57 Chapter 57 Leadership

"You are forgiven. I ask again, why are we speaking?" I said quickly, wanting to get back to my peerage.

Seekvaira's eyes were heavy as she said, "I truly am sorry, Riser. It was…" she trailed off, shaking her head. She met my eyes once more and said, "I have a proposition for you. I would like for our peerages to do combat before either of us join the battle. Once one of our peerages has been retired in its entirety, we will both join the battle."

I blinked, unable to stop myself from visibly reacting to the…strange suggestion. "You want our peerages to fight on their own. Then you want the remaining peerage and their king to fight a lone king? That seems…"

"It is unorthodox. I am aware. But I have faith in my peerage and they have yet to receive a chance to truly test themselves – to show what they are capable of."

I looked at her through narrowed eyes, trying to figure out what she was up to. "You'll have to forgive me for saying so, Seekvaira, but I can't trust that you haven't prepared something to make the battle–"

"I give you my word as Heiress Agares that there are no deeper machinations at work here." In front of thousands of devils who would lose faith in the word of the entire house if she lied, I could trust that vow. "I truly do just want our peerages to test themselves against one-another. You may coordinate them from your headquarters, but you may not physically join the battle until one of our peerages has retired."

"Leadership." I said, putting some pieces together in my head. "You're trying to see how I lead when I'm not at the head. You're also trying to see how effective of a strategist I am. You're also trying to see how well they operate without me at the head and how well they work as a unit. Maybe you even want to see if their training is effective somehow. Why?"

Seekvaira smiled widely, her eyes swimming with delight. "Does it matter, Riser? Do you accept my proposition?"

I was silent as I thought it over. I had faith in my peerage, but Seekvaira was obviously up to something. Then again, she'd given the word of the Agares heir in front of thousands of devils. The word of anyone in her house would never be trusted again if she tried to screw me over somehow now.

A melodic hum sounded in my mind as my sword spoke to me.

Accept the proposal, Riser. If I am correct in my assumption, she has no ill intent towards you. She is merely…showing you off, as it were.

Not allowing my literal internal dialogue to show externally, I thought back, You know what she's trying to do?

Yes. It is quite obvious from an outside perspective. Or at least to an outsider who has witnessed every interaction between the two of you. I imagine the spectating devils are even more bewildered than you are. Still, accept her proposition.

Why should I? I'd be leaving my peerage to fight two mystery figures, not to mention the Red Dragon Emperor, on their own.

You have faith in your peerage, Riser. I have seen it in your every interaction with them. Furthermore, I believe you to be honorable. To possess valor. I have yet to witness either which stays my hand. I do not wish to wait any longer, Riser. Prove your honor. Prove your valor.

What was it with everyone speaking to me in riddles today? First Seekvaira and now my sword? I was going to have a migraine by noon.

"I accept." I said after what likely seemed like an exceptionally long pause to anyone watching.

Seekvaira's smile lit up her face. She adjusted her glasses and said, "I look forward to seeing the result of the match." She turned and flew away without another word.

"The combatants have agreed to an atypical Rating Game. Neither king shall be allowed to leave their headquarters until one side's entire peerage has retired. All pieces will also be forbidden from attacking a king until the opposing peerage is retired first. The match will begin in fifteen minutes."

I hadn't expected the officials to actually alter the rules. Then again, I was glad they added the rule against attacking kings. That honestly hadn't occurred to me to be a problem. I was too focused on trying to figure out Seekvaira and my sword's intentions.

I returned to the cave serving as my headquarters and was surprised to see a large screen in the back of it that was not there before. The screen showed several cameras covering the arena and had a control panel to allow for more fine manipulation. The game masters had likely added the console to provide battlefield awareness for myself and Seekvaira so we could better organize our peerages remotely.

"My king." Yubelluna said as I returned, walking up to greet me. "I assume Heiress Agares was the one to suggest these last minute changes?"

"She was." I confirmed. "That being said, I have faith in you all. I'll coordinate from here. Watch each other's backs like we practiced and be prepared for anything. Yubelluna, you have lead."

Yubelluna bowed. "I will not fail you, Riser."

Clarissa pulled several small half-rings of wood from a satchel at her side. "Everyone take one of these." she said, handing them out. She held one up to her right ear and said, "Activate them like this: Audite." The small semicircle clamped down on her ear, attaching itself to her earlobe.

Kalawarner looked skeptically down at the small item in her hand, but Yubelluna and I didn't hesitate. We trusted Clarissa.

"Audite." we said in unison after placing the small object against our ears.

I felt the wood grip my ear, but it wasn't painful. It was just a little weird.

Valerie and Kalawarner followed our example, and soon all the makeshift earrings were in place.

"Now no matter how far apart we are, we will all be able to hear each other." Clarissa said.

I raised an eyebrow, impressed. "Well done Clarissa. Now we can–"

"All earrings will be confiscated upon retirement to prevent unfair assistance. The battle will begin in ten minutes." the announcer said, cutting me off.

I couldn't help it as I began to laugh. "You did so good the officials had to step in." I said, wiping a tear from my eye. "I wonder what Seekvaira is thinking right now?"

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