Henry glanced at his brother, who was still laying languidly on the sofa, as if a distressed sick patient. His eyes were glazed over as he stared out the window with an arm dangling over his head. Their sister had proceeded to ignore him after he kept steering the conversation back to his latest trauma.

Henry turned his head away and put the leftover food in the cooling box in the kitchen. "You're overthinking this," he said in a dull voice.

Ash let out a choked grumble. "Brother!" Henry didn't have to look over his shoulder to know that his brother was glaring at him. "This is a serious matter!"

Henry closed the cooling box door and rolled his eyes. "It's only serious because you're making it serious."

He walked into the den and stood behind the sofa, looking down at the young man who appeared to have been dealt an emotional blow.

Ash narrowed his eyes, glaring at Henry. "Aren't you the least bit worried that you may not be my blood-related brother?"

Henry snorted and muttered under his breath. "I could only be so lucky…."

"Brother!" Ash sat up and Henry sneered.

"The timing is off," he replied in a cold voice. "Auntie had been at the palace for several months before she found out she was pregnant with you. There's only one person who could have sired you considering the timeline, and unfortunately, it's that Old Bastard."

Ash pursed his lips. He narrowed his eyes and looked at his brother suspiciously. "Are you certain?"

"Yes. I lived next door," Henry crossed his arms over his chest. "The day she started showing pregnancy symptoms, and Mother called for an imperial doctor to check, I was there. Considering how long she'd been there, it's impossible that the baby, you, were fathered by Talam's uncle!"

Ash let out a low breath. He lifted his hand and rested it over his chest. "All right…all right, that's good."

Henry raised a brow. "I'm surprised this bothered you so much and that you didn't want to be born of another father."

Ash made a face. "I don't not want to be your brother."

"Even if we didn't have the same father, it wouldn't change anything now," Henry pointed out. He was sincere in his thoughts. He'd loved and considered Ash his brother from the moment he laid eyes on fat baby Ash to now, when he was annoying and dramatic Ash.

"Still, what if Momma still has feelings for that man." He said the word 'feelings' with such disgust, Henry almost laughed.

"So, what if she does? He was a man she planned to marry," Henry reasoned.

Ash stared at his brother. "She named me after him."

"Ash, you share the same character in your name. That's hardly naming you after him."

"I only have two characters in my name!" The Ashtari characters for Ashan were the 'ah' and the 'shan'. Ah alluding to the moon, and also the first character in Nera's Ashtari name, and shan meaning brilliance. It was the same character as the 'shan' in Enroshan.

Henry didn't want to admit that he also thought that Nera tied her son's name to her former fiancé's. "You're overthinking it."

"What does Momma's ex-husband's name mean?" Effie asked from the dining table, where she was calculating something in a notebook. Cio had gone to stay with his mother and Terry had gone to bed after eating too much and passing out in the carriage. Hana had stayed the night at her relative's home after dinner, along with her brother, so it was just the three siblings out in the living area.

"Enroshan?" Henry asked.

"He is not her ex-husband," Ash replied. "He is Momma's former fiancé. They were never married."

"I believe the 'en' character is for books, specifically books on law and policy," Henry told their sister. "Which makes sense, since he comes from a political scholar family. The 'ro' character should be for tree. Probably to ground the child."

Effie scrunched her face. "Godmother said that he was running all over West Wind Valley and wouldn't have gone home if he didn't have to. Not very tree-like."

"There are only so many characters. People are bound to have similar sounding names and use similar characters," Henry told them. He looked at Ash. "Isn't that what you told the elders with Talam?"

"I told them that, but that doesn't necessarily mean I meant it," Ash choked. He looked away. "Anyway, I didn't stay long, so they probably believed me."

"You ran out of there so fast, it would be strange if they did believe you." Henry glared at the back of Ash's head. "You're going to have to explain this to Auntie after the last event."

"I know, but I didn't expect to see them there!" Ash turned back to look at his brother. "You can't blame me for that."

"I'm not. I'm surprised as well," Henry replied. "Although, it's good that Talam was able to meet with those elders. It's good that they're all together and are able to meet in general. It can combine their efforts and maybe we can establish more allies."

Ash sighed and leaned back against the sofa. "From the way they looked at me as if I was a rescue vessel after their ship capsized, I would say that they fully believe there is someone with a strong claim to the throne, and therefore, someone to back other than the Old Bastard and his son."

"Auntie said that the elders she'd spoken to have been made aware that I'm alive, and a few know that you're alive. Seeing you, they must also believe that I'm alive."

"Oh, they know," Ash said will a roll of his eyes. "Because Talam has no filter and told them that you, my brother, helped him enter Dareisol and Shae. Those elders know that a red-haired man is my brother and is alive and well."

"So, is it good or bad that the know you two are here?" Effie asked, wrinkling her nose.

"It depends on how we handle the situation," Henry and Ash said at the same time. The two brothers looked at each other, with Henry squinting his eyes as Ash, suspicious as to why he'd responded so reasonably.

As if understanding what he was thinking with a glance, Ash sneered at his older brother. "I'm not stupid."

Henry had to restrain himself from retorting. He turned away.

"We'll talk to Auntie about it after the Invitational," Henry said as he wandered into their room. He heard Ash grumbling as he left.

Henry was absolutely certain that Ash was his half-brother through their Old Bastard father. Nera had been married and trapped for almost a year before Ash was born. Furthermore, there had been an issue with military supplies that year and, conveniently, Enroshan Heigoren had been sent by the Emperor himself to investigate and solve it.

If Talam's assessment of his uncle's forced marriage was any indication of his attitude towards his wife, Enroshan was likely happy to take on the task and get away from the capital and leave behind his wife.

At Ash's naming ceremony, he was also confirmed by the eternal flame to be of blood descent from the Emperor. This was witnessed by ministers in the court, the Imperial Wives, and the Emperor himself, for that brief period that he attended before rushing off to attend some sudden report about his missing favorite son.

Ash didn't even get a naming ceremony banquet, and Henry was sure that their twin sisters, who were born just before deaths of their second and third brothers, did not get one either.

While Ash was having some sort of identity crisis in the living room, Henry was more concerned that his unexpected appearance during Talam's meeting could let out that two princes who were supposed to be dead were still alive. The chances were much higher that Ash could be alive because they never found his or Nera's bodies.

In contrast, he was in a deathlike state for a week before being entombed. He was sure that some of those elders who'd spoken with Nera had been present during his burial ceremony. Perhaps they even came to his final prayer and saw his body.

Henry sat on the edge of his bed and closed his eyes. He leaned back against his arms and took a deep breath before exhaling. As far as he knew, Ash and Nera had memorial stele at the imperial burial grounds, but no tombs, as their bodies were never found. Henry did.

For a moment, he wondered what the chances were of the rumor of Prince Hedrajan being alive reaching the Old Bastard and his favorite son, and then causing them to dig up his tomb to check for a body.

Most of Ashtar had a naturally dry climate, with the capital of Ridua not only being dry, but often hot. Corpses took longer to decompose. Even after several years, it would be expected that there would likely be a shriveled-up skeleton in his tomb.

Henry had done as instructed. As soon as he woke up, he escaped through a false bottom and out of the sarcophagus platform, which had decorative stone plates that weren't secured, allowing him to crawl out after pushing one out.

He'd been buried with the usual offerings: ceremonial objects, and items to help him in the next life, including little Ash's proto type to the light slip. Unfortunately, those only lasted a few minutes at best, and he ended up running through them before he could finish gathering the parts for the decoy.

Where his aunt got those bones to put in place to pretend to be him was a mystery to him then. He didn't ask questions; there hadn't been enough time. He just striped off his clothes, put on the clothes of a commoner that had been buried with him, and set up a decoy body in his sarcophagus.

Then, he waited.

Later, he asked Nera where she'd gotten the bones. Although he'd never felt a human skull before, he knew how bone felt, and was fairly certain it was a real human skull. Most of the bones were from different animals, which wasn't surprising, but a few had been from an old mass grave near the ruins of an abandoned city-state. It was a common place for those who could not afford to be buried closer to Ridua to put their dead to rest.

Birds had brought them to Nera at night, and she'd carefully packed them in the burial offerings, then made sure they were placed in order so it would be easy for him to put it together.

She assured him that once he regained his birthright, they would exhume the human remains and rebury them in the original grave area, with a proper burial ceremony.

Perhaps if he were any other child, he would've been terrified of handling a human skull, but he knew what his options were.

Pretend to be dead or actually die.

He'd eaten the food that had been buried with him. There were many preserved foods for him, as during his death-like state, he hadn't eaten, so his body needed nourishment. He was hungrier than he thought and began to worry that there wouldn't be enough food to last him while he was waiting to escape.

The plan would take almost a month, as after his entombment, Nera would take Ash away to help him cope with the loss of his brothers. It would take a few days to get to the northeast royal hunting lodge, then another few days to enact the beast tide that took Ash and Nera away, then another few days for them to sneak back.

After observing a week of isolated mourning, his mother, Saphira, had come to bring food offerings, which were stolen by animals in the middle of the night.

Animals had dug a hole beneath his tomb leading out behind a nearby tree and wall. It was just large enough for small animals at first, then large enough for him to crawl out of. Stray dogs and large rodents he'd never seen brought him food under Nera's order.

The night that Nera came to get him, the night sky had been covered with bats. The bats were said to eclipse the moon over Ridua and attacked guards in the area. The imperial guards guarding the imperial burial grounds ran off in panic, giving Nera the chance to fetch him and carry him away.

Henry remembered hearing the horrified cries of guards as the bat, which were much more aggressive than normal, pecking at their eyes, swooping at their heads, and wounding them.

There was widespread panic in the city, Nera later told him that the city priests had taken it as a sign that the gods weren't happy with the lavish birthday celebration of Prince Eskander thrown that night. The north was facing an unprecedented drought and famine, four princes had died, and the Emperor was throwing a three-night feast for his favorite son.

Nera had planned for his escape to coincide, merely out of pettiness.

Henry inhaled and exhaled deeply once more. If his bastard father tried to open his tomb, he'd find the decoy bones. That would at least buy them some time.

Going forward, they'd have to be more cautious with Ash's identity.

The next morning proved that he and his brother had the same thoughts. Henry opened his eyes and stretched before sliding out of bed and going to pull the curtains apart to let in the morning light. As he turned around, he caught a glimpse of a black-haired man sleeping on the other bed, wearing his brother's spider-silk eye mask.

Henry narrowed his eyes. He walked over and shoved his brother off the bed.

Ash let out a gurgled cry as he rolled off the side of the bed and hit the soft rug. "I didn't do anything!"

"That's the first thing you say in the morning?" Henry sneered as Ash rolled on his side and pushed himself up before tearing off his eye mask.

Ash scowled bitterly. "Why else would you push me off the bed?"

It seemed that Ash had also changed his eye color to green.

"Maybe because I mistook you for a random man who broke in and replaced my brother."

Ash snorted. "As if I am replaceable...." He stood up and brushed off his clothes, sending his brother another glare. "I just don't want any unwanted attention from the wrong people."

"The wrong people being the elders and their people?" Henry asked with a raised brow.

Ash pointed at him. "You should be even more worried than me! By your own admonition, you look like the Old Bastard the most!"

"It is a curse I am unwillingly burdened with!"

A low knock came from their door, breaking through their yelling. Effie's childish voice came through. "Brothers, can we go to Pancake Cafe?"

Henry groaned and ran his hand down his face. His jaw was tight. "Why does she keep wanting to go there?"

"They have a good all-day selection of pancakes-"

"Shut up. That is a rhetorical question." Henry glared at Ash as he walked past him. "Don't forget that in a few days, you have to present at the Exhibition as Ash Atractas, who is known to be Lunapsar with Lunapsar features."

Ash rolled his eyes. "I'll deal with it when it comes."

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Henry reached the door and opened it. He looked down and instead of finding his snowy-haired little sister in her lion-themed sleepwear, he found a little brunette...in her lion-themed sleepwear.

Henry narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips as he looked at Effie. "Did you ask for this or did he make you?"

"Huh?" Effie scrunched her face, confused. She looked down at her clothes. It was a long sleep dress but with a pattern of lions laying down in various poses that common housecats usually lay in. She wore it many times. "Momma made these clothes for me...."

Henry let out a low breath. It was only morning and his siblings had already exhausted him.

"Your hair and eyes."

It took another moment for Effie to realize what he was talking about, but when she did, her face lit up and she stood up straight. "Second brother and I are matchies!" The pride on her face was unmatched.

Henry took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Why did you let him color your hair and eyes?"

"So, we match." Effie spoke as if stating the obvious. Henry took another deep breath. Before he could respond, a glint of understanding crossed Effie's face. "Ah, I get it." She nodded sympathetically and took her eldest brother's hand. "You also want to match."

Henry snatched his hand away and took a step back, as if his sister would pounce on him the next second. "What are you talking about? I don't want to match-"

"Brother, don't hide it," Ash said from behind him. "You want to be one of us."

"What? No-"

"One of us!" Effie clapped her hands together.

An unsettling chuckle sounded from behind Henry and he felt chills go down his spine. "Join us, Brother." Ash sounded as if he were trying to lure children into a wagon with candy. "Become one of us...."

"One of us!" Effie repeated as Henry whirled around to see the excited expression on Ash's face, as well as sense the magic gathering in Ash's hand. The two youngest began to chant.

"One of us."

"One of us.

"One of us!"

"No!"

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

The table was quiet as several sets of eyes seemed to settle on the top of his head. Henry pretended not to notice and silently wished Ash had joined them for breakfast so he could answer the obvious question on Prince Tae's face.

The foreign royal seemed to slowly chew and swallow his food, before lowing his utensils and succumbing to his curiosity.

"So-"

"I don't want to talk about my hair." Henry's voice cut him off. Prince Tao drew his lips inward.

"Just...wanted to ask why you're back at Pancake Cafe."

"Mid-week special," Effie replied. "Also, I need one more stamp on my card to get the quarterly special limited edition breakfast pancake tower." She waved a small card in her hand.

Prince Tao nodded. His nephew sat on a high chair between them. Prince Muran was staring at Effie while chewing half a pancake with drool coming down his chin. When they arrived, Prince Muran reached towards Effie before realizing she had black hair.

The toddler was confused and didn't want to hug Effie, unsure if she was who he thought. For the first time since they reunited, the little prince was not sticking to Effie, but that didn't mean he couldn't stop looking at her.

Prince Tao let out a cough. "Where's Ash?"

"Hiding at the Exhibition Hall," Henry replied. Prince Tao picked up what he was trying to say immediately before nodding his head, sympathetic.

"I assume he also has black hair?"

"We're matchies!" Effie puffed out her chest and looked at Henry with a wide smile. He couldn't be mad at her, and gave her a weak smile in return.

Ash used magic to change his hair color from the deep, natural red to a rather unassuming black. Effie then insisted Henry also change his eye color to green, so the three siblings looked alike. Henry conceded, but drew the line at matching outfits. He didn't even know where his sister would get those in such short notice.

Instead of going to Pancake Cafe for breakfast, Ash went to the Exhibition Hall to check his exhibit and do the final preparations. The Exhibition was technically an extension of the Invitational. After the sporting event's final ceremony, which began with the end of the last event, the chariot race, the next day was the start of the Exhibition.

The doors would open at dawn to massive crowds to see what the next generation of offerings from the Federation cities and their allies was. Each city had three spots and on the first three days, attendees would wander the Exhibition Hall to visit all the exhibitions and then vote on the top exhibition of each city. The voting took another two days.

Those exhibitions would then compete against each other for the top three spots with two days of exhibition spotlight presentations. The winners would be announced on the last day.

While the Invitational had yet to complete, the excitement around the Exhibition was already high. Even sitting at meals at restaurants, they would hear rumors about what each city was presenting and guesses on who would win.

Ash's name was thrown around all the time, so he was under intense pressure to deliver.

At least Ash would be, if he weren't...Ash.

"He says that everyone will get used to it by the time the Exhibition Hall will open," Henry said. "It isn't as if people don't change their hair color every now and then." It was surprisingly common, though expensive when done with magic.

Prince Tao nodded. "Your...fans are probably excited to see you and will coming looking. They know who you are, and where you will come home to at night."

Henry gave him a disgusted look at the term 'fans'. "The tea house is closed by then." He'd already considered this.

"What if they wait outside?"

"We can sneak in," Henry said. He gave Prince Tao a knowing look. "Don't forget that Ash is the greatest living mage."

"That was his self-proclamation."

"To be fair, he hasn't been proven wrong yet."

Prince Tao rolled his eyes. "The arrogance of you siblings is amazing."

Henry scoffed. "I plan to speak to my aunt about this after the Invitational."

Prince Tao let out a slight hiss. "Even if she wins the next two events, at best, she'll get a silver ring. And that's only if the other competitors do unexpectedly poorly."

Henry grit his teeth. It was pretty certain that after the last event, Nera could not win the top prize. He, and the rest of Carthage Harbor, was disappointed and frustrated. Formal complaints had been submitted about yesterday's Magic Tower debacle, though the men who'd appeared in the second game hadn't been reported to his knowledge.

There were too many strange things about it, and they weren't sure if it was targeted or not.

"There isn't much we can do at this point. The only way to remedy it is to start from the beginning, and that's not fair to everyone," Henry said and narrowed his eyes. "Though, it is annoying."

"Are you going to join us tomorrow or sit with Carthage Harbor in the stands?" Prince Tao asked.

"In the stands," Henry said. "Even if Auntie doesn't win the all-around, watching her take out her frustration during the clay shooting event will be cathartic for all of us from the city."

The second to last event sounded like a simple clay shot, where clay discs were launched into the air and the competitors would have to shoot them down with arrows, but in this event, the clay discs were stationary targets strung across high platforms or buoys. The entire event happened on the water.

And shot at with ship cannons on actual ships.

The harbor had buoys set up to mark a trail in the water. Small vessels mimicking old shipping vessels were armed with a small crew whose job it was to sail the ship while the competitor ran around the ship deck to cannon stations to shoot down clay discs as the ship passed.

It was a timed event, so they could not linger too long or drag out the time to shoot the targets.

Each ship had seven cannons in the same locations, with a crew member at each cannon to load it in between shots. All the competitor had to do was aim and shoot.

The crew was also made up of team members from the same city.

The next morning, Henry and the others got up early to get to their city's cheering section in the stands. There were already people seated there. On the floating stage was the current ranking and the order of which the competitors would go, one by one.

Carthage Harbor was last. It seemed Nera had drawn the last position in the placement lottery.

When they arrived at Carthage Harbor's section, several people did double take and one council member asked them who they were.

"I didn't think the hair would cause this much confusion," Effie said. She looked at Terry. "Do I really look different?"

Terry nodded. "No one expects a half snow elf- Lunapsar to have black hair."

Henry looked over the harbor. The course layout changed every Invitational. The targets were in different locations and were on both sides of the ship. As the ship moved, it had to hit these targets.

They were optimistic for Nera in this event. Aside from having good aim, an excellent understanding of cannon usage, and adapting well on the water, her records from past Invitationals was a full score for this event.

In addition, there was no magic involved and the same ships were each checked thoroughly by the city's team each time.

Henry glanced at the back of his brother's head. "No magic, right?" Admittedly, considering the recent issues that had arisen, this was a concern.

Ash held his binoculars and seemed to be slowly scanning the course for such a thing. "No magic. The same technology as before. There shouldn't be a problem magic-wise." Despite this, he seemed to check the course three times.

Effie and the others were looking towards the starting point's dock, where the competitors were preparing.

"There's Momma!" Effie shouted and waved. That far away and in such a crowd, there was no way for Nera to hear them, but she turned around just as Effie shouted. She raised her arm and waved at them, causing Effie to jump higher.

Henry grabbed on to the back of her shirt to keep her from landing incorrectly and tumbling down the stands. He frowned as he pulled her up. "Watch where you are jumping. Auntie already waved at you." How Nera noticed them when they were all brunettes was both surprising and expected.

"Hehe...sorry." Effie gave him a sheepish smile.

After he made sure she was secure, he turned his attention to some nearby acquaintances. They discussed Nera's position and their frustration at this year's Invitational's all-around results. Though, there was acknowledgement that the problem was not caused by Nera, but rather she'd been drawn into them.

Considering what had happened so far, she was doing quite well.

Some people felt that during the first event, Nera shouldn't have turned back or carried a second person on her boat, but most people from Carthage Harbor respected the decision. Aside from showing the strength of each city at the Invitational, the conduct of the competitors also reflected the overall character of the city's people.

As far as respect and influence went, Nera had won the city a lot of praise. Her actions showed that Carthage Harbor could be depended on in times of need and willing to take responsibility in such situations.

Now that the Invitational was nearing the end, attention was shifting to the Exhibition. There was a lot of talk about Ash's exhibition.

"I heard it moves?" a councilman asked Ash, who had taken a seat in front of Henry and the children.

The corners of Ash's lips curled up and he smiled. "It moves, and it moves things efficiently. This is for both people and cargo."

"Is it true that your exhibition takes up the most space this year?" an older man asked. Around his shoulders was a thin scarf bearing the symbol for Carthage Harbor.

"Not only that, but it winds around other Carthage Harbor displays and stops twice at cities from our allies in Dareisol and Suna. Hana Nobuya, my partner, has arranged this with associates presenting from those two cities," Ash told them. "The combined exhibitions will really show off the advantages."

"What's it called? I'll make a note of it first," another council woman asked.

"A train." Since the Exhibition was about to happen, it didn't seem necessary to keep it a secret. Also, the name of the project was already printed in the pamphlet and they'd be available to the public in two days. "The main station is Carthage Harbor and our sister-stations are Soljek Harbor Station, where we're showing off the container cranes, and Suna Central Imperial Station, which has worked on track technology for trains through different terrain. As our closest allies, we are working together."

The collaborative effort was a surprise to Henry, but he supposed it made sense, considering Hana's involvement. She was always talking about a friend in one place or another and their recent project.

Ash reluctantly told interested parties that was all he could give. They would've pestered him more if the event hadn't started.

Ships were prepared in an area away from the starting line so that when they started, the ship was already moving fast enough. Each ship only had one chance to go through the course, and if they didn't cross the finish line by the allotted time, they wouldn't score any points, regardless of how many clay targets they'd hit.

As Henry sat there, he listened to the children compare techniques and strategies used to hit as many targets as possible. On average, most competitors hit about seventy-five to eighty percent of the targets, with the more difficult targets being the focus in order to get more points. There were three targets in difficult areas along the course that had the most points. No one had hit them yet.

"Auntie's proteges are at least hitting ninety percent," Terry said in a serious voice. "They've trained very well. Auntie will be satisfied."

Effie nodded in agreement. Cio, who'd met them there, furrowed his brows. "This is Auntie's last Invitational, right? Is she training anyone in Carthage Harbor?"

At this, both he and Terry wore some concern. If this was Nera's last Invitational, then who would take over in two years? And would they do even a fraction as well as Nera?

Effie nodded. "You'll see her on the ship. She's part of the city's team and was on Momma's ship crew last year. Areina Cheysok. She's sixteen this year and will be able to represent us in many Invitationals to come. Momma has been training her for two years."

Cio cocked his head to the side. Even Henry looked curious, as he didn't know his aunt had started training someone to replace her.

"I don't know any family with the last name Cheysok," Cio said.

"Cheysok is a Lunapsar surname," Ash said as he watched the current ship weaving between the buoys in the harbor. "Is she Andreas Cheysok's sister?"

"That's her!" Effie replied.

Ash nodded. "Their mother's family is Zeno."

Cio almost choked and Henry raised a brow. Terry scratched her head. "Who are they?"

An elderly man sitting behind them laughed amicably. "Little girl, the Zeno family is one of the founding merchant families of Carthage Harbor. They are less involved in trade now, and are mostly a political family within the city. Areina is the great-granddaughter of the patriarch, through his first son, and then from his fifth granddaughter."

The three children turned around to look at the pleasant old man in fine clothing and a wide brim hat to protect his wrinkled face from the sun. He stood surrounded by serious-looking men.

Henry and Ash both looked over and gave him a small bow. "Lord Zeno, good to see you again," Henry said.

The old man chuckled and beamed. "They almost didn't let me come this year."

"My lord, didn't you break your leg?" Ash asked, raising a brow.

"Bah! It's just a sprain!" The old man looked away. "I'm fine. Besides, everyone is so busy. Who else was going to come and cheer on my only granddaughter?"

"Dad, she's not competing." An exasperated middle-aged woman sitting in front of Ash, in the row with several council members, sighed.

"She's doing supporting work, which is just as important!" the old man insisted. "Father would've come if his health was better."

Henry recognized the woman as Louisa Cheysok of Zeno, meaning she was Areina's mother.

"Isn't Andreas competing today, too?" Ash asked. They knew Andreas through the Lunapsar Cultural Center.

"His father went with their cousins to watch at the arena," Councilwoman Cheysok replied.

Behind them, the old man let out a defeated sigh. He looked at the children with pity. "I'm afraid my grandson isn't as skilled with a chariot as your mother. I don't think Carthage Harbor will place today."

The councilwoman squinted. "Dad, that's your grandson."

"Tch, and he's not a good chariot driver. I'm being honest!" The old man snapped at his daughter and then looked back at the children. He gave them a hopeful look. "What about you children? You are with Madam Atractas, yes?"

"We're not interested," Effie replied. The old man slumped forward with disappointment. Effie gasped and reached back and patted his arm. "But, you know what, Grandpa, if no one qualifies for the sword competitions in four years, I'll represent the city."

"Maybe I should learn something, too?" Terry muttered, rubbing her chin as she looked down.

Henry looked at Cio. "What about you?" The little boy's serious eyes met his.

"I want to make money."

"Fair enough."

The buzzard for the last ship went off just seconds after it swept past the finish line. The scores were tallied up and everyone's attention went to the score board. Henry quietly did the math and frowned. Nera really had no chance for the platinum ring even with a perfect score.

"It's Momma's turn! Carthage Harbor is about to start!" Effie yelled. All around them the crowd began shouting. Their entire section rose to their feet to begin cheering Nera. Banners were waving and people were yelling.

The small vessel was speeding towards the starting line. Once it went past, the timer would begin and signal the start of the event. Nera could only start shooting the cannons once the back of the ship had crossed the finish line.

She stood on the stern, aiming a cannon. In order to get the targets closest to the starting line, competitors shoot from the stern before rushing to a different position. The ship was far enough away that the small cannon balls would not reach the crowds. The powder had been prepared to ensure that they only went as far as the furthest target to avoid endangering the crowd and staff that was in charge of replacing the clay targets.

Nera was efficient, first shattering the targets worth the most first before shattering the lower value ones. She then raised a cannon and aimed for the first of the three highest value targets.

Their cheering section drowned out everything with their energetic screaming as the target was hit and broke apart. She was the first competitor to hit one. Nera continued to move around the deck, systematically hitting all the targets in the vicinity before turning her attention to the second of the highest value targets.

As soon as it shattered upon cannonball impact, Henry could feel the stands beneath him moving as people jumped up and down.

Nera's ship was making excellent time and flew through the course, never missing a target. This was exactly what Carthage Harbor wanted to see.

Effie pointed out Areina. Usually, there were multiple crew members who loaded and prepared the canons, one per canon station was the maximum. Carthage Harbor only had four, one on each side and on the front and back. Once Nera had finished off the targets behind the ship at the start, she never returned to the stern, which was where Areina had been stationed.

Now, Areina ran around ahead of Nera and adjusted the canons before Nera got to them. Nera aimed and shot the cannon, but Areina adjusted them so Nera would have to do only the minimal amount of work. In a way, it was excellent training.

The last of the regular targets was hit. The last target on the entire course was the last high value target. It was close to the end and, therefore, closest to where the stands and audience were. They watched Nera aim the canon at the target.

She didn't shoot it.

The crowds waited for the boom, the small cloud of smoke, and the inevitable shattering of a clay disc before falling into the water.

Henry frowned and Ash tilted his head. Nera would've shot by now. Instead, others on the ship seemed to be calling out to her, asking the same question everyone else watching was asking. Henry could make out her mouth moving, but didn't know what she said. Only that as soon as she answered, the crew all seemed to look at the final target with mixed expressions; none of which were positive.

"Brother?" Effie sounded confused. Nera continued to aim for a moment longer, but lowered the cannon and pulled away. Murmurs swept through the crowd, almost drowning out the buzzard as Carthage Harbor's ship crossed the finish line.

Nera had hit every single target except the last one, though she had plenty of time to.

"What is going on?" someone said. "Why didn't she hit it? It would've been a perfect score."

"Madam Atractas doesn't do anything without a reason," a council member said in a low voice. "Send someone to check on the last target."

"Effie," Henry said her name as he looked at her. Effie was already raising her arm, waiting for a bird to land on her.

This time it was Midnight. The raven began chirping rapidly and Effie sucked in a sharp breath. Her eyes went wide and her face paled.

"Effie?" Ash asked. He frowned. "What's wrong?"

Effie swallowed hard. She motioned for her brothers to get closer and as their heads drew together, Effie responded in Lunapsar.

"There is something inside the last target. It's bigger than normal, thicker," Effie said. "Midnight says that Momma suspects it could be dangerous, so she didn't shoot it."

Less than an hour later, after the winners had been announced, the stands had been cleared, and Ash had been called by Invitational staff and the Carthage Harbor team.

At dinner, Henry found out that Nera's suspicions were right.

The clay target had been filled with enough explosives that would've not only reached her ship, but blown out the windows of the buildings on the waterfront, meaning the crowds in the stands, the competitors, the staff nearby, would've all perished in the blast.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.