We were all stunned by the last few words he spoke. His love for his sister was true and pure. In every single word he said, the affection was clearly visible. His voice was coming between sobs and thus, he couldn’t continue anymore.
    We were about 15 minutes away from the Battle Grounds. Meanwhile, a few attempts to begin a conversation were made by the three of us but after listening to Patrick’s story, none of us really wanted to talk.
    Pat kept staring in the distance, numb to the awkward feeling spreading among us. He looked a bit relieved to get all the things off his chest which had been troubling him from some time.
    I felt sad for the twins but nothing could be reversed from here and sympathy wasn’t going to help them in any way.
    I wondered how the king must be feeling now that his son was also a prey to this bitter and blood-demanding event.
    But it didn’t matter now, a life from here asked you to kill, not just for yourself but also for your friends and family.

– – – – – – – – – – – –

Inside a royal cart,
    “How did his name appear in the draw?,” the king shouted, with a firm grip on one of his ministers’ throat.
    “I don’t know, my lord,” the minister replied with difficulty.
    The emperor loosened his grip a little. He had always known and trusted Oliver. He believed in his loyalty towards him and also in his ingenious mind. He didn’t want to hurt his most crucial advisor like this.
   “So, do you have any ideas?”
   “I have a little theory, my king.”
   “What is it?,” the emperor asked, letting go of Oliver’s throat completely.
   Their bond was not just limited to the one shared by a king and his loyal minister. They had been friends since the very start.
   Oliver used to come to the ‘Palace Garden’ and play with Viktor during their childhood. They played various games together and developed a close friendship with each other.
    The friendship paved way for mutual trust which resulted in Oliver’s admission to the ‘Council of Ministers’.His intelligence and unmatched ingenuity was not something to joke about.
    Oliver, visibly relieved, inhaled some deep breaths and then spoke cautiously, “I believe that the prince knew about his name being kept there in the bowl with that girl.”
    Viktor had known this since the moment Dyce’s name appeared in the ceremony, but he had been quite ignorant of this fact until now.
    The memory of picking up his son’s name from the list of contenders struck him back. Yes, the colour of the slip on which Dyce’s name was written. It was not the usual green, pink or blue. This one was different, a dark red!
    Not many people knew this but dark red was the king’s favourite colour. Yes, because it signifies blood! And Dyce knew that his father would surely pick up it up. He wanted to take part in this event at any cost. His unpanicked manner at the ceremony proved it.
    The king spoke dreamily as if in his own thoughts, “But why should he want to participate?”
    After a few seconds, Oliver replied, “That remains to be figured out.”
    The emperor made a grunt and slipped off, back in his own thoughts. Yes, he will get a last chance to meet his son before the event begins. He’ll ask him then and there.

– – – – – – – – – – – –

In another royal cart,
    Prince Dyce and Natalie were being attended by a middle-aged couple. Unlike other participants, they were allowed to go in a royal cart because a prince is always a prince, a participant or not. Nat being his partner was given this comfort too, not that she cared about it.
    Their attendant, Ruhan asked Dyce, “What else will you like, sir?”
    Dyce replied with a touch of irritation, “This much will do I believe.”
    Nat didn’t know how to feel. She was worried about his brother’s participation alone in the event. She felt sick because of all this royal pampering she was getting and she didn’t want to talk to Dyce, neither about their strategies for the event, nor about anything else.
    Ruhan’s wife, Rosalia came to her and said, “Can I have a little word with you, Miss?”
    Nat didn’t want to talk to anyone but she obliged to her request anyway. She stood up and walked to the other side of the large and spacious royal cart with Rosalia.
    Once out of earshot, Rosalia quickly changed her manner and asked sternly, “What do you think you are doing, girl?”
    Nat was startled by this sudden change in her manner but she regained control of herself immediately and replied, “What do you mean?”
    “What you are heading for is a deadly competition and teamwork is important if you really want to win. I have noticed that you both don’t even talk to each other. How do you think you’ll be able to win without the aid of each other?”
    A bit confused, Nat replied, “I don’t know if I really want to win. I’d rather say, my brother wins in place of me.”
    Rosalia was speechless for a moment. After some reflection, she spoke again, “As a matter of fact, most of the times, 3 of 6 individual contestants are eliminated in the first round but let’s assume your brother clears the first round somehow, then also he’ll have a hard time clearing the second round too, all by himself.”
    “Can’t I help him some way?,” Nat interjected.
    “Of course you can but for that, you’ll have to be on good terms with the prince because consent of both the partners is necessary for teaming up with others. This will be just a temporary arrangement valid only for the second round but since this is the toughest part of the competition, it will be better if you stick around him. And it will also become easier for all of you to proceed to the 3rd round at least.”
    She continued, “When only 10 participants remain, this partnership will be broken but by then, all of you will have a clear chance of winning.”
    Nat was jumping with pleasure inside her mind but didn’t show much on the outside. The idea of saving Pat from fighting all alone in the competition made her deeply contended but the prospect of becoming friends with Dyce, was not so exciting indeed.
    She thanked Rosalia and came back to the main side of the cart with a determined look on her face and sat down in her chair, next to Dyce.
    Just then, a simple but unbelievably powerful word escaped from her lips, “Hey!”
    Dyce looked at her curiously and then, with a wide grin spread all over his face, he replied, “Well, hello!”
    The rest of the conversation followed naturally. And finally, the barrier was broken!

– Anmol Agarwal
(01/06/2021)