“…The candidate of the Nahaf Family should perform first,” finally said Ashen after a heavy silence.

Axelane jumped up from her seat as if she had just remembered why she was there. She awkwardly went down to the center of the little arena, but as soon as her performance started, it felt much too weak for most people to care. In fact, her fan dance may have been beautiful, but she was obviously not focused, and even made a couple of mistakes, dropping one of her fans twice, and sending scared glances left and right. Cessilia couldn’t help but wonder if she had been threatened in some way? This was the first time she had seen this prideful, young woman so shaken up…

When Cessilia glanced up at the other side of the arena, a man was whispering in Lord Yebekh’s ear, making him nod slightly with a frown. Whatever was up, he seemed fine with it. His candidates were looking down at their rival’s performance with bored expressions, like most of the public, but Ashra kept glancing at her Clan Leader. She also seemed interested in whatever he was being told.

Cessilia kept looking around. This banquet was definitely much more tense than the previous one. In fact, many eyes kept coming to her. Some were simply observing, while others sent her regular glares as if they needed to remind her not everyone was on her side. She didn’t care much for those, though. It was always the same people, and she had the same contempt for them. She realized that only half of the ten candidates remained. It was now down to the two Yekara girls, Axelane of the Nahaf Family, Istis of the Pangoja Clan, and herself. Even Nana seemed a lot brighter since her Tribe Leader had announced she wasn’t participating anymore, although Cessilia wondered if she had known beforehand or not.

Axelane’s poor performance came to an end with a dramatic last note of music, and those who did remember to clap did it without much conviction, aside from the people of her family. Cessilia sighed, but Ashen gently caressed the back of her hand with his thumb.

“…Are you alright?” he whispered.

She nodded, and he brought her hand to his lips, kissing it in public without an ounce of shame. Cessilia blushed, but she also looked around, a bit shocked that he dared to do such a thing. The remaining candidates saw this with expressions like they were witnessing a slaughter scene, shocked and disgusted. In fact, everyone seemed surprised to see the usually aloof King act so gently toward a woman, making a hint of pride surge in Cessi’s heart.

“The Princess is not our Queen yet,” hissed Yebekh, not staring at her but glaring at Ashen instead. “Despite what she might have gotten into her head, she still needs to demonstrate her skills and show us a performance like all the other candidates!”

Cessilia glared back, although his attempt to destabilize her fell flat. After his shameless claims about her virginity, there was no low blow she wouldn’t expect from this man. In fact, she caressed Ashen’s hand a bit before letting go and standing up, fierce and not afraid to fight back.

However, before she did, they all very distinctly heard a perfectly timed clearing of a throat. All of the people present turned their heads to see the old Counselor Yassim, who had just made his way down the stairs. He smiled, as if half of the stares weren’t actually glares.

“Ah… I’m glad I made it in time,” he said as if he was simply attending any meeting. “I didn’t want to miss this banquet after the Princess’ amazing performance.”

Cessilia frowned, a bit lost, and so did her cousin.

“Cessi hasn’t done anything yet, old man,” said Tessandra, “but she was just about to.”

“Oh, really?” Yassim chuckled. “I believe her saving hundreds of our people at the Outer Wall was plenty enough.”

He walked to the arena slowly, helped by a cane. The stairs must have been hard on him, as he was obviously walking with pain, his back bent forward.

“I saw the Princess establish a feeding chain for our people!” he exclaimed happily before anyone could stop him. “She worked with two families to feed the needy. She solicited the Sehsan Tribe to make tents, and they even provided clothes. The usually so secretive Hashat Family even healed many of our people for free! Four of the most prideful families worked together by the impulse of that woman and a natural disaster was almost completely avoided. Isn’t that quite a performance in itself?”

“That was not part of the competition!”

“Wasn’t it?” Yassim replied, not afraid at all. “I believe we placed all ten candidates inside the castle to see what they’d do, what they were capable of. I would be curious to hear what your candidates have done since they came to this castle, Lord Yebekh?”

Yassim was good with his words, and he had just delivered a massive blow to Lord Yebekh. She should have been grateful, but Cessilia was worried for the elder instead. The Yekara Leader now looked just about ready to commit a murder…

“That’s k-kind of you t-to say, Lord Yassim,” she said, “b-but I still will d-deliver a performance, since the C-Clan Leaders want t-to see it.”

Her calm and composed tone managed to spare the old Counselor some attention as most eyes turned back to her. She gave a faint smile to Ashen and slowly went down the stairs. Perhaps because she had a long day, and so much had happened, Cessilia felt strangely calm and confident. Even if the Yekara and Pangoja never accepted her, half of the families trusting her was already more than she had hoped for, and more than enough.

She reached the center of the arena and turned her back on Ashen and her friends to face the other leaders, especially Lord Yebekh, whom she wanted to show she was not afraid of. Instead, she took a couple of seconds to stare at that man, delivering so much pride and determination in her green eyes, as if she had already been crowned Queen. Then, Cessilia slowly got down on her knees. It was strange to see that beautiful young woman sit at the lowest level of the arena, while still dominating them all somehow. She had no jewelry and a simple dress compared to her rivals. However, she was shining brighter than all of them.

“You’d better not use your dragon again,” suddenly hissed Ashra. “A queen ought to be graceful and feminine to be the mother of this Kingdom!”

“Shut up, you useless doll!” shouted Tessandra.

Cessilia paid her no attention. Instead, she smiled, and to everyone’s surprise, opened her mouth to sing.

Her voice was surprisingly clear and soft, yet powerful. They had all heard her stutter constantly, so this perfect, flawless tune left the audience speechless in a second. Not only that, but the melody sounded like the most beautiful, delicate thing they’d ever heard. It was like the sound of morning itself, right before sunrise, when everything was gentle, peaceful, and yet never completely quiet. Her voice sounded like it belonged to a gorgeous, ancient, and mythical creature. It was light, yet deep, like a perfectly mastered instrument. The softness of the wind, and the strength of a powerful beast. This melody, a myriad of sounds, bound everyone to their seats and forced them into a religious silence. Cessilia’s voice was offering them all a unique, out-of-body experience. No matter how much they hated her, there was no way to resist the appeal of this unique call. It was beautiful, almost too beautiful to bear for normal ears.

However, she wouldn’t be done with just singing.

Suddenly, her green eyes turned to the Yekara Clan Leader, and a scary, bright flame lit up in them. This part was aimed at him, only him. As if he had walked too deep into a cave and been lured to a monster’s lair, the man suddenly found himself vulnerable. While everyone else was still having a pleasurable listening experience, a chill ran down the man’s spine, grabbing him from behind, and fear began to creep in. He couldn’t move. He could almost feel a dragon’s silhouette coming from behind him, its shadow growing as the inflections of the Princess’ voice subtly changed. In fact, there was no dragon, but Cessilia’s voice was getting deeper, and everyone else noticed. The softness and gentleness were slowly consumed by something dark, something frightening that was getting closer. Her song turned from a pleasant melody to a war anthem. It was still pinning them to their seats, as if something ancestral had come back to haunt this cave, a monster brought back to life. Her voice vibrated, resonated against the wall as if she had made the whole cave an instrument, a stage, and a trap. A pearl of sweat dripped down Yebekh’s neck, and an irrational feeling of his life being threatened slowly rose. Something felt wrong about that woman’s voice. Nothing about her had changed, but she was there, and her voice had turned into a weapon he was powerless against.

“Princess.”

Just one word interrupted the strange spell they had all fallen under.

All eyes turned to one end of the cave to spot Jisel. She was wearing a dark dress and standing with her usual cunning smile against one of the pillars. Her confidence felt completely out of place as everyone slowly came back to reality, far from the scary place Cessilia had tried to take them all just a second ago.

Tessandra and Cessilia alike glared at that woman, but she simply tilted her head, twirling one of her red curls around her fingers as if she’d expected this much.

“Oh, did I interrupt too soon? Were you ready to kill already?”

Her finger pointed somewhere above their heads, and everyone but Cessilia looked up.

Right above their heads, some of the stalactites were still slowly moving, their structures shaken up by the powerful echo of Cessilia’s voice. She had somehow managed to weaken them all without one falling. The one right above the Yekara Lord seemed the closest to collapsing, a bit of stone dust even falling down on his face, making him realize that  the danger had been real until a second ago.

“You… you witch!” he shouted. “You almost killed me!”

“I wouldn’t shout if I were you,” warned Tessandra, a cunning smile on her lips. “They can still fall. It would only take one small blow…”

Her words might not have been as scary if she hadn’t been playing with a little stone between her fingers while saying so.

Jisel chuckled and walked up to the arena, arms crossed on her chest. She sat in an empty spot, not close to anyone, but specifically opposite the King. Her eyes very briefly went to Ashen, before she looked away with a complex expression. Cessilia had a bad feeling, even worse than all the other times she saw this woman...

“You vixen!” shouted Safia. “You almost killed us!”

“Like how you almost killed Lady Vena?” suddenly scoffed Axelane. “Accidents tend to surround your family a bit too often. What’s one more?”

Safia turned her angry eyes to her rival, but despite flinching, Axelane didn’t shy away from it. It seemed she had decided not to be intimidated by them.

“Then, maybe we shouldn’t make it an accident.”

Ashra suddenly stood up, impressive in her blood-red dress, glaring at Cessilia. Only then did they realize she had been carrying an extraordinary sword, large and with a unique but obviously sharp blade. She stepped down into the arena, pulling it out and pointing it at Cessilia.

“Come and fight me if you will, Princess. This shall be my performance, and my clan’s retaliation for you trying to murder us! The Yekara Clan will not be intimidated by you! You are a War God’s daughter, they say? I shall see if you’re not a sham!”

Cessilia slowly stood back up.

“No!” shouted Tessandra, jumping on her feet. “I will fight you, Yekara girl! My cousin already gave her performance, you have no need to fight her specifically!”

“No, I want to fight her. She’s always hiding behind her loud and brawly cousin, isn’t she? Yet, she is the War God’s daughter, not you. This Princess is only good for her money, and I shall prove it!”

“I said no,” hissed Tessandra. “You dumb bitch, if you raise your sword against Cessilia–”

“Tessa, it’s alright,” said Cessilia.