“To tell you the truth, I think your mothers were luckier being in the Dragon Empire. No offense, but... the Eastern Kingdom wasn’t exactly a great place for my mother and her peers to start a new life. They went from near genocide to a country struck by several civil wars.”

“Yeah,” scoffed Tessa, “we had the pleasure of meeting His Majesty...”

He briefly glanced his cousin’s way, exchanging an enigmatic look with her. Cessilia caught sight of that.

“D-do you have... a d-different opinion on the K-King?”

“...I’m not fond of that man, to say the least.”

“B-but...”

“I know his return put an end to the war, and he has been doing lots to improve life in the Capital. Truth be told, the White King is barely holding the clans in a relative state of peace. This isn’t going to last long, sadly. We have known many civil wars to tell this much. The clans just don’t get along, and one is going to overthrow the others sooner or later unless we get a more capable ruler.”

“The K-King seems to b-be doing what he c-can,” said Cessilia, a bit upset.

“...And although I am also not fond of the guy,” added Tessandra, “it looks to me like the clans aren’t making much of an effort to get along either.”

Her accusing eyes were on Ishira, still holding to heart the fact that Naptunie wasn’t invited. Cessilia pulled her cousin’s sleeve a bit, but Tessandra ignored her.

“Since we’ve come here,” she continued, “all we’ve seen are catty women fighting to become Queen, people trying to murder us inside the Capital, and someone was even killed inside the castle! None of that was the King’s doing, from what we know.”

“That wasn’t our doing either,” retorted Ishira. “That was all the other clans’ doing. The Pangoja, the Yekara, even the Kunu.”

“B-but... I thought the K-Kunu Tribe was dead?” muttered Cessilia.

“Those people are mercenaries, assassins,” sighed Hephael. “I wish the King did get rid of those murderers for good, but the rumors are already saying they aren’t gone. They might be gathering their strength and planning their revenge as we speak.”

Ishira nodded in agreement before adding to what Hephael said.

“The Kunu consider themselves abandoned warriors, but they turned into nothing better than ruthless mercenaries over the years. No one had the money to employ their expensive services anymore, so they took whatever they wanted instead... The worst.”

“They are what happened to soldiers once the kings that used them couldn’t pay them...”

Hephael sighed and ate a couple of bites with a pensive expression.

“They are only one of the worst symptoms of a sick nation. People out of employment. Resentment, anger. People are ready to do anything to survive... even at the expense of their fellow citizens. The people who do not belong to a clan have it hard too. Many families have disappeared without anyone batting an eye for them. Roaming around the Kingdom’s lands has shown me a lot of the bleeding injuries of this Kingdom.”

“...We saw it too. But you think changing your ruler is going to bring peace?”

Hephael shook his head.

“Maybe not. But... we might not be the only ones thinking so.”

“The stronger clans didn’t appreciate the King putting small families like us on an equal footing with them,” explained Ishira. “They treat us with contempt, thinking they should still be respected like they were in times of war. They want martial law back, so they can exercise their power even more than now. Many supported the King because they thought they would get extensive rewards like with the previous King, but the treasury was long empty when the war ended, and the King isn’t giving them the little bit of money the state has. He won’t favor them, and that’s what’s making them unhappy. They believe they were wronged; however, now people need healers, food, and for all the businesses to resume.”

“Thankfully for us, the Pangoja and Yekara don’t get along. Otherwise, those two clans allied might be enough to take us all down. However, none of the other families are willing to follow them either. Except perhaps for the Nahaf, the other families like their independence, and would rather follow an illegitimate king.”

“So aside from the two stronger clans,” said Tessandra, “you’re saying most of the other clans are fine supporting the King, right?”

“It’s more complicated than that. Most haven’t fully made up their minds yet, to be fair. They are all careful; after what happened with the previous King, they are scared to make the wrong choice again. At the moment, most think the choice of the future Queen will be what seals the deal, or adds fuel to the fire.”

“...They hope the Queen will be of their clan,” nodded Tessandra, “or someone they can approve of...”

“Exactly,” nodded Hephael. “People have a hard time believing the tyrant’s son, so we are all waiting to see what his decision for his Queen will reveal about him. Hence, all the Lords voted for this competition. It’s basically a political tug-of-war. I have to say, the arrival of a Princess from the Dragon Empire did shed new light on the game, though.”

“We noticed,” scoffed Tessandra. “Some are ready to support Cessi, others want to kill her. It’s tense for us too, to say the least.”

“I want t-to help,” said Cessi, “b-but I understand the s-stability b-between the families might b-be more important right now.”

“It might be too late for that.”

Hephael put down his glass, crossing his fingers together with a serious expression.

“To be honest, most clans are already very wary of each other, and the competition exacerbated that. If something happens, I’m afraid it will be near impossible to have us work together to riposte. We simply don’t have the power to oppose the Yekara or the Pangoja. We are doctors, the Sehsan are artists, and the Dorosef are fishermen. I’m making it rather simple, but when push comes to shove, it will be a follow-or-flee situation for everyone. There are only two situations out of this.”

He lifted his index.

“One, we find a way to all unite, but like I said, this is nearly impossible in the current climate; it would take a miracle... or for the Cheshi to step up. They are the only other clan that all the small tribes would be willing to listen to. They also probably still have the political strength to do something. Sadly, they’ve been rather quiet for a while now, so we don’t know what their opinions are.”

He lifted his thumb.

“Two, if there were someone strong enough to support the King and help him subjugate the rebellious clans. Someone really strong, but also fair enough that the clans would be comfortable following them and uniting behind them. A strong queen would be the perfect example of that...”

“You mean someone like Cessi,” said Tessandra.

“Exactly. That’s why many tribes have approached you already, haven’t they? To be fair, some candidates were appointed more to watch the King than to really compete. They don’t care about becoming Queen, but they want to see if the King will react to them, if he even... considers someone other than the Yekara or Pangoja women.”

“Turns out he does,” muttered Ishira, glancing Cessilia’s way.

“B-but your interest in me is b-because I’m a D-Dragon Empire d-daughter.”

“Yes, and no. Putting that aside, you’re also someone who’s not allied with any of the clans but is still a strong contender. If I may say so, you’re a big hope for many of us. It may sound strange, but many of the tribes would rather have a foreigner on the throne than a corrupt queen.”

A lot of things were beginning to make more sense to Cessilia now. The other candidates tolerated her because she was an alright option for the King, and because she was essentially one of the only possible alternatives to the worst, the Pangoja and Yekara candidates...

“...Have you t-tried reaching out t-to the Cheshi C-Clan?” Cessilia asked.

“We tried, but I have no idea what they are thinking at the moment. They have closed the doors to their residences and won’t appear at all. From what I know, they refused to meet the other tribes as well... They might be watching the competition as well, and waiting for the outcome.”

“They are cowards then,” scoffed Tessa.

A silence followed her statement. Hephael and his cousin exchanged a glance, but obviously, they had nothing to answer to that. They didn’t know what was going on with that tribe, and it did feel like they were somewhat hiding from the current events... The question was, when would they finally get involved?

“C-can I ask...” muttered Cessilia. “What ab-bout th-that woman... The K-King’s mistress.”

“That woman...” Hephael frowned. “I guess you’ve met her.”

“She said t-to ask you about her p-past.”