Chapter 288: dai-Morrigan

Stryg and his teammates stood in a circle inside the southern tunnel, a few paces from its open gates. After Lady Thorn had drawn the names for the day’s first duel she had sent the teams to their respective tunnels for a 10-minute preparation break.

A weapons rack sat on the wall to the left of them and a long wooden bench sat to their right. Overall the tunnel was sparse and dark with only a sliver of light peering through the crack of the tunnel’s gate.

“Have you decided on a weapon yet?” Sylvie asked.

“I already have Nameless,” Stryg patted the hilt of his sword.

“Yeah, but that’s an enchanted weapon. You get to bring an ordinary one too,” Sylvie said.

“I’m fine with just my sword,” Stryg shrugged.

“Oh, then can I pick one for you!?” Sylvie asked excitedly.

“Sure…?” Stryg said hesitantly.

“Nice!” Sylvie skipped over to the weapons rack and began perusing through the armaments like a weapons connoisseur.

“I think we have more important things to discuss than what shield Stryg should have,” Callum said dryly.

“No shields, they impede my sword movements,” Stryg said adamantly.

“Hah! Wasn’t even planning on picking a shield!” Sylvie called out with a wink.

Callum placed his hand over his face and sighed, “Yeah… besides that, your opponent is Beatrix Morrigan.”

“dai-Morrigan,” Freya corrected.

“Like that will make our problems any less,” Callum grumbled.

“What’s dai-Morrigan? Is that a different family than House Morrigan?” Stryg asked.

“Eh, no, not exactly,” Freya said. “The ‘dai’ in front of the surname means the person is a bastard. Most Houses in the realm don’t follow the practice of bastardization, but House Morrigan clearly does.”

“In other words, they acknowledge Beatrix is a child of House Morrigan, but they don’t recognize her as a true member of the family,” Callum said.

“So… she’s an outsider in her own family… she doesn’t fit in…” Stryg whispered.

“Sure, probably, but I bet you she’s still going to behave like one,” Callum said. “Morrigans kill their opponents, there is no room for mercy.”

“What about Veronica? I hear she survived,” Stryg said.

“That was most likely a fluke. Gilgard hurt that Sientia girl so badly she’s still in the infirmary. I hear she hasn’t even woken up yet,” Callum said with a wince.

“Callum is right,” Freya nodded. “What happened with Veronica Sientia was an exception. Don’t expect it to happen again. Beatrix is a Morrigan, and they have always been dangerous. Do not underestimate her.”

“Professor Ismene consulted with House Noir’s spies,” Callum said. “She told me that Beatrix has made very few public appearances, even in Murkton’s own mage academy. We barely know anything about her. We don’t even know what colors she has…”

“What? What do you mean we don’t even know her colors,” Stryg asked, confused.

“She only used her sword during the 2nd Challenge. She’s been keeping her abilities a secret until needed, I guess.” Freya narrowed her eyes knowingly, “Just like someone else, hm?”

“I had my reasons,” Stryg said defensively.

“Yeah and I don’t doubt she has hers too,” Freya said. “Just try not to rush into the fight, take your time to assess her capabilities.”

“Fine, I can do that,” Stryg nodded. He glanced at the crack of light through the gates, “...I think.”

~~~

Gilgard watched with trepidation as his younger half-sister strapped her longsword to her back and sheathed a short sword to her hip. His other two teammates, Diane and Hallus, stood a dozen paces away, trying to give the two siblings a bit of privacy.

“Beatrix… are you sure you’re ready for this?” Gilgard muttered.

Her head snapped up, her amber eyes full of suspicion, “What’s that supposed to mean? You don’t think I can do this?”

“No, it’s not that,” Gilgard said carefully. “You were the one who said Stryg of Ebon Hollow was the most dangerous opponent in the tournament.”

“That was because I couldn’t see his mana flow. But now I know he is a prime mage.”

“But you still can’t see his mana flow, right?”

Beatrix shrugged, “I should be able to see it once I get into physical contact. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

Gilgard bit his lip and paused with hesitation. He took a deep breath and pressed on, “You shouldn’t go too far in this duel. There are too many unknown factors. You saw his advanced ward spells in the last Challenge, right? I didn’t even recognize half of them. Who knows what the extent of his knowledge truly is. You have to be careful.”

“Careful?” Beatrix scoffed. “What? Do you want me to show mercy like you did with that drow?”

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Really?” Beatrix said testily. “You already disobeyed Lord Morrigan’s orders by refusing to kill your opponent and now you’re trying to convince me to do the same? Just because you don’t care about your honor doesn’t mean I’ll just follow along and dishonor this family.”

Gilgard sighed, “Look, I know you’re angry about what I did, and I know our father might blame not just me, but you too for what happened in my duel… And for that, I am truly sorry, but I swear to you that this, right here, right now, isn’t about any of that.”

“Then what is this about, captain?” Beatrix crossed her arms.

“This is about your opponent being an Ebon Aspirant!” Gilgard yelled. “We have no idea what sort of implications an Ebon Aspirant let alone an Ebon Lord might have on the realm! Father has yet to respond to any of my messages regarding Stryg of Ebon Hollow nor what we should do about him!”

“I thought you didn’t care what our father thought?” Beatrix raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t agree with his ideologies, but we are still way out of our depth in this situation. Don’t you see that? We have no idea what the ramifications of killing the Aspirant are. For all we know the whole realm could fall into infighting! Tens of thousands of lives could be lost!”

“...You’re right.” Beatrix looked up at him, “Father hasn’t responded to any of your messages. But he responded to mine.”

“What? You went behind my back?” Gilgard frowned. “I thought you and I were a team.”

“And I thought we shared each other’s goals and put each other’s best interests first, but clearly you rather follow your own self-righteous beliefs instead,” Beatrix snapped. “Father’s message was very clear. Kill the Aspirant.”

“What?” Gilgard shook his head. “When did he send the message? Does Father know about Stryg’s engagement to our cousin?”

Beatrix looked away, “It doesn’t matter at this point.”

“He doesn’t know, does he? We could be obtaining a powerful ally if Stryg marries into House Katag.”

“Or House Katag might try to overthrow our House and take over Murkton. The Katags never could before, but now? With the power of an Ebon Lord?”

“The Katags wouldn’t do that.”

“How do you know? Can you tell me for certain they wouldn’t?”

Gilgard lowered his head, “...I don’t think the Katags would betray us.”

“That’s not a good enough answer,” Beatrix whispered. “...Father is aware of the Aspirant’s engagement. He made his decision.”

Gilgard groaned in frustration, “So what if he has!? Are you seriously just going to listen to him!? He is a cruel, heartless shadow of a man who would rather kill our potential greatest ally because he’s too scared that his own family might betray him!”

“That’s so easy for you to say,” she muttered angrily.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I didn’t even get to be a part of this family!” Beatrix screamed. “I don’t have the luxury of just ignoring our father’s wishes! While you go out there and play the rebel I have to face the reality of my station!”

Gilgard’s face paled, “Beatrix… I…”

“You take our family’s name for granted,” her voice grew tight. “You don’t know what it’s like having to live your entire life trying to prove to everyone around you that you deserve the right to merely exist!”

Gilgard looked at her with sympathy, “...I’m sorry, I didn’t-”

“I don’t want your apologies!” Beatrix’s voice broke. “...You hate our family, I know. But all I’ve ever wanted was to be a part of what you so easily cast aside.” She turned her back to him and stared at the tunnel’s closed gate, “So I’m going to go out there and prove to the world that I’m a truer Morrigan than you ever were.”

Gilgard hung his head in shame, “...Please, just… be safe…”

~~~

“LADIES AND LORDS, ARISTOCRATS AND COMMONERS ALIKE, TODAY WE ARE IN FOR ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED MATCHES OF THE TOURNAMENT!” Jane Stemme announced.

“WE WILL FINALLY GET TO SEE THE ONE AND ONLY EBON ASPIRANT IN ACTION. AND AGAINST THE MYSTERIOUS BEATRIX DAI-MORRIGAN NO LESS!” Mark Stemme added with a boastful voice.

The crowds cheered in response. Many of them waved small banners of House Murkton or Hollow Shade high above their heads.

Stryg found the cheers a little too loud for his sensitive ears, though the Stemme heralds’ voices booming from the top of their tower were even more annoying. Callum had told him that it was custom to wave to the crowd before a duel began, but Stryg felt no inclination to do so, and it seemed neither did his opponent.

Beatrix stared at him from across the arena with a cold expression.

Stryg glanced at the small dagger strapped to his thigh and sighed. Maybe letting Sylvie pick out his secondary weapon was a bad idea after all.

“MAY THE DUEL OF SPELL & STEEL… BEGIN!!!” the heralds yelled in unison.

Stryg made no immediate motion to charge his opponent and neither did she. Stryg recalled his teammates' words about Beatrix. He placed his hands on his sides and bowed low as was tradition in a swordsman’s duel.

Beatrix’s eyes narrowed in recognition. She begrudgingly placed her hands on her sides and mirrored his bow.

Stryg smiled, “So you’re the outcast of your tribe, huh? I’m glad we get a chance to fight.”

“Mockery?” Beatrix spat at the ground, “Unlike the others, I’m not afraid of you. You’ll have to do better than that.”

“Afraid of me?” Stryg cocked his head to the side. He hadn’t realized there were people afraid of him. Though he certainly could recall many times he wished people were afraid of him.

“Do your worst,” Beatrix scowled. She drew her long sword and fell into a battle stance.

She’s odder than I imagined, Stryg thought.

Was she taunting him? Did she want him to attack recklessly? Only a fool would do that.

Stryg grinned half-heartedly. He had been that fool one too many times. Today would be different. He’d gauge his opponent’s abilities first. He channeled orange mana into his arm and flung a fireball at his opponent from afar.

Beatrix didn’t dodge, she didn’t raise her sword either. She simply stuck out her outstretched palm. The fireball exploded around her in a burst of blue sparks. The flames abruptly dissipated around her fingers without a single burn on her scarlet skin.

Beatrix smiled to herself, “As I thought, I can’t see your mana flow, but I can still see your spell’s threads.”

Stryg’s eyes widened in shock. His flame spell had disappeared into thin air. There hadn’t been any colliding force, the flames had simply burst and faded away.

“What was that? What did you do!?” Stryg hissed.

Beatrix stared at him strangely and finally broke into a smile, “You’re serious, aren’t you? Here I thought the scope of the Ebon Aspirant’s influence was so great that you already knew everything about me. But the truth is, you don’t know what I am, do you?”