“What do you want, Amir?“ the man said.

“Is that any way to greet your brother, Darius? We stayed up very late to welcome you home. Royalty must always be greeted on their return, it is tradition. Welcome Darius and Shirin of the Brambled Grove. May your branches reach high and your thorns pierce enemies,” Amir said.

Hugo’s mother, Shirin stood taller and said, “As long as you are being official, my daughter deserves a greeting as well.”

“Oh, so she is no longer a squib? That is good news,” Amir said.

The woman at his arm slapped it gently and said, “That was rude. Don’t be beetle-headed.”

Amir smiled at her and bowed shallowly to Hugo and said, “Welcome Lina of the Brambled Grove. May your branches grow leaves.”

Shirin nodded at that and the three of them walked through the assembled guards. The guards bowed and knocked their left fist to their chest as they walked by. When they were closer to Amir and his woman, Darius quietly said, “What is this really about?”

Amir didn’t say anything, he just nodded towards the upper branches. They followed him up the branches and vines to the upper levels of the tree. He touched lights as he walked, lighting the way for them to follow.

Hugo looked at a light as they walked by. It looked like a glowing berry the size of his fist. It was interesting how the dim light didn’t ruin their night vision. Doubly interesting that the lights seemed to be wholly organic. In fact, everything Hugo had seen since they started climbing the tree near the wall looked organic. The trees, walkways, lights, even the guards and their armor, it all looked like it was grown, not made. Hugo suspected that the armor was just made to look that way, but it certainly worked with the aesthetic that the riese built.

Amir led them through a hallway of branches and stopped in what looked like a living room. The light here was brighter, and Hugo could see that the chairs and benches really looked like they had been grown. Perhaps there was some riese magic he didn’t know about. No one sat, they just looked at Amir expectedly.

“Ariana and Reza are making a bid for your place on the throne,” Amir said.

“Is that all? We knew that already. Why do you think we went and got her soulmarked?” Darius said and put his hand on Hugo’s shoulder.

Amir shook his head, “No, you don’t get it. They aren’t making their play soon, they are making it now. They have already visited The Mother.”

Darius swore and squoze Hugo’s shoulder. It started to hurt. Hugo looked up and said, “Dad. You are hurting me.”

Darius frowned and released him. He turned to Amir and said, “Now? How can they start now? You did a reading before we left. You said they wouldn’t try until after the next new years. We were supposed to have a year to train her up.” He gestured at Hugo, “Bijan will beat her to a pulp. How can they do this to me?”

That’s doubly concerning, Hugo thought to himself. He certainly didn’t want to get beaten up, and the fact that his father was more concerned about himself than his daughter was worrying. It seemed like Amir was one of the riese that could see the future, but his prediction had been wrong.

Amir shrugged, “Something unexpected happened and they took advantage of it. It doesn’t matter what happened exactly. What matters is that The Mother has already been notified. The challenge is in play.”

“How long do we have?” Darius said.

“The first of the month you will be up against Resa,” Amir said apologetically.

This time, Shirin swore. She said, “My husband will beat Resa, there is no doubt about that. But I haven’t been able to defeat my sister since we were newly budded. That means the competition will be decided by the third round.”

They all turned to look at Hugo. That instantly sent a chill down his spine. There was clearly some sort of competition that would decide who wore the crown, and he was going to be competing in the final round. Was royalty decided by a competition with the riese?

He tried to think back to his history and etiquette classes. The riese weren’t mentioned often because they didn’t generally travel outside their home cities. He was fairly sure that they followed the same hereditary set up for royalty that humans did. There were ruling families and everyone born into those families were royalty by default. The only exception was for the king and his family. Those positions were changed when all of the royal families agreed on it.

Now that he thought about it, he half remembered something about a fight being involved. Did that mean that his father was the king of Ettel? Was he a princess?

The conversation continued on without him, as Darius said, “That just isn’t enough time. We thought that a year would be tough. Bijan flowered two years ago. How are we going to take Lina from a bud to a flower in that amount of time?”

“I don’t know that we can,” Amir said, “I love my niece, but Bijan would be a tough opponent no matter how much time Lina has to prepare. I think we need to focus on Shirin.”

Hugo’s mother shook her head, “As much as I would love to finally beat my sister, two months isn’t enough time, no matter what crazy training regime you are thinking of, Amir.”

Amir smiled, “You are completely right. That’s why I am proposing something else. We need to buy you a new weapon. House Amber has their Tasha's Gauntlet fully charged and they could probably be convinced to sell it.”

Darius shook his head, “I looked into that last year. It’s too expensive. If we bought it, it would break the bank. I wouldn’t even have enough to recharge my sword. Besides, House Amber is aligned with House Juniper. They aren’t going to sell us weapons when they know a challenge is coming up.”

“I don’t think they know. I only know that the challenge has been made to the mother because I did another reading. House Juniper is trying to keep it a secret until the first of next month when they formally have to announce,” Amir said.

Shirin turned to the woman with Amir and said, “Zohreh, you are house Amber, do you think they know?”

Zohreh bristled and said, “I am house Bramble now, body and soul.” After a moment she continued, “But no, I don’t think they know yet. They only have one seer in the family right now, and I haven’t heard of anyone doing any sacrifices.”

Amir put his hand on Zohreh’s shoulder, “My wife is right. House Amber doesn’t know. We would have to buy Tasha's Gauntlet soon though. Even though there hasn’t been a challenge in five years, the information could get out. We all know how quickly rumors spread. Brother, this is the right choice, you can beat Resa without your sword, I know it.”

They turned to Darius as he thought about it. Hugo decided to interject before he made up his mind.

“You don’t have to give up on me. I think I can get pretty good in a short timeframe. I know I am newly soulmarked, but I already feel stronger and faster. I think I could have a good chance with a little work and a good weapon,” Hugo said. He didn’t want to fight in a competition against someone that had been training for years, but if he had to fight anyway, he might as well convince his parents to invest in him.

Shirin put her hand on his shoulder and said, “No, dear. They are right. You don’t stand a chance of gaining your domain in time, let alone training it up. One year was already going to be risky. Some people don’t gain their domain until they have been hunting monsters for two years. Three months, it’s just impossible.”

The riese must not have their own tamoko, they relied on the natural process of gaining your domain, going out and killing lots and lots of monsters. Hugo said, “What about getting a domain with a tamoko? Surely that would be cheaper than this weapon we are discussing?”

“No, I will not blaspheme against The Mother just to keep my position,” Darius said, “Amir, you are right. It will be expensive and risky, but our only hope for success is to empower my wife. We will visit House Amber in two days. Will you please set it up?”

Amir bowed shallowly and said, “I will do as you ask, my liege.”

They separated then, walking higher into different branches of the tree. Hugo frowned as he followed his parents. Using the tamoko was apparently blasphemy. That meant that he might not get a domain at all during this life.

No. He couldn’t just accept that. He was getting himself a domain, even if it meant sneaking out behind his parent’s back. It might be a little more difficult for a princess to do behind her parents back than other children. Hugo didn’t care. He was getting that light domain.

He almost ran into his parent’s back when they stopped suddenly. His mother turned back and said, “That’s it for tonight, dear. Feel free to sleep in. We won’t have the first formal event until lunch. Meet us in the normal banquet hall. Make sure you wear that dress I like.” She motioned for him to take the path towards the left.

Darius nodded to a guard nearby and pressed his hand to a section of the tree in front of him. The vines parted, a doorway appearing. Now that the vines were out of the way, Hugo could see golden embellishments framing the door. They walked into their suite and Hugo turned down the hallway she had indicated.

It wasn’t really a hallway, but it felt like one. The branch below his feet was flat and straight and there was a combination of tree branch and vine making up the walls. There were occasional open spots that were covered with enormous leaves instead. One of the leaves was bigger than he was.

Slowly, Hugo walked forward, keeping his eyes out for hidden doorways. There was a guard stationed not too far away. As he walked closer, he could see an outline of a door, only slightly less embellished than his parents. He nodded to the guard and looked at the door. There was a smooth space in the middle of the doorway, just the right size for his hand. He pressed it and was happy to see the vines move out of the way.

He walked into the spacious room and touched one of the glow berries to light up the room. There was an enormous bed on the far wall, which looked like it was made of moss. Off to the left was a sumptuous bathroom, off to the right was a row of bark furniture, probability closets. Near the door was a writing desk. Or maybe it was a makeup station, there were a lot of unfamiliar pots and brushes there.

Dropping his bag near the door, Hugo walked towards the bed. He saw movement at the foot of the bed and stopped in shock. Someone was lying on the bed. The raven haired girl groaned and sat up. Then she rubbed her eyes and looked at Hugo blearily.

Hugo swore internally. He was in the wrong room.