"So this is the great Armeau family?" Theo put his arms behind his back, projecting an air of confidence even though he didn't fully grasp the situation. He'd seen packs of young court nobles like this before and they preyed on weakness.

"We only happened to stumble across your companions." The leader - apparently Esaire - was the one to respond, because Theo had cast aspersions on the family name by implying their behavior was beneath them. "It was supposed to be a lighthearted duel, but I'm not sure the Ichili understood."

Many of the other Deuxans laughed, only Esaire understanding that Fiyu had been a split second away from killing her opponent. It looked like he wasn't the worst type of noble, but he had let the situation get this far out of hand, which suggested a casual cruelty that Theo found very familiar.

"Did you really let her in here without a clue how duels work?" The muscular Archcrafter who had been called Delarde stepped around him, grinning down at Fiyu. "If it had gone differently, does she even have the money to pay the bloodprice? Do you, girl?"

"I... I don't know what that is." Fiyu's voice was incredibly soft, and Theo knew that she needed support, but things could get a lot worse unless he kept control of the situation.

"What was that? I can't hear you!" Delarde reached down to grab at Fiyu, only to reel back as Nauda struck him across the wrist.

"You've had your fun." Nauda stepped up beside Theo, forming a wall in front of Fiyu, her cantae ready for a fight. "Just let us go in peace."

"Not after that." Delarde scowled and rubbed his wrist, though the blow wouldn't have done any real damage to an Archcrafter. That was no doubt laying the groundwork to begin another duel, so Theo struck first.

"We've obviously caused offense. In exchange for the injury to your wrist, one of your first tier soulcrafters can duel Nauda to surrender, then we can go our separate ways and never trouble you again."

"No! She tried to break my wrist, I want to fight her!"

"As an Archcrafter, that wouldn't exactly be honorable, would it? I'd heard better of the great Armeau family." It had been a solid strategy, but as the words left his lips, Theo realized that he had made a mistake. Esaire had been standing back, only mildly amused by the whole situation, but now his eyes hardened. Apparently that had been an insinuation too far.

"I don't believe I know you, stranger." Esaire spoke in an icy tone that froze the laughter in all his followers. "I don't think that you have the standing to be determining the terms of duels, not unless you're hiding your power."

Theo gave him a conciliatory smile. "Surely it's enough to be a guest in your city?"

"No. No, I don't think that it is. If none of you have standing to determine duels, perhaps..."

In the theatrical pause, Theo considered his options. The group of young nobles wanted a fight, so they couldn't be reasoned out of their fun. Since all three of them were base soulcrafters, they lacked certain formal protections, and while the bloodprice would shield them to some degree, Theo didn't want to count on that.

His remaining option was a show of force, which might draw attention. Theo didn't truly believe that Vistgil or the Landguards were tracking him, or that word of a minor skirmish in this city would travel far, but technically it would be an unnecessary risk. Part of him said that, no matter how unlikely, it would be better to sacrifice a little to leave the conflict...

But another part of him heard Fiyu whimper.

When Theo extended a hand to the Deuxan group, they sneered at him. A moment later he created a reverse gravitational field and the sneering stopped as they fell into the sky. He let them fall upward only briefly before he brought all three gravitational fields down on top of them, slamming them back to the ground at quadruple gravity.

Only Esaire managed to resist his field, though he looked startled. A cloak of blue cantae lit up around him, a reinforcement technique that required considerable soulcrafting. Delarde and the Tatian woman managed to catch themselves as they struck the ground, but the entire rest of the group went sprawling, some of them still lying stunned. Theo lowered his hand and stared the leader in the eyes.

Though Esaire wasn't sure if Theo was an Archcrafter, the doubt had been raised in his mind. Arrogant as he might be, he wasn't about to risk his life challenging an opponent who might have a shield wall hiding ascensions. So Theo just remained silent, letting his opponent regain some dignity.

As they did so, Theo looked them over more carefully. The leader of the group had high cheekbones, classically ivory Deuxan skin, and hair cut to be stylistically shaggy. Though he didn't emphasize his badge, his robes and the purple sash over the top spoke of his wealth. The musclebound one called Delarde looked possibly related, and the belt that mirrored Esaire's sash suggested they were allies, so perhaps a family ally. None of the others particularly stuck out to him, just more Deuxan courtiers.

"We need a duel to resolve the insults we've suffered," Esaire finally said, "but you're quite right. The Armeau family has been ungracious hosts today, forgetting the weaknesses of foreigners. Let's resolve things with a simple duel... one first tier soulcrafter against yours, to simple surrender."

Though Delarde didn't look happy about that, he retreated when Esaire glanced at him. Nauda remained where she stood, glaring back at them. It looked as though Hauloe wanted to tear her eyes out, but fighting again would reflect poorly on her. Theo had forgotten that detail... dueling occasionally was considered the height of culture, but too many duels rendered one a brute.

So in the end, a young Deuxan woman was chosen to step into the circle. She wasn't a nominal soulcrafter, judging from her reasonably built soulhome. Nauda knelt to pull her pack off her shoulders, shooting a glance at Theo, so he bent down beside her.

"Will a duel really get us out of this?" she whispered. "I... don't think I like this place."

"I think they'll stick to the terms. Just win without seriously injuring her."

Though a hard glint emerged in Nauda's eyes as she rose, Theo thought he could trust her to handle the situation effectively. After seeing Fiyu fight, he didn't doubt that he could trust her in a different way, but he needed to be careful, or she'd be a liability to herself and others.

Nauda walked into the circle carrying her staff in one hand and the broken fork from her old armament in the other. It got a few odd looks, and the other Tatian woman tried to mock it, but the group was too shaken up for laughter. Esaire glanced at Theo, who simply nodded to defer back to him, then he signaled the start of the match.

Immediately the Deuxan woman drew a narrow sword and lunged forward, aiming to finish the battle in a single thrust. Nauda deflected it with one end of her staff, then shoved the other end of her weapon at her opponent's face. It missed... but the other woman froze, bound by Nauda's technique.

Yet Theo instantly knew that things weren't quite right. Nauda could bind people in place powerfully - he'd felt it himself in training - but she must be struggling to use the technique with the new staff, because her opponent was working her way free. The Deuxan woman flooded more cantae through her body and whipped her sword up again.

She should have retreated. Nauda bashed the weapon aside with her staff and then thrust with the broken fork, directly at her opponent's neck. This time, the woman froze in place, and Nauda didn't let up, driving her opponent back to the ground and pinning her with the tines of the fork around her neck.

"Enough of this!" Delarde struck from the side, and though Theo started to raise a hand, he wasn't fast enough to keep up with an Archcrafter.

When Delarde's fist struck Nauda's arm, the loud crack left no doubt that something had broken. But though Nauda grimaced in pain and her staff clattered to the ground, her other hand remained firm, gripping the fork around the fallen woman's neck. She briefly glanced toward Theo, but returned to staring at Delarde, who looked frustrated that she hadn't collapsed.

"Take the bloodprice for your arm." He reached into his cloak and tossed a small sack onto the ground, then snorted and turned away. "This isn't worth my time."

Silence stretched over the group, laughter now long gone. Theo forced a careless grin and glanced over to Esaire. "That makes one victory and one loss for each of us. I'd say that's a good enough day, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, perhaps so." Esaire glanced at Nauda more thoughtfully, but his gaze soon returned to Theo. "It seems that foreign Tatians are formidable, if a bit rough around the edges."

Before he could say any more, Hauloe moved up beside him and pulled him away. "Just a barbarian, Esaire. Come this way and don't give her another thought..."

Esaire resisted her efforts to pull him, still focused on Theo. "What's your name, stranger?"

"Bartolo aina Fithe." Theo gave a sharp bow, though the Fithan military stance was probably wasted on them. "We don't plan to stay in your city long, so forgive us if we take our victory and avoid a rematch." That should have been an olive branch, letting their family salvage plenty of respect, but Esaire shook his head.

"Oh, that's a pity." He gave a theatrical shrug, but its intention was obvious. "You see, the Armeau family is always looking for talented outsiders to assist us in the great hunt. If fate leaves you in Anguedan longer than you expect... perhaps we'll meet again."

With that, he gestured to his group and led them away. Some of them were limping and their good mood was broken, but Theo couldn't feel that it was a victory. He'd exposed himself to attention, Nauda had a broken arm, and Fiyu still huddled unhappily behind them. Even if he'd consciously chosen to make what might have been a minor mistake, it didn't feel good.

"Well, this could be a problem." Nauda gingerly tested her hanging arm and winced. "We can splint it, but I don't know if we can afford a healer."

"That's what the bloodprice is for." Theo walked over and reached down to the sack, testing the weight. It seemed to contain more than the price he'd been given for an arm, no doubt as a token of scorn.

"What is that?" Fiyu finally looked up, and though she was far from happy, he thought that she had recovered from her shock.

"On Deuxan, soulcrafters can duel to the death, but there are monetary penalties for injuring or killing anyone of a lower tier, increasing with the distance between them. An Archcrafter breaking a first tier's arm is a small sum, but it would be far more to break the arm of an ordinary person. Each country and city has slightly different laws and specific bloodprices, but they all have some, otherwise too many people would end up dead."

"I understand now." Fiyu rose to her feet, but remained some distance from them, probably wanting pure isolation. Meanwhile, Nauda walked closer with a grim expression.

"But there's just a price? That means if a family is wealthy enough, they can just... pay to kill someone? Are there no laws?"

"Beyond what's agreed upon in a region, there are only courts and disputes. Technically any peasant can bring a case against the most powerful of families, but you can imagine how effective that actually is in practice. Their best defense is that the world needs them to grow food and maintain everything."

Nauda snorted and shook her hair as if she could shake off the encounter. "Come on, let's find a place to rest. Before we step on someone's beloved cobblestone and begin a feud lasting a thousand generations."

As they carefully made their way to an inn, Theo got the full story from them. He was able to piece together several other details as well, such as that the local Tatian family was trying to acquire legitimacy from the Armeau family. There had been no warmth between Esaire and Hauloe, but that meant nothing; it could just as easily be a courtship or a simple alliance. With a few exceptions like Brigana, Deuxan wasn't a very passionate place.

"What about the name?" Nauda finally asked. "I introduced myself as from Tatian and that was what really made her angry. Was that just an excuse?"

"I'm guessing you said 'Nauda ai Tatian' when you should have said 'Nauda aina Tatian'." He paused for a moment, since the words had automatically come out correctly and he needed to focus to control the soul translation. "The first one means a specific family, and the local Tatians seem to have taken the entire world for their name. If you say 'aina' it just means you're from a location without claiming a family."

"One syllable?" Nauda stared at him, believing and wishing that she didn't. "We got into a fight and people almost died over one syllable?"

"Welcome to Deuxan."

Though Theo said it carelessly, as they continued to their hostel, he found his steps coming heavier and heavier. It felt like so long ago that he had first visited Deuxan and learned all of their complex rules. At the time, it had been a whirlwind of court politics and duels, striking against rivals and eventually earning Brigana as an ally. Throughout his time on Tatian, part of him had been looking forward to reaching a more complicated world.

Now that he was in a Deuxan court, it all seemed petty and childish. He knew this might not be the end, and they needed to prepare, but all Theo could think about was what this meant for him. One world at a time, the joy seemed to be draining out of his return...