The walk back to Adherent Valna’s mansion was miserable. Every person that smiled at me as we passed only seemed to make me feel worse and worse. It was happening again. Through circumstances out of my control, I was becoming wrapped in a plot bigger than myself. Only this time, I barely understood how much danger I was in.

  Was it time to abandon our mission and head home? Tamara made me swear to bring Nia home if we found ourselves in danger. After meeting Trafford, I wasn’t sure if that was still an option. He’d managed to make me compete in his tournament, fight to the death in his name. If I fled, he would surely come and find me. At least Nia wasn’t involved in the tournament. Maybe Tamara wouldn’t get too mad at me.

  Valna and I didn’t say more than a few words to each other, but I could tell she wanted to say more. I was happy for the silence. Even though she was a fan of my music, I was upset with her for working with a man like Trafford. But after learning that he was a former student of Piopus, I didn’t know what to think. The truth was that I didn’t know how to react to anything.

  How could Piopus align himself with someone like Trafford?

  But was he that bad? This was the first time I’d ever met him. Before today, I had only seen him in memories or heard about him from Gunner. Maybe he really didn’t know what Gunner had been doing, or maybe he never cared.

  “He never told me…” Valna started to say before pausing. “I never knew it was his fault.”

  “Why do you work for him?” I asked.

  “I don’t… He donates frequently to the Lawmaker’s Assembly. At first, those donations were freely given. We were a small church, unaccustomed to receiving such large sums of gold. New churches were built and our followers were growing faster than ever before, We never stopped spending. The previous leader soon found himself in debt to Trafford. Then those donations came with a price. When I became the head of the church, we were already in his pocket.”

  “Does it change anything, knowing what he did to me?”

  Valna stopped. “It changes everything.”

  I turned, giving her an appraising look. Though I only just met her, I could tell that she was different from Trafford. Her willingness to host Greenspring, even though she risked Trafford’s anger, told me that. Of course, the fact that she was a fan of mine helped a bit. If I was a victim of circumstance, then she was as well.

  “What can we do?” I asked. People gave us confused looks as they passed by, but I ignored them.

  “I don’t know,” she answered.

  And that was it. Lost, with no clear path forward, there wasn’t much I could do. There wasn’t much we could do. Sure, I could pack up and head back home, but Trafford knew where I lived. What would stop him from sending someone after me? From taking my family away? It was like I was under the Sapphire Mountains all over again.

  My thoughts turned to Zadona. Was she working for Trafford because she wanted to, or because she was forced to? As much as I wanted to search the entire city and ask her, I knew I had to let the others know what was going on. For now, confirming the safety of my childhood friend would have to wait.

  Silently, Valna and I entered her mansion. She gave me one last sad look before heading off to her room. There was no need for words, I could see her apology on her quivering lips. I wanted to stay mad at her, but she was one of the only allies I had in the city. In the end, it was Trafford who held all the blame. And though it pained me to admit it, he was a product of my former master, Piopus.

  I trudged up the stairs to my room. All I wanted to do was cower under the sheets and curl up next to my wife. She could make me feel better, she always could. As I approached my door, I could hear two muffled voices talking inside. Creeping up to the door, I listened carefully, hoping one of those voices belonged to Zadona.

  The first voice I heard belonged to Nia. “And how does that make you feel?”

  Beth answered, “I just… When Norman left to save Arienne and Henry, I felt weak. It’s not the first time I’ve felt weak. I doubt it will be the last, but… Both Zadona and Norman, for better or worse, have grown so much. If they wanted to, they could protect the ones they love. I can’t.”

  As silently as I could, I turned the doorknob and pushed open the door just enough so I could peek inside. Beth and Nia were sitting next to each other on the bed, a spool of yarn marking the border between them. It didn’t seem like they had been knitting for long, as neither of them had created anything.

  “You protected your family when Norman was gone,” said Nia. “Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

  Beth scoffed. “It’s not the same. All I did was make sure nothing fell apart while he was gone. I can’t protect anyone. I can’t fight like you or Greenspring.”

  “For now,” replied Nia, tossing her knitting supplies to the side.

  There was a brief moment of silence. Beth broke it, saying, “Watching you fight against Zadona and those bandits has shown me that I’m not like the rest of you. I’m not as strong as you, Nia. Nor can I use magic as well as Norman or Greenspring. What use am I?” asked Beth, covering her face with her hands.

  Nia stared at Beth, her face stoic. “What use are you, huh? Yeah, I get the feeling.”

  Beth looked up, her eyes barely holding back her tears. “What?”

  “You think I was always this strong? No. Do you think I don’t doubt myself? I do, every day. But in a fight, you have to ignore those thoughts. Comparing yourself to others is what the weak want you to do. So don’t. Your daughter, Arienne, I can see great strength in her. Where do you think that came from? Certainly not Norman.”

  A short laugh escaped from Beth’s lips. “You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

  Nia grinned. “Sure, but that doesn’t change the truth.” Then her smile dropped as her face grew more serious. “Beth, what do you want to be?”

  Without hesitation, Beth answered, “I want to be someone who can protect the people around me.”

  Nia nodded. “I’ll help you reach that goal, but it all comes down to you. You have to want it.”

  “Of course I—”

  “Then show me. Tomorrow, we’ll begin your training,” said Nia, placing her hand on Beth’s shoulder. As Beth smiled, Nia turned to look at me. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Norman. You may be good with that mandolin, but you’re useless in a real fight.”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  I pushed open the door, causing Beth to gasp. “Sorry, I heard my name but didn’t want to interrupt.”

  “How much did you hear?” asked Beth, hiding her face again.

  “Just the stuff at the end,” I replied, stepping into the room. “Nia’s right, Beth, even if you aren’t physically as strong as the rest of us, you aren’t useless.”

  One of Beth’s eyes peeked out from behind her fingertips. “So, how did it go?” she asked, changing the subject.

  “Not as well as I would have hoped.” After joining them on the bed, I told them about the meeting with Trafford. Beth seemed interested in Trafford’s connection with Piopus. While Nia was more interested in his connection to the king and queen. She only asked a few questions, so I didn’t linger on that point.

  When I first met Gunner, the king of the harska, he told me that Nia was a princess. I never asked her about that, but I thought about it often. If she didn’t want to talk about it, then I wasn’t going to ask her. Still, I was very curious to learn why she had run away from Adelbern.

  “And what about Zadona?” asked Beth.

  “I don’t know. She wasn’t there.”

  “Are you going to fight in this tournament?” asked Nia.

  I shrugged. “I don’t think I have a choice. If he controls one of the biggest churches there is, who knows what else he controls from the shadows.”

  “They could be lying,” said Beth.

  “Maybe,” I replied, stroking my chin. “But does it matter? I know for a fact that Trafford was behind Gunner. What’s to stop him from doing something like that again? He knows where we live, Beth.”

  “Alright, let’s calm down and think about this,” said Nia. “Let’s say you fight in this tournament, then what? What are the rules? Is it to the death? What happens if you win? It sounds to me like all you know is that there is going to be a tournament.”

  My mouth opened and closed as I tried to think of a response, but I had none. Nia was right, I didn’t know anything about the tournament, nor did I know anything about Trafford. This big tournament could really be a couple of fights and then I could go home. Trafford seemed formidable, but was he worse than Gunner?

  “Maybe you should get some rest,” said Beth, caressing my face. “You’ve had a long day.”

  I smirked. “It’s only noon.”

  “Well then,” said Nia, grinning dangerously. “If you aren’t tired, then it sounds like the perfect time to start training for the tournament.”

  Under normal circumstances, I would have run away, but the idea of training with Nia didn’t sound so bad. At the very least, it would get my mind off everything. Taking a deep breath, I slapped my knees and stood up. Nia’s smile grew even wider.

  “Alright, let’s go, Master Nia.”

  After asking Valna for help, she led us to a special training room underneath the mansion. Normally, Valna used it to practice magic or for special rituals to honor her goddess. For our purposes, it was perfect. There was just enough space for me to run around it and get tired after the third lap.

  On our way down to the training room, we passed by Greenspring’s room to ask if he would join us, but he wasn’t there. After I left for my meeting with Trafford, he left to explore the city for a bit. I was worried about him, especially after our encounter with Zadona, but I trusted he would be alright.

  Inside the training room, there were stacks of practice weapons already set up for us to use. Nia grabbed a few spears and distributed them around the room. Beth and I watched nervously. While I had experienced Nia’s training regime before, this was the first time for Beth. To be honest, I had never seen her train for anything before. It would be my first time seeing her fight.

  “Here,” said Nia, tossing me a practice sword. “Come join me in the ring.”

  After fumbling to catch the sword, I walked up to Nia. While I was busy thinking, she had positioned the spears into a makeshift fighting ring. It wasn’t a perfect circle, but it was good enough for our purposes. I don’t think I could have done better.

  “So, how exactly are we doing this?” I asked as she grabbed another practice sword.

  “Whoever can push the other out of the ring wins.”

  I sighed, giving Nia a quick up-and-down look. “Seems easy enough.”

  Nia grinned. “Are you ready?”

  Before I could even lift my sword into a defensive pose, Nia jumped forward and slashed at my head. I leaped to the side, barely avoiding her attack. Again, Nia slashed at me, but I was a little more prepared. This time, I deflected her swing using my sword. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted her lifting her foot to kick me. It was a move she used the first time we fought.

  But I wasn’t the same man I was before. I whistled a quick three-note tune and jumped backward. Nia saw me jump back, but she missed me stepping to the side at the last moment. It was another illusionary spell I learned from the book Gunner gave me. Once I had more time to read it, I transcribed many of the spells into songs or short melodies. All I had to do was replay the song and the spell would take effect.

  I’m sure I wasn’t the first bard to figure out this tactic, but I was proud that I was able to do it at all. While Nia was distracted, I aimed for her side with my sword. Were I facing any other opponent, that would have been a hit. Nia stepped back, causing my sword to slice through empty air. Now that she knew where I was, she was able to counterattack. It took everything I had to avoid her flurry of deadly blows.

  Before I could come up with another plan of attack, I heard Beth call out, “Nia wins!”

  Confused, I looked down. While I had been busy avoiding Nia’s attacks, she pushed me closer and closer to the edge of the ring. On that final attack of hers, I stepped over the line. Groaning, I tossed my sword to the side and sat down. Nia was grinning from ear to ear but didn’t gloat over her victory.

  “You did well this time, Norman,” said Nia, sitting down next to me. “That illusion trick almost did me in. But do you know what you did wrong?”

  “I stepped out of the ring?” I asked.

  “Yes, but that’s not all. You lost focus and forgot about winning. Always remember that a fight isn’t just won by taking your opponent down. Sometimes, all you need to do is outlast them, and other times, you can let them defeat themselves.”

  “That was really good, Norman,” said Beth as she joined us.

  “Hmm, I feel like he could have done better,” said a familiar voice.

  While we were busy fighting, Greenspring returned from his walk and found us in the training room. Based on the smile on his face, I knew he was joking, but that didn’t stop the injury to my pride.

  “What about you? You gonna take on Nia?” I asked.

  He chuckled. “Not today, I am afraid. These old bones need more than a day’s rest.”

  “You aren’t that old,” I replied.

  “Older than you,” said Greenspring.

  Nia clapped her hands to silence us, then picked up our swords as she stood up. “Alright, that’s enough chatter. Beth, it’s time to see what you can do.”

  She nodded, taking a sword from Nia and joining her in the ring. Still sitting on the ground, I scooted back to the edge of the room. Part of me was worried that Beth would get hurt, but the other part of me was excited to see her fight. When we were younger, she had been the better fighter. Now I could see if those skills had continued into adulthood.

  “Are both fighters ready?” asked Greenspring.

  “Ready,” called out Nia.

  Beth gulped. “Ready.”

  “Begin!”

  Beth yelled as loud as she could, charging forward with her sword. I think she was trying to scare Nia or shock her so she could get a free hit in, but it didn’t work. Nia held up her sword to block Beth’s attack and managed to push her back a few steps in the process. When Beth tried to swing at her again, Nia deflected the blow and pushed Beth back with her free hand.

  The fight didn’t last much longer after that. In the span of a few seconds, Beth had been pushed back all the way to the edge of the ring. In a last-ditch effort to win the fight, Beth threw her sword at Nia’s head and ran forward to grab her waist. Against a weaker opponent, it might have worked. Against Nia, it was useless.

  Nia grabbed the sword out of the air and simply walked Beth out of the ring as she held onto her. Greenspring called the fight, causing Beth to collapse to the ground from exhaustion. I ran to her side, whispering words of encouragement to her. Beth gave me a weak smile, but I could tell she wasn’t feeling so happy under the surface.

  “That was terrible,” said Nia.

  “Agreed,” said Greenspring.

  I glared at the two of them. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad.”

  “No,” said Beth. “They’re right. I’m terrible at this.”

  “For now, but you’ll get better,” replied Nia, holding out her hand to help Beth up. “Welcome to the starting line.”