47th of Season of Air, 59th year of the 32nd cycle

  Newt watched round after brutal round until the only ones left were the Sword Abode and Dandelion. A female announcer listed the victors amongst second-realmers, listing them in order, while Sleek and Northstar continued narrating the third-realmers’ competition. Newt kept watching the event, catching that the Explorer’s Gate had taken forty-seventh place in that category.

  During the next wave, the grand sect had lost three of its members, which over two more rounds cascaded into breached walls and annihilated civilians inside their fortress. Dandelion was the victor of the second event.

  “Let’s go celebrate!” Dandelion shouted like a real airhead, completely ignoring the announcer as she read out the third-realmer challenge’s top one hundred teams.

  Newt looked back at the fourth-realmers’ area before making his way to Dandelion.

  “Do you mind if we take the rest of my sect with us?”

  Dandelion raised an eyebrow. “Ah, I see, now that you’re not paying the bill, you want to bring more people?”

  “Me too!” Maelstrom chirped in with a grin. “I want to bleed you dry of spirit gems.”

  Dandelion rolled his eyes. “Kids these days. Fine. Send someone to invite the Everfrost Palace’s and Highpeak Pavilion’s seniors and juniors.”

  Newt enjoyed the second visit to the tavern much more than the first. Dandelion commanded everyone’s full focus, and unlike last time, nobody really paid attention to Newt. Nobody except Maelstrom.

  “So, you had to watch three lanes on your own, and even managed four for a while.” She smiled, perfectly sober. “You need to get yourself a better sect, your talent is wasted in anything below the grand sects.”

  “I am happy where I am.” Newt recognized a poaching attempt when he heard one. “The sect has invested in me, they saved my life twice, and I am indebted to them.”

  “You would be better positioned to return that favor as a grand sect’s venerable.” Maelstrom bluntly pushed the matter through Newt’s rejection.

  “Thank you, I’m not interested, really.”

  Maelstrom nodded. “Good. I promised our venerable I would try to talk you into changing sects and see where you stand. While it would be interesting to have a pumpkin join Tidebreaker Abyss, I believe loyalty counts for something. Explorer’s Gate isn’t a destitute force, they can afford to raise you to the tenth realm, even if they take longer than we would have taken.”

  Maelstrom said her piece, but instead of leaving, she lounged next to Newt, sipping on a cup of wine, glancing towards Dandelion every other minute.

  “Are you waiting for something?” Newt asked, feeling like Maelstrom was using him as a cover for her spying.

  “I am, and it should begin soon.”

  Whatever it was Maelstrom that was waiting for, it did not start soon. Newt ate the spread delicacies and drank tea for half an hour before the hostess approached Dandelion and whispered in his ear.

  The man smiled cordially and nodded before standing up. With some smooth words, he excused himself from his audience and headed towards the rear part of the restaurant.

  “And so it begins.” Maelstrom covered her lips with the cup while saying the words.

  “What?”

  “The recruitment offers. Grand sects have witnessed his prowess, did their investigations, and now know his full potential.” She placed the cup on the table, the click lost in the room’s drone. “I extended an offer back when we first met, but he refused without hesitation. Sadly, things will change for him after the tournament. If he rejects all ten, someone will have him assassinated. Probably multiple someones.”

  Maelstrom looked Newt in the eye. “He holds you in high regard, could you speak with him? Tell him about the danger. He just laughed it off when I warned him. I’m not sure what he thinks, but he can neither escape nor survive an eighth-realmer’s assault. Tidebreaker Abyss can declare him a friend, but it won’t deter the others from eliminating such a powerful free agent, and we can’t start a sect war over an outsider, no matter how highly I think of him. Dandelion’s only options are to join a grand sect or to enter imperial service, which is even more restrictive than entering a grand sect.”

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  Newt’s skin crawled as Maelstrom spoke. His big brother was in danger, and there was nothing he could do to help him.

  “What if he joined Explorer’s Gate?”

  Maelstrom shook her head. “Too weak a force, even if he doesn’t leave, some grand sect’s vassal force would declare war on you and have him killed once your imperial grace ends. No, not even the contenders have the power to keep Dandelion safe.”

  Dandelion returned to his seat, his smiling face unreadable as he picked up the conversation where he stopped. He looked in Newt’s direction and winked at him and Maelstrom.

  “But he’s a respected member of multiple guilds, surely the grand sects wouldn’t dare do anything to him. Don’t they fear censorship?”

  Maelstrom looked at Newt like he was a child spouting nonsense. “Dandelion will just disappear without a trace. Nobody will find a clue, nor know who had done it. Especially considering there will be multiple forces working on his demise. The only thing keeping him safe now is his status, the imperial observers, and the fact that all ten are still trying to recruit him. He can dance about the invitations and avoid them for a moon or two, but anything past that would see him dead.”

  They watched the hostess approach Dandelion again, and he followed her with a serene expression.

  “Talk to him. He admires you and thinks very highly of you even though you’re a kid.”

  “And you’re so much older than me?” For some reason, being called a kid over and over again by a girl who looked not a day older than him grated at Newt’s nerves more than the compliment soothed him.

  “How old are you?”

  “Soon to be twenty!”

  “I’m thirty-three, you’re a kid.” Despite her words, Maelstrom’s voice was free of condescendingness. In fact, it turned gentler. “You know nothing about sect politics, what the powerful are willing to do or sacrifice to stay in power. Even I only have an inkling of it, despite my status.”

  Newt caught a hint of sorrow in Maelstrom’s eyes, and she no longer seemed like a hellion, as Dandelion called her, but a vulnerable young woman disappointed with the world.

  The conversation died down, and Maelstrom sat next to Newt, sharing a comfortable silence as they watched Dandelion return to his seat only for the hostess to call him again after ten to fifteen minutes over and over again.

  “They could’ve had the decency to come all at once and let Big Brother enjoy his evening.”

  Maelstrom chortled, her face slightly flush from all the wine she had in the past two hours.

  “That should be the last one. My sect won’t approach him.”

  “You’re not interested?”

  “We are, but instead of a faceless elder or venerable, I’ll talk to him. I know he will refuse, but I still have to talk to him and warn him about the consequences of his refusal.”

  “Which sect do you think he should join?”

  “Sword Abode or Diamond Talisman. They can protect him from anyone short of imperials coming to attack him. Even if you disregard his combat prowess, Sword Abode would welcome a young blacksmith at Dandelion’s level. Diamond Talisman should be an obvious pick, but I’m afraid. Underneath his easygoing manner, Dandelion is a hard, unyielding man. He might refuse all of them and to hell with the consequences.”

  Dandelion once more entered the room, but instead of heading to his seat he approached Newt and Maelstrom.

  “Well,” he said, “it’s about time you gave me your offer.”

  There wasn’t a hint of mockery or resignation, and the cheeriness made Newt think Dandelion liked Maelstrom more than the girl deserved. Then again, he could say the same about himself. He was unworthy of Dandelion’s friendship and all the favor he had bestowed him.

  “Tidebreaker Abyss offers you access to resources on par with those granted to ninth realm venerables, and a stipend three realms beyond your current needs until you reach the sixth realm, after which we would renegotiate the terms, based on your results.” Maelstrom looked at Dandelion with teary eyes. “Please, accept any offer. You have no idea what would happen if you rejected them all.”

  “If I outright reject Fiery Glory without finding a backer, they would assassinate me three days after the tournament. Diamond Talisman would kill me on the fifth day.” He speared Maelstrom with a gaze of steel. “Tidebreaker Abyss would have me killed on the seventh day.”

  “I would never—” Maelstrom started, but Dandelion raised his hand.

  “I know you wouldn’t, child, but what matters is what your grandfather and your sect’s council would do. And you know the answer to that question.”

  Maelstrom’s head dropped, and she nodded. She knew Dandelion’s words were true.

  “Is there anything I can do to help, Big Brother?”

  Dandelion shook his head. “No, but I appreciate the sentiment, and Mel, I know you would never hurt me, but politics and the needs of the powerful trample the common man, their love, and their gratitude.”

  Maelstrom looked up, a wretched teen on the verge of tears.

  “You should commit this moment to heart, and recall it one day, in the distant future, when your own child or grandchild is in your shoes.”