"It seems the prince sleeps a lot." king Briceaus said as they had breakfast.
"Yes indeed. He must have danced too much." said another king, king Derek.
Julius merely smiled and looked over at Terra but she continued eating like she didn't know what was happening.
"Speak of the devil and he doth appear." said lord Veldet, Elizabeth's father.
Crow walked behind Ceaser with his chin raised. He searched for Elizabeth and saw how her mother was smiling at him. Elizabeth was looking down at her plate and her face was flushed. Out of curiosity he looked at Eve as well and saw how pale she looked. She indeed looked like a maiden who's engagement had been called off. He knew that it was her own skin but somehow it seemed un-natural for someone to be that pale. Ceaser was also looking at Eve but he didn't stare for too long. The two of them took their seats and were served warm food.
"I heard the prince trained hard and is now a good fighter and swords man. I'd love to see him in action." King Briceaus said cheerfully,"And I suppose sir Raphael is just as talented."
Some of the people hummed in agreement while others just nodded. Julius grinned with pride and used his fork to stab a thin sliced of meat that he put into his mouth and chewed it quickly.
"Then why don't we have a contest?" Terra suggested.
"Contest?" the men repeated.
"Yes. We test all the men here in different skills like fencing, archery and many more. The winner will get the title of the best man throughout the kingdoms." she explained.
"When?" Julius asked.
"Why wait when the day has just started." she answered him calmly.
Many of them became high on adrenaline and pride at the thought of such a contest. The ladies were also excited about it; it would be nice to be the best man's wife or daughter. Crow was finally interested in what was happening and he unconsciously looked at Elizabeth who was also looking at him. She smiled secretly at him and Ceaser watched them quietly before he caught Eve staring at him. She looked away immediately and he smiled at her shyness. When he had seen her the first time she had stared at him without the slightest fear but now that she was a young lady she was blushing whenever their eyes met.
When they finished breakfast, the men walked back to their rooms like children running for food.
Virginia searched for Lucan and when she saw him she called out to him. Upon hearing the familiar voice, Lucan hurried his footsteps and walked away quickly with Gray. Virginia frowned and thought maybe she would disturb him if she followed him around or even run into the wolf pet again. She had only told Penelope about it because she still wanted to get her hands on him.
"What are you doing here?" asked Penelope coming to stand in front of her younger sister.
"I was just thinking about sir Reginald. He just left a while ago." Virginia answered.
"Have you seen sir Benjamin then?" Penelope asked blushing.
"You two barely spoke last night and yet you are here running mad about him." Virginia said giggling.
"I want to take things slow." Penelope said.
"Slow? You must hurry before someone else gets to his heart before you do."
"Don't worry. So have you seen him?"
"No." Virginia answered truthfully.
"So you were wasting my time? I'm leaving and so should you."
Virginia watched her sister walk away then she turned to look at where Lucan had disappeared to for a few seconds before turning to follow her sister. The twins walked out to the open field behind the palace where many people were already standing. The servants of the palace had been permitted to watch and some other people had taken advantage of the unguarded palace gates and entered the palace grounds uninvited. The men had changed into different clothing suitable for the first activity which was fencing. They were a total of fifty men and they were split into two groups that would fight each other. The rules were that if one was disarmed they had to stop defending their group and the winning team had to disarm the all the members of the other team.
The first team consisted mainly of the nobles and some young princes. Ceaser was in the second team with the Lycans, Crow and some King's including Julius. Lord Veldet was on Ceaser's team as well. They started fighting at the sound of a bell ringing and within a few seconds, the outcome of the first match could be predicted. Ceaser's team won within only a minute of fighting and some of the kings had not even done anything. The crowd applauded them and Crow took that opportunity to speak to lord Veldet.
"You are quite swift for a man your age." he said scaring the man out of his skin.
"You frightened me sir Raphael." said lord Veldet,"I eat healthy and I train often enough."
"Healthy and train." Crow said sarcastically eyeing the man's figure.
"I know what you are thinking; looks ARE decieving."
"So it seems." Crow sighed,"Does lady Elizabeth know how to fence?"
"Nay! Why would a lady fence?"
"I was just curious."
Crow's eyes found Elizabeth clapping enthusiastically and her mother trying to get her to stop embarrassing herself. Crow turned back to look at Veldet and slightly bowed before leaving the man alone. Lord Veldet looked at Crow's retreating figure and smiled thinking about his daughter marrying him. He glanced at Elizabeth and she was still clapping. He waved at her and she waved back at him.
"What were you asking him?" Ceaser asked Crow.
"If Elizabeth can fence. She can't obviously." Crow asked.
"I see."
"Have you spoken to her?" Crow asked looking at Eve.
Ceaser followed Crow's line of vision and saw Eve in a pink gown. She had her hair tied in one braid that hanging on her shoulder. He stared at her for a few more seconds and then he turned back to look at Crow.
"Spoken about what exactly?" Ceaser asked.
"Marriage."
"I thought I made it clear that I don't want to get married."
"You are in denial sire. I don't know if you know but you won't be king without a wife."
"Then it will only be for that reason." Ceaser said starting to walk away,"We have archery next. Teams of five. All members have to get a bull's eye."
Crow watched Ceaser's back as he walked away and the he glanced at Eve who sat looking sad while the people around her were looking merry. He shook his head in pity for her then he looked at Elizabeth who was now being scolded by her mother. The men who had lost the first round went to take their seats while the ones who proceeded prepared for the next round.
"Ceaser..." called out Briceaus,"A word."
Ceaser walked to Briceaus and asked Crow to get three of the lycans to join their group.
"You called my lord?" Ceaser said when he was finally in front of Briceaus.
"Yes. I want to be with your team if you don't mind."
"I am terribly sorry. My team already has five men." Ceaser said, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"Remove a man then." Briceaus suggested taken aback by Ceaser's rejection.
"I don't know how good your aim is so my answer remains no." Ceaser said when Lucan brought him his bow and one arrow,"You best join a team before the good ones are taken."
Ceaser smiled at Briceaus and took the bow and arrow from Lucan then left. Briceaus' lips twitched as he watched the two men walk away from him. Wasn't he being too proud for a mere prince? Briceaus turned around and walked away to find other men to join. The two lycan Brothers who were missing three members paired up with Veldet, Briceaus and king Roosevelt. The first team was Gray's team where Briceaus was. Roosevelt went first and hit the bull's eye. Next was Veldet and he also succeeded then Gray and Benjamin. Briceaus wanted to be last and when it was his turn, a small wind blew past and it detoured his arrow onto the bull's eye because it had been in the wrong direction. He was relieved and sighed while a round of applause was given for them. The next team had only two bull's eyes and they were disqualified.
The next team was no better because the wind was blowing rather violently making it different. Lucan's team was next and they managed four bull's eyes but were still disqualified. The last archer from Ceaser's team was Ivan. The thought in Ivan's mind was that he was a hunter and not an archer. He watched Crow who was ready to release the arrow and then he felt a rush of wind going past him and he felt hopeful that he might not be the one to make them loose after all.
'If Crow misses first then I'll also miss on purpose.' thought Ivan to himself.
The wind was blowing in the north west direction and Crow paused for a while before pointing slightly to the north east side and releasing the arrow. The wind made the arrow move back in place and he hit the bull's eye. Ivan scoffed and watched Crow coming back to stand with them while Ian went to where Crow had been before as he was the next archer. Ian observed the wind's direction before he moved to the right side and then released the arrow. Another bull's eye and Ivan broke into a cold sweat. Ceaser came to stand next to Ivan and placed his hand on his shoulder.
"Find your own rhythm. Watch." Ceaser said calmly.
Ivan took in a deep breath and looked at Pascal who walked seriously. Pascal lifted the bow and pointed it upward and released the arrow and it went exactly where he wanted.