nobility had their own boxes nearby, and this Count or that Duchess would visit the royal box from time to time, but for the most part the royal viewing deck was kept to a modest group of cabinet ministers, close friends, and servants. The ministers and servants seemed nervous as they beheld their armored prince on the arena’s field, but the Andrades all gave off the impression of perfect serenity.
So why am I here? Ophelia asked herself.
She had received a personal invitation from the king and queen themselves, but she had not the slightest clue as to why. Ophelia herself was common-born, deposited at the Collective before she could even remember, so she didn’t dare question royalty. Still, she was dying to know the reason she had been invited not only to the festival, but to sit with the Andrades themselves as a spectator.
Her knee bounced nervously as a herald announced the prince, her mind racing to give her any indication of how she should comport herself.
“Now announcing the first champion of Her Majesty the princess Dinah Andrade, long may she live! His Majesty Dante Andrade, Crown Prince of the Andrade Kingdom, heir to the dynasty, commander of the Third Legion, the Dragon Incarnate!”
She watched the prince take the field and marveled at his composure. Not but an hour prior he had looked as though he had seen Death itself, but now the prince strode across the packed earth of the arena as though he owned the very air itself.
In a way, I guess he does, she reminded herself. She couldn’t afford to forget who it was she found herself among. These people so casually observing the crowd beneath them could quite literally raze a kingdom with but an order. The only thing actually standing in their way was their alliance and the Collective by extension.
As the herald continued announcing champions, Ophelia was pulled from her dark thoughts by the voice of Queen Artemisia.
“Tell me honestly dear, what do you think of our boy’s chances?”
It took a moment for Ophelia to realize that the question was directed at her. Confused, she said the first thing that came to mind.
“I’m worried that he could be in over his head. No matter how skilled he is, fighting so many opponents over an extended period of time can lead to careless mistakes or accidents born of fatigue.” Meeting the queen’s eyes, she realized her carelessness and quickly added “Not that I think His Majesty would be careless, of course! I witnessed his skill and endurance firsthand! I only mean to say that there is a certain level of uncertainty that comes with protracted fighting.”
Queen Artemisia, amber eyes glistening with concealed laughter, gave Ophelia a teasing smile. “You can speak plainly, child. We won’t take offense.”
Cutting through the awkward silence, the herald announced that registration for challengers was now open. Ophelia gulped.
“I must admit that I was taken aback by the announcement this morning…”
“Is that so?” the queen asked. “Then tell me, what do you suppose my daughter was thinking when she proposed this course of action?”
What?! The question sent Ophelia reeling. Why would the queen ask me of all people? And she’s freely admitting that the princess made this decision? I know they govern as a family, but letting me in on any detail of their decision making process is unheard of! No matter my rank in the Collective, I’m still just a commoner.
Choosing her words carefully, Ophelia gave her best guess.
“If I had to venture a guess–”
“You do,” Queen Artemisia cut in playfully, giggling at Ophelia’s discomfort.
“Right, of course Your Majesty. If I had to guess, I would say that the prince taking on challengers is meant to distract the nobility from the events of six months ago.”
Bracing for the response, Ophelia flinched slightly and averted her eyes. No rebuke came.
“Is that all? Oh dear, I guess you haven’t had much of a chance to speak with Dinah as of yet.” The queen paused for a moment and favored her daughter with a warm gaze. Dinah sat at the front of the viewing deck in an extravagant throne carved to resemble flowers and embedded with all manner of gemstones. While some might call it gaudy, the throne faded into the scenery when compared to the resplendent princess with her dark braids and amber eyes that matched the rest of the Andrades. She wore a tiara as delicate as the prince’s crown was threatening and a dress of forest green that played nicely with her olive skin.
“I’ll let you in on a bit more, but I want you to consider the rest and answer me later. Alright?”
Ophelia gave the only response she could and nodded obediently.
Seemingly satisfied, the queen continued. “You were on the right track, but there’s more to it than that. Dante showcasing his abilities in such a public manner will distract not only the nobility, but the commoners as well. This will make for quite a story, especially after he emerges undefeated. The narrative will naturally shift from ‘The Andrades were too weak to fight that priestess’ to ‘That priestess was so strong that even the Andrades couldn’t fend her off.’ With that shift in discourse, our strength will no longer be under question and the real issue can be broached. Specifically, people will start wondering how we can defend against such a beast in the future.”
“I see,” said Ophelia, soaking in the queen’s words and thoroughly evaluating them. “That’s quite tactful, Your Majesty. By shifting the public opinion you can cement your family’s status and rally the people. Still, I fail to see how you can be sure it will work.” Realizing her rudeness, she quickly added “I mean no offense, of course. It is a failure on my part to be unable to grasp your intentions.”
The queen frowned at her. “I already told you to speak plainly. If you continue to pander, I will order you to call me only Artemisia. Understood?”
“Yes, ma’am!”
“Good. Now, to your point, consider the reason why we agreed to allow Dinah to offer her hand to the victors. I will give you an hour to think it over while you watch. If you don’t have an answer by then, I suppose I can offer you a hint.”
Ophelia responded in the affirmative and watched the competition intently for the next hour. To her dismay, no obvious answer presented itself. The prince soundly defeated each of his challengers, taking out a total of sixteen over the course of the hour. The only pauses were when Prince Dante sipped from his waterskin, waited for his next opponent to arrive, or sent an aide for a replacement spear.
He broke two of his weapons during that time, one shattering into fine splinters against the helm of some duke’s son and the other snapping cleanly to a well-placed strike from a knight from the peninsula. He swiftly knocked out the former with a palm to the nose, but the latter was far and away the most interesting fight. The prince managed to use the sundered spear to deflect a few blows before slipping around the knight and locking him in a chokehold that Ophelia found all too familiar.
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