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I snorted. “Haven’t you read about the previous King’s Tournaments before? It’s always like this. The competitor has a disadvantage since the King is starting out fresh. Someone has to be truly powerful to win. It’s one of the reasons a King’s rule can be so long.”
“Don’t worry, Yuri. Sie gets to use his abilities in this round, so it’s not as much physical fighting, not as bloody,” one of Yuri’s friends responded, trying to cheer her up.
It seemed to work. Yuri perked up. “That’s right. He will surely beat King Lunder. What are his powers, anyway?”
Goddess above. She was so desperate for Sie to be King, yet she clearly knew nothing about the tournament or his background. I shook my head at Miles in a silent communication to mock Yuri. It was one of the things we bonded over; we both despised Vallie’s old friend.
During the break, Sie was taken out of the arena through a tunnel appearing under the raised stands while they interviewed King Lunder. They asked him numerous questions regarding his past thirty years of ruling over Tennebris, to how he felt about having Sie as an opponent. The nervous King Lunder they aired from the stands vanished in the spotlight. He looked confident as he merely responded that the best man would win and the most deserving would be the King after today. He didn’t comment on much else regarding the up-and-coming rank five and did a good job avoiding questions about Sie altogether.
Right before the third portion began, Effin called both males into the arena. The blood and dirt was cleared from the ground. Not a single trace remained of the fight that just took place.
“Please welcome our challenger, contestant Sie Axel Noren!”
The crowd came to life in a thunderous applause as Sie walked back into the arena. The dried blood had been cleaned off his face, leaving only a cut above one eyebrow. They didn’t bother changing his clothes, leaving the once white shirt to hang off his body in visible shreds. It exposed part of his abdomen with a nasty bruise already forming on his side.
Despite some of his injuries on display, he seemed fine. He wasn’t limping or acting as if he was hurt in any way. He held his head high and stood tall as he strode toward the center of the arena again.
“Sie is a known rank five,” Effin continued. “His abilities are teleportation, compulsion, and total mind control.”
“What does total mind control mean?” Vallie asked with her red brows furrowed together.
“Is it like mind readers? Where they can read your thoughts or tell if you’re lying?” Yuri asked.
I had no idea. I’d never heard of it before. I’d heard of compulsion where someone could force you to do something against your will. I’d even heard of mind readers, although they were extremely rare. But total mind control seemed like something else, something more. I said, “I think it’s something we hope to never find out.”
Miles startled us by saying, “Isn’t having compulsion going to be pointless during this fight?”
“How so?” one of Yuri’s friends asked.
I answered for her, realizing for myself that Sie had a disadvantage yet again, “Because compulsion doesn’t work on our own kind. You can’t compel someone of Tennebris unless they have no powers—”
Yuri interrupted me, “You mean unless they are a nix like you. Only nixes have weak minds that can be compelled.”
I ignored her and turned back to the other girl. “Basically, Sie or anyone that has compulsion can only compel someone who is Luxian, human, or a rank zero Tennebrisian. Since King Lunder is none of those things, Sie’s compulsion won’t work on him.”
“We all know a nix like you can be compelled by anyone,” Yuri snapped again as if I didn’t hear her the first time. She quieted once she saw Miles’ stone-cold gaze directed at her.
“I wonder what makes Sie a rank five over a four then? Teleporting is a rare ability, but compulsion amongst our kind is fairly common. I wouldn’t think it would be enough to make him a five,” Vallie said.
“Hmm, I don’t know. It must be whatever his total mind control thing does,” Miles responded.
It was scary to think about Sie having compulsion and what a King could do with those abilities. He would be an asset to Tennebris, but to Lux, my true Kingdom, he would be something to fear. He could compel anyone there, even the Lux King. Although I was sure the King of Lux would never go anywhere without a Luxian Alluse user by his side—someone with this ability could nullify anyone’s powers. Alluse or a force shield from a Luxian air user would be Lux’s only defense against Sie, against any compulsion user of Tennebris. Not that they would ever find out with the Peace Treaties.
I longed to know what abilities of Lux I possessed. I certainly knew I wasn’t blessed with the Alluse ability because Kole, a boy in my guard class, compelled me all the time.
I remembered the first time I was compelled by him. He forced me to eat dirt on my first week at LakeWood after months of seclusion with my counselor. I would never forget the words he spat at me as he laughed in my face.“You filthy nix. You should be dead like your family. You don’t belong with us. You’re nothing but dirt.”
When the other little boys around us laughed with him, laughed at me, his smile broadened as he compelled me,“I heard you’re not eating. Too scared over a stupid fire. Let me help you to a meal only worthy for a nix like you. Eat it. Eat the dirt at my feet.”
It was the first time I had ever been compelled. I shivered, thinking back to that memory, to the horror of not understanding why I was listening to him. Why my hands acted on their own accord even though I knew I didn’t want to do it. I still remembered the dry taste of the dirt as I tried to force it down my throat. Swallowing it was hard as it consolidated in my esophagus. Kole didn’t release his compulsion until I was vomiting on the ground next to him, my knees soaking into the wet earth. I washed my mouth out ten times that night and swore I tasted dirt for the months that followed.
It took a good year and many detentions later before Kole finally learned that compulsion wasn’t allowed at LakeWood. Kole alone was the reason for my tainted school record. I used to fight back, but I’d since learned it was better to just take whatever he threw at me than to continuously get in trouble with our professors. He became craftier as we grew older. Now, he only compelled me when he was certain he could get away with it.
Drawing me from my thoughts, the announcer chimed in again, “Everyone, please rise and welcome our precious King to the arena. All hail King Lunder!”
The announcer spoke in a louder voice than when he had previously announced Sie. Everyone fell silent as they bowed in respect for the King. A round of applause, cheers, and whistles broke the silence a moment later as King Lunder came into view.
“King Lunder is a known rank four and has been our gracious King for the past thirty years. His abilities are energy weaponry and projection.” I shuddered. Such horrible powers the Advenians of Tennebris possessed. Projection could be turned into a savage ability. I’d read enough about King Lunder’s previous King’s Tournament to know that his projection type was more common. He created clones of himself, but the deadly ability could go as far as fear illusion, where someone could trick you into thinking you were somewhere you weren’t. People have died thinking their worst fears were coming to life. When in reality, they were just standing idly, with no one around them understanding what torments were happening inside their minds.
