I couldn’t handle Boris being there, and thankfully neither Warren nor Mother returned for the rest of the night, so I got up and sat by Slava. He only gave me a raised eyebrow and a smile but breathed no word at my sudden change in seating.

  It felt like the night stretched on endlessly, but the food was good and despite the odd glance cast Boris’s way as he stuffed his face, there were no other incidents so far.

  “Right then everyone!” Slava shouted abruptly, standing up and raising his glass.

  “A toast! To all our new high-rankers, welcome! I hope you enjoyed this evening!” Slava raised his glass, as did everyone else.

  “Fantastic! Right then the evening is over, you are free to leave if you wish.”

  And with that, he got up and walked to the door, tapping his foot impatiently as he held it open, giving me a can we leave sort of look.

  We were driving home about five minutes later, when he finally asked the question that seemed to be on his lips for the entire dinner, “So…I see why you have taken such a disliking to that boy. Mind telling me what that little fiasco was about?”

  I sighed at his question. I didn’t even want to think of him right now, but Slava needed to know what I was dealing with. So I told him. From his earlier outburst to all the previous disagreements we have had before. Slava listened patiently, the entire drive home all the way up to the living room.

  When I had finished, Slava just nodded, “Alright, do you want my advice on how to beat him, or have you got this?”

  I thought about it. Slava’s input would be useful… but I am Alexander’s daughter. I wanted to make him proud. I wasn’t about to let him down by asking for assistance.

  So I shook my head, “No. I got this.”

  I woke up the next morning to the usual. Slava was trying his best to sing along to an AC DC song, but I don’t think he knew the words. It made me smile even as the smell of bacon wafted through the air. Today I can finally start preparing. So I shot out of bed, got dressed and got my preparations in order.

  I had a fantastic meal with Slava, and he offered to come with me for my preparations but I turned him down. He had nodded proudly at my refusal, walking around the apartment for the rest of the morning with a smile on his face.

  He knew I could do this. Yes, he was assisting me with Johannes, but he knew I could handle all of it by myself despite his assistance.

  As I left my room, casting one last glance at my whiteboard, with all my high rankers strengths and weaknesses written on it, I hesitated. Mother and Slava both, at separate times in my childhood, instilled in me the importance of allies. Nothing can be done alone.

  This wasn’t an excuse to see her… but I would not face her in the tournament, and this might strengthen our… relationship? Are we a couple? We have had one date so perhaps she sees us as romantic partners. I hope she sees us as romantic partners.

  But Calder had wanted to start our romantic relationship now. Should I rather see… no. I would have to face him in the tournament soon. Rather humble him first, and then begin our relationship so that he does not overstep in the future.

  I whipped out my stream and dialed a number, holding it up to my ear.

  “Selena?”

  “Yes, this is Selena speaking. Hello stranger, haven’t heard from you in years.”

  I could hear the smile in her voice, and I let one spread across mine in return.

  “My apologies, I have been preoccupied. Would you accompany me on an errand?”

  “Sure! But can we grab a bite to eat after? That way we can make it a real date.”

  I felt my cheeks start blushing, before I shook it away, “Of course, that sounds amazing. I shall meet you at the stadium in half an hour?”

  “Sounds good! See you then.” She hung up.

  I put my stream away and walked down the hall to see Slava pretend not to be eavesdropping, even though the TV was on mute and he was sitting on the couch closest to the hallway.

  I rolled my eyes, before walking up behind the couch he was sitting on, and threw my arms around his shoulders, “I’ll be back soon. Got an errand.”

  “Be home before twelve you little rascal,” he said as he fought to keep a smirk off his face.

  I arrived at the stadium a short while later, and I relished every salute and bow I received. I wore the black cloak, and the blessed I came across finally showed me the respect I deserved. I waited patiently on the sidewalk, ignoring the looks I received at carrying such a large bag underneath my arm.

  Finally, a taxi arrived, and a moment later Selena was stepping out of the car to greet me with a warm smile, “right then, what’s this errand? I’ve got a wonderful date planned and I don’t want to be late.”

  I rolled my eyes, “I am just preparing for the tournament.”

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

  “Well then,” she said happily, hooking her arm around mine, “Shall we get started?”

  About an hour later, after getting the guards to unlock the doors for me, I was standing on the platform in the middle of the stadium, looking around the empty seats begging to be filled. The blessed will roar my name, and watch as all my high rankers show that we will be the greatest brigade this tower has ever seen. I can almost hear them chanting now—

  “What are you doing?” Selena asked, sitting off to the side on the floor with a bored look on her face.

  “I am drawing a topographical map based on the architectural floor plan of the platform. That way I can use my power to a far greater respect than my opponents will be expecting,” I said, drawing the final touches before triple-checking the measurements with a measuring tape on the platform itself.

  When I was finished, I walked from the center of the platform to the corner, before I fished a crowbar out of the bag I brought with me and started hacking away at one of the stones. Selena looked amused by this as she came to stand by me, “What are you doing now?”

  “I am preparing alternatives in case I lose my weapons in the middle of the match,” I said, hitting the stone hard, barely making a dent in the cement.

  The stone came loose, and I hefted it away with a grunt. I took out a pistol that I had brought with me, then threw it under the stone before I tried to cover it up the best I could.

  “So… how long are these preparations going to take?” she said as we walked back to the center of the platform.

  “A while. I still need to go through the variations of geographical structures I am going to make, I also want to test out my ability to see if changing contour lines will be fast enough to use in a match. And of course, I need to test if receiving my weapons is feasible in a match. Do you think increasing or decreasing the height of one-half of the platform is the way to go? I can see benefits to both but I believe increasing my half and lowering theirs might tax me too much for a fight. We could test it now, but then I wouldn't be able to…”

  Selena was smiling at me as we stood at the center of the platform, watching me work. “What?” I asked, my train of thought long lost.

  “You're cute when you ramble.”

  I wasn’t rambling. I only ramble with Mother. I was just telling her my thoughts on how I would win. Did she… did she not think this was interesting? Maybe I had been rambling. I might just be that comfortable around her.

  But I didn’t feel that comfortable around her. Agh, emotions. I should be comfortable around her, but every instinct I had told me she was too pretty to trust completely. I just flashed her a quick smile and got to work.

  I hated doing manual labor. It was beneath me. But I felt that if I asked Selena she wouldn’t go on the date, so that idea was out of the question.

  “You keep bringing up contour lines… my education wasn’t as good as yours, so aren't they used to show the difference in height between places? And if I look around here,” she said, gesturing to the rest of the platform with her stream in hand, “this is one flat piece. No contour lines here. How would that work?”

  I cringed even as warmth spread through my chest. I knew it wasn’t just me. She also thought this was interesting, “You're both right and wrong. Contour lines are lines on a map that connect points of equal elevation. So if you have a few close together, that shows how steep or gradual the elevation change is.”

  I got the map out, drawing a solid line from one side of the platform to the other landscape, then doing the same portrait. “So by dividing the battlefield into a grid like this, I can add contour lines into each quadrant and change the very floor my opponent will be standing on. That's why I was asking you about whether I should increase my height or decrease theirs.”

  She had a small grin on her face as she watched me explain, “I see. Getting lessons in geography from the daughter of Alexander himself. You sure know how to make a girl feel special.”

  I tried to ignore the blush on my face and the pride in my chest, racking my brain for the right words. One of Slava’s compliments came to mind, and I can’t believe I was going to say this. “Uhm… thank you. But if you want to feel special all you have to do is look in the mirror.”

  She snorted and rolled her eyes, “And I thought I was the cheesy one. Plus my reflection ain’t always this,” she gestured down at herself, “You should see what I look like in the morning.”

  I blushed further, “Uhm… maybe after the tournament… I could… see what you look like in the morning?”

  She walked over and stood before me, our faces inches apart. I tried to look at everything but her lips and she seemed to look at nothing but mine, “Hmmm… are you suggesting we do something scandalous?”

  I couldn’t handle it, and my cheeks felt like they wanted to burn a hole through my skin, “Maybe. No. Uhm, but if you didn't say no I wouldn't... Only if you want to though, we could always just—”

  She was holding in a laugh, and clearly, she couldn’t take it anymore, “Where is Miss ‘I am sexually attracted to you’ now hey? One suggestion of us doing something… inappropriate, and I have you on the ropes. Guess this must be the only weakness of the great general’s daughter?”

  At the mention of my mother, I felt my cheeks grow cold before I looked her straight in the eye, “I have no weaknesses. You shall find this extends to every aspect of my life… including the bedroom. Do you want to find out now, or after the tournament?”

  It was her turn to blush furiously, and she started fanning her cheeks as she stammered, “Uhm, well… I think a ki—”

  Bang!

  I whirled towards the noise as I stepped in front of Selena, scanning the stadium for threats. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw it was just a small man who had thrown the doors open to get into this place, “I have a delivery for Selena! What the fuck are you doing in here…”

  His eyes grew wide enough that I could see them even before he started walking up the steps.

  “What’s this?” I asked over my shoulder.

  Her hand gripped my shoulder as she pulled me into her. Her chin came to rest on my shoulder, her lips almost grazing my ear as she whispered, “You were taking a while, and then you started sweating and well… didn’t want to drag you away. I thought we could just have the date here, instead?”

  Her hand was barely touching my shoulder, but every word whispered and every lingering touch sent electricity through me. I shivered, trying to shake away the thoughts entering my head. I focused on the man sprinting up the stairs, trying my best to think of anything else.

  He was almost sweating when he got to the top, “My apologies ma’ams! Didn’t realize I was delivering to high rankers, if you let me know in the future it will get to you far faster than it did this time.”

  Selena let go of my shoulder slowly, like she didn’t want our small moment of intimacy to stop, before she stepped out from behind me, “oh no worries! Thank you so much for bringing it straight to us! Hope the guards weren’t too much of a problem,” she said, stepping forward and taking the pizza.

  She waved him goodbye as I composed myself. The whispering in the ear was… interesting. I shook it off by going through the first twelve digits of pi, before I walked forward and joined her.

  “So…”

  “Uhm… pizza?” I said.

  She nodded vigorously, “right. Pizza. You were saying something about testing your power?”

  My breath hitched in my throat. How could I allow myself to be so sidetracked? I immediately added a mental note not to include her in any more preparations. Well… no more important preparations. Or ones that would… the note needed work. No matter.

  “I cannot believe I forgot. Thank you for the reminder. Come stand on this half with me. That side won’t be good to stand on in a moment,” I said as I unfurled the map, and tapped my left shoulder.