“I am glad to see you are becoming comfortable, Champion,” Odysseus said as he stopped at the threshold.

He was an impression against my mind, filled in as best it could with lines that became shapes and connected to one another — an upside-down triangle for the chest leading into a line connected to an opposite facing, smaller triangle for the waist, and finally to lines for the legs; there were lines for the arms, another for the neck which lead to the head.

It was getting easier to hold the images in my head, but the shape was still rudimentary, and I was still shit out of luck for depth. I had tried fingers and toes but those were still hard to keep a general awareness over.

“It’s getting a little easier in some ways,” I said as I came to my feet.

I usually stood against the banister to watch the city from across the lake, but I’d gotten the idea to put out chairs and a small table with stalling magic so the fruit and wine wouldn’t get old.

“Is that not good?” Odysseus asked. He moved, taking the other seat. He motioned and I sat. “This is to be your life until your return to your home. It is better if you enjoy it.”

Privilege on the backs of the disenfranchised, a whisper came. I took a deep breath and pushed the thought away.

A hum left me. I had a goblet in my hand and it was filled with juice that had a low glow. I took a drink, enjoying a taste that was lemony and slightly sweet. My head bobbed as I let myself get lost in my thoughts. Odysseus did the same, pouring himself some wine and settling back.

“How was your day?” he asked eventually. I turned to him, taking in his expression. He had bags under his eyes and his usual grin was gone; he slouched, drooping as though a heavy weight had settled on his shoulders.

Are you asking because of what I told you about Surefoot? I thought. Because you’re trying to get me to like you like I do him?

If he was, did it matter? Did it change anything?

“I heard that you were visited again by the squire, Anthony,” he said.

Oh. It was that. I nodded. “Anthony and his buddy, Latimer,” I told him. “I took them with me while Cybill, Jaslynn and I went riding. He seemed interested in being in the royal guard,” I shrugged, “maybe proximity to Ally and the ladies-in-waiting is going to be good for him.”

“You are going to great lengths to please him.”

“Are you jealous, Your Highness?” I asked, smiling.

Odysseus frowned and turned away. There was a tension in his shoulder and slowly, mechanically, he worked to unwind it. “If dalliances were my preference,” he said, “they would not be with you.”

I shrugged. “Even if you’re not attracted to me, you can be jealous. You haven’t had to share me since I arrived here and it’s looking like that might change.”

“I am not jealous,” he said, not overly emotional. How odd this Odysseus was when compared to the first time I’d met him, when he had seemed confident and in control, like they world was his plaything. “Only curious and perhaps worried for you. Dalliances are not uncommon, however…I worry that marriage is for a different purpose in your world than it is in ours.”

I snorted. “Anthony and I aren’t together, I told you what that was about.”

“You did,” Odysseus said, nodding. “I just thought it worth mentioning. It might be better if you courted women as well, perhaps even hint at the idea of marriage so that more nobles are behind you.”

“Hint at marriage when I might not be staying here for long?” I asked, my tone taking on a hard edge.

Odysseus sat back and looked away, the corners of his mouth worked. He ran a hand through his hair and settled back.

“Altheer is a beautiful city,” he said.

“Yeah. It’s a pity I can only see it from a distance.”

“Perhaps a visit might be something we are able to do,” he said.

“Yeah?” I said, with a little too much energy. “I thought we couldn’t leave the castle. Ally has been frustrated by it for the longest time. They’re a little stir-crazy, I think. It’s how the whole going into the mines thing happened in the first place.”

“It might be why she was so passionate when she argued against father,” he said. “I admit I was surprised. Not to break your confidence, Champion, but—”

“This idea was stupid and it’s a losing battle,” I said, nodding. “Yeah. I get that, don’t worry that’s not news to me. But I think I have better chances in this than in a fight.”

“Be that as it may, you are still likely to lose,” he said as gently as he could. “Allycea knows this and it is unlike her to stand on the side most likely to lose.”

“Why did they agree to training me in the first place?” I asked.

Odysseus frowned. “Because I convinced her that if you were to rise to greatness, it would alleviate her burdens,” he said.

Yours isn’t the only happiness tied up in this, I thought.

“It could still be the same thing here,” I said. “Ally might still want to alleviate their burden.”

“You do not know my sister,” he said, shaking his head. “I thought I would have to convince her anew to stand by your side, but she did not need such motivations. Allycea is usually more reserved when speaking to Father, but for the first time she was very close to speaking against him.”

“Not to be a dick about your dad,” I said, “but I don’t get the impression that he liked that.”

“Father…” Manually, Odysseus had to unwind himself once more. Slowly and methodically.

It looked strange, but not if I considered that he didn’t have many people he trusted. He’d been the butt of jokes because of his field of study and maybe this was him trying to bring down his walls.

You wanted him to consider you a friend and it feels like that’s what’s happening, a part of me thought, and for some reason my plan felt wrong. Rationally I knew that Odysseus was using me, maybe to escape marriage, but it felt wrong to be using him.

My mind went to Surefoot again, his words. I was becoming an actor because this place was changing me, making me more callous in some ways. But…did I have a choice? Was there an alternative that would give me hope without having to make those types of concessions?

I took in a deep breath and let it out again, imagining the weight of the questions flowing out of me. I didn’t have the space for those moral quandaries. I had to survive.

“Father has changed in the smallest of ways since my eldest brother’s departure,” he said.

“Matthaeus, right?” He nodded. “You never talk about your other siblings. Only Ally. I know you have two others in the castle.”

“Eleus and Elea,” he provided. “The twins. You do not know much about the religious institutions in the kingdoms, do you?”

I shook my head.

“Althor, Altheer and Altrine are the three brothers,” he said. “Born as gods they are truly one being split in three. Scripture says that in the olden days this was hard for people to understand and so the Fates gave them understanding; the soul of a child they cut into three figures, born at the same time — these were the blessed-born.”

“I remember something like that. It’s why the Elemental Line is the way that it is, right? The old family used that as a loophole to unify three duchies.”

Odysseus smiled. “After the event, a law was passed and it made the blessed-born and those close to them the property of the church.”

“That’s fucked up,” I said. “How a person can be property of anyone but themselves.” Odysseus didn’t say anything. “Is the same thing true for Eleus and Elea?”

He nodded. “I do not know them, not truly. Since they were babes they were raised by the Grand Priests and their priestesses. When they are of age and their predecessors die, they will be the ones who run the church.”

“And that’s political power, isn’t it? The church was the reason the Elemental Line grew the way it did. I bet if your father’s politically minded, he’ll like that the Mandaron family will have both the church and the monarchy.”

Odysseus smiled bitterly. “You seem to be learning much of our politics,” he said.

I shook my head. “Just parallels,” I said. “In my world, most governments agree that there should be a separation between the church and governmental functions. This is so the religion with the most power doesn’t force people to live in ways they don’t want to, whether they don’t believe in a god or in other gods.”

“I gather that this is not the case,” he said.

“There’s a difference between what should happen in theory and the things that happen in practice,” I told him. “In my country, all religions are supposed to be treated equally, but you get the sense that Christianity — the religion a lot of people practice — is really in control. I think all of the public holidays with religious leanings are Christian. My cousin went to a school that was majorly Muslim and he told me how there was a religious holiday that was school-specific instead of being a public holiday.”

“Muslim is another of your people’s religions?” Odysseus asked.

I nodded. “I wish I could tell you more, but…I don’t really know any Muslim people. Our country was segregated for a long time and laws overturned that. But there’s a difference between that and what actually goes on. Black people still live with black people, white with white, coloured with coloured, and it’s the same thing with religions. I’ve only had to interact with Muslim people as traders in shops or stuff like that.”

“The way you speak, it sounds as though this is bad,” he said.

“It means that I don’t have perspective sometimes. It means I can be ignorant or…” a shudder left me, “racist in some ways.” I turned to Odysseus. “Perspective should always be broadened, and part of that is being…” I intermeshed my fingers “with people with different perspectives.”

“Twice you’ve said there’s a difference between theory and practice,” said Odysseus. “Are you speaking in the theoretical or the practical?”

I smiled.

“What?” he said, confusion blooming.

I shrugged. “Maybe I’m jinxing it, but…I feel like this might be the first time you’ve actually listened to me.”

“Am I so bad a companion?” he said. Offence flickered on and then disappeared.

“Honestly? Yes,” I said. I swallowed, a little jittery, a little scared. Things had been good this last while and I might be ruining it by calling him out.

At least you’re not doing it while pissed and frustrated, I thought, which was progress.

“We were talking about perspective, and…yours is…it’s different. When you speak, people listen. I think the only person who might not listen to you is your father, and from the time I’ve spent here you don’t interact with him a lot.”

Odysseus locked up and took a drink of his wine. “I admit I gave you less credit than you deserve, Champion,” he said. “You’re quite observant. I had thought the gossip on your confrontation with Owain junior might be exaggeration, but I now feel that it might be true in part.”

“I think…that might be because you didn’t see me,” I said.

Quiet stretched before Odysseus nodded. “That might be true, Champion,” he said. He took one finally swig of his wine and rose. I stood too. “My day with father was mentally taxing, and though I enjoyed our conversation, I admit to not being prepared for it. Might we talk again tomorrow?”

“Sure,” I said and he started to leave, “but one last thing.”

Odysseus stopped, he looked a mix of offended and supremely tired. “Go on.”

“You asked before, theoretical or practical. A lot of people don’t understand that there’s privilege attached to some experiences, or the ability to be in certain spaces. I’m from a village surrounded by people like me, I went to places that had people unlike me because there were things I had to do. School, shopping, stuff that needed to get fixed, and even that was through a form of privilege because I knew some kids who thought of people from other races as things that existed only on television. So…um…if you want to call me on my shit or dismiss what I’ve said because it’s just talk, then yeah, you could do that; but you have to consider…you have all the privilege in the world where I didn’t and still don’t in some ways.”

“I will consider your words,” he said and he left.

***

Shirt, shorts and no shoes on. I was on my back on the floor, looking at a ceiling with too much going on and listening to the exertion which rang through my body. First it had been the run and then dodging practice, then I’d started my scaling exercises which left my hands and arms aching, and finally shooting practice with Jaslynn — we’d started to incorporate moving targets now, which were harder because I couldn’t lean on my spatial sense.

It still wasn’t afternoon, but I was already in need of a good nap. Which wasn’t in the cards because I wanted to get in more riding practice with Rollo, getting him used to gunshots so he wouldn’t spook so much.

“How long will you lay there?” Ellora asked, stepping closer. I opened my eyes and saw as she unbound her hair, pulled and then retied it.

“Until I’m rested,” I said, closing my eyes again. Around us reverberated the sounds of fighting — Freda was well enough to train again and she’d returned to it full force.

Ellora moved, sitting and then laying back beside me, so close that our shoulders touched. I turned to face her and she was looking up, her eyes closed. She said nothing, breathing deeply.

“What’s this about?” I asked.

“I am waiting for you to charm me,” she said.

“What?”

“Cybill,” she said. “She seems to look at you differently as of late. Jaslynn is obviously attracted to you. Freda…I think she might be jealous of you. It is quite the effect you have had on our motley crew, especially in the little amount of time you have spent with us.”

“That’s a lot of new information you’re giving me,” I said, frowning. She hummed. “So what, you want me to say you’re pretty or something? Or you’re a good fighter? Because I can and you are.”

Ellora snorted. “I was interested in what you would say given enough time,” she said. “A part of me wonders if you might be a manipulator and I wanted to see your machinations at work.”

“I don’t know how to respond to that,” I said as I looked back up. “Have you considered that I’m not a manipulator, just…friendly?”

“There are very few people who are just friendly in my experience,” said Ellora. “Everyone wants something, the powerful get it through might and sheer strength of will, while those on the lower rung have to weasel. Friendliness, it’s called.”

“Or maybe that’s just bullshit,” I said with a shrug. “People tell themselves a lot to justify their own outlooks, especially when it’s shitty.”

Ellora chuckled. “You are becoming quite brazen, Champion,” she said.

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“Only a statement,” she said.

“At attention,” Ally’s voice rang from the doorway. Ellora was heartier as she stood, while I had to take a few breaths and push myself to my feet.

Ally wasn’t in their usual training gear, dressed lightly with hair a bit wind tousled and an expression that was at ease. Odysseus and Eleus were with them, both dressed casually, with the latter not dressed in armour or carrying his sword.

“What’s going on?” Cybill asked.

“Odysseus and I spoke to Father yesterday,” said Ally. “Long talks concerning the Champion’s challenge with Baron Owain.”

“How pissed was he?” I interrupted. “Your Highness.”

“Did you not speak on it with Odysseus?” Ally asked. They glanced at their brother.

“No. The Champion and I had other matters to talk about,” he said.

Ally nodded shortly. “Father was…irate at your ploy, Champion, particularly since you lost. But listening to the unspoken words, I think he understands, especially when the alternative might have been worse. It is for this reason that I was able to impress upon him the importance of a more practical form of training.”

“It sounds as though we will finally be able to leave the castle,” said Ellora, a hint of hope in her voice.

“Yes,” said Ally. An atmosphere I hadn’t noticed before lifted, people stood straighter, and a few smiles dawned. “The plan is still being discussed with Father, but we think that it might be in the best interest of the Champion to start hunting the different games that are available in Althor, making sure that has a broad level of education whatever Owain chooses in the end.”

“Why does it feel like it isn’t a certainty, yet?” I asked.

“Protections,” said Odysseus.

Right, he’d told me that his grandfather had died in a hunt. He would be scared of his kids gallivanting through lands he wasn’t sure were trustworthy.

Ally nodded. “I would prefer it if our team was small and light,” they said. “Father wants all the protection they can get away with, which would make movement harder. We would have to stay in castles and that has the likelihood of getting word to Owain about how far along your training is.”

“What difference is it going to make?” Jaslynn asked, her tone teasing. I made the conscious effort not to look at her. “The Champion is likely to lose. He did get a good story out of it, one likely to be immortalised. We’ll have to hope that is enough to give Owain a knock.”

“Should we speak so candidly?” Freda asked. She didn’t say why, but it was clear it was because of Eleus.

“Speak candidly, my lady,” said Eleus. “I am here serving as His Majesty’s proxy. More than your skill he wants to see your wit as a collective, it will be a decider in how much security should be provided for your excursion. If I detect that information is being hidden from me, then that is what I will relay to King Orpheus.”

“What does all this mean in practical terms?” I asked.

“I am your overseer, and it would do you well to present yourself with that in mind,” said Eleus.

“It means that we will be going into the city,” Odysseus explained. “A general stroll, seeing Hightown, maybe Midtown if we have the time.”

“And finally the Arenas,” said Ally.

“Fuck yes,” Ellora muttered as Jaslynn clapped. “Will we fight?”

“It would do to show the Champion a good time, after all,” said Ally. “If that would be to your liking?”

“I mean, fuck yeah. I’ve been waiting for this for a long ass time.”