Sabrina Margrave looks ready to explode because we sit side by side before the Headmaster leaves, and he warns us not to change seats. The table stretches under a net of chandelier light, and polished wood gleams through a scatter of plates and folded napkins. Servers move along the walls and their shoes whisper on the tiles while steam rises from covered dishes.

The table holds four seats on each side and one seat at each head. On my side sit Princess Iskara, then me, then Sabrina, and then Kaelrik. Asterion takes the seat at the head to our left, and he sits straight in the tall chair. Vyrrak sits at the other head, and his scaly skin catches the chandelier light. On the opposite side, starting from the chair across from Princess Iskara, sit Orrivane, then Boomgar, then Zibrek in front of me, and then Kai at the far end. Knives and forks click as people shift, and cups breathe thin curls of heat.

"I knew you would surprise me. What you did…" Princess Iskara starts to speak, but the loud Dwarf in front of me breaks in before she can finish, and he thumps the table with the side of his fist so the cutlery rattles.

"Yeah, lad, how did ya do that? What kind of screwed-up knowledge do you have up in your noggin?"

I look at Boomgar, and his beard looks like a braided rope that swings when he laughs, and his goggles sit pushed up on his brow.

"Huh, it's something that my master taught me. It works with many barriers."

"It wouldn't have worked in battle," Vyrrak the Dragonkin says. "The Headmaster said the part about being weak for you, Cloud, didn't he?"

"Power is something that we find in the moment of need," Asterion Doryphoros replies from the head of the table, and his voice carries in the high-ceilinged hall. "Jacob, you showed great knowledge. Are you perhaps some kind of strategist?"

"I never thought about it," I say, and I feel impressed by the man's presence. "But I guess you could say so."

"If we are paired in battle, I would offer to help until your own power catches up," Asterion says, and he nods once with calm weight.

"Thank you, that's very kind," I say, and I nod back. "I hope I won't be a burden to anyone. I have my ways to pull my weight."

"Highbloods, always so noble, so ready to show how good their people are," Vyrrak says with a low snort, and his tail tip taps the chair leg.

"Sorry, Vyrrak, I didn't know that goodwill was a sin among your kind," Asterion shoots back.

"Hypocrisy is. I dislike the Margrave Princess, but at least she's genuine in her hate. I've always liked honest people."

Sabrina raises an eyebrow, and she seems to take that as a compliment, and a faint curl touches her mouth before it hardens again.

"Since our lives depend on it," Kaelrik says, "shouldn't we try to get along with each other? Why the animosity, Princess Sabrina?"

"You don't understand the duties of Royalty," Sabrina Margrave speaks in a normal tone, and her voice sounds grave. "The responsibility of having to act for people who don't know better. If everything were left to mobs, to the masses, law would never count as much as the feelings of those people. And even when you take the right decision for someone, they might hate you for it. I don't like peasants, Kaelrik the Orphan. I might respect your power, but we come from different worlds, and I have no intention of acting as if that wasn't the case. "I have no intention of hiding that I'm more loyal to my family than everybody here, that I would murder just any one of you if my Kingdom benefited from it. The difference between us is that I can say these things out loud, because here I'm the strongest."

"The strongest?" Princess Iskara says. "I'm glad to see humility is one of your qualities, Princess Sabrina."

"I don't need to be humble, Princess Iskara. And if you'd like to find out…"

"Well," I clear my throat, "isn't this food great? And aren't we supposed to at least try to get along, Princesses?"

The two women do not look happy that I butt into the conversation, and the air feels tight over the table for a long breath while the chandelier crystals sway and scatter light.

"Everyone would love to kill someone to rescue their parents, Princess Sabrina," I add. "It seems pretty natural. We can still act decently toward each other until it comes to that. How does that sound? I don't think being rude or disrespecting someone would serve you well. It's not hypocrisy. I'm sure Asterion cares more about his family than he does about me. He'd be weird if he didn't! But if people might die if we don't collaborate… don't you care? Like, don't you care one bit about innocents dying?"

Princess Sabrina looks stumped, and her fingers are still on the stem of her glass while heat curls from a platter of spiced meat between us.

Soon, all the servants have left the room and they leave us Champions alone.

"You said it yourself, you care about your subjects, and sometimes you have to make decisions that they hate you for. But then, you still care, right?"

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Sabrina Margrave straightens up, and her gaze loses a little of its ice.

"I do."

"Alright. Fair. I don't need you to be nice. Let's just be… reasonable?"

I extend a hand toward Sabrina Margrave, and she looks at it with mild disgust, and she turns slightly away as she takes it with two fingers and gives it a cursory shake.

"Sometimes, even peasants can be reasonable," I say, and I smile. "Alright, guys, can we eat now? I know you're super strong and didn't really break a sweat, but I did. I'm hungry."

* * *

Kai Valemont wonders if anyone has fully realized what his brother just did. The chandelier hum fills the pause, and the scent of roasted herbs hangs heavy.

He calms down Princess Sabrina Margrave. He has her agree with him.

Throughout his life, he has had several exchanges with the Margraves, but he has never seen one of his siblings fix a situation like this so smoothly.

* * *

It's because he knows he's the weakest.

Princess Iskara smirks while she chews on a stuffed bun, and she dabs her mouth with a napkin, and the linen leaves no streak on her dark lipstick.

He's using his disarming weakness and nonthreatening position to bring everybody together. This wouldn't work at court, where power is everything, where no one would ever willingly show any vulnerability. But here? He has nothing to lose.

Princess Iskara eats mostly in silence, and she tunes out the conversation while she analyzes what just happened. She watches the others through the shimmer of glass and steam, and she keeps her voice to herself.

Everybody knows he's weak, and he just used it to win the favor of most. Asterion likes him for some reason, maybe because of the savior complex of the Highbloods. Boomgar has him in sympathy, or at least he finds Jacob funny. Vyrrak probably dislikes him, as arrogant Dragonkin would.

She catches Zibrek stealing glances at Jacob, and the Goblin taps a fingertip against her cup, and the goggles hide her eyes while the lenses glint.

Zibrek can probably feel some affinity for Jacob's style and wits. She's an engineer, so she has to rely on planning more than anybody else, even more than Boomgar. She might be the weakest, physically speaking.

Then she turns to Orrivane, and the Void Mage sits with his hands folded and his eyes look like deep wells in a narrow face.

A Void Mage is rare. And he's inscrutable. I have no idea what he's thinking.

Princess Iskara looks at her own hands, and the light pools along the edges of her claws, and the napkin crushes between her fingers.

He saved my life. And the way he looks at me… He likes me. What a foolish Human, she thinks, and a small smile pricks her lips before she smooths it. But he does have a lot of Infernal Knowledge on him, somehow.

Then she studies the last two people.

Kaelrik is a commoner just like Jacob. I wouldn't be surprised if he made friends with him. And the brute Prince Kai Valemont clearly loves his little half-brother.

There is something that no one seems to realize yet. The hall keeps its warm murmur, yet the lines between us shift.

Even Sabrina Margrave looks less disgusted by Jacob right now after he admits that he is a stupid peasant and a weak one. If an alliance among Champions must be brokered, Jacob must be the keystone and the lynchpin. He is the one who talks about others and not about himself. He is weak enough not to feel like a threat, yet he is smart enough to use it to his advantage.

And perhaps no one realizes, aside from Princess Iskara, the depth of Jacob's knowledge.

Does he have an Aetherium or… a Rainbow Skill? the Infernal wonders. But if he does… I need it. I will take it from him.

* * *

"Are they related to Infernals?" Orrivane Nyxmoor speaks at last, and he sends the question across the table to me while the candles breathe and the air wavers.

"Me?" I say.

"Yeah, that Skill of yours. It's something Infernal, isn't it? And the Set you're using, too."

"Well, this is a touchy subject," I say, and I lean my head toward Princess Iskara.

"Oh, right." Orrivane sits straighter, and he folds his hands again.

Everyone goes silent for a beat, and a spoon clinks as it settles.

"Jacob Cloud has received an official exemption to persecution by my people's laws for using Infernal Skills," Princess Iskara declares, and her tone leaves no space for argument.

"How did he earn that?" Vyrrak asks.

"None of your business, Vyrrak," Princess Iskara replies.

"Lad, you and the Princess?! Wow, I bow to you! I knew you had some of that mine dog in you, but look at you!" Boomgar laughs, and the laugh rolls out of him like gravel.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no," I say before Princess Iskara burns me to death. "Princess Iskara…"

"We should all drop titles here. We're champions. First names, no titles," Iskara interrupts me. "Jacob has rendered services to my Squires and my people, Boomgar. He has contributed a lot of Infernal knowledge to my kind. The same knowledge that he's using to build his Class path. That's why he received a Royal exemption. There's no romance between us."

"Aw, lad, that's a pity. We could have started the year with a big scandal!" Boomgar laughs loudly, and he slaps the table.

"Well, Boomgar," Iskara says with a small smirk. "If you must know, Jacob Cloud did happen to see me with little clothing on. But he didn't look once at my…" Iskara points at her chest, and her finger lingers there like a dare.

"WHAT?!" Boomgar's eyes almost pop out of their sockets, and his beard twitches.

To be fair, everyone now looks at Iskara with slack jaws, and they look at me with confusion, with respect, or with… envy.

"You disgust me." Sabrina Margrave leans away. "Creep."

"No, wait. It was… No! Princess Iskara, please!" I turn toward the Royal Infernal with begging eyes, and heat creeps up my neck.

What is she doing?!

Weakening your position, idiot. You've gained too much power already.

What?

You heard me. Let's see if you can save it now because they trust you way less now. They know you have some dark secrets, something dirty in you. How are you going to dig yourself out of this, Cloud?

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