Frances would have been utterly overcome by the horde of family members that all tried to introduce themselves to her, but a few things helped her maintain consciousness.

One, Edana had a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her presence, and sometimes deliberate insertion of herself between Frances and certain uncles and aunts, fended off the more handsy family members' attempts to hug her. Frances could tell these aunts and uncles were just trying to be friendly. They simply had no idea why she would have a wariness around being touched.

Two, Ayax was an excellent resource, especially with the younger cousins. She didn’t hesitate to introduce younger cousins with quips, like “twelve-year-old mage wannabe” Eva who Frances had assisted against Ophelia, Ecbert - Eva’s “bookish fifteen-year-old brother” who wanted to work in the Great Library and who shared Frances’s loved for fiction, and the aptly named “Quadruplets.” No, the Quadruplets were not a true quadruplet, but their mother, Edana’s cousin Donna (Don’s twin sister) and her wife both had twins. The less said about the branch of the family that were Don and Donna’s two fathers and mother (Eleanor’s sister Emelia had married Greg a human and Danny an orc, who were also married to one another) the better. It was hard for Frances to wrap around Edana’s two brothers and two sisters and their children already.

Finally, there was the Windwhistler family itself. She’d never met a friendlier bunch of completely insane people. True she had prepared some small gifts for everybody, and while Edana had been a bit worried at the effort, the reactions of her new relatives had been worth it.

Take Edana’s sister Erin, a restaurant owner, whom Frances had gifted her a recipe for gnocchi using Dale Bricks (since potatoes didn’t exist in Durannon). Erin had gone completely over the moon, shaking Frances’s hand so much until it felt like her fingers were about to fall off, then promising Frances a share of the profits for the dish. Frances had no idea what her aunt had been babbling but she was glad that the woman was happy.

Then there were her cousins, seated with her on the “kids table.” Frances, with assistance from Edana, had spent the last week using her magic to make wooden “action figures” of the various people she’d met. There was Prince Sebastian of Lapanteria, his fiance Megara, Baroness Igraine, Vice-Headmistress Kellyanne, Martin and Elizabeth. She even made one of Timur and Edana. Suffice to say her younger cousins loved the figures and her older cousins enjoyed the novelty of having these pose-able figurines as gifts.

Speaking of the “kids table” it actually wasn’t too kiddy. The round table was just as large as the adult table, and most were teenagers. If anything it was more of a “Generation B” table.

It was… well...

“So like I was saying, he said he enjoyed the date, but like he was quiet for a lot of it. I feel like he likes me, but I’m not sure,” Eloise, one of Frances’s first cousins whined.

Nicolas, an orc, swallowed his chicken. “I think he isn’t sure himself.”

“If you ask me I think he’s slowly warming up to you,” said Nobbo, a half-human half-goblin.

“Nah he’s not interested, he’s stringing you along,” squeaked Aravis, a half-human half-centaur. She looked like a satyr, with cloven hooves and a horse’s tail, but without the horns.

Eloise sighed, “Ayax, Frances, what do you think?” asked the older teenage girl.

Frances pursed her lips. For the longest time, she didn’t think anybody could like her romantically and so she never thought about romance. It didn’t mean she didn’t have dreams of some handsome prince sweeping her away, but… until recently, she didn’t think anybody might like her that way.

“Maybe you can ask him? Um, or maybe, next time you can ask him about things he likes, and what he thinks would make a good partner?” Frances asked.

Ayax took a sip of her tankard. “I agree. He’s interested, but you talk too much.”

Eloise spluttered helplessly as her brother Elias laughed. “Succinct and so honest, Ayax.”

Eric, biting down his laughter, took another bite of quiche. “Hey, enough about Eloise’s girl talk. Winter Tournament’s coming up. What do you think are our chances with Frances on our side.”

“Perhaps you should ask Frances if she actually is entering the tournament, Eric,” said Ecbert, but his eyes were brimming with interest. “Are you entering the tournament?”

“You’d trounce them!” said Ben, a young troll and Ayax’s adopted brother, gleefully.

“Uhhh…” Frances found her head swivelling between cousins that were all fixing her with enthusiastic looks. “The Winter Tournament… That’s the mage tournament coming up in three weeks right?”

Edmund, Nobbo’s brother bobbed his head. “Yeah! All the most famous houses in Erlenberg are participating. It’s for all mages between fifteen and eighteen. You qualify and if you can beat Ophelia Voidsailor then we will win for sure!”

Dean and Dixie, a pair of “The Quadruplets” chorused, “Please join, Frances. We’ve not won a single tournament in… in…”

“FOREVER!” cried out Namba and Nix, the other pair of “The Quadruplets.”

Frances, more than a little perplexed and overwhelmed by the eager smiles, found one cousin not smiling eagerly, Ayax, who was sitting beside her. Yet, it wasn’t that Ayax looked bored. Rather, as their eyes met, she saw her troll cousin’s teeth grinding together, her fists clenched, and veiled anguish sitting underneath the surface.

Ayax instantly looked regretful and schooled her expression, but Frances kept staring, her mind trying to figure out what she had seen.

“I… Uh… I… but…Would they allow an Otherworlder to join?” she stammered.

“Yes!” exclaimed Elijah.

“There’s nothing against it,” Nicolas mused.

“Come on Frances, we need to show them what Windwhistlers can do!” begged Eva.

Frances took a deep breath and shut her eyes. Alone, in the blackness, without the many eyes on her, she could think.

“Oi, let her think,” Frances heard Nobbo.

“Yeah, it’s her decision,” grunted Ayax.

Frances opened her eyes, her thoughts feeling much more ordered. “Thanks guys. So uh… maybe. I need to talk to Edana. War magic is quite different from magic used in duelling.”

“It is?” Eric asked. The half-centaur half-human was a mage after all, but not a combat mage.

“Very,” Ayax growled out. “War magic is all about taking out as many opponents as quickly as possible. In a duel, especially a planned one, it’s all about knowing your opponent and his or her weaknesses.” The cousins, Frances included, stared at Ayax, who glared defiantly back.

“Ayax is right. Also, Frances may have trounced Ophelia, but she’s not going to get beaten so easily next time,” said Nobbo. He smiled understandingly at Frances. “Besides, yes it’s not campaigning season, but you have responsibilities to the Human Kingdoms I’m sure.”

Frances nodded, smiling thankfully at her oldest cousin. “I… I still want to try. I want to help you—my family.”

The cousins all grinned or smiled at that statement, even Ayax.

Suddenly, they heard a chair scrape as someone stood up.

“So that’s what this is all about?” Edana roared.

Frances sprang up, wand in her hand on instinct. Then she remembered she was in her family’s house. So she immediately apologised to Ivy’s Sting and holstered her again, but kept one hand on her wand to soothe her.

Only, her mother was furious. Frances’s eyes widened as she ran over to the adult’s table. She could only see Edana’s back, but she was shaking with rage.

“You just wanted my daughter for your scheme. Did you mother?” Edana spat. She had a white-knuckle grip on her staff and Frances knew that if she let her mother continue to get riled up, she’d see literal sparks.

To make matters worse, all the adults were standing up, and the horde of cousins were following her. Frances grabbed Edana’s hand. “Mom, what’s going on?”

Edana glanced at Frances and her features softened for a second, before she glared across at the table. Following that glare, Frances found a still-seated Eleanor holding her daughter’s gaze. And yet, the Windwhistler matriarch wasn’t so steely as before. Her lips were turned down, as if she was almost regretting something.

“Tell her, mom,” Edana hissed. Angry, but there was something sorrowful in her mother’s voice.

Eleanor’s gaze switched to Frances and she instantly recognized regret and… guilt?

“Frances dear… your mother… is saying that the reason I welcomed you to the family and invited you to the gathering is… to convince you to enter in the Winter Tournament for the Windwhistler family.”

“But that’s not true, isn’t it dear?” Paul asked as he took Eleanor’s hand. There was also a hint of iron in his voice as he regarded Edana. It spoke to the old sea captain Paul had been in his youth.

“It’s not entirely true.”

“See—wait.” Paul turned to his wife, his brown eyes wide. “Eleanor Agatha Delilah Windwhistler, you did not just welcome our newest granddaughter into our household for some political ploy!”

“Don’t blame mother, dad. She can’t help but look out for the family’s interests,” growled Erin.

“At least she looked out for the family’s interests while you were disregarding it,” hissed Emelia, Eleanor’s younger sister.

“Mother! You know Erin was struggling!” Donna gasped.

“Look can we all just calm down for a moment and not start yelling at each other?” Eustace, Edana’s older brother, begged.

Eileen, Edana’s older sister grumbled, “Easy for you to say. All you do is stay away from home—”

“I wonder why!” growled Edward, Eva’s father. “What with mom always—”

“Oh come on why don’t you—”

Before the children and teens eyes, the adults of the Windwhistler family descended into a verbal brawl that wasn’t too unlike a bar fight. The teens backed away, with the older ones shepherding their younger siblings or cousins away.

“Mom?” Frances, but to her shock, her mother didn’t hear her. She was locked in a verbal duel with Eleanor. They were screaming at each other. Something about Edana leaving when she was fifteen, why she left, and what Eleanor had to do when Edana left. Frances could hear her mother’s anguish as she brought up the letters she’d sent and been ignored. She could hear Eleanor’s guilt, but also her rage at Edana’s apparent insolence.

Stepping back, Frances tried to find her cousins, but most were already taking cover, leaving the dining room. She did however find Ayax, staring at the scene and stepped in front of her.

“Ayax, what do we do?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen an argument like this, then again…” Ayax averted her gaze. “I’ve only been adopted for two years.”

“Ayax, please. How did the other arguments end?”

“Eleanor or Paul ends them, but she’s in deep with this one.” Ayax shook her head. “I don’t get it. She seemed to be having fun. She looked so happy to see your mom.”

“Mom was too.” Frances breathed out and in, and drew Ivy’s Sting. “Right, Ayax, you have your wand, back me up on this. Force everybody to sit down. I’ll silence them.”

Ayax blinked. “Wait how do you know I can do—”

“Can you do it?” Frances demanded.

The troll girl nodded and drew her wand. The pair marched up back to the table. Frances raised Ivy’s Sting and sang a sharp screeching note. Following her, Ayax spoke a clause of Words of Power and all the adults were slammed back into their seats.

The adults fell quiet, their mouths forced to close, though, not on their tongues. Edana spun around and stared at Frances and Ayax in surprise, whilst Eleanor looked poleaxed.

“I’m sorry we had to do this everybody. Please don’t blame Ayax, I… ordered her—”

“No. I agreed,” Ayax growled, elbowing Frances gently.

Sighing, Frances averted her gaze. “I—I know I’m overstepping my bounds, but… please, before we argue any further, I’d like to say a few things.” She took a deep breath. “I will enter into the Winter Tournament.”

Edana spluttered, tried to say something, but her mouth was still glued shut. Frances abashed, waved her wand and sang a sweeter note, releasing everybody’s jaws. Thankfully, they all sat quietly as Edana pinched the bridge of her nose.

“Frances, I know you want to help, but you owe nothing to anybody here.”

Frances nodded. “Mom, I know you love me, and you care about me, but… I feel like I do owe our family something. Maybe I’m wrong, but… I still want to help. I really do.”

Edana winced and stretched her hands out. Frances put her hands in her mothers, feeling how gently her mother held her, and holding her mother’s hands too.

“If you really do want to help your grandmother Frances, then I will help you do so,” Edana said in a quiet, resigned voice.

“Thank you, mom.” Frances turned to her grandmother. “Besides, I don’t think grandmother welcomed me to the family just because she wants to win the Winter Tournament. Is that right, Grandmother?”

Eleanor, nodded slowly, not meeting Frances’s gaze. “No. I do like you, Frances. I like you very much. If you were talentless as a piece of rotting wood, I still would have welcomed you.”

“Wait, then why did you say you weren’t being entirely truthful, dear?” Paul asked.

Eleanor turned to her husband, sighing. “Having our family win the Winter Tournament has been my dream, Paul. Especially since Jack Windstorm poisoned me and sabotaged my chance at winning it so long ago. Who cares that he was disqualified, I failed. I couldn’t bring glory and honor to our family. I still failed to make our house into one equal to one of The Five.”

Frances blinked. If she was recalling correctly, The Five were the oldest and most prestigious families of Erlenberg. Five great families, with each holding a permanent seat in the parliament that governed Erlenberg. They weren’t the only ones with permanent seats. The Windwhistlers had recently gained one, but…

“Don’t we have a permanent seat now?” Edana asked.

“Yes. Thanks to all of your efforts.” Eleanor smiled wearily as she looked around her family. “Thanks to all of you, we’re richer than any one of the Five. We have more influence and are more popular than any one of The Five. We are Erlenberg’s greatest house in every facet that counts, but for one.”

“The Winter Tournament,” Eileen said in a morose voice, even as her husband Nog caressed her shoulder. “We’ve never been able to win a single damn Winter Tournament. All of the Five had won at one point, but not us.”

“And they never ever let us forget that,” hissed Ethan, Eleanor’s younger brother and a shipwright.

Eleanor nodded and faced Frances. “I was about to give up on it. I swear I was. I mean I don’t expect anybody here to be able to fight Ophelia Voidsailor and have a chance at winning. But… then I found out Edana adopted you… an Otherworlder War Mage. You fought in Vertingen when you were fourteen and saved Edana’s life. You fought with Earl Forowena at the Battle of Westfall Pass, you broke the siege of Kwent with your friends and then helped recapture Freeburg, saving Baroness Igraine—”

“Wait… sorry to interrupt mom, but how do you know all of this?” Edana demanded.

“I uh, we may have done some research together?” Emelia quipped, looking embarrassed, along with her husbands Danny and Greg.

“You’re forgiven Edana. Because it was selfish of me. I… I know it was. That’s why I didn’t want to force or ask Frances to join.” Eleanor bowed her head. “But I did hope that if I welcomed her to the family, and had her listen to her family’s wishes, she might choose to help.”

Frances nodded. Because as slightly manipulative as her grandmother was, at least she was being given a choice. Did she feel a bit of pressure to help her family? Yes, but… this was nothing compared to how her old family had forced her to do things. At least here… this chaotic, passionate and oh-so-new family of hers, would help her, would take care of her. She could see that.

“I understand, Grandmother. And I… I believe you wouldn’t have made me do something I didn’t want to do. And… I do want to help.” Frances pursed her lips and quickly thought about what she was about to say. She knew she wanted to say it, but… this wasn’t something she could say lightly.

“Thank you, Frances,” said Eleanor, with evident relief.

“You’re welcome, Grandmother, but… there’s just one last thing.” Frances turned to Ayax. Her troll cousin’s eyes narrowed and then widened. But it was too late.

“Why didn’t you just ask Ayax if she’d like to join the Winter Tournament?”

Eleanor frowned. “Excuse me? But why should we have asked?”

Now it was Frances’s turn to frown. “What do you mean?” When she received no response, the frown turned into an open-mouthed gawk. “You mean you don’t know—”

“Frances, you don’t have to do this,” Ayax stammered.

Frances glanced at her cousin, studying her torn expression, watching her nervously stand as still as she could. Smiling, she asked gently, “Ayax, is it that you don’t feel like you deserve to, or don’t want to?”

The troll girl froze and Frances knew that sadly enough, she’d grasped what was going on.

“If you don’t know, why don’t we have a sparring match and we can let them judge whether you deserve it or not?” Frances asked softly.