The first day of the tournament had not been good for Neal. He was sitting in the front row, sandwiched between his mother and the Peshtim princess Marya, with the latter determined to cling to him. Because of her, he hadn't met Sia and Dai who were sitting with all the other starlites right across the arena. Neal looked at the empress for help. She shrugged.
Neal shut the outer world and concentrated on the one face that calmed him. Marya was still chatting about whatever competition was being held, thinking that he was observing it intently.
The time came when Sophia lost the match. He could see that she was hurt. But Sophia went back to her seat trying to show the maturity she didn't possess. Neal could not look at that sad face anymore, knowing that it wasn't in his power to do anything. He returned to his surroundings.
"What is that girl's problem?" Marya said. She was looking at Sophia.
"What's the matter?"
"I have a feeling that she doesn't like me. And I haven't even met her."
Neal glanced at Sophia. "Why would you think that? She is just upset by her loss."
"This has been going on since the morning. If she is so upset by the match, she should make her opponent and other Esites uncomfortable. What have I done to her?"
"I'm sure you are mistaken." Neal could see no reason why Sophie would have a problem with the princess.
"I'm not," she said sternly.
The second day of the tournament started with the same story.
"Prince Shrutketu is looking in our direction," Marya said. "He has a strange expression on his face."
"He is just upset that he lost," Neal said with a feeling of deja vu. He wondered if this was an everyday occurrence with the princess.
"I'm warning you. He is looking at you in a hostile manner."
"I've never met him in my life." It was Shrutketu's first time in the grounds of Midos. There was no chance of them having met before.
"I wonder if it is a starlite trait. That girl lost and made me uncomfortable, now the prince lost and is clearly shooting daggers at you."
King Suffle's fight with Prince Shrutketu had been the opening event of the day.
The prince had failed to concentrate on his match because he was preoccupied with a starlite face. His search for that starlite had started ever since he had entered Midos. He had even missed the events of the opening day in his pursuit.
Shrutketu found the face he was searching for after he lost the match and took his seat next to Sia. He found it in the least likely place, among the human crowd, sitting next to Princess Marya. A thousand emotions flew through his mind. A moment of confusion was followed by denial, shock, anger, jealousy, disgust, hurt, relief, curiosity, determination, guilt, irritation, hope, trust, anxiety, fear, embarrassment, horror, stress, interest, doubt, shame, happiness, frustration and many other feelings.
"Who is he?" Shrutketu asked Dai even though Neal's identity was evident.
"That's Neal," Dai said, "The human prince. Haven't you seen him before?"
"I think I have." Shrutketu gritted his teeth. He had never met Neal. Even during the peace meetings, starlites had negotiated with starlites and humans with humans. Only his father, the king had met Neal.
Shrutketu decided to confront his wife at night. His sour mood all day was attributed to his loss.
"I saw Neal today," he said to his wife that night.
"What did he had to say?" she asked.
"No, I did not meet him. I just saw him."
Sia looked at his grave face with a confused expression. "We all did."
"I had seen him earlier."
"So?" Sia's eyes narrowed. She could not comprehend what he was trying to say.
"When you met him in the orchards."
"Oh!" Sia put her palm on her head. "Is that why you have been acting so strangely?" She put her hands on her hip. "And here I was thinking that the pregnancy has shaken you."
"I thought that you were having an affair," he defended.
"Aw," Sia cooed, "it's so cute that you got jealous."
"Right now I'm confused."
'It is a confusing tale," Sia thought, "but I can't tell you the real story." She said, "I'll tell you as much as you need to know. Some secrets are not mine to tell. And for the most part, they don't concern us."
"There was a messenger for you the other day. She refused to give the message to anyone but you. I take it, the message was from Neal?"
Sia nodded. "I gave my reply that I will talk to Neal in the orchards. Neal would have been in trouble if anybody knew of his presence in Peshtim."
"It would have been considered hostile."
"No, I mean in Midos. He didn't want the empress to know."
"Why?"
"He is in love with a girl. Nobody can know about it." The prince understood that the girl was not someone the empress could approve.
"I can't help but feel sorry for princess Marya," he said. "She is still hoping for him."
"Feel sorry for Neal. No one can be more pathetic. You should've heard what he had to say." Sia remembered the day. "I wanted to slap some sense into him."
"I saw you going in all secrecy to meet a man and when I saw you embrace him, I didn't think I had anything left to see or hear. How could he have come there?"
"The messenger could fly. One human is not that hard to carry. The trees provide ample oxygen to breath. It's not that high for humans."
"I thought that I had seen a starlite. Why did he come to you? For help with his love story?"
"Yes, but not the kind which you are thinking. The empress would not deny him, but the girl still does not know."
Shrutketu was so shocked that lost his composure. "You gotta be kidding me," he cried. "It is indeed pathetic. He is the crown prince. What girl would say no to him?"
Sia ignored the question. "This tournament was his idea, and her wish. But Neal requested me to execute it." Sia said, "His gift to her. It's pretty stupid if you ask me. What has he done in all this? It may as well be my gift to her."
"When you put up the idea, I was sure you only wanted a chance to meet your lover." Shrutketu turned pink and looked at the floor.
Sia planted a kiss on his cheek. "You have to meet Neal. So that he can know what pain he has inflicted on you."
"If all he wanted was to get this tournament, he could have gone to Dai."
"You don't understand. He needed a woman's point of view. And besides I'm friends with the girl." Sia didn't find it prudent to point out that she had been his secret keeper for long.
"How many humans are you friends with?" The prince believed that his wife liked humans too much. She was on great terms with Princess Marya too.
She chuckled. "You'll be surprised."
"He could've sent a letter. Why did he travel so far?"
"He was so excited." Sia smiled radiating some of the excitement. "He couldn't wait to tell me. He wanted to do it personally. But then, he has always been like this. Once a thought enters his mind, he has to do it then and there, without a moment's delay. He won't think of his discomfort or even others'."
"I can't quite understand these love struck humans."
"Me neither." Sia gazed into his grey eyes which seemed filled with happiness after a long time.
"Who is the girl? Do I know her? Is she from Peshtim? She isn't Princess Marya, right?"
"No." She laughed. "But I think that you have met her."
The girl in question had not been present that day and Neal could do nothing but wait for the third day to start. The only match he cared for was Sophia's. When it was finally time for her to fight, she closed her eyes and murmured something. She remembered the events after her loss.
Sia had tried to comfort her. "Don't go home today. Come to the castle with me." Sia knew Sophie was childishly bad at loosing and would be crying her eyes out if left alone.
"I can't. I have so much work to do. I had not checked on the wall yeaterday. This is time to be extra vigilent. I have to check on the captains too," Sophie said frantically. "I don't have time for a trip to the mountains. I'll see you the day after tomorrow. I also need to prepare for my next match with the Peshtim." Sophie didn't have the heart to look into her father's eyes after the defeat.
"You can go back tomorrow," Sia insisted.
Sophie stubbornly declined her request and went home. Only after she had closed and bolted her door, did she permit her dam to break. Sophie cried her heart out, in big ugly sobs. But the rain wasn't without the dark clouds. The thoughts took over her brain.
Her sword was supposed to be her identity. She had devoted her life to the sword. Without it Sophie felt like a child, helpless and insecure. She tried to find another identity but there was nothing else for her. What was she if not an excellent sword-fighter? Ever since her childhood, she had wanted to be a fighter.
Sophie was not born into power or money. She was born an poor orphan. She wasn't social, most of the starlites sneered at her. She wasn't a schemer like Neal, she couldn't even lie.
She had never pursued traditional knowledge or beauty. Instead of being the witty one or the pretty one, she had chosen to be the gritty one.
If Sophie had asked her family, they would've come up with loads, but at that moment she could find no other redeeming quality for herself. She had so much anger reverberating through her very essence. She was a calm person as long as she could channelized all of it into her fighting. She needed battles and wars or at least the tournament.
Sophia pondered over at her life with jade coloured glasses. She had received the starcrest because she was at Xeo, as a messenger. She was in the guardians because the prince had seen her fight. She knew that the prince would not kick her out of her job, but still the future looked dark to her.
She cursed the day she had suggested the idea of the tournament to the prince. In everybody else's eyes she was a loser. But in his eyes she was the person who asked for a tournament just to lose it. That thought inflicted the highest level of pain. She looked wistfully at "Happiness".
Sophie washed her face and was about to change into her night clothes, when she heard a knock on her door.
On receiving no reply, the prince knocked again, this time calling her by the name.