The Duke’s Reborn Daughter Sometimes Chooses Violence.

The inside of the building was surprisingly big, given the outside. The hall we stepped into stretched wide, and it was packed with yet more bodies. In yet another line that fed into a long counter at the far end. There I saw clerks stamping papers and waving people to the side. To another line.

The second line had gathered around a raised ring off to one side. In the ring, a small boy was fighting a very large man. Well, fighting was a generous word.

The boy thrust his palms forwards. Shards of glass burst from his hands and streaked across the ring in glittering arcs. They struck the man’s chest and shattered into dust. The man just stood there as those shards broke against him like rain.

I knew what I was looking at, of course. Registering for the King’s Tournament was more than just filling out a couple of forms. For the junior division, one also had to prove a base level of combat ability, so the tournament did not become a butcher’s yard for children with more courage than sense. It was a sensible enough measure. It was also half the reason I had been putting this off, because when Anias had told me of it the whole thing had sounded like a real pain.

”I’m gonna send that guy flying.” Violet was grinning, and she licked her lips as she said it.

”Ooh-” The Princess tilted her head, hood and all. ”With your hammer? But you don’t have it right now.”

”Nah. Don’t need Giantsmasher for something like that,” Violet said, chest puffed out.

I sighed. Well, at least two people were having fun.

The people in the line had noticed us by now. Or noticed me, at least. The whispers started the exact same way they had for the line outside. It was remarkable how similar all of the reactions were.

”-the Hero-”

”-that’s really her?”

”-hey, ain’t that the other one? The red one-”

Violet stood a little straighter at that last one.

”Are we going to cut through this line too?” I said. ”I almost feel bad for-” A man in a formal tunic came hurrying toward us before I could finish.

”That man is one of the tournament organizers, my lady,” Estovan said quietly at my shoulder. ”It seems we will not have to wait.”

The man stopped a few feet away. He pressed his right fist to his left palm, and bowed. ”Welcome. You are Esra Veyne, I believe?”

”I am.”

He straightened and took in our party, one face at a time. And each face he saw just made his brows climb higher and higher. It slid over Aziah as if she wasn’t even there. It seemed the woman’s public image was not that widespread. Until now I hadn’t realized that she wasn’t wearing a hood at all. Rather strange for the Kingdom’s formerly sole Hero.

His eyes finally slid over Katarina’s hood without stopping, which was a relief.

”Apologies, but... are you simply here to observe?” he asked. ”If so, we keep a fine box from which you can-”

”We are here to take part in the Tournament,” I said. I gestured at myself, then at Damian, and then finally Violet. ”The three of us are here to register.”

The man paused for a long moment. ”I see,” he said slowly, scratching his head. ”That is...Pardon me, but that is strange. You are aware that a Godblade cannot be used in the tournament, correct?”

”I am well aware.” I said, keeping my voice polite.

He blinked. Somehow, he looked more confused than before, not less. ”But if you possess a Godblade,” he said carefully, ”then you will not have any Gift to compete with.”

The worst part was that I was certain he wasn’t actually being rude. Well, it was hard to blame him. A Hero without their Godblade was just another person. And I without Vaelin, was just a little girl. At least, as far as the world was concerned.

Vaelin hummed at the back of my mind. He was amused by this. What, does this lie not count? Vaelin did not answer me.

I opened my mouth to say something diplomatic to the man.

”Are you gonna sign us up or are you just going to keep bloody talking?” Violet yelled. She yelled very loudly.

Heads turned as everyone close to us went quiet. Just lovely. That is exactly what we needed.

The organizer slowly nodded at Violet. ”Very well,” he said. He still looked unsure, but he was already waving us onward. ”Then please follow me.”

He turned and walked. I started to follow him and shot Violet a look. ”You didn’t have to be so loud.”

”Worked, didn’t it?” She grinned at me.

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She was right. That was the annoying part.

The side door the man led us to opened into a long room. The noise of the hall died behind us as it shut.

There were half a dozen fancy seats, arranged around a large central table. The air was cooler than the hall outside by several degrees, and I got the impression that was not just because there were less people here. Along one wall ran a wide window looking out over the ring and the crowds. A window I was quite certain had not existed when I looked at this room from the outside. A Magical Implement that was essentially a one way window? Well, that was convenient.

”Huh,” I said. ”Being nobility really does have its perks.”

”It sure does.” The Princess nodded seriously. ”This little space is just delightful. There is hardly any gold anywhere, and yet it still has a certain charm to it.”

”...Right,” I said.

We sat then. Sere settled at my side, close enough that our arms touched. Her notepad was already out and her pencil was already moving. I snuck a look.

She was drawing the First Sword. Or at least, I assumed the figure was meant to be Aziah Storm. In the drawing, the woman stood almost too tall to fit the page, with muscles I was quite sure I had never seen. Sere had also, for reasons known only to her, added what appeared to be a cape.

I supposed we all needed to have our Heroes. Even if I was right there.

The door opened and the organizer returned, a small stack of papers in hand and three pens tucked under his arm. ”You wished for three forms, I believe?”

”Yes.”

He set them on the table. ”Make sure to sign only for the junior division. When you are finished, please bring them to the first counter. We will begin your assessments immediately.”

”And just what,” I asked, ”is this assessment, precisely?” I knew the general concept of the assessment, but one man in the center of the ring wasn’t exactly what I’d pictured when I had decided to come here.

The man turned and pointed out through the window, at the ring, where the big man stood facing down another young challenger. ”It is rather simple. For the junior division, all you must do is make the examiner take a single step back. By any method you like. You are allowed three strikes, and he will not strike back.”

”That seems...” I said. ”Dangerous.” Dangerous for the poor man being struck.

The man smiled. ”Do not be alarmed. Lady Veyne. His Gift is well suited to the task. Other cities have their own methods, but we find this one works well for us. If that will be all?”

I nodded. He bowed, and withdrew. The door clicked shut behind him.

Make an unmoving man move. I stared through the window at the examiner. I found myself thinking of a giant cube of compressed earth sitting in a training yard, and of a girl spending an entire night bleeding against it to push it. Strange, that I think of that girl as someone else. It had been a very long time.

Then I turned to look at the forms, and they were far more detailed than I had expected.

Most of it was the basic sort of thing. Name, age, House affiliation, next of kin, height, weight. But the questions kept going and going. There was even a line asking what foods the participant could not eat, which…what was the point of that? Why would a tournament care what I could and couldn’t put in my mouth? There was also a disclaimer urging the people filling out the forms to be truthful, or ’risk harm’. I could only guess what that meant.

Damian worked through his in silence across from me. Violet stared at hers as if it had personally insulted her mother.

”Oh my gods,” she groaned, finally taking up her pen. ”This is going to take forever.”

The Princess, who had drifted over to peer shamelessly over Violet’s shoulder, spoke. ”Hmm. I don’t think they mean something quite that... literal, when they ask for your height.”

”Huh?” Violet said.

”’One Giantsmasher tall’ is-” the Princess’s grin spread wide beneath the hood, ”-not exactly a precise measurement.”

”No, but it’s a cool measurement,” Violet said. ”And that’s way more important. You’ll see.”

”Hmm.” Katarina nodded gravely. ”Maybe it is.”

I sighed and moved over to Violet’s other shoulder. If I didn’t supervise now, we would be filling this form out twice, and I only had so many hours left in my life.

There was only one other sound besides the scratching of our pens. Estovan and Aziah had begun to talk. I only half listened while I steered Violet’s pen away from numerous disasters.

The Alestian civil war was getting worse, apparently. The princes were dying faster than anyone in the capital could keep count of, and nobody could say who was killing whom anymore. And a place called Ashia had closed its borders entirely. And the Monster Outbreaks in the North were apparently the worst they had been in three decades, and the King was calling for Adventurers to assist the Kingdom’s men in driving them back. There was unrest in North Bairam, though from the conversation I got the impression that there was always unrest in North Bairam.

Eventually, the forms were done. Even Violet’s. And Sere finished her drawing, or at least had decided it was good enough. She glanced at me. I gave her the smallest nod. Sere slid off her seat, crossed the room. She held the notepad up to the First Sword of the Kingdom.

Aziah Storm looked down at it. She looked at it for a long moment.

One of the corners of her mouth tugged. The gesture was downright microscopic. It was also, I was fairly sure, the closest thing to a smile I had seen from her yet. For a moment she looked ten years younger.

”The proportions are generous,” Aziah said. ”One does not need muscles quite that big when they have mana. Keep going, child. You have a good eye.”

Sere beamed.

”Wait- let me see, let me see!” Katarina was out of her seat in an instant, crowding in. She took one look at the drawing and gasped in genuine delight. ”Oh, that’s so good- hey, hey, Sere, what about mine? You said you’d fix mine! Three swords, remember? You promised three swords!”

Sere had promised no such thing, I was pretty sure. Sere flipped to a fresh page and started sketching anyway, tongue poking out the corner of her mouth. Katarina hovered over her like a hawk over a rabbit.

I was just about to ask Estovan to take our forms to the counter when Violet spoke.

”You know what?” Violet said. ”I have an awesome idea.” She pointed at the Princess. ”You should join too. I’ll show you the ropes and all that. Bet you’d be better than half the dumb kids I’m gonna beat up.”

”Violet,” I said. ”She is a Princess. She cannot fight in a tournament.”

”That-” Katarina smiled, ”-is not quite true, actually. My brother fought in the King’s Tournament just last year.”

”See?” Violet was already sitting taller. ”So you should definitely join. Bet you’ve got some flashy royal Gift you’re hiding under there, don’t ya? I’m gonna go get another one of those stupid papers-”

For the first time, I saw Katarina do something other than smile. She winced. It was there and gone in half a breath, so fast I almost thought I imagined it.

Aziah Storm took a half-step forward, toward the Princess, one hand rising. ”Kat-”

Katarina raised a hand. ”It’s fine, my friend.”

Then the Princess smiled again, and the smile was wide. It did not reach her eyes.

”I cannot join this tournament,” Katarina said. ”Or rather, it would be a silly idea, because-” The grin went wider. ”-I don’t have a Gift.”