The games had yet to begin, and Leon stood around, not really knowing what to do with himself. He wasn’t particularly comfortable being in the Royal box, but it got him away from Valeria and that’s all that he had wanted when he accepted the invitation. However, now that he was here, and the attention of the five men who arrived before him was on him, the only thing he wanted to do was to leave.

For his part, August hadn’t invited Leon for any respectable reason; he didn’t want to use Leon’s hidden nobility, he didn’t want to ingratiate himself with a powerful mage, and he didn’t do it to show respect to Trajan by inviting one of his uncle’s knights. Rather, after Octavius made such a big deal about a Valeman being in the council chambers, August invited Leon to the Royal box simply to spite Octavius.

Petty, he knew, but August just couldn’t help himself.

Noticing his knight’s discomfort, Trajan waved Leon over and said, “Take a seat, boy.” The Prince waved toward the seat next to him, and Leon gratefully took it, though this did nothing to redirect the others’ attention away from him.

In fact, Roland walked right on over and took the seat on the other side of Leon.

“Good to see you, Sir Ursus,” Roland said with a wide smile.

Leon fought the urge not to snap back at the Paladin. He didn’t want Roland next to him, not in the slightest. At the least, though, that same sentiment could be divided between Roland, the Brimstone Paladin, and Prince August, as they all knew his identity. However, Roland in particular, given his connection to Adrianos Isynos, Leon had no desire to speak with.

Fortunately, before Roland could start any conversations, Tacitus, the Chancellor, sat down right behind Leon in the second row and asked, “So, Sir Ursus, you’ve been here a good long while, right? How have you found the Bull Kingdom so far?”

Happy to speak with anyone except Roland, Leon turned in his seat and answered, “It’s certainly different from the Vales.”

“Different in a good way?” the Chancellor asked, his face breaking out into a wide smile.

“Very much so,” Leon replied, letting all of his usual reticence to speak melt away so that he wouldn’t have to talk to Roland.

If he were honest, he was reasonably certain that Roland hadn’t anything to do with his father’s death, but that last kernel of doubt was enough for him to want nothing to do with the Paladin.

But that didn’t mean that Roland wanted nothing to do with him.

“That’s great to hear,” Roland said as he joined the conversation. “It’s always a great thing to see talented people come to our land and add their skills to ours.”

“Indeed,” the Chancellor agreed. “And from what I understand, our Kingdom has greatly benefitted from your presence.”

Leon fought the urge to stand up and walk away, but that would’ve been incredibly rude, and these were some of the highest ranked people in the land.

As his actual response, he just nodded in as neutral a manner as he was able. Fortunately for him, Trajan spoke up so he wouldn’t have to.

“Sir Leon has done a great many things to strengthen our Kingdom, we’re lucky to have him,” the Prince stated. “It’s just a shame about his reckless streak, if only we could get rid of that, then he’d be a stellar knight…”

Leon silently grimaced, and Roland said, “Reckless, huh? Sounds just like you, Leon.”

“You speak as if you know our Valeman friend well, Sir Roland,” the Chancellor observed.

“He and his father provided me with crucial assistance during my expedition north to retrieve Heartwood Amber,” Roland explained. “I can’t even imagine how long my mission could’ve taken had they not helped me out.”

“Ah, is that why you decided to come south, Sir Leon?” Tacitus asked.

He was doing nothing more than making friendly conversation, but it was touching upon subjects that Leon had no intention to talk about. In fact, there was little he wanted to do less than talk about his father to high officials of the Kingdom, as he was certain it would leak to his enemies in no time if he were to do so. His father had made a mistake when he told Roland his true identity, and it was one that Leon didn’t want to repeat.

Of course, that hadn’t stopped knowledge of his identity from spreading, but there was nothing he could do about that now.

“That’s as good a reason as any,” Leon stated.

“I… suppose it is,” Tacitus replied, a little put off by Leon’s answer.

“I have to ask, does your father have any plans to come south?” Roland inquired with a friendly smile.

“No,” Leon simply replied with as controlled a tone as he could manage. If he tried for a longer answer, he doubted he could’ve stayed as respectful as he did.

“That’s a shame, I think he could do a lot of good down here,” Roland said. “I understand why he wouldn’t want to come down here, though. I think if I were in his position I’d stay where I was, as well.”

At that moment, the door to the Royal box opened once again, and in walked Octavius, with the Sapphire Paladin, the Earthshaker Paladin, and the Consul of the Central Territories close behind him. Octavius’ eyes swept the room, but when they landed on Leon, they narrowed just a bit. What that indicated, Leon couldn’t say. Nor did he even care that much.

“I see everyone else is here,” the Second Prince stated, his mouth slightly widening into a light smile when he found that he was the last to arrive. It was the privilege of those in charge to make everyone else wait on them, and Octavius greatly enjoyed exercising that privilege.

“Nephew,” Trajan said, nodding to Octavius.

“Uncle,” Octavius replied, his tone light and carefree.

The other greetings, however, weren’t as chill. The Earthshaker Paladin glared at Trajan like he was trying to kill the Prince with his gaze, while Octavius and August pointedly ignored each other, though August kept sneaking glances at his elder brother as if he were waiting for something.

Octavius proceeded to walk across the room and take a seat on the other side of Trajan, right in the center of the front row where the King would sit when he attended the games. This wasn’t lost on anyone present, but since this was expected, no one said a word. What wasn’t expected was Octavius’ followers then sitting down next to him, leaving no room for August except at the end of the front row.

Trajan rolled his eyes and said to the Sapphire Paladin who was sitting right next to Octavius, “It is inappropriate to sit in the center when there are members of Royalty who have yet to take their seat.”

Sapphire glared back at Trajan, but Octavius put his hand over hers and nodded. Reluctantly, she rose and moved down, with Earthshaker and the Consul making room for her.

Sitting between the Sapphire Paladin and Octavius was one place that August didn’t want to be, but since Trajan had made the room, he quickly sat down. He had a bad feeling that these games weren’t going to go well for him, and that made him anxious, which was the only reason he hadn’t sat down sooner.

“So,” Octavius began as he turned in his seat and stared directly at Leon, “Sir Ursus, why don’t you tell me a bit about where you come from? I’d love to hear some stories from the Northern Vales from a Valeman.”

Trajan’s eyes narrowed as he recognized what Octavius was doing by asking that question. The Second Prince was emphasizing the fact that Leon was foreign to the Bull Kingdom, probably as a way to get back at Trajan for making Sapphire move.

Leon couldn’t help but frown, but he couldn’t exactly refuse the Prince the requested information. “What does Your Highness wish to know?” Leon asked as politely as he was capable of.

“Who’s in charge over there? I believe we just sent some diplomats into the eastern Vales, but I’m not entirely sure who they’re going to be speaking with…” Octavius said.

Leon thought he detected more than a bit of scorn in the Prince’s voice, and he guessed that the Prince thought this information below him, like the leaders of the Valemen weren’t worthy of his attention. Still, he was asked a question, and Leon had little reason not to answer.

“In the easternmost inhabited Vale is the Brown Bear Tribe, led by Torfinn Ice-Eyes…” Leon began, and he quickly furnished Octavius with as complete a picture of the current political situation in the Northern Vales as he could, though as he had been gone for a while and the death of Hakon Fire-Beard had no doubt shaken things up, Leon had was certain that his information wasn’t the most reliable anymore.

“Mm, fascinating,” Octavius muttered once Leon had finished his short spiel.

Leon had to fight the urge to roll his eyes at how fake the Prince sounded.

“I have to say, Sir Leon,” the Chief Steward said as he took a seat next to the Chancellor, “You don’t sound too enthused about talking about where you come from…”

“Yeah, I’d love to talk about the Northern Vales all day,” the Chancellor said. “Such an isolated place with such strange customs, I don’t know how anyone could be hesitant to talk about them…”

“I grew up in the Vales, but not around other Valemen,” Leon reluctantly explained. “I lived in a small compound far away from anyone else, I was hardly a part of ‘Valeman’ society…”

“It’s true,” Roland said. “When he and his father assisted me, they took us over to the Vale they lived in, and I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they were the only people who lived within.”

“You were that isolated?” the Chancellor asked.

Leon slowly nodded, his hesitancy making it clear that this was a topic that he wasn’t comfortable discussing. Before anyone could ask any more questions, Trajan growled, “You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to.”

The elder Prince’s statement instantly curbed any desire the officials may have had to talk about the strange and strangely fascinating Valemen, and the Chancellor apologized.

“I’m sorry if I offended you, Sir Leon, it’s just that the Valemen are a truly fascinating people, I apologize if my enthusiasm to learn more about your people offended you…”

“It’s… fine, I guess,” Leon whispered, barely getting the words past the giant nervous lump in his throat. He wanted nothing more than to change the topic of conversation and for everyone to just stop trying to talk to him. He wanted to leave and sit in a dark room where no one could see him, and he could relax. But he couldn’t, he had to stay here in this box and talk to this high-ranking people. Leon’s frustrations were growing fast, and there was little he could do about it other than keep talking and hope that no one pressed too hard against things he didn’t want them to know about. “I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the Vales since coming south, but it’s still not something I’m used to. Besides, who wants to talk about me, anyway? I’m just a nobody from nowhere, not worth any consideration.”

His last statement was laced with more than a bit of sarcasm, but the Chancellor could tell that it was more serious than it appeared.

“Sir Ursus, Prince Trajan claimed you as one of his knights in the Royal Court, and you’re in a public relationship with the daughter of the local Heaven’s Eye Tower Lord. I hope you’re not laboring under the delusion that you’re not someone that people find interesting, or that you’re someone insignificant and below the notice of the powerful people in this city,” the Chancellor whispered.

Leon grimaced, and most of the others in the room chuckled or smiled at him. Octavius’ people didn’t though, they barely even glanced in his direction as they waited patiently for the games to begin, which mercifully happened only a scant few minutes later. Leon was certainly grateful, and he enjoyed the reprieve that the opening ceremonies brought him from having to speak with curious people he didn’t trust.

—

‘So this is the arena? Doesn’t seem like much…’ Justin Isynos thought as he took a seat in his private box.

He was roughly on the other side of the arena from Valeria, and he could see her quite easily if wanted to look, but she wasn’t a child anymore and he was happy to let her be alone with her friends.

Justin wasn’t alone, either, he was accompanied by one of his followers, a man with youthful features and a short, stout build. He was just as unimpressed with their surroundings as Justin was.

“Just bear with it, we can blow off the rest of the games later, but it would’ve been an insult to the Royal Family not to at least attend the opening ceremony…” Justin muttered.

The two sat back in their chairs and tried not to look too bored as the opening ceremony began.