Ethan waited a moment for the room to grow more chaotic as everyone slowly processed what had just happened. Thavin was still standing over Prince Calevaro, his demand for a duel ringing in the air. Knights from both sides were rushing forward, and the king had stormed to his feet, face turning bright red.

Both princesses were there as well, speaking over one another in some attempt to control what was happening. As a crowd of nobles formed and knights held them back, Ethan joined the assembled group, and waited for his moment. There was still a big part of this that he wasn’t in control of, and he had to be ready to try to nudge the situation in the right direction.

He channeled Mystic, ready to use his new trick, then made sure he was lost in the crowd. Prince Calevaro had regained his feet, but his reaction was hard to gauge from behind his ever-present helmet. Still, he stood in an aggressive posture, locked in a staring match with Thavin, who seemed to want the duel to begin right here.

“Please, forgive my brother!” Princess Olivia was saying. “He is a warrior first and forgets himself.” She didn’t appear to know exactly how to diffuse the situation, and seemed to be trying to make up for a lack of clear reasoning with passion. Unfortunately Ethan needed the reason for the duel to be ironclad…and not his fault.

He put Tomo’s trick to work, as a female voice yelled from the crowd. “What kind of fool challenges one of the Chosen?” the ‘woman’ mocked.

On cue, Prince Thavin’s face screwed up in anger. “I fear no one!” he shouted, without looking back at the crowd. “Chosen or not, Arinae will never back down! Will you face me or not, coward?” Princess Olivia seemed even more furious than her temperamental brother, and raced toward him, whispering aggressively into his ear.

Princess Ellevaro was likewise trying to control the situation. “We cannot be hasty,” she said loudly. “More than one feast has seen conflict after too much drink, and we mustn’t lose our heads.” She began whispering to her own brother, and Ethan found the moment slipping away when he saw Calevaro nodding, and relaxing slightly.

I didn’t want to have to do this, but we’re in it now. This time, a male voice seemed to call out from the opposite side of the crowd. “These Arinae dogs are trying to kill our Chosen again! First it was Prince Kentevaro, now this!”

That did it. The crowd erupted with screaming on both sides. The Arinaens refuted the accusations, while the Viridians screamed for vengeance against their lost prince. Ethan saw the king approaching, and prepared another callout, knowing he was running out of time. Thavin saved him the trouble.

“We didn’t kill your pathetic brother!” he called back derisively. “That fool met with the fate he deserved!” The entire crowd immediately went silent, and Ethan had to stop himself from grinning like a fool–even he hadn’t expected the arrogant prince to say something so inflammatory.

It was so quiet that the king’s footsteps could be heard approaching, and Princess Olivia seemed to have given up, looking at her own brother with incredulity. The king was pushing through the crowd when a calm voice finally broke the silence.

“I accept your challenge,” Prince Calevaro said.

That being his cue, Ethan hurried to where he’d spotted Dalen in the crowd. She glared when she saw him, and he gave his best impression of a terrified idiot in response, shrugging and shaking his head.

“What did you do?” she asked in a furious whisper.

“Just what you told me to do!” he said back. “This isn’t my fault! I’m sure we can fix this.” She just looked back at him in stunned disbelief, her mouth slightly open.

The king had finally muscled his way into the open space between the ring of the knights. “What nonsense is this!?” he roared.

“No nonsense, Majesty,” Thavin responded, eyes still on Calevaro. “I’ve challenged the Chosen to a duel, and he’s accepted. Shall we make our way to the Arena right now?”

My turn again, Ethan thought, then yelled out in his own voice. “This coward wants to fight the Prince before he’s even gained his abilities? Does he fear a real battle? Is he so scared of a fair fight?”

“What are you doing?” Dalen said, grabbing his arm. “Keep silent!”

Thavin didn’t take the bait immediately, however. “I challenged, and Calevaro accepted!” he called back, eyes still locked on his opponent. “I don’t need to wait for him to scrounge together what little power he might find!”

“I thought you feared no one!” Ethan called back in a mocking tone. “Or does Arinae admit that it relies on ambushes, like you used against Prince Kentevaro?”

Thavin actually stomped his foot at that, like a child having a tantrum. “Enough of this foolishness! Am I to wait years to face a man who’s already accepted the duel?”

Abruptly the hall grew silent once more, and Ethan had to shift to see what had happened. The cloaked Chosen was now standing between the two princes, though clearly no one had seen him move. One moment the space was empty, and the next he was just there. He spoke in a slow, gravely voice.

“I am tasked with keeping the peace during this visit,” he said simply.

Thavin was evidently unimpressed. “He accepted my challenge! There are no politics or games being played that require your intervention, Chosen! He will face me!”

It was the king who spoke then. “Absolutely not! The Chosen Arbiter has spoken!”

“I have not made my pronouncement, King Rothavaro,” the cloaked man said, and the king sputtered at being corrected. “Prince Thavin is correct, I am here to prevent war and assassination, not disrupt openly accepted challenges.”

“See? Even the Chosen–” Thavin began.

“Silence,” the robed man said, and his words seemed to echo through the hall, despite being barely higher than a whisper. Ethan felt himself shiver without understanding why. “I won’t disrupt challenges freely accepted, however, I have a higher duty, and I also won’t allow newly awakened Chosen to be thrown away. The Bonded of Flagras ultimately has responsibilities beyond any nation.”

Thavin glared, but didn’t seem ready to argue with the powerful robed Arbiter. It was actually Princess Ellevaro who spoke up. “Then a compromise, honored Chosen,” she began, moving forward. “We are in the midst of the Great Tournament, are you aware of it?”

He nodded, and she continued. “In several months, there is a series of Arena matches where the competitors are able to face off against one another. This would allow Prince Calevaro to acquire and train with his full suite of abilities.”

Not to be outdone, Princess Olivia jumped in. “This would be more than acceptable,” she said definitively. “Prince Thavin can even spend the intervening time participating in the Tournament. I understand it’s designed to encourage Hunters to thin the ranks of monsters in the kingdom to the benefit of all. Perhaps this would allow us to smooth over some of tonight’s…unpleasantness?”

The Chosen looked around at the assembled royals, noting that none seemed happy, but all seemed satisfied. “This arrangement is…acceptable,” he declared, and the room seemed to take a collective breath.

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Thavin remained furious, turning and forcing his way through the crowd to storm from the hall. None of the gathered nobles seemed to know how to react, simply watching the king to see his reaction. Rothavaro’s face was a mask of hot anger as he turned and swept off in the other direction. He stopped only long enough to whisper to a knight before leaving through the same double doors from which he’d entered.

That knight turned and spoke to several of his compatriots, who each branched out around the hall. They approached the prince and princess first, who hurried after their father. Another knight came up to whisper to Dalen and she nodded, looking pale. Indicating Ethan should follow her, she moved in the opposite direction from the royals.

They weren’t the only ones leaving in a hurry, though many stayed, either using the opportunity to continue speaking with the visiting nobles, or simply speaking in hushed tones about what had just happened. Ethan followed Dalen, who quickly steered them down a winding hallway. When they were well away from the Great Hall, she spun on him, the torchlight in the palace hall casting her features in dancing shadows.

“What in the name of the Goddess happened in there?” she demanded.

“I don’t know!” Ethan insisted, deciding that anger was his best defense. “That guy is a lunatic! All I did was say a few nice things about Prince Calevaro–playing the role of a grateful sycophant like you told me–and he went crazy!”

Dalen just threw up her hands. “Come, we need to take the long way to the throne room. Maybe Princess Ellevaro can make sense of this debacle.” He followed her through the palace, using back passages to avoid any guests. They even passed through the trophy room that Savilar had mentioned. Ethan took notice of a fascinating metal cube sealed under glass before Dalen rushed him along.

The room was already full when they finally arrived. The princess was speaking rapidly with Calevaro, who merely shrugged occasionally. The king was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, and Ethan was careful not to make eye contact, trying his best to look defeated and afraid. Thankfully the gamble he was taking added some real emotion to his acting.

The gathering was forced to wait for the king for many minutes as he continued moving and venting his fury. Finally he turned to Calevaro. “Prince Thavin has had his full Bonds for over a year! They say he resists attaining Dusk simply so he can continue to punish his peers in the arena! Why would you accept his challenge?”

“He spoke of Kent, mocked his death,” the prince answered, and the king froze, before looking away suddenly.

“Your brother–” he began.

“What would you have done, father?” Calevaro asked simply, and the king’s shoulders slumped.

Finally he turned to Ellevaro. “What prompted this? What drove that fool boy to such madness?”

The princess didn’t answer at first, and seemed to be avoiding looking at Ethan and Dalen. “I don’t know, father, but it is done. The situation is truly unfortunate, however, it isn’t as bad as it could have been,” she gestured at Ethan. “We already accounted for threats against Cal.”

The king’s gaze fell on him, and Ethan sent a silent prayer to Tomo, hoping the little demon could hide his feelings. Rothavaro looked him up and down, considering. “This solves nothing. The thief can’t possibly be ready for this duel. When he dies, what then?”

Ellevaro seemed undeterred. “We have months to solve that problem, father, thanks in part to the ‘thief’s’ intervention. We also have skilled trainers and a treasury full of equipment to tilt the odds in our favor. Besides, Prince Thavin has been looking for any excuse to confront Cal for years. There’s a good chance this was always going to happen, now we’re at least prepared for it.”

Ethan couldn’t stop a raised eyebrow at that. The way she was speaking…Was the princess setting this up all along? Did we just stumble on the same weakness in that hothead Thavin? He didn’t like to think that Ellevaro might have pulled one over on him, but he had been warned about her, and their purpose was still aligned. Besides, she didn’t know about the other seed he’d planted.

“Can the thief even pass for Cal?” the king said, clearly not believing it was possible. “The scrutiny of this duel must be beyond the scope of what you’d imagined for this little scheme.”

The princess glanced at Ethan. “He has a Mystic Familiar. Illusion specialist. With the right abilities and preparation, I’m sure we can make it believable.”

The king turned back to Ethan. “Well, thief? You were so eager to speak the last time I saw you. Will you plead for your life again? Beg not to have to fight the prince? It would be the prudent choice.”

Ethan considered his words, making sure that every word was true. “No, your majesty. I went into this arrangement with my eyes open, and I knew what would be expected of me. I won’t try to back out now, but I will request assistance. My time has been considerably reduced, and as the princess said, there are abilities I need.”

The king stared at him then, as he had done on the first occasion they met. No lies here, Ethan said to himself, though he could feel his heart thundering in his chest. At last the monarch looked away, striding back toward his throne. “As you say, daughter, we have time. I will allow your gambit to continue.”

“Excellent father, but there’s more we should discuss. Alone,” he nodded, and gestured for everyone else to leave. Ethan and Dalen obeyed gratefully, happy to be away from the king’s twilight presence. She ordered a guard to escort Ethan off of the palace grounds, and left him without a further word.

Soon he was on his own again, heading back toward his little room, the stars seeming to shine a little brighter in the sky. Ethan stopped in the middle of the dark, empty street, and let out a long breath. Tomo appeared next to him. He looked Ethan up and down, considering, then shook his head when he saw the grin.

“I’m still not sure I understand why you pursued this plan,” he said.

“It was a risk,” Ethan admitted. “But it was worth it to finally take control of this whole mess.”

“This ‘control’ is worth the danger?” Tomo asked.

“I think you’re overestimating that danger. Think about what would happen if I went into that duel and lost. Not to me–that’s obvious–what would happen to everyone else?”

The demon considered. “You would be impersonating the prince…and you would be dead. The world would then think Prince Calevaro was dead.”

“Correct. And it’s not as if he could just pop out and say it was fine. That would be admitting he cheated in a royal duel between nations. Good luck navigating the world with that hanging over his head. That means that to the royals, me losing is only marginally better than Calevaro himself dying in there.”

“They cannot allow it to happen,” Tomo said, understanding in his voice.

“Exactly. Yesterday my only value was hypothetical, and I was on a timeline to prove whether or not I should be executed. Today I’m the only thing standing between the prince and a powerful maniac. I was an afterthought, now I’m an investment.”

Tomo considered that. “What you say is true. The royals will want you as powerful as possible for the duel. I suppose you no longer need the Grand Tournament as proving grounds then.”

“Are you kidding? You can bet your tiny demonic ass that I’m still interested in exploring the Forgotten City. But now I’m not crossing my fingers for six months that I can somehow use it to demonstrate I’m worth not killing. If I make it that far, I’ll be doing it for me.”

“That is the part that truly concerns me,” Tomo said. “I do not wish to discourage you, and I will be by your side regardless, but to win this duel…You will be facing someone who has trained his whole life.”

Ethan laughed out loud. “Couldn’t agree more, Tomo. I may look forward to a few months of actually enjoying the royal treatment, but I have absolutely no intention of being the one in that duel.”

“I do not understand. You will somehow avoid it then, how?”

“Now that is an excellent question, with a wonderfully tangible answer. I’ve spent my time here getting stronger, learning what I can, and wondering every day if I’ll be killed for my trouble.” Ethan shook his head with mirth. “Do you know how to prove your value to an angry king you’ve met once? I sure as hell don’t. But how to avoid a duel that’s months away? Now that is a clear problem I can plan for.”

“I would feel better, Ethan Bishop, if you had a plan now,” Tomo said.

Ethan grinned. “I have several plans now, but after how well tonight went, I think I’ll only need one.”

“Please share.”

“Well Tomo, I think there’s someone else better suited to duel in my place. Can you think of anyone else who fights like the prince, is clearly willing to risk his life, and is far, far more likely to win than I am?”

Tomo narrowed his draconic eyes, then they widened again almost immediately. “You mean for Prince Calevaro to enter the duel, himself?”

Ethan grinned even wider. “Prince Thavin really shouldn’t have spoken ill of the late Prince Kent. I could feel the rage coming off Calevaro in waves. I think we’ll find him more than ready to face that fool himself.”

Ethan resumed his stroll home. “You know, Tomo, I think I’m coming to like the idea of body doubles. I just don’t like being one.”