Ethan spent the trip back to the city deep in thought. Glenn and Cara had ‘unfrozen’ the moment the Chosen left, and seemed none the wiser. They’d been confused as to his abrupt shift in mood, but both were distracted by their own concerns. Cara was still waiting for her share of the loot, and Glenn went back to wistfully watching Deevee.
Ethan couldn’t stop thinking about the brief, and frustratingly enigmatic conversation he’d had with the powerful elf. The revelation that the Chosen were somehow tied to the rifts was already a lot to take in, but hearing that they were apparently divided on the issue brought a whole new dimension to the discovery. That his own world could be on the side that wanted the rifts was almost too much.
As such, it was a very distracted Ethan that walked through the streets of Corvale. He barely took in the sights of the city as he followed the winding roads back to his room, feeling the weight of so many different demands on his attention and time. He needed to keep hunting, and learning about runes. He also had his new ability to train, and his next appointment at the underground healing house was upcoming.
That was to say nothing of the preparations he needed to make for the battle with the thunder drake, and the duel with Prince Thavin. Truthfully he was feeling a little bitter as he finally entered his room, and almost didn’t notice the noblewoman looking at his wall of goals and Notices. He groaned as he recognized Dalin, and understood immediately that his day was about to become even more complicated.
“You have quite a few ambitions, Mr. Bishop,” she said without looking away from the wall.
“This world makes many demands on my time,” he said while slumping into the room’s only chair. “I expect it’s about to make another. What can I do for you, Miss Innevaro?”
She turned to him then. “The formal terms of the duel are being set next week. Princess Ellevaro wishes to speak with you today. She wanted me to emphasize that it would be in your best interest to be involved.”
“Is that all?” Ethan asked, not having the energy for the terse go-between.
Dalin fixed him with a glare. “Yes, a summons for the Princess of the Realm is all,” she said.
Ethan stood back up, body still aching from the day’s activities. “Next time send a note,” he said, not bothering to hide his irritation. He swept from the room, moving quickly back into the streets. He’d removed his new armor for the trip home, but quick-equipped it back on as he marched toward the palace. It was dirty, and bloody, and wholly inappropriate for a meeting with the princess, but he was feeling a bit petty.
Sometimes you need to embrace the pettiness. That was his own philosophy rather than Dean’s, but his brother had never been pulled around by a manipulative spider. The palace guards looked at his outfit with suspicion, but opened the gates to him regardless, and Ethan stormed up to the building like he was charging into battle.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked.
Onitomo burst into being next to him, hand on his little katana. “The spider will not touch you, but the princess is yours to deal with.”
“Just keep those webs off of me, and hopefully this will be a friendly visit.”
Ethan followed the servant’s halls the long way to get to the princess’s study. A familiar knight was standing next to the door, ax already drawn. “She’ll never love you the way you love her,” Ethan said in a knowing tone as he walked up.
“You dare?!” the large man shouted back. “I would never harbor impure thoughts about the princess!”
“I was talking about the ax,” Ethan said calmly. “Use protection, and don’t let her break your heart.” The knight looked down at his weapon in confusion, but Ethan swept by him into the room before the man could respond. The princess was looking out her window, and didn’t turn as he pushed the door shut behind him.
“Princess,” he said. She didn’t turn immediately, but at least she didn’t try to make him wait endlessly like their first encounter.
“Things have changed,” she said. The statement hung in the air, both simple and profound, given everything that had happened. “The events at the feast will ripple out in the political landscape for years to come. What did you say to Prince Thavin?”
Ethan weighed how much to tell the woman. “Virtually nothing, I was speaking almost exclusively to the princess.”
Ellevaro moved to stand next to her desk, examining him. “And what did you speak of?”
“The questions you’d expect. She wanted to make sure I am who we claim. Mostly it was what you’d think, but eventually the topic shifted to Prince Calevaro.” Ethan was gambling that Olivia wouldn’t share her suspicions about Ethan being a Nixus spy, but even if Princess Ellevaro somehow knew, he could always plead ignorance.
“And what was said of my brother?” she asked.
“Again, very little. The princes obviously have some kind of history. I was talking about how heroic the rescue was, and how powerful Prince Calevaro has become, and the man grew enraged.”
She raised an eyebrow, staring at him in the way he now recognized was a Bonded searching for lies in the Astral. “And that was all? That was enough to push him into an international incident?”
Ethan tried to look embarrassed. “I may have overdone it. I spoke of Viridus’ great fortune in having regained their Chosen. I was trying to act like the fawning hanger-on that I’m supposed to be, but even mentioning the prince becoming Chosen seemed to enrage Thavin.”
Again, that long stare, then she let out a sigh. “We must look forward, regardless. Which brings us to why you’re here. In two weeks the circumstances of the duel will be decided.” Ethan perked up.
“What’s there to decide?”
“Much, actually. The time we bought by delaying the confrontation did more than give Calevaro a chance to prepare. As expected, Thavin’s father wasn’t happy to hear that his son and heir has entered a duel to the death, and had already sent word, demanding we adjust the stakes to a less lethal arrangement,” she said.
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A small wave of relief passed over Ethan. He still had no intention of fighting the duel, but plans could fail, and Thavin hadn’t seemed like a man who considered half measures. The princess clearly caught his reaction, and smiled wickedly. “Of course we have denied that request.”
“What? Why?” Ethan asked.
“Why give up a chance to weaken a rival so significantly? And in a way that wouldn’t allow for any kind of reprisal from Arinae without Chosen stepping in?” She smiled victoriously. “Prince Thavin will die in that arena, that much is sure. The how is the only real challenge.”
Ethan couldn’t hide his glare. “I have plans, but they need time. I have to find abilities that not only allow me to mimic Prince Calevaro, but also make me powerful enough to win. I’m of no use to anyone if I can only be a version of the prince that loses fights.”
Ellevaro made a dismissive gesture. “I’m sure you’re doing what you need to do, in that regard. If I wasn’t confident in your sense of self-preservation, I never would have allowed things to get this far. No, what I’m referring to is The Roll. I take it you’re unfamiliar?”
“It doesn’t mean anything to me in this context,” Ethan said.
The princess went to her desk and removed an object that looked like a stone from far off, but revealed itself as a many-sided die when she came closer. Without a word, she cast the die on the floor between them, and it came up showing a rune Ethan recognized from his training. Ocean.
An image of a body of water appeared above the die, much like what he’d seen in the Church. The princess spoke. “The circumstances to which I referred will be decided by a random roll, to allow for some kind of fairness when the duel takes place. The location, secondary threats, and several other elements will be determined by rolling the runes.”
“Okay, what does this have to do with me? I can’t imagine you want me there, and you can just inform me of the results after.”
She smiled indulgently. “The Ariane royals are staying on their ship, the Dunebreaker. Their comings and goings have thus far been unpredictable. Notably, one of the siblings is almost always present on the ship, meaning half of their guards are as well.”
“But they’ll both be at this ‘Roll’,” Ethan supplied.
“Correct. The ship obviously has considerable magical defenses, but someone with the right combination of skills, as well as a few trinkets from the treasury, might be able to get inside.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow. “That would be an incredible risk, what would this person hope to learn?”
The princess gestured to the office around her. “We’re not entirely without intelligence on the interior of the Dunebreaker. One thing we know for sure is that Princess Olivia has her own office, much like this one. She spends so much time traveling that she apparently uses it even while in Arinae.”
“I see where this is going. It’s possible that there’s a treasure trove of political information contained in this office. But the infiltrator would be risking their life to get inside this ship; that’s a lot of danger for potential political power. Especially given its limited value to the one in danger.”
The princess removed a small black box from her inventory, which she placed on her desk. She spoke with one hand resting on it. “This is not the first duel that the Arinae kingdom has been involved in. Thavin is from a long line of hot-headed warriors. His father was more politically minded…but his uncles were not.”
She left the box behind and crossed the room, pressing her hand to a rune on the wall. A map of Nexum appeared, and Ethan moved closer, drawn to it. She pointed at three places that would have been in the US back home. “These three kingdoms have all lost duels to the Harenaros.”
Ethan turned a glare on the princess. “A long history of duels? Seems like something you might have known about before the feast,” he said, the accusation clear.
Ellevaro put a hand to her chest in false shock. “I don’t know what you’re implying. If I did, I would have needed a plan in place months ago to protect my brother,” she finished with the smallest smile. Tomo is right, I’ve been underestimating this woman.
“Regardless,” she continued, “a proclivity for duels isn’t the problem. Cal is truly remarkable, and this is a conflict he’s no doubt been preparing for since he was young. Unfortunately, Arinae cheats.”
“Cheats, how?” Ethan asked.
Ellevaro sighed. “In an entirely unprovable way, thus far. Our arena is built to allow for incredible displays of magic. For a significant cost it can perform marvels, mimicking different environments, spawning facsimiles of monsters, and more. Unfortunately, magic of that complexity leaves ample room for interference.”
“That seems like a pretty big risk, is cheating common?”
She shook her head. “Hardly. The arenas are works of art, originally crafted by an ancient Champion. It would require comparable skill to do what Arinae is suspected of doing, as well as specific equipment.”
“Then how are you so certain they’ve done it?” he asked.
“Because,” she said, “the Champion who created the arenas was from Arinae.”
Ethan ran a hand through his hair. “Okay, that’s a little suspicious. But it doesn’t guarantee–”
“At each of these duels, the Dunebreaker was present, and in close proximity to the arena. The same Champion built the Dunebreaker, and the Arinaens have many other methods of transportation.” Ethan considered her words. It was circumstantial, but she was right that it was worth investigating.
“Fine, I take your point. Obviously you can’t expect someone to just go scrambling around inside the ship though. Especially not someone with such a limited understanding of how magic works.”
The princess strode back to her desk, and tapped on the black box. “Take this. It contains everything we’ve managed to learn about the Dunebreaker over the last several centuries. Thankfully one of our own Champions was something of a rival of the ship’s creator, so you won’t be going in blind. It also contains several Rune Stones you’ll require.”
“What kind of Rune Stones?” he asked, picking up the box.
“Our kingdom has very few stealth and infiltration specialists. We simply don’t have the right Bonds available. As such, the supplies we do have for that skillset have largely sat unused. These will make your task possible, though not easy.”
Ethan opened the box, revealing a number of stones, some of which were incredibly elaborate. The princess pointed at one. “Some of these were made by our Champion, specifically in an attempt to bypass the ship’s defenses. They are exceedingly powerful, but temporary. Don’t use them until you’re ready.”
“If I find whatever’s supposed to be manipulating the arena, what then?” he asked.
She pointed to the only colored stone, which was tiny and red. “This rune is for that purpose. We can’t know exactly what the mechanism is doing, but if you find it, place this stone somewhere it won’t be found. It is paired to another such device in the palace, and will allow our own Rune Guild to analyze what it finds.”
Ethan closed the box, deciding that he would have Selina look over everything before he used them. “Alright. First priority is the arena manipulations, and I’ll stop by the princess’s office if I get a chance. Anything else? I’ve had a long day.”
“One other thing. We agree that you need additional support to prepare for the confrontation, and so you’ll have it. We’ve asked another Dusk rank warrior to make himself available on your Hunts, to ensure that you can acquire the abilities and experience you need before your confrontation with Prince Thavin.”
Ethan brightened, that would certainly make his life easier. “Excellent, is it another Hunter?”
“Yes and no. He’s a member of the Church militia–the Rift Hunters–as well as the leader of the Brightsouls in the tournament. His name is Savilar Laurent.”
A memory of an angelic being reaching toward him with burning threads of gold came to mind. “We’ve met.”