Sophie was counting the days till Sia's arrival. Unfortunately the Peshtims had scheduled to arrive just one day before the start of the tournament. The days dragged on as huge inflows of guests started filling the water, land and the mountains of Midos. The royals on all three terrains had made ample arrangements to make the guests feel comfortable. Prince Dai had arranged for a welcome feast in their honour, Prince Neal had secured entertainment from around the land and Princess Maya had ordered her nymphs to make more holes in the wall.
As soon as she could, Sophie demanded a monopoly on Sia's time. Sia told her all about her new home and her married life while Sophie filled her in with details about her new home at the grounds and her life as a guardian.
"You have to see my new house. It's above a garment store."
"And you are excited because?" Sia raised an eyebrow.
"I get discount on the clothes."
Sia dramatically put her hand on her heart. "For a minute there I thought that the ground has changed you."
Sophie shook her head in disdain. "Tell me about your castle."
"The castle is at the highest peak. The view is breath-taking. And they have these beautiful apple orchards. And the human Princess Marya is also nice."
"What about the burnt prince?" Sophie asked.
"Please don't call Ez-Hur that," Sia emphasized.
"Okayyy." Sophie apologised. "How does he look? Does the stories do him any justice?"
"Exactly what we heard."
"I wish I could see," Sophie caught herself before Sia could reprimand her again, "uh, meet him in person."
"The girls he meets in person tend to end up in his bed," Sia said with such a flat face that Sophie couldn't comprehend whether she was amused with it or appalled by it. Seeing Sophie at a loss for words, she smiled. "But enough about him. There are so many things I need to tell you. Getting married really changes everything."
Sia kept talking about her married life and Sophie found herself thinking that she would not mind that life, if only she could retain the occasional use of her sword. She only had a year and some change before her twenty fifth. Although Sophie found the mandatory marriage law disturbing, she couldn't hate it. It was a necessity. And she would've still gotten married in the absence of it. The idea of having someone who wouldn't leave you till death, was too sweet to forfeit.
"You are not participating! I can't believe it!" Sophie exclaimed. "You are in cahoots with Prince Neal and Dai."
"I know they both have their reasons and so do I." Sia said biting her lower lip to hide her smile.
"Dai's reason is pride. 'It's not fair to him to compete with the peasants.' Or are you going to use Prince Neal's 'it won't be fair to the others'? Because if you really want to bolt, either of them will suit you."
"My reason is far more important." Sia made a dramatic gesture towards her belly, "It won't be fair to the baby."
"Praise to Lord Star." Sophie's eyes grew wide. "Congratulations," she said hugging her.
"I haven't told Dai or father yet. So hold your tongue for some time, will you?"
"Yes, Your Highnesses." Sophie said. "Why do people keep on piling secrets on to me?"
"What kind of secrets?" Sia asked raising her brow.
Sophie thought about Neal's wrist and the scars on it but decided against telling Sia. Even if she already knew about it, it wasn't Sophie's place to discuss it. She had come upon it by chance and it would only embarrass the prince to know that she had seen his scars.
"Well one day King Suffle let something slip. The trio is waiting for something big to happen. And then Prince Neal told me that it has already happened and I should not tell anyone about it. But he can't tell me because I don't know what the big picture is," Sophie said it all in a rush. It had been bottled up inside her for long.
"When did he tell you?" Sia asked. Neal had told him about his feelings for Sophie when he had asked her to organise the tournament, but she needed more details.
"About two months ago."
Sia put her hand on her mouth. "Oh! You know about the prophecy."
"What kind of prophecy?"
"There's this prophecy about a girl."
Sophie leaned towards her. "What girl?"
"Neal thinks it's you," Sia whispered.
A shiver ran through her body. Neal had a reason to inform her. She gulped. "Me?"
"Once there will be a girl, who will have magnificent sword skills, an innocent heart, and the capability to," Sia said, "believe in anything." She let out a big laugh.
"That was mean," Sophie said crossing her hands and turning away. "Marriage has made you mean."
"Silly, there is not a monarch in the world who doesn't have a secret. Ketu's brother is so secretive that he never even leaves his room."
"Is that why all royals are weird?"
"Are you calling me weird?"
"You are turning a secret into a joke. Yes, I'm calling you weird."
'Okay," Sia decided to give in. "I cannot tell you the secret, but I'll explain the circumstances surrounding it." Sia believed that if Neal was actually in love with Sohpie, and if he was going to act on it, she would be a part of Neal's life and had the right to know the truth. "Years before any of us were born, something happened. That something is the secret that everyone is hiding."
"King Suffle is waiting for that secret to come out, so that he can handle it," Sophie cried.
"Yes, there will be chaos when it comes out."
"But the prince had said..." Sophie knotted her brows in confusion.
"This secret may or may not lead to a certain event. The trio had anticipated it, but it is not something they are waiting for. Looks like the event has occurred."
"Why does the prince hate the monarchs? If it is something they did before he was born, why does it only affect him? Why not you, Dai or the nymphs?"
"Some years ago, the trio tried to," Sia paused, thinking of a way to make Sophie understand without giving away the truth, "uh, trigger that event. When Neal understood what was happening, he felt like an experiment. That's when he," Sia checked herself.
'That's when he tried to kill himself," Sophie completed in her mind.
"That's when he told me," Sia completed.
If the reason for his attempted suicides were the trio, Sophie could understand his hatred. A shiver of emotion ran through her.
"He told me because he was furious. He had endured a difficult childhood and all his pent up anger towards his circumstances just got directed at the trio." If Sophie had been holding the secret for months, Sia had borne it for years. "Neal refuses to understand that the trio were only looking out for him." Sia looked at Sophie, "I am always worried about him because he trusts no one else."
There was an uncomfortable silence in the room. Sophie did not know what to say. She did not know what she felt. But she knew her feelings were intense.
"You must not come here often, to the mountains," Sia said trying to lighten the mood.
Sophie was relieved at the change of subject. "The king is mostly on the grounds, in the human castle. And you are not here. My job is there. So, what's the point in coming here?"
"What about Dai?"
"I don't think he misses anyone," Sophie said. "He has his wife, anyways."
"Dai is lazy with his feelings," Sia said. "You know that. He won't write to me much, because it would be too girly. He won't go down to meet you because it would be against protocol and he won't meet Neal because he doesn't want to be called a brown-noser. But ultimately he is like you."
"Like me?"
"Yes, you could have gone to meet him but you didn't. If Neal could go to the mountains, he would have. In one of his letters he told me how much he wants to meet Mishty."
"Prince Neal writes to you?"
"Of course," Sia said playing with the ring on her finger. "Who else would he write to?"
Sophie calculated the number of letters she had written to Sia and gladly found it to be satisfactory.
"Did he ever, um, write about me?"
Sia's lips tightened. "Neal?" She wondered if Sophie had any knowledge about his plans.
"Yeah." Sophie said blushing slightly, "I made a fool of myself when I ate all of his starberries. I had written about it in my last letter," she reminded.
"Your name may have popped once or twice." Sia smothered a giggle. "I'm curious. How many starberries did you eat?"
"Well." Sophie tapped her fingers together. "There was a bowl this big," she made a gesture with her hands, "and then another bowl. But I did not empty the second one."
Sia chuckled. "One would think your salary is not enough to feed you."
"It's not my fault. I was bored," Sophie complained. "You know his shenanigans."
Sophie had already narrated the whole incident to Sia in her letters.
"I don't think he minded the starberries. If anything, he would have enjoyed it. He lives for these kind of things. Still try not to don't eat any more starberries in front of him."
"I don't plan to be in front of him for a long time."
"I hate to break your bubble Sophie, but your long time ends tomorrow."
Sophie rolled her eyes. "I was hoping that his face would disappear among the crowd."
Sia answered with an even bigger roll. "He would be having a front row seat in the arena."
The swordskill and fist-fight competitions were to take place in the human arena where the humans and some select nymphs with tattoos could also enjoy them.
"Well, I won't be eating there." Sophie shrugged.
The next morning was filled with excitement. The first day of the tournament was marked by a huge crowd and competitions that were to take place in the human arena. The arena was oval with the perimeter constructed to imitate the steps of the stairs. The seats closest to the ground were reserved for the royalty and the participants.
The rules were stated once more. For all the duel competitions, there were to be four matches. The first round was between two randomly selected participants out of the three empires. The second round was to be held between the winner of the first round and the remaining participant. The third was for the losers of the previous matches. The finale would be between the winners of the second and third rounds.
King Suffle started the day by defeating his Esite competitor. The crowd watched with their necks craned and eyes glued to the sky. Some among them were experiencing their first ever starlite sword-show.
"Tomorrow, I'll defeat your husband," Suffle said to Sia as he took his seat between his two children.
"I suppose you don't think you'll be playing overmorrow."
"What?" he exclaimed, "The loser's game? Whoever wins that game will get to taste defeat from me once again."
"Father you are overly confident," Dai said, "Just because Prince Shrutketu is not present at the moment."
"He isn't here? Where is he?" Suffle looked around.
"He had some work." Sia shrugged.
Sophie who was sitting next to Sia found it strange that the prince could have work in Midos. She looked around to see if she could spot him but instead she spotted Prince Neal. He was sitting on the other side of the arena, directly facing them. His gaze seemed to be at the play area where the humans were having the arrow-aim competition. The empress was sitting to his left and to his right was a girl who Sophie assumed to be Princess Marya. Princess Marya seemed less interested in the game and more in talking to her neighbour. Sophie looked at his face and realised that he was neither interested in the conversation nor in the competition. His irises were not moving like one would expect from the audience of a shooting competition. His face and his gaze were steady like he was staring at something. Sophie smiled and shook her head in amusement. The prince was not there, just like he had told him during that game. She marvelled at the beauty of it because even the princess was fooled as he occasionally threw a grunt in her direction. She also laughed secretly at the princess's stupidity. "She'll never succeed in trapping him," Sophie thought.
Soon it was her turn to fight. She was to fight an Esite girl named Rhythm, who looked slightly younger to her. Rhythm's face radiated expectations and enthusiasm. "Rhythm is a strange name," Sia commented.
Mishty agreed. "Her mother wanted a unique name."
The two players circled the ground with their swords pointed at their opponent. They held no shields. The fight started with both of them clashing their swords while still on the ground. One, two, one, two, their feet and swords moved as if in a badly choreographed dance sequence. Then they took altitude. Since the swords were blunt, armour was deemed unnecessary. Rhythm managed to save the first attack on her neck. She threw Sophie off. Sophie tried another attack but Rhythm ducked and Sophie was swerved off. Rhythm attacked her now, putting all her weight into a leap. Sophie used both her hands on the sword to defend herself. She could not throw her off, so she went low. It made Rhythm lose her balance and she fell. She gained her balance before hitting the ground and made another thrust towards Sophie. Sophie bent and grabbed the end of Rhythm's sword with her left hand. She attacked Rhythm on the shoulder using the sword in her right hand. Sophie threw Rhythm's sword off her, making Rhythm lose her balance once again, or so she thought. In a flash of lightening, Rhythm's sword was on Sophie's neck while Sophie was still trying to regain her upright posture.
The crowd which had been watching in suspense burst into cheers for the victor. Holding back tears, Sophie shook Rhythm's hands. With a stoic face, she went back to her seat.
Sia knew the best thing to do was not to talk to Sophie. She was in no position to see or hear anything. Speaking was out of the question for her. Sitting there was a pain for Sophie, but she knew if she ran away, she would look like the sore loser she was. So she sat through the whole ceremony, gritting her teeth and preventing the water works, reliving every moment of the fight. She dared not look at Rhythm, or anybody else. She had no idea that two people on the opposite side of the arena were discussing her actions. The actions that she had performed almost absent-mindedly.