Dividing Eden (Dividing Eden #1)(47)
The crowd around them erupted in cheers. A few of them took the form of her brother’s name.
When the applause quieted, Elder Cestrum continued. “He who is on the throne is required to sit in judgment of us all. It would be easy for anyone in that position of power to become prideful. But pride leads to destruction. The best kings and queens are the ones who understand humility. Today on the tournament field we will put Prince Andreus and Princes Carys’s humility to the test in three separate events. In the first two events, they will compete against each other. Nobility usually competes against their peers. But today, in the third event, to demonstrate their humility, our prince and princess will also be competing with some of you who have already demonstrated skill on this field.”
Surprised gasps and murmurs raced through the crowd.
Carys glanced at her brother far on the other platform. The nobility around him looked shocked at the idea of anyone from noble blood being treated as though they were the same as a commoner.
But that wasn’t all. “And since Prince Andreus or Princess Carys will soon be required to pass judgment on everyone in the kingdom, we in the Council of Elders feel it is only right that the winner of each of these first three contests be determined by all of you. Prince Andreus sits under the yellow banner. Princess Carys is blue. Once a competition is over we ask that you show the colors of the competitor you feel triumphed over the challenges they faced and best embodied the virtues our kingdom holds dear.”
Elder Cestrum glanced her way and smiled. Had she wanted to win it wouldn’t have mattered; the crowd voting ensured that she would lose these events. Andreus was the one who saved them from darkness and the Xhelozi that could have attacked. He was the one who helped the boy who had been dying in the street. Her brother was clearly the choice of the Council to win this competition. Perhaps they were hoping they could divide her and Andreus with this obvious show of favor for her twin? If so, they were about to be disappointed.
Carys smiled back at Elder Cestrum and resisted the urge to wave.
The Elder turned back to the crowd and announced, “The first trial will be held at the archery field. Prince Andreus and Princess Carys will get one attempt at each of the three targets to show whether they have developed the skills that every child in the kingdom is asked to learn. When Prince Andreus and Princess Carys arrive at the archery field, we can begin.”
“It seems I came to your kingdom at an interesting time, Your Highness,” Lord Errik said quietly beside her. “Elder Cestrum doesn’t appear to like you.”
The understatement made her laugh. “I did warn you that you were choosing the wrong side,” she said, walking toward the steps to the tournament grounds below.
“Wrong is subjective, Your Highness,” he called to her.
She didn’t look back at him, but she did smile as she walked slowly down the stairs to where two pages in black holding several bows and a quiver of arrows waited to escort her past the lists and the dueling pits to the archery station at the far end of the field. The only way she could lose today was if she won or if Andreus faltered.
Carys didn’t acknowledge the crowd as she reached the roped-off area. Large wooden targets with white circles painted in the center had been set up at three different distances. The first was only twenty paces away. The next was perhaps thirty and the last was at least twice as far. Many in the guard accurately hit targets in tournaments at least three or four times that distance. Carys wasn’t as skilled as they were, but her work with Andreus meant she could hit these with ease—if she planned on hitting them at all.
“Well, this should be entertaining,” Andreus said as he appeared with two pages trailing behind him. “Would you like to go first or shall I?”
“Why don’t you go,” she said, wishing he didn’t seem so pleased at the way the trial was clearly structured to favor him. If Andreus missed badly, she had to make sure she missed even worse.
“Very well,” Andreus said, selecting a longbow from one of his pages and taking an arrow from the quiver before setting himself at the line of the closest target.
Trumpets sounded. Elder Cestrum stood at the edge of the middle viewing platform. The rest of the Elders were behind him as he announced, “One arrow at each of the three targets. When the trial is completed, we will ask you all to signal which of our successors won this round and will be awarded a point on the scoring board on the castle wall. Now let the Trials of Virtuous Succession begin.”
The trumpets blared. People all around shouted and stomped their feet. They waved banners of mostly yellow. Andreus took his place in front of the shortest distance and raised his bow.
The arrow flew true and thunked into the center of the target, making the audience cheer. Carys picked out a bow of her own and set herself in front of the target. Her accuracy was greater than her brother’s. This was a fact generally acknowledged by both of them and proven by their hours together in practice. She would normally hit dead center. Instead, she took a deep breath, held it, and let the arrow fly so that it thudded into the knot she spied in the wood on the left side of the target.
Andreus looked at her with a frown as the crowd applauded her effort.
Did he want her to look a fool and not hit the target at all?
He turned his back on her, walked to the next target, notched the arrow and let it fly. Center again.
The cheers were louder. She heard her brother’s name shouted as she stood at the marker, drew her own weapon, this time picking a spot at the very top of the target to hit.