Hugo leapt up from from his bed and said, “The guards were killed? Did they kill Yasmin?”

“What? I don’t know, I didn’t check. I just rushed right in here,” the huntmaster said.

Hugo pushed past him and looked out into the hallway. Two guards lay dead and bloody on the floor. Splatters of blood streaked across the branches and leaves around them. Hugo shivered. This happened right outside his door and he didn’t hear a thing because of the magical protections of the orrery.

When he saw the guard’s faces he let out a sigh of relief. Yasmin wasn’t among them. Guilt followed his relief. They might not be his best friends, but they died protecting him. A wave of emotion washed over him and he felt tears well up and fall.

“They were good men,” Ramin said from Hugo’s side. “I can’t believe the Junipers would do this. These were royal guards. They are here to protect the future of our city, not die in petty politics games. I need to tell the regent about this. Stay here. The orrery is obviously strong enough to protect you.”

Ramin wouldn’t listen to Hugo’s attempts to come with. Hugo was left alone in the orrery again. He sat on his bed and cried for a while. What was he doing? He needed to focus on saving the eight cities of the wheel, not playing a politics game that was getting people killed.

Once he calmed down, he was more angry than anything. He started making plans. His first order of business after his father was made king would be to call the hedge mages leadership in for a meeting. He needed to stop their movement first. Once that was done, he could capture Marshal Botha and get him to tell him all about the shimmer mountain.

The rest of the day passed without a single visitor. Hugo was worried after the sun went down and Crone Fern didn’t arrive. But she came by just a little later than normal. Hugo had forgotten that the moon rose and set at slightly different times throughout the year.

She didn’t have any answers for Hugo about what had happened, but she did tell him about a change in plans. Now that the assassins knew where he was, but couldn’t get in here, the guards weren’t going to be stationed outside anymore. They were just going to escort the crone to and from the orrery.

Hugo agreed with the decision. No reason to put people in danger for no reason. Still, it left him feeling lonely for the remaining time until the challenge. The huntmaster stopped visiting and Hugo went slightly stir crazy.

The morning of the fight, Crone Fern came in to tend the burl as usual. Along with her came a few more visitors. His mother, a woman holding a pot and paintbrushes, and Yasmin.

Hugo ran up to his friend and gave her a hug right away he said, “I am glad you are ok. I missed you.”

He looked over to his mother and said, “Thank you for coming, mother.” He knew that the contrast between the two greetings was a bit rude, but he didn’t care. This woman had never shown him an ounce of kindness or love.

“I am glad to see you are well, Lina. I hope you have kept up with your practice,” Shirin said.

Hugo wanted to say something biting in return. Instead he just nodded. The woman must be a bundle of nerves. Her future depended on someone else now, that had to be hard on anyone.

“I believe it is time to start now, Princess Lina,” the new woman said and held up her pot of paint. “Please disrobe fully. We need to cover you in magic. You can put panties on afterwards to preserve your modesty.”

Hugo had been dreading this part. The paint was part of The Mother’s magic. It created a barrier so the combatants could go all out and not kill each other. It was an important part of the challenge. He just didn’t want to be naked while they painted him. But he didn’t have a choice.

“Come on, come on. We are all girls here,” Shirin said.

Not all of us, Hugo thought to himself. He quickly stripped down to get over it. The woman with the paint spent the next hour covering him head to toe, even the souls of his feet and in his scalp. His hair style had to be redone to cover up the lines.

Once she was done, Hugo was allowed to wear panties and a cloak. He grabbed his wooden ritual and a mana stone to sacrifice. Yasmin carried his weapons for him. Then they walked down to the joining of the branches where a group of supporters waited. The crowd walked together into the city. No one stopped them along the way.

As Hugo got off the raft, the First Princess was waiting for him on the island with The Mother Tree.

“Lina of the Brambled Wood, are you here to answer a challenge?” she intoned.

“Yes, I am here to defend myself in the sight of The Mother,” Hugo said. He had been taught the correct wording for this part.

“Do you attest that you will only fight with gifts of The Mother and your own handiwork?” she said.

“I do. I swear by The Mother,” Hugo said.

“You may enter,” the First Princess said and stepped to the side.

If it wasn’t for that rule right there, Hugo could have created fantastic weapons and armor. Better than anything he had seen in Ettel for sure. Instead he was being forced to fight practically naked with only a carved stick to protect himself. This whole thing was ridiculous.

After he paid his respects to The Mother, he walked into the clearing. Many people were already there, including his opponent Bijan. The young man looked uncomfortable to be here. Hugo wondered if Bijan was just as uncomfortable being half naked as he was.

Hugo cut himself and dripped his blood into his ritual. It felt weird doing this in front of everyone. Being soulmarked and having an Acomarian domain was supposed to be taboo. But he had been assured it was more important that everyone saw use his own magic today. Once his strength and agility were boosted, Hugo dripped a bit of healing potion onto his forearm. It was a tiny wound, but no reason not to start the fight at his absolute best.

The crowd continued to gather. Hugo noticed that the Brambled Wood side of the gathering was smaller than the Juniper side. It had been roughly even the last two fights, but now it seems like more of them were siding with the enemy.

“That bastard,” Darius hissed.

Hugo followed his father’s stare to see what he was mad about. It was his brother, Amir. He was standing on the Juniper side of the clearing. A lot of things suddenly made sense to Hugo. The assassins had found him in the forest, at the train station, and at the orrery. Amir’s gift of future sight must have been aiding the Junipers, not his own family.

“He is no uncle of mine,” Hugo agreed.

As the time grew close, Bijan took off his cloak and stood in the center of the clearing. He held a short sword that was glowing a light blue. Orc’s Bane. Hugo hoped that he was ready to take on a weapon that can cut through anything. Maybe the crowd was just being realistic, not traitors.

Hugo decided to get the nakedness part of this whole ordeal over now. He needed to focus on the fight, not his lack of clothing. He shrugged off his cloak and walked towards Bijan. He tried to make his walk somewhat sexy. Maybe his bare breasts would distract his opponent. It didn’t seem to be working though. Bijan just looked concerned.

“Are you ready for this?” Bijan quietly asked.

“Yeah, if only for the assassination attempts to stop. Your family has gone too far. Good people have died,” Hugo said.

Bijan nodded, “You are right. They killed my body double. Mom hired him, but I feel responsible. I just want this to end.”

Hugo’s eyes widened. For some reason, it had never occurred to him that his side would be trying to kill Bijan too. This whole political situation was terrible.

The First Princess came forward and repeated her same ceremonial phrases. Hugo’s heart started beating faster. He didn’t pay much attention until she said “... now!”

Bursting into action, Hugo ran at Bijan. He strafed to Bijan’s left side, attacking the side without the sword. Bijan leaned back, shocked at how fast Hugo was attacking. He instinctively used his gift and a shield of bark appeared, covering his left arm right before the glaive hit. Hugo’s strike deflected off the bark. Hugo struck the shield again before he had to pull his glaive back out of range of Bijan’s sword.

Hugo danced back, pleased. That was exactly what he was hoping for. As far as anyone knew, Bijan could only manifest one bark shield at a time. Hugo sent a few more probing strikes, getting used to how his enhanced speed and strength matched up to Bijan. With the ritual boosting him, Hugo knew he should be about as strong as his father Darius now.

Back and forth they danced. Hugo was somewhat stronger and faster now, but Bijan had the trump card of a weapon Hugo couldn’t easily block. He did manage one successful parry, knocking away Bijan’s sword with his glaive and striking Bijan’s shoulder. In any other fight, that would have been a debilitating strike. But the mother’s magic flared and Hugo’s glaive only bruised instead of cutting.

Bijan scowled and leapt. He made it all the way over Hugo’s head and landed behind him. Hugo wasn’t idle. He swung his glaive around and fouled Bijan’s landing. With his opponent down, Hugo stepped forward and thrust into his stomach. The magic prevented it from piercing, but Bijan still groaned out in pain. A combination of his shield and sword made Hugo back up again.

As soon as Bijan rolled to his feet, Hugo was on him again. He focused his efforts on Bijan’s sword arm, not trying to injure but to bruise. Hugo’s successes made him overconfident. Bijan managed to predict the next attack and cut off most of the glaive’s blade. Hugo stepped back to glance at what he had left to work with.

Bijan’s eyes narrowed and he burst forward, his sword held to the side.

This was it, Hugo thought to himself. He stabbed forward and Bijan quickly sliced upwards. Another two feet were cut from Hugo’s weapon.

Hugo didn’t stop his attack. He kept pushing the remaining five feet of pole toward Bijan, twisting it at the last moment. Just as he practiced with the huntmaster, the move disarmed his foe and sent the sword flying away.

Bijan backed away, shocked. Hugo had been expecting his success and quickly made several follow up attacks. Bijan blocked some of them with his bark shield, but Hugo swept low and knocked him off his feet.

With time to line up the attack, Hugo swept his staff across his body. The strike slammed into Bijan’s shield, knocking it back. It was woven into his arm and yanked it along. Hugo stomped down on his shield arm and placed his staff at Bijan’s neck. The Orc’s Bane was so sharp that it had left a sharp edge on Hugo’s staff.

Bijan stopped struggling, and lay there limply. Hugo stood there breathing heavily. He had did it. All that training, the work with the ritual, it had paid off. The extra stats from the ritual had made it possible. He was certain that his higher than average intelligence and wisdom helped him use the extra strength and agility well. It all led to an overwhelming victory. All those that had betrayed his family were regretting their choices now.

Everyone turned and looked at The Mother expectantly. Hugo wasn’t sure if it was because his adrenaline was still pumping but they seemed to be waiting for a while.

“Oh great Mother, may we please know the winner of the final challenge?” the First Princess said hesitantly.

There was indistinct muttering after her question.

The First Princess looked uncomfortable, “Um... I am so sorry Mother of us All. I am not sure what you mean.”

Hugo looked around. What was going on? He was missing half of the conversation these people were having with their god. He didn’t know what the symbiote was saying, but he was getting a bad feeling about this.