Ayax hurriedly wiped her head with a towel. She was racing to the circle where Frances and Ophelia were having their match. Despite this being a preliminary duel, Ayax saw many spectators watching the pair.

All contestants could watch the matches, but they had to do so in the stands for safety reasons. This was because the height of the stands protected everybody, and also to prevent people from crowding the competition area.

She found Edana and Eleanor already gazing intently at the march below.

“Sorry, did I miss anything?” Ayax asked.

“You’re just in time. Sit down,” Edana said.

Ayax plopped herself on one of the stone-carved seats that made up the stadium but only on the edge. She couldn’t help but lean forward to watch her cousin and Ophelia square off.

The referee, a human woman, had just given the pair their safety rings, the ones that would activate a shield if any life-threatening injuries were sustained, and was reciting the rules. Neither Ophelia nor Frances said anything as they faced each other silently, but after the rules were finished, they shook hands and exchanged words that made each other giggle.

The pair then separated to their separate sides of the ring.

Ophelia was grinning as she posed dramatically in her signature orange robes. She even had a matching orange pointed hat. Her wand was held almost daintily in her long fingers.

On the other hand, Frances looked about to run. Her eyes were narrowed, posture slightly hunched over. In the course of their practice duels, Ayax had learnt to respect her cousin. She was fast and had a focus that was honestly frightening to be on the end of.

But long before she’d met Frances, Ayax had been following the exploits of the young mages of her adopted city, which included Ophelia Voidsailor. A girl of many tricks, of cunning intelligence, who’d destroy her opponents and had until Frances, never lost a duel.

“Begin!” yelled the referee.

Ophelia moved first, throwing something from her pocket. Frances, already bursting into song, used her magic to catch what looked to be a glass vial and threw it back. It whipped over Ophelia’s shoulder and hit the ground, exploding with a deafening bang and throwing snow mixed with dirt all over.

Frances didn’t stop, continuing to sing, she grabbed Ophelia with her levitation magic, arresting the orange mage’s charge. She whipped her wand as if to throw her out of the ring, but Ophelia pointed her staff and yelled out several words of power. Ayax winced as she recognized the phrase.

Frances gasped, as her wand hand twisted and flipped over, fingers rippling as if they were trying to open, but she hung on to her wand and screamed another note. Her hand stopped trying to turn itself over, but Ophelia was already making her next move.

This time, she was drawing a bunch of cards, which she threw. Frances summoned a gust of wind to knock the cards down to the snowy ground, before raising a shield around herself. A familiar song filled the air and Ayax realized Frances was channelling her lightning spell.

Only, Ophelia seemed to have thought extensively about how to counter this. Raising her staff in all of her eight fingers (she was missing two fingers on her right hand), she stabbed the ground and began to mutter a string of words.

A mound of earth rose to form a shield between the two girls. The mound wasn’t steep, however, and so Frances charged up the mound, still charging her spell. Her booted feet pounding on the ground, stepping past the scattered cards.

Unseen to her cousin, though, Ayax noticed something about Ophelia’s expression. The orange mage was grinning. Was there something about the mound—

Frances stepped on a card and several things happened at once.

A geyser of water erupted so forcefully from the card she stepped on, that it skived Frances’s foot into the air and blasted her in the face, soaking her. Her song cutting out, Frances’s wand jerked and sparks of lightning arched up against her wand and travelled across her body.

Ayax’s stomach churned and her jaw dropped as her cousin, the most powerful young mage she’d ever met, wobbled and fell back. She tumbled down the mound, rolling over and over until she came to a stop.

Now it was Ophelia’s turn to race back up the mound. Frances was struggling up to her feet, but every time she managed to get her feet or hand on the ground, they suddenly gave way. She was wriggling, like a dying animal.

“Get up,” Ayax whispered, but part of her knew that Frances was going to get up because that was her cousin’s character.

And she did, but it was far too late. Frances struggled to her feet, just in time to catch Ophelia’s follow-up spell, a glowing red fist of magic that smashed into her shield and knocked her backward toward the circle’s edge and back onto her back.

Flailing wildly, Frances cried out a note and Ophelia’s floppy orange witch’s hat suddenly pulled down over her head, covering her eyes. Squawking, Ophelia wrestled with her hat and resorted to just tearing it off. Muttering, she waved her hand and the ruby ring on her finger glowed bright as a fireball arched toward Frances.

Her cousin rolled, but she wasn’t fast enough. The fireball hit the ground beside her. With a cacophonous boom, an orange blaze engulfed Frances and threw her out of the ring in a cloud of smoke and fire.

“The Winner, Ophelia Voidsailor!” the referee declared.

Ayax distantly heard Ophelia laugh and saw her raise her hands out of the corner of her eye. But her eyes were focused on her unconscious cousin, whose clothes continued to burn. And yet, no safety shield activated.

Ayax stood from her seat and was about to run down the stands only to be knocked down by a running Edana. The mage leapt from the stands staff raised as she levitated herself down from the stands and ran toward her burning daughter, screaming her name.

It was a horrifying sound, but Ayax, who’d seen worse, didn’t freeze. She ran down the stairs, leaping over the rail and levitating herself down. Edana had already put the fire out and was frantically casting healing spells over her daughter.

Ayax approached them but immediately thought better of it. Edana looked like she was wound tighter than coiled wire and the glow of magic engulfing Frances was almost blinding. Instead, the troll faced Ophelia.

The orange-dressed mage was staring in shocked silence. Her trembling hands pressed to her mouth.

“Tell me you knew nothing about this,” Ayax demanded.

“I knew nothing about this! I… where’s the referee—”

The crack of a gun cut through the air. Ophelia and Ayax ducked. The sound was deafening and now the stadiums spectators were screaming. The human woman who’d refereed the match was flat on her face, blood running from the back of her head. A dark figure disappearing into the dimly lit corridor that exited the stadium grounds.

Ayax charged after the assassin, staff in hand. She heard Eleanor yelling at someone to go after the assassin. Then she was in a dimly lit corridor, but her troll eyes made out the figure turning around a shiny object in his hand—

Ayax lunged for the ground as the crack of a pistol echoed down the hallway. She nearly ploughed her face into the wood-paved floor, but she managed to catch herself. Scrambling to her feet, she looked for the assassin, but the figure was gone. Grumbling, Ayax ran down the hallway, but soon after, she came to a junction in the corridor and she couldn’t see the assassin down any of the routes.

Someone grabbed her shoulder and Ayax whirled to see the worried face of her grandmother.

“Ayax! I heard a shot! Are you alright?” Eleanor demanded. She was patting Ayax down, eyes searching.

“Grandmother I’m fine. It missed—ow!” Ayax winced as Eleanor pressed harder against her shoulder and stared. The bullet had drawn a cut over her shoulder and she hadn’t even noticed. “Apparently not.”

Eleanor chuckled darkly. “We’re getting you to the infirmary, Frances too.”

Ayax froze and felt her fists clench. “Is she alright?”

“She’ll live. Thank the Gods of Sea and Sand.” Eleanor growled, “But someone is going to pay for this.”

Frances suddenly came awake to a world of pain. Her skin stung, like a hundred needles were pricking her. Her right side was a giant throbbing ache. She tried to move her arm and found she barely had the strength to move a finger.

“You’re awake! Grandma! Aunt Edana!” Frances opened her eyes to see Eva, her… cousin, running out of her room. Right, she had a family now. Eva was… the youngest daughter of Edana’s younger brother Edward.

Eva returned, Edana hot on her heels. Her mother’s eyes were red and puffy, but despite that, her eyes narrowed in focus as she hummed what Frances recognized as a diagnostic spell and waved Poker over her. “Frances, dear, how are you feeling?”

“It… hurts. Right side. Mom, what happened?” she whimpered.

Eleanor stormed in, rubbing Eva’s head fondly. “Someone sabotaged your safety ring so you took nearly the full blast of Ophelia Voidsailor’s fireball. It was probably the Voidsailors, Windstorms and Seaskimmers.”

“Mom we don’t know that!” Edana hissed, not even glancing at the matriarch.

Eleanor glared back. “They even silenced the referee, who must have been bribed.”

“Mom, why don’t we trust the city watch to—”

Eleanor snorted. “The City Watch is in the pocket of the Voidsailors who shield them from any wrongdoing.”

“Mom we don’t know and that’s that! Now stop bothering my daughter with this!” Edana exclaimed, spinning on her mother.

“My father died thanks to Windstorm sabotage and the city watch could only come up with an “inconclusive” report after ten years.” Eleanor scowled. “Ten. Years.”

Frances flinched and winced at the pain. “Great grandfather died because of the Windstorms?”

Edana sighed. “Yes, but what’s important is that you recover from this first.” Putting Poker down, she leaned over and gave Frances a gentle hug. Frances tried to reciprocate, but her skin seemed to sting with pain. That was when she realized that most of her arms—her back and upper torso actually, were wrapped in bandages.

“Wait, I lost?” Frances whispered. “I… I lost?”

Edana brushed aside a lock of her daughter’s hair. “Don’t worry about it right now.”

“But… I lost. How… what did she do?” Frances asked.

Eva piped up. “Ophelia laid a trap. She threw some cards enchanted with water spells that she knew you would scatter on the ground. She then raised a mound to make you move. So when you stepped on the card, you triggered the water spells. That interrupted your spellcasting and turned your spell on you, stunning you. You tried to get up, but Ophelia fireballed you. It was still a really close fight and—”

Eleanor gently covered Eva’s mouth and smiled. “You only lost the one. Besides, the preliminaries are being delayed and you only need to win three more matches.”

Frances blinked and would nod, but it hurt too much to do so. So she whispered, “Okay.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Edana said suddenly. Eleanor’s smile disappeared and Ayax and Eva’s eyes widened, but the White Order mage didn’t pay attention. Her eyes were only on her daughter. “I mean it, Frances, you do not need to continue with this tournament.”

The dead silence in the room seemed to plunge its temperature down several degrees. Eleanor, gestured for Eva and Ayax to leave and shut the door behind them.

“Edana, if this is a joke, it stinks worst than fish shit,” Eleanor growled.

Edana shook her head. “This is no joke. Frances entered this tournament to help our family. A tournament we all thought was going to be safe. Today, someone nearly killed her! She has every right to back out.”

Eleanor growled, “Her backing out will prove to the Windstorms and Voidsailors—”

“Mom she nearly died! She nearly was sent back to her world!” Edana met Frances’s eyes and quickly took her bandaged hand. “Dear, if you… if you still want to stay in the tournament, you can, but I want it to be your decision. You’re the one risking your life.”

Frances squeezed her mother’s hand, even as her gaze drifted to Eleanor’s. Her grandmother’s teeth were clenched, fingers tight over her cane, but she held her tongue.

“I… can I think about it?” she croaked.

“Of course, dearie. And um…” Edana took a deep breath. “This was meant to be a surprise, but I asked for Martin and Elizabeth to come visit. Would you like them to come in?”

Frances blinked and tried to nod, only to wince and croak. “Yes. And Ayax please.”

“Of course.” Edana gave her daughter a last hug and not-so-subtly led a silent Eleanor from the room, shutting the door behind them.

Ayax breathed out an audible sigh of relief as Eleanor and Edana left the room without arguing. She immediately stiffened, though, as Edana walked up to her.

“Ayax, can you find the two teens that just moved into the guest rooms near Frances’s room? Their names are Martin and Elizabeth. Frances wants to see you and them,” Edana said.

Ayax nodded and jogged off. She was glad that Frances wanted to see her. At the same time, she wondered who these two teens were.

Indeed, the doors to the two guest rooms across her own and Frances’s room were open. She could hear whispered chattered through them and slowed down to quieten her footsteps. Gingerly, she peeked around the doorframe to the room the chatter was coming through.

A blonde youth, who had to be Martin, was poised on a chair, one leg over the other, explaining something to the other occupant of the room chatter. Ayax guessed he looked about seventeen and given the sword on the table and armour mounted on the mannequin, she realized he was a knight. Her eyes switched to the other occupant.

Elizabeth, for that, was who she had to be, was sitting casually on the bed as she listened to her friend. At that moment, Ayax felt her heartbeats boom into her ears as she stared at the girl. Long black hair fell over her shoulders in waves, framing the brightest smile that she’d ever seen and kind dark brown eyes.

Elizabeth noticed Ayax and her smile widened to show teeth, “Hi! How are you doing?”

“Um…” Ayax spluttered for a moment and shook her head to clear it. “I’m good. I’m Ayax Windwhistler. You must be Elizabeth and Martin.”

Martin steepled his fingers. “Yes, we indeed are Elizabeth and Martin. Or at least I hope so.”

“Martin, don’t tease her!” Elizabeth exclaimed, she turned back to the wide-eyed troll. “Ayax, how can we help you?”

“Uh, I’m fine. It’s Frances. She wants to talk to you both, and me. Edana sent me to fetch you,” Ayax pulled her hands behind herself and pinched herself, hard. What was she doing? Her cousin was lying half-burnt in a bed and she was embarrassing herself?

Elizabeth’s smile faded slightly, but she stood up and Ayax realized that Elizabeth was quite tall, taller than herself. Martin, who had stood up too, was built on stocky lines, but the troll suddenly found herself able to imagine the diminutive Frances flanked by the two teens.

“Thank you, Ayax.” Elizabeth snapped her fingers. “Oh, right you’re Frances’s new cousin. Frances mentioned you in our mirror-conversations. She says that you’re very nice.”

Ayax nodded and to save herself from turning bright red, she led her cousin’s friends to the sickroom.

Elizabeth, once seeing Frances, gasped and raced to her bedside. Martin was less speedy but was soon taking a spot on the other side, even as Ayax closed the door.

“Oh God, Frances I heard what happened. How are you feeling?” Elizabeth asked, taking Frances’s hand.

The moment she did, Frances burst into sniffles. “I… I’m sorry. I’m just so glad to see you. I… I…”

“There there, no need to tell us. Just let it out,” said Martin. He quickly dabbed at Frances’s cheeks with a handkerchief. “We’re glad to see you too.”

“It’s not even that bad. It just hurts, but I’m still alive and mom says I’m going to heal soon. I’m just so… argh I can’t believe I lost to Ophelia! But it’s just a tournament! Why do I feel so pathetic and such a failure?” Frances cried.

“Because you’re a person, and people don’t like losing?” Ayax asked, arms crossed.

Frances blinked and seemed to blush. Martin glanced at Elizabeth, who giggled, something that made Ayax’s heart skip another beat.

“I see why you like her, Frances,” said Elizabeth.

Frances giggled, a far weaker, grating sound that made Ayax wince. “Yeah. Sorry, Martin, Elizabeth, this is Ayax, my second-cousin. She’s been my duelling partner the last few weeks. She’s a great mage and a really nice troll. Ayax, meet Elizabeth and Martin, they’re my best friends in the entire universe.”

Martin beamed, whilst Elizabeth scratched the back of her head, “Thanks.”

“Martin’s from Conthwaite and is the second-son of her countess. Elizabeth is an Otherworlder like me,” Frances explained. She sniffled again but this time wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “I hope you all get along.”

“I’m sure we’ll get along splendidly. Nice to meet you, Ayax,” said Martin, taking Ayax’s hand and shaking it firmly.

“Nice to meet you too,” said Elizabeth, shaking Ayax’s other hand with both of her hands.

Ayax thanked all the Gods that Elizabeth didn’t have troll ears to pick up her heartbeat or the butterflies in her stomach. “Nice to meet you both. Um, Frances, did you ask us all here to ask for our advice?”

Frances pursed her lips. “Kinda. You see, I’m going to continue being in the tournament.”

“You are?” Martin and Ayax asked at the same time.

Frances nodded. “I already decided, I just want some time for my decision to rest in my head, and I’m not going to give up. I won’t. My family is counting on me.”

Martin frowned. “Just because your family is counting on you, doesn’t mean you can’t say no.

“But… if I do say no, Grandma Eleanor is going to be disappointed, as well as Eva and Nobbo and Ayax and—”

Ayax stomped forward and leaned down so she was looking her cousin right in the eye. “Frances, take a deep breath.”

A very still Frances gulped in a deep breath and breathed out, slowly. “Sorry.”

“Says the girl lying in a bed wrestling with fairly understandable emotions about a new loving family she’s never had until now,” said Martin, crossing his arms, and giving Ayax an approving nod. “Frances, if you feel like you want to help your family, then we’re with you.”

Frances smiled. “Right. I still want to, but thanks for reminding me I have a choice everybody.”

Elizabeth chuckled. “You’re welcome. Now, tell us about what you’ve been up to in Erlenberg and your new family.”

“You’re not… bothered by me being here?” Ayax asked, suddenly feeling very awkward like she should leave.

“Why would we be? Frances clearly trusts you,” said Martin.

“Yeah, besides you being here keeps Frances honest,” said Elizabeth, gesturing to Ayax to take a seat on a chair by Frances’s bedside.

“I… what?!” Frances squawked, even as Ayax nervously took a seat.

“Oh come on, there has to be something in your family that makes you want to tear your hair out,” Elizabeth demanded.

Ayax snorted. “I bet there are a couple of people.”

Frances averted her eyes. “Grandma Eleanor can be a bit… overeager?”

“That’s the understatement to an extreme,” Ayax said in a deadpan voice that made Elizabeth giggle. Ayax smiled at that and glanced at Martin, who was hiding a smirk. This… this was going to be nice.