Ki did not wish to get too involved with the political struggles within the capital city of the Northern Lands.
Not wanting to do so was actually her own wishful thinking so that she would not get caught up in the ongoing power struggles for the throne and among the nobles.
She was destined to not get her wish once her name along with her families was involved with the punishment of several noble families under one of the princes that were against the crown prince.
Many invitations had been sent from the surrounding families so that they could find out more about her or to seek revenge on her.
A poorly dressed and wild looking man was stood outside and greeted her with a frown on his face which showed his dissatisfaction. "My lord invites Ki Bombyx and others accompanying her to the arctic games."
Ki raised an eyebrow and asked. "What are these arctic games?"
She had some idea about it from what she had researched about the northerners but there could always be some differences from what had been investigated and what it was actually like.
If she knew it well enough then it was more than likely that she was being invited to participate in or watch the games that were being held between the nobles of the capital.
They were all the kinds of games that tested teamwork, courage, tactics and the strength of each person.
In truth, it was just a way for the men to show off in front of the opposite gender and to try build up their fame.
If it was not a hunting game then there would be many other possible games for them to choose from.
The disdain in the eyes of the man grew as he coldly explained. "You have been given the great honour of being invited so you best show up. I will tell you since you do not know about this but you should be grateful for being invited to such an event."
Ki rolled her eyes as she thought to herself. 'Grateful? Great honour? What a joke.. they all probably just organised this to humiliate me or had invited me now that I will have little time to prepare for it.'
It was likely that it was put together last minute by others so that she would have no time to prepare unlike those who already had the experience from past games but it could have already been organised and her invite was one that had been done in the last moment.
Even if she did not participate in the games, her lack of knowledge about the games and their culture would cause her to look silly in the eyes of the women that had come to watch everything take place.
It was already shown by the person in front of her that she would not be welcome and would be treated poorly if she showed any kind of weakness or was too clueless about how they did things.
Depending on the location that it was being held or what the games were, there could be an element of danger involved.
If it was outside of the capital city then even if she did not participate, there would be a limit to how many people she could bring with her. 'I have no choice but to make use of those two.'
If they sent the invite by letter then she could have gotten away with replying and declining by letter but since they had sent someone to invite her, it would be far more rude of her to decline.
Even if it was not the Central Lands, the Northern Lands still had their own pride and could still take her constant rejections as an insult.
The Bombyx family was below them in terms of status so it was very rude for someone of lower status to keep rejecting those above them.
It would have been okay if she was unwell or had a valid excuse but Ki had none that she could use to reject them.
So long as the games were held when she was still within the capital then there was no reason why she could not attend and rejecting them further would only let their view of her and her family worsen.
It was a way for her to see what the Northern Lands were really like and she could perhaps take advantage of the opportunity that had been given.
Seeing that Ki had been waiting for an explanation, the man showed an impatient look. "Fine then but it is not like you will be taking part in it. This game will be sled dog racing within the mountains. Everything has been prepared and you will be instructed on the rest once you arrive."
Ki took the invitation and showed a small smile. "Thank you. It sounds like fun."
The man was too lazy to care about her attitude towards the game that had been planned and walked away rudely.
He failed to catch the curious and excited look in Ki's eyes once he had mentioned sled dog racing.
Since Ki was free once again, she ran towards where Nova was being kept and she stroked her gently. "Now we can show them what you are capable of."
The intelligent eyes of Nova had shone brightly and she rubbed her head against Ki's hand.