"Unless they happen to be a noble's descendant who was just proving their abilities, most competitors who distinguished themselves in tournaments tend to receive employment offers from the high nobility, or the military. Some very lucky souls might even acquire the interest of the imperial family themselves. These ones are usually set for life." - Pachay Frem, former prime minister of the Third Elmaiya Empire, retired, circa 157 VA.

After the award ceremony concluded - the winners all received an enviable sum of gold - with congratulatory words from the Empress herself, Lucea and Tesruq, along with Aideen and a handful of guards adjourned into a nice office.

It was the colosseum manager's office, but one does not say no when the Empress expressed their wishes to use the office for a while. The rest of the guards escorted Khaer Ul and Lucea's children back to the imperial palace, while another two trusted guards had waited for the desert woman and notified her of the Empress' summons.

Around five minutes later, those two guards led the surprised desert woman to the office, where she took one look at the imperial couple seated before her, and knelt as she greeted them. "Your majesties," she said.

"Please rise, miss…" said Lucea as she gestured with one hand. The tournament had allowed people to register under an alias, so she was not sure if the name the desert woman registered under was her real name or not. "By what name should we call you?"

"My name is Adelheid Vuldar Hænlien, your majesty. I hail from the great desert," replied the woman in a calmer tone.

Now that she got a closer look at the woman, Aideen could tell the obvious goblin ancestry on her, from her skin tone and dagger-like teeth. Her pointy ears were also characteristic of goblins, but the angle they had reminded her more of elves, which was curious.

The woman would not be one most called beautiful, as her features gave her a more immature, rather childish look instead. One could call her cute or pretty, definitely, but Aideen suspected that she was already an adult, and her rather immature looks more a confluence of her mixed heritage.

"Adelheid… that's an unusual name," commented the Empress, a detail with which Aideen concurred. The way Adelheid pronounced her name reminded her of the occasional visitor she had met from Alcidea.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"My grandfather is a traveler from the northern continent of Alcidea, your majesty. My father named me after his father's late mother," explained the diminutive woman. "It was also from my grandfather that I learned my swordsmanship."

"That explains that, then," said Aideen from the side. Adelheid looked somewhat surprised that someone just spoke and interrupted the Empress, but understood the situation from how nobody seemed bothered by the interruption, not even the imperial couple themselves. "I was wondering where someone obviously from the desert learned those skills."

"I had spent a couple decades under my grandfather's tutelage until his passing," said Adelheid in clarification. "My father was a traveler who fell in love with life in the desert, and had sent me to my grandfather when it was clear I was not content with life there."

"A couple decades? How old are you, if it behooves you to answer, miss Adelheid?" asked Tesruq politely from his seat beside Lucea. "No need to answer if this proves to be a sensitive subject to you."

"There is nothing for me to hide, your majesty. I am forty-seven this year," replied the small woman with a smile. Her reply elicited some surprise out of many of the guards around. Aideen had guessed that to be likely the case, however, that she looked far younger than her actual age. "My grandmother is a frost elf from Hrinsfjord."

"So you're a quarter-elf, I assume half-goblin, and your grandfather was human?" asked Aideen from the side. Hybrid couples and mixed breed were not uncommon, those mixed with elves still tend to be rare due to their past reputation.

She did hear that the frost elves in the jarldoms tend to be more peaceful and friendly though, compared to the inhabitants of the shadow forest in the past.

"That would be about correct, milady," said Adelheid, as she fell back to the more generic title since she was unsure what to call Aideen. "Grandmother said I should likely see my second century, perhaps third."

"That is interesting. To cut to the point, Adelheid, we summoned you here to give you an offer," said Lucea with a more businesslike tone. One of her guards was a soulweaver who had constantly monitored the desert woman's surface thoughts throughout the conversation.

He had just discreetly reported that she had shown no signs of animosity or falsehood, just a very understandable mixture of nervousness and excitement with some disbelief. It was not everyday that someone received a summons and a private audience with an Empress after all.

"Should you find the prospect amenable, we of the imperial family of Elmaiya would like to retain your services as a warrior," said Lucea as Adelheid listened closely. "You will answer directly to us, and only to us. As for the scope of your duties and the subsequent remunerations, it will depend on your performance. What say you?"

"It would be an honor, your majesty," said the desert woman with a humble bow, slightly overwhelmed by the offered opportunity. "It would be my pleasure to serve!"

When Aideen left the Colosseum along with the imperial couple, Adelheid left with them. Some people who looked like they were servants to nobles from the way they dressed were waiting by the colosseum's exit, and bowed deferentially as the imperial couple passed them.

Aideen heard some disappointed sighs from them, however. They were evidently there to offer Adelheid employment on behalf of their masters, and realized that they had lost that chance when they saw the woman trail after the Empress.

After all, the Empress always had first dibs on making an offer to people that caught their interest.