Frances smiled uneasily, head bowed slightly, but doing her best to keep her eyes on Ayax, who was standing in front of her, arms crossed, a frown knitting her brow together.

“Okay, so… I understand that you say that Elizabeth isn’t in a place for a relationship, but you haven’t explained why?”

“Um, it’s a bit private Ayax. I think the best way I can explain it is that she’s figuring out if she likes girls that way or not,” Frances stammered.

“Oh,” Ayax nodded, her frown fading. “That sounds… like she’s going through a lot.”

“It’s something alright. Maybe, you can ask her? Talk to her, not confess, but like, say you heard she’s having a rough day and you’d like to help?” Frances suggested.

“That’s a good idea. Thanks for letting me know, Frances,” said Ayax.

Frances smiled and after chatting with her cousin for a bit, decided she needed to go find her friends. She had talked to them before her match against Jeffrey, but she’d never actually reassured Elizabeth.

She found Martin and Elizabeth outside, discussing something quietly.

“Frances, something strange happened,” said Martin.

Frances frowned and took the letter Elizabeth proffered her. She read it once, and looked up with wide eyes.

“That is strange, though, I think that’s nice of Robert to invite us on an outing,” said Frances.

“He’s inviting us to have lunch with your last and next opponents,” said Martin. He pursed his lips. “On the other hand, he says that it’s because he’s grateful for our help and would like to apologize.”

“Elizabeth? What do you think? And have you shown Ayax yet? Her name’s on the invitation,” Frances asked.

“We were going to show her next. As for me… I’m a little hesitant, but why not?” Elizabeth smiled, “It could be fun.”

Martin chuckled, “Always like you to look on the bright side, Elizabeth.” He pursed his lips and glanced at Frances. “By the way, did you have something to say to Frances, Elizabeth?”

“Uh, but, bwah, right now?” Elizabeth stammered. She sighed, “I suppose it’s as good a time as any.”

Frances felt her eyes widen as her friend averted her gaze and took a deep breath.

“Frances, I… I talked to Martin about what I felt and he listened and said something similar to you and well, what I’m saying is, I know that I threw a lot at you and I’m sorry for… for saying something so… that made you uncomfortable. Can you forgive me?” Elizabeth asked.

“There’s nothing to forgive.” Frances smiled and gently embraced her friend. “I’m still glad you apologized. I wish I could have helped you more, though.”

“You listened. That’s what’s important.” Elizabeth grinned and took the letter back. “So, what do you think?”

Frances pursed her lips. “Why not? Let’s go ask Ayax.”

Ayax swallowed her bite of food. It took all of her considerable self-control not to let her stoic mask break and make a face. Still, as she turned to Robert, her eyes looked haunted.

“I thought this was supposed to be fun,” she hissed.

Martin had to nod weakly. Robert had invited them to one of Erlenberg’s restaurants that specializes in serving bite-sized “taste experiences.” The thing was, though, the “taste experiences” had nothing to do with making sure the patrons kept their food in their stomachs, or making them taste goods. So... reception had been… mixed.

Even as Robert arched an eyebrow and took a bite from his chosen “taste experience” (Martin suspected it was the pork and eggplant cocktail cream served in a small glass), he noticed the troll try to hold his smug look.

He held on for precisely half a minute, before he gave up, made a face and gagged.

Even the ever chipper Elizabeth looked like she’d run a mile. She was certainly drinking enough water to either hydrate or drown herself. Jeffrey was sipping on his drink, briefly glancing at the platter in front of him, and clearly debating on whether to risk another.

The only two who seemed to be enjoying themselves were Ophelia, and Frances.

Both mages looked rather pale and had repeatedly used the “vomit bins” provided for the patrons. However, Ophelia was cackling with glee, and Frances was smiling brightly.

“That was such a strange taste! I mean seriously, spiced chicken and grape? I mean grape and cheese is a nice combination, but chicken with those spices should be paired with rice, or something else.” Frances chewed her bite another time, with the look of a scientist, before she swallowed and shivered. “Oh yes, this is a very weird flavor.”

“I just can’t believe we paid money for this!” Ophelia exclaimed, biting a vaguely grayish looking cream on a cracker. She swallowed and her eyes widened with pleasant surprise. “Oh, this is nice.”

“You’re not pretending so I try it and find it’s disgusting are you?” Frances asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Honest!” Ophelia said, putting a hand over her heart. Looking at the treat skeptically, Frances gave it a lick and immediately dropped it. She grabbed her glass of water and downed it, desperately trying to drown out the sudden intense heat that made it feel like her tongue was on fire.

“How… what?” Frances coughed, and accepted a refill from Martin.

Ophelia pulled out a glowing card from her pocket and grinned. “Magic!”

“That… is a really crap move even for you, Ophelia,” said Jeffrey.

Robert groaned. “Alright, I really hate to admit this, but this was a big mistake. What I don’t get is… how are you enjoying this? I mean, Ophelia, you’re a bit strange, so I know why you like this—”

“Hey! I’m eccentric, not strange!”

“—eccentric means strange!” Robert spluttered, his tail flicking left and right rather aggressively.

“Well, as I said earlier, Robert, I like cooking. But sometimes I feel like I always need to hit the same kind of flavors with my food because people find only those flavors good. I find eating things deliberately designed to have different or unique flavors is kinda fun.” Frances took another gulp of her water. “Even if they do taste… bad.”

Ayax snorted. “Well thankfully I had a backup plan. I originally just planned it for us four but…” she glared at Robert. She hadn’t actually talked much to Robert or Jeffrey, but they and even Ophelia had been completely cordial. So Ayax sighed and said, “You can… come along.”

Robert blinked and smiled hesitantly, “Thanks.

Ayax’s plan involved a visit to a street stall near Erlenberg’s harbour district where they all picked up sandwiches. They weren’t small sandwiches either, but huge, thick stacks of thin white bread and slices of ham, cheese and vegetables piled together. After also buying some bottles of fizzy fruit cordial, she led them up the stairs of a fairly steep hill near the city’s harbour.

The hill was called Charlotte’s Rest and at the top, surrounded by houses, was a city park with carefully cultivated trees and cut grass. Stone benches and picnic tables dotted the area and it was on one of these that the group settled down on.

From here they had an amazing view of the harbour, particularly, the ships in it. Moored in the piers and in the V-shaped bay of the city harbour, was an uncountable sea of ships bobbing in the water. Some were smaller schooners and brigs of smaller companies' merchant vessels. Others were larger trading barques, clippers, fluyts and galleons of the great merchant houses of Erlenberg. If Frances was recalling a lecture given by her uncle Eustace, a captain in the Windwhistler fleet, the Windwhistlers used large groups of faster barques and clippers that could transport cargo quickly. In that way they were similar to the Seaskimmers who also preferred the faster ships. The Windstorms and Voidsailors tended to use the larger fluyts and galleons.

Then there were the warships. You couldn’t mistake them, with the gunports cut into their side, and their sleek lines. They ranged from comparatively small frigates to massive ships of the line.

It was such a nice view, with the seagulls squawking overhead and a clear blue sky silhouetting the whole vista, that the group was just quiet for a while as they ate their sandwiches.

“How did you even find this? You’re a w—recent arrival to the city,” Robert said, correcting himself.

Ayax grimaced, but after taking a deep breath, let it go and replied, “Sometimes I want to be alone and this being on a hill, it’s not as accessible as other parks.”

“It’s very nice, Ayax,” said Elizabeth, smiling as she breathed in the sea air. She didn’t notice Ayax’s cheeks color slightly.

“That’s a lot more warships than I was expecting, though. I thought most of them would be at Port Lisalle,” said Jeffrey.

“It’s probably due to the sabotages. We were cautious of Alavaria before, now we’re downright furious,” said Robert.

“Why do Erlenberg and the Kingdom of Alavaria have such bad blood in the first place?” Martin asked. “I heard it was something to do with how Erlenberg split off from Alavaria.”

Ophelia coughed officiously. “In short, yes and no. What do you know of the Third Great War?”

“A bit, mostly that not a lot of people know what happened because it destroyed so many records and ended in a near-stalemate,” said Elizabeth.

Ophelia put her sandwich down. “From what we can tell of our own, albeit, limited records in the Great Library, we actually split from the Kingdom of Alavaria amicably, though, not exactly formally. Erlenberg was a small territory and with the war over, the Kingdom of Alavaria was trying to focus on rebuilding itself. Some of the Otherworlders and Alavari banded together to form a small town which grew to become Erlenberg.”

Ophelia took a sip of water. “The tension began however when Erlenberg started to become a trade hub. We’re situated between the Kingdom of Alavaria and Erisdale, and have the best port on the eastern coast of Ravorna. The Kingdom of Alavaria have no port that’s always open no matter the season. Their only port on the eastern coast freezes during the winter.”

“We also have the best dockyard and port facilities in the entirety of Ravorna. You can make an armada with the craftspeople you have in Erlenberg, and you could launch all kinds of ships,” Robert explained.

“Finally, Kingdom of Alavaria resents our trade influence. Erisdale, Lapanteria and Roranoak have learned to live with us ruling the seas, but the Kingdom of Alavaria hates that we do, mostly because it decreases the money their elite can earn through trade,” Jeffrey added.

“Has Erlenberg ever tried to redress this with Alavaria?” Elizabeth inquired, curious.

“Of course not. Why should we? I mean we made our own place and fortunes. It’s not our fault that Alavaria can’t catch up,” said Robert.

Elizabeth sighed. Martin grimaced. Ayax rolled her eyes and shook her head. Frances pinched the bridge of her nose.

“What? I mean, it’s not like we have a responsibility to them—”

“But perhaps we could have reduced this tension, for our sake, Robert?” Ophelia suggested, one eyebrow arching up.

Robert blinked and sighed, “Alright maybe…” He took a good swig from his flask of cordial. “I swear, I thought this Winter Tournament was going to be just all normal, but now we have Otherworlders, conspiracies and intrigue to boot.”

“Here here. You should have seen my face when I found out you and the Windwhistlers had busted a sabotage in our stadium!” Jeffrey exclaimed. “Though, part of that was you working with Windwhistlers.”

Frances, who had been mostly in her thoughts and just enjoying the chatter of the background, suddenly felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Focusing on that sensation, she tracked her mind until she realized why she was feeling that way.

“Why hasn’t the Winter Tournament been cancelled yet?” Frances whispered.

“Sorry?” Ophelia asked.

“Why hasn’t the Winter Tournament been cancelled yet?” Frances said, more loudly, and sitting up straighter.

Ophelia frowned. “It’s the Winter Tournament. Why would it be…” the girl’s voice trailed off and her eyes widened.

“That’s a good question. Maybe someone wants the tournament to go on?” Elizabeth asked.

“But why would they? They can’t sabotage the tournament anymore. It’s too risky,” said Jeffrey.

The teens were silent at this, until Martin snapped his fingers and exclaimed, “Then maybe they want to use the tournament as a distraction.”

“For what, though?” Ayax asked. “I hate to say it, but the Kingdom of Alavaria has a myriad of targets to choose from. The harbour, the docks, Erlenberg’s barracks, the ships in the harbour… there’s too many to choose from.”

That brought another round of silence, which grew increasingly longer and more oppressive, until finally, Ophelia groaned. “Why don’t we just ask our parents if they know anything. You know, all sneaky-like.”

That suggestion was agreed and the teens dropped the conversation, moving to different topics.

Frances however, couldn’t help but think back to the tensions between Alavaria and Erlenberg. For as flawed, and somewhat selfish the people in the city was, it was her new family’s home.

If war… when war came, that would all be in danger.

When Frances, Martin, Elizabeth, and Ayax returned to the Windwhistler compound, though, they were met by Eleanor. The Windwhistler matriarch wore a smile, though, that was cross with a crossed expression, as if she didn’t want to admit something.

“Kids, we have an interesting development. Rachel and I have been smashing our heads together and getting on our nerves, but thanks to the Windstorm’s records, we have a lead.”

Frances blinked, and smiled brightly to hide her surprise. “That’s amazing!” Her grandmother narrowed her eyes, though.

“What are you not saying, Frances? That I can’t work with the Windstorms?” Eleanor said, arms on her hips.

Frances’s smile faded and she bowed her head. “Um…”

“Don’t answer that question, Frances. I did nearly have to verbally pry mom and Rachel Windstorm apart a few times,” said Edana. She snorted as Eleanor elbowed her, hard, and smirked at her daughter. “You need to focus on training for your match against Ophelia. Elizabeth, Martin and Robert though are going to be part of a group checking out a warehouse. We suspect the gunpowder used in the sabotage attempt was stored there.”

“We are also going to ask if the tournament can be rescheduled,” said Eleanor in a very grumpy tone. “It’s gotten extremely dangerous and it’ll be a curveball the saboteurs will not suspect. It’s clear they want the tournament to stay going.”

“Oh, that’s good. We were going to ask why the tournament hadn’t been cancelled yet,” said Elizabeth brightly. “You think they will cancel it?”

“I think we might face some opposition, but even if we fail… we’ll find out who wants the tournament to keep going on,” said Eleanor, grinning.