The training yards were shared by wizards, soldiers, and guards. They were often the busiest part of the palace. This late in the morning they were almost empty. Any semblance of foliage had been squashed out by the repetitive footsteps of trainees, so the place was a pit of dirt and dust. At the edges of the space were equipment including pells, balance beams, and targets. At the very far side, Ceilsea found all three of her siblings, not practicing but arguing.

 

“Maybe you should put on a blindfold if you are going to ignore me! Better yet, a leash, so Mother and Father can command you at a moment’s notice!” Miennere shouted. Ceilsea doubted this was her first outburst of the day. She had her target shield on one arm and sword in her other hand. She had turned away from the pell and her weapons were pointed at the ground. 

“It’s hard to respect you when you act like a child,” Vonae told her. He was pointedly focused on Yippinee. “Yippinee, keep your point up.”

“She is a child. That’s the issue,” Ceilsea said, injecting herself into the conversation. She stood arms crossed staring down her sister. At some point, Miennere had to stop begging for Vonae’s attention.

“Sixteen isn’t a child. You were sixteen when you were inducted into the order!” Miennere shot back. 

“I didn’t try to do that. I also wasn’t trying to get killed,” Ceilsea told her.  

“You obviously don’t understand what it’s like to want to sacrifice yourself for the greater good. You’ve always been given anything you wanted,” Miennere argued. She sheathed her sword and slipped her shield off her arm. Ceilsea didn’t respond, so Miennere continued, “I might as well go practice with the rest of the actual warriors, rather than wizards who only train for show!”

“You should. You might learn something,” Vonae said and then winced. He had been trying not to give her advice. 

Miennere grabbed her equipment and stalked past Ceilsea. 

 

“What are you doing here? You never cared about us before,” Miennere muttered glaring at her sister. Ceilsea stayed still. That wasn’t true, but it wasn’t the right time to have a civil conversation with Miennere. 

“Yippinee, you can put the sword down. You want to practice the shocking spell?” Vonae said as soon as Miennere was out of view. Yippinee nodded and skipped over to put his sword away.

“Good morning,” Ceilsea said to her brother as he turned to her. 

Yippinee positioned himself in an open area next to them and started moving his fingers in elaborate motions. Ceilsea felt a squirming on her skin even before the air started to spark. 

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep ignoring Miennere before I snap,” he muttered, positioning himself so that he could still watch Yippinee. He crossed his arms. 

“I snap at her all the time, but I suppose she sees me as the villain anyway,” Ceilsea said with a little smile.

“There’s a difference between you snapping and me,” Vonae explained even though she wasn’t sure what he meant. 

“She’s only hounding you because she looks up to you so much. She’s never had to live without your support,” Ceilsea told him. Neither Ceilsea or their parents had ever made much time for Miennere, which is why she hadn’t been surprised when Miennere didn’t listen to them, but Vonae had basically raised her. Vonae avoiding her must hurt. 

“I’m just trying to protect her,” he said. 

In the silence that followed, Ceilsea’s eyes wandered over to her younger brother. Poor Yippinee was trying to ignore them, but he heard every word. Ceilsea knew this situation could not be easy for him either. Vonae was devoting far too much time and attention to training him. Surely, she could help spare the boy by distracting his taskmaster.

“I was wondering…since I’m going to have to watch anyway, do you think you could explain to me what you see in the sparring this afternoon? I think knowing what they’re doing might make the whole ordeal more enjoyable,” she asked, trying to make it sound like the thought just came to her and not that she had ulterior motives.

  

“Is that why you came all the way out here? Were you dreading it so much that you couldn’t stop thinking about how to make it less boring?” Vonae finally smiled, shaking his head. “Of course, I can explain, but I can’t promise it will make the experience any better for you.”

“It’s worth a shot,” Ceilsea said with a shrug. 

She watched the muscles in Yippinee’s arms flex as he cast his spells. She wondered if they were the same muscles that Shae used when they played their instruments.  The royal box was too far from the fighting to tell. She needed to come up with some excuse to get closer. 

A few hours later Ceilsea stood on the edge of the arenas in front of the royal box. The crowds were breathing down her neck, but a guard stood next to her so nobody could get too close. In front of her was a short fence, discouraging the crowds from spilling onto the arena. Even though the second round of the circuit had just started and Shae was not competing yet, Ceilsea had requested one of the officials bring Shae out to her. 

From here, she could only see the closest fight. The others were blocked by the partitions her mother had been adjusting earlier. However, she could see in more detail what was going on in the fight in front of her. She understood why the people behind her were excitedly whispering. Finally, Shae rounded the corner with the officiant, jogging around the edge of the fight to her.

“I suppose this is part of your plan to make me look like your champion?” they whispered as they got close to her so no one else could hear. They didn’t look particularly happy to see her, but they didn’t look unhappy either. They were already outfitted in their xylophone with their sword at their side and the ocarina on a cord around their neck. 

“You did make me personally invested in your victory. Really this is your fault, isn’t it? You get all the attention now. Serves you right for trying to stop me,” she teased, reaching into the small bag she had brought with her. Shae rolled their eyes. A motion that would be impossible to distinguish up in the royal box. Maybe that was why they felt safe doing it. Ceilsea’s hand emerged from the bag with a palm-sized stone carved into a blossoming flower. Deliberately, so that even those in the box above could see, she held it out to them. “This is for you.”

Shae took it and turned in their hand looking confused, “What am I supposed to do with this? Brain someone?”

Ceilsea smiled, “I would advise against that if you want to stay in the tournament. I’m not a normal ‘lady,’ so this is me showing you favor. And hey, whether you win or lose, you can probably sell that for a small fortune if you find the right buyer,” she explained glancing over her shoulder at the nobles watching them. One of them would pay handsomely just to brag about how they owned a special piece by her.

“Oh, I…I see. Thank you, your…miss,” Shae stammered, embarrassed. 

Ceilsea smiled again. It was so easy to make them uncomfortable. “Good luck, champion.”

Shae muttered something before turning away and returning whence they came. The guard helped Ceilsea return to the royal box, though the crowd naturally made way as they whispered and watched Shaelis behind her. Ducking into the enclosure, there was some relief from the noise. 

“Ceilsea.”

She hadn’t even had a chance to breathe before his majesty was calling her name. She smiled innocently. He was standing in front of his throne. Rivonae stood beside him. Her parents and Yippinee were in their seats in the corner. Ceilsea felt that today she wouldn’t get the luxury of hiding in that corner.

Aamard and Iscano had retired to another part of the box leaving the seats beside King Mileubramn empty. Even though she knew it was for her, she did not show the assumption as she walked up to the king. 

She curtsied. “Yes, your majesty?”

“Did you just hand that fighter a carving of yours? I’ve never received something like that as a gift,” his majesty feigned displeasure with crossed arms. 

Rivonae looked at the ground. He knew he shouldn’t relay to the king that he had received many such carved gifts. Some were the crude blobs from Ceilsea’s first attempts at sculpting, but all of them had heart behind them. Her brother never had to pay for her talents. 

“Oh, but sir, how else was I supposed to show my favor? I can’t select a champion since I’m not a noble, so I have no choice but to shower them with art,” Ceilsea answered playfully. 

The king smiled and motioned beside him. “Sit with me.”

“Of course, your majesty.” 

As the king settled in his throne, Ceilsea took the seat closest to him and leaned towards him so they could speak without being overheard. Rivonae sat beside her, focusing on the fights and pretending to ignore them.

“Who is this wayzard? Your brother told me you know them, but I’ve never heard you speak of them,” the king asked her. Surely, he had been wondering this since last night but they hadn’t had a chance to speak privately. He must have felt disappointed that he didn’t know her as well as he thought.  She couldn’t tell him everything without revealing she had only met Shaelis a few days ago.

“Their name is Shaelis Child,” she started, even though he must have known that from Iscano. “They don’t talk about themselves much, but from what I’ve gathered, they are a very talented wayzard who left their homeland. They are participating in the tournament to prove themselves.” She didn’t know how much she should gossip with the king.

“Why do you care? I’ve never seen you interested in magic or music before,” King Mileubramn continued to interrogate her. Of course, he was more interested in her than in Shaelis.

“I want a friend to win,” she answered simply to not invite more questions. “I want to root for someone and now they are involved, it might as well be them. I don’t have a lot of friends. Let alone ones I can support.”

Rivonae glanced over momentarily and frowned when Ceilsea said that. Even if he said nothing, Ceilsea knew what he was thinking. He hated when she said she didn’t have friends. He couldn’t see that all the people he tried to introduce her to were only superficial relationships. No one could relax around the pseudo-princess long enough to get past formalities. Vonae, for better or worse, was the only person she was close to. Which was why it was so interesting that she was putting her trust in Shae. Sharing secrets and making plans with someone was a rare thing for her. 

“I understand. I would just be careful,” his majesty replied, sitting back. “If they do well in the tournament, which it sounds like they will, people will say the fights were rigged to please you, or that you planted them to be your champion, to challenge the nobility’s power.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“It’s the kind of thing you have to consider when you have more power than the person you support. You have to think about how your reputation will affect them. It’s what it takes to be a patron,” he told her.

“I’m not Shae’s patron.” She turned away from him briefly as her face contorted at the thought. Shae had basically agreed to be her champion, but she didn’t want that kind of power over them. 

“An unknown person being supported socially and financially from a well-regarded figure within the community,” his majesty repeated, describing their relationship when it first started. It had some similarities to Ceilsea and Shae’s at this point. 

“It’s different. We are both artists,” she told him.

“Are they an artist? Wayzards aren’t exactly considered creatives,” he mused, showing Iscano had not told him everything. “Plus, it’s not unheard of for a successful artist to pass on their success to those they see promise in. Nor is it unheard of for a patron to wish their protegee was more a peer than a servant.” 

King Mileubramn met her gaze. Adoration and gentle sadness reflected in his eyes, even though he was smiling. Ceilsea’s eyes dropped, weighed down by the guilt of not being able to give him what he wanted, an equal.

“Shae and I…we are too similar to be only a transactional relationship,” she said, probably revealing more than she should. “I may be able to give them little favors and attention now, but they don’t need it. I’m sure as the tournament progresses, we will see that they are perfectly capable of being their own political influence. We are equals, in many more ways than you’d think.”

His majesty considered her words. He could clearly see their ages and possibly their talents could be comparable, but he couldn’t know their ability to feel magic or their disillusionment with their lives. When it came down to it, Ceilsea truly believed that Shaelis would take Sumanar by storm with their music, just like she had done with her sculptures.