Chapter 15
T he next few days turned into a whirlwind of information gathering.
Father and I spent time together planning the second challenge in the tournament.
I collaborated with the event planners on the logistics of the two public tournaments.
We planned the first tournament for the military’s training field.
The planners agreed to construct bleachers and create a ring for the men to display their fighting skills.
The military’s commandant talked with me, and we agreed that a timed combat would work best to show skills while minimizing injury.
He had also set up a team to devise a way to challenge the princes fairly with his men.
The military was also loaning use of their tactical field, which contained their obstacle courses for trainings.
The space had a variety of walls, hills, small buildings, and trenches, making it the perfect place to navigate the ‘capture the flag’ challenge.
Once we sorted out the logistics of the event, we arranged a schedule for the princes to work with their teams in the mornings and early afternoons, and then to join me for either tea or dinner, or both.
I created a schedule with Ethan where I could see each prince and still be able to dine with all of them together.
I even looked forward to the larger dinner events.
While I could tell that the princes were struggling to control their jealousy towards each other as time passed, they still had great camaraderie with each other, and it was entertaining to see them interact.
Ivy and Amyra joined our dinners, allowing Ethan to spend these evenings with Katelle, since Ivy and Amyra prevented me from being alone with the men.
It was at one of these group dinners, a week before the first event, where the princes started to show off their temperaments.
While Ivy always took the seat to my left and Amyra always took the seat to my right, the three of them seemed to prefer to rotate so that they would take turns sitting across from me each evening.
On this evening, Spencer was across from me, Frederick had chosen the seat next to Ivy, and Egan was next to Amyra.
The conversation felt simple enough. We were talking about the events of the day, which had always been rather mundane.
This time, there was tension on the training field that day, and they couldn’t leave it alone.
It started with Frederick sharing a story about how the three of them were running through a warmup together and Egan had stumbled through a movement.
“It was so funny,” Frederick giggled through his words. “You should have seen how his foot twisted over the other, and then his arms just flailed as he fell.”
Egan’s face contorted in anger as he slammed his fist into the table. “I thought I told you to not bring this up this evening, Frederick.”
I tensed a bit, not used to the show of aggression.
Spencer’s jaw tightened, eyes narrowing as his left arm shifted ever toward his side.
I didn’t see any weapons on him, so he must have a hidden blade there.
Amyra stiffened beside me, her breath hitching, while Ivy’s fingers curled against her skirts, both pressing closer, as if my presence alone could shield them from Egan’s outburst. Frederick’s giggles stopped and his face fell into shock.
“Whoa, whoa, Eeg, it doesn’t have to be that serious.” Frederick tried to soothe the tension in the air .
“No, Fred, it does. I’m so sick of you and Spencer showing me up during training.
Then you bring it to dinner. Why would you do that?
I don’t need to be embarrassed like that.
” He didn’t just emphasize his words, he also slammed his hand on the table again, standing up with the last words like he intended to escalate.
Frederick and Spencer also jumped up, ready to square off with him. Egan’s jaw clenched; his eyes darkened.
I didn’t need Spencer’s gift of seeing the haze around a person to know that a storm was brewing.
I signal the safety gesture to a waiter standing off to the side, and she nods and ducks through the doorway to the kitchen.
We should have a handful of guards at the doors in just a few minutes, waiting for my command unless things escalated.
Now we just need to keep things calm long enough for that security to be useful.
I stood up and motioned for Ivy and Amyra to stand and move behind me. I took a deep breath, then tapped into my training. “OK, Egan, let’s take a moment here. Can you look at me?”
I waited for him to look at me, and I smiled at him.
“Thank you. I know we have had some stressful few weeks, haven’t we?”
Egan nodded but then started ranting unintelligibly.
His gaze shifted, and he seemed like he’s no longer focused on any of us.
He turned from me, pacing while keeping behind Spencer and Frederick.
He moved back and forth several times, all the while muttering, like he was talking to himself.
I wasn't sure how to get his attention again, or what was upsetting him this much.
I watched in my peripherals as Ivy and Amyra inched closer to me.
As soon as I could touch Amyra, I reached out to her, and we grasped each other by an elbow.
Ivy’s hands reached for my back, leaving one of my hands free.
Both were ready to duck or move me out of the way of Egan’s anger if he turned violent.
Knowing that we were all on the same wavelength with no need to plan caused my love for them swelled despite the tension we all felt .
My training was just in de-escalation and diplomacy.
Many arguments about politics often resulted in outbursts, and knowing how to diffuse the situation without violence could help to make a hard deal go through.
I wasn’t sure this would work, because what Egan wanted—my hand in marriage—wasn’t something I would offer. I just needed him to think I might.
Unfortunately, Frederick didn’t know about my skills, so didn’t know to let me try to diffuse this.
After several revolutions, when Egan’s back was to him, Frederick moved to tackle him.
The two rolled on the floor into the wall.
Egan shouted some type of Gods awful, inhuman sound, and a strange light seemed to flash, but Frederick got the upper hand and pinned him to the floor.
As they crashed into the wall, several guards rushed in.
They positioned themselves between the tousling men and the rest of us, pushing Spencer towards me.
“Stand down! It’s ok. Egan just had a moment, but he’s fine. We are fine. Right, Egan?”
I tried my best to avoid a diplomatic catastrophe. The last thing we needed was for Lord Denenbaum to write to the king of Scoria Bay about how we have jailed his son.
Egan nodded while muttering, and Frederick allowed him to stand up.
“Thank you, gentlemen, for responding. I think we are going to wrap things up with no fuss.” I nod at the guards, who didn’t seem to think it was over. One stayed in the room, posted at the same kitchen door the waiter had used earlier. The rest exited through the kitchen.
Egan was standing at this point and shook himself as if to loosen up from the scuffle.
“Thank you, Princess Lyla. I apologize. I’m not sure what happened there.”
He held his hand out to Frederick, as if to shake. “Are we alright here, Fred?”
Egan had a look of contrition, but it didn’t feel quite genuine. Something was off. I eyed Spencer, who was gazing at him with a strange look, too .
Frederick nodded in response to Egan. He seemed to think all was well.
“I think that’s enough excitement for tonight, at least for me. Gentlemen, I hope you have a restful evening. We will take our leave now.”
Spencer and I locked eyes for a moment, communicating without sharing a word. I turned to leave, knowing Ivy and Amyra would be right behind me. The guard at the kitchen door followed us out of the room, leaving the three princes to figure the rest out.
I heard some mumbling as the guard closed the door to the room. I hoped Spencer was smart enough to stick around to gather more information to help us understand what happened.
About thirty minutes after we got back to my chambers, a knock sounded. Relief flooded my senses. I was just about to give up waiting for any knocking. Ivy got up to check, confirming it was Spencer. “Come in, Spencer. We have been waiting for you.”
Spencer enters and waits for the door to close before speaking. “I’m so sorry for taking this long. As soon as you left, they started really talking, and it felt important to be there. That was… that was something tonight.”
Ivy and Amyra nodded at him, too tired and confused to voice agreement. I couldn’t wait for him to start. I had to get answers. “Spencer, what did you see? What did his haze thing do? Do they change in situations like this?”
Spencer nodded as he settled into his seat.
“Your emotions affect how the haze moves around you. Calm emotions slow it down, intense ones cause swirls, like how you see dust pick up and swirl about when the wind is agitated. Each feeling has their own movement too; intense love and intense hatred move differently and impact the haze differently. I can’t always tell emotions.
Really, most of the time I can’t, but intense emotions are the exception. ”
I nodded, wanting him to continue, but Ivy interrupted, “So when you said Lyla’s had changed, you were seeing the love she has for Amyra?”
“Yes, that was the change. I couldn’t place the emotion at first, but I could see it was there.
I’m still trying to understand how this all works, so sometimes I’m not sure what I’m seeing.
And tonight is one of those nights.it was just anger.
It almost looked like storm clouds charging up off the coast with the way his haze swirled and moved around him.
But then, when he started pacing, just before Frederick tackled him, something shifted.
It wasn’t dark gray, cloudy, stormy. It was something completely different.
It glittered, like light reflecting off raindrops, but it wasn’t light, it was…
I don’t know what it was. It was like a black void was trying to glitter into existence. I don’t know what that means.”
The revelation sat heavy in the air. I stared through a random spot on the table in front of me, trying to process it.
The only thing that this revealed to me was that we needed to find someone who knows what’s happening.
We couldn’t put the puzzle pieces together, but maybe we could get more information.
“Spencer, do you know how you got this gift? We need to find someone who could help us understand what you’re seeing. Surely, you and your mama aren’t the only ones that have this.”
Spencer shook his head. “Mama only mentioned that the Gods gave us this gift. She said…”
He paused, deep in thought, trying to recall her words. As I watched him think, I noticed his green eyes seemed to swirl, almost like the haze he talks about. The color seemed to glitter and shift, like I was watching a ribbon of sparkles dance through a potion in the sunlight.
“She said she learned how to understand hers from the Oracles of the Gelid. I know nothing about them. Are you familiar with them? ”
The name sounds familiar, but I haven’t heard it in a long while.
I lean back in my chair, trying to recall what I knew.
“Mother talked of them a couple of times in our history lessons. I think… I think it was long ago in Elthian history. They had some influence at one point. Let me do some research. I can also check with our last census. We record religious sects, so I can see if there are any left in the country.”
Amyra leaned forward. “What do we do in the meantime? Do we trust Egan? First his weird aura, then this outburst. I don’t think I want to be in a room with him without protection.”
Before I could address her concern, Spencer opens his jacket flap. “I always have always at least one dagger or sword on me. Whatever I can conceal. Knowing Frederick, he will arm himself as well, if he hasn’t yet.”
“I will make sure our dinners always have a blatant guard in the room as well. I appreciate that you two may be armed, but I want someone else to be alert and ready as well. He can earn back the privilege of foregoing a guard with time.” I added.
“He will not like the extra babysitter, I don’t think.” Ivy’s eyes were wide, imagining the possibilities.
I shook my head. “I don’t care. He’s betrayed my trust. I can’t risk our safety for his ego. He can quit and go home if he wants. I might even pause all interactions with him until the first event if he struggles with this.”
Spencer stood. “I’m glad things didn’t get out-of-control tonight, ladies. May you all have restful sleep tonight. I must retire for the evening; our training starts early.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Spencer, for all your help. I can’t say it enough. I will try to get more information about the Oracles of Gelid and share notes with you. Will you come by tomorrow evening with Ethan?”
Spencer nodded. “I’ll visit every evening you ask me to, my Queen.”
I blushed at his flirting, glancing to Amyra, who had amusement dancing across her face .
He leaved the room, which only allowed Ivy to feel bold enough to ask, “There is so much tension between you and him. What are you going to do about it?”
“Nothing. Nothing to be done, at least for now. I’ll deal with one issue at a time, Ivy. And right now, my most pressing issue is that I need to sleep.”