Cassandra walked with the other twenty noble women. They were being led through well-lit corridors to their separate wing for the period of examination.
"You will converse with no men while we are here," Dame Agatha said with a severe tone, "any of you ladies seen past the curfew in any corner of the palace alone will be sent home promptly with no chance at explanations. Am I understood?"
A very quiet agreement was said by the women.
Cassandra let her eyes look around them as they entered a grand ballroom. It was largely empty, and their footsteps echoed in the grand chamber.
There was palace officials clustered here and there, talking in groups as they discussed some documents spread out across some tables in front of them.
Cassandra stiffened as she saw the men raise their heads to see the little procession.
Their eyes gleamed with interest as they watched the group with fascination.
It dawned on Cassandra that each woman there was dressed impeccably with styled hair and beautiful faces. They were young and very eligible for marriage but what was more, they were perfect targets for the men there to prey on. Several men were fixing their eyes on more than one girl and Cassandra averted her eyes immediately and looked forward, keeping in step with the older Dame Agatha.
This must have been what the older woman had meant by staying out at odd hours or talking to men. All the young noble women had to do was be swayed by the handsome and wealthy men here who were sure to drip honey from their tongues, and their life would be over socially and otherwise.
Cassandra fought the doubts, entering her mind again.
She would not let any of these men talk her into going anywhere with them.
Morality and following the rules would be at the very top of her list of things to do for the next ten days.
Cassandra had to win her position no matter what.
There were enough men gathered in the training grounds to contest and take down a small army. Every man there stood tall and strong, with battle-hardened muscles and heavy bodies.
They were gathered in the large training grounds from various parts of the kingdom.
Her majesty had announced a tournament that was a free-for-all.
Any man in the kingdom could join the competition of fists to see who the strongest man in the kingdom was.
Anyone from a peasant farmer to the general of the royal guard was allowed to take part. The spectacle was crowded with a sea of onlookers who were excited to see this new entertainment play out.
They had gathered in crowds and crowds and seated themselves in a rather large circle to stay and witness the fights in the competition. Some had brought packed food, and others had brought cushions to sit on comfortably as they expected to stay a long time here in the tournament. The young women there were squealing to themselves at the sight of the handsome and strong men who walked around the ring flexing and getting ready for the brawl.
But of course, what was the most notable was the way the people were dressed as they sat in the crowd waiting for the tournament to begin. The people who were the onlookers were dressed in their best. Even in the dust and dirt, it was clear that they were dressed to impress, and it was not to see the strong men face off but because the rumour that went around was that the queen herself had grown bored and would therefore be arriving to witness the tournament that she had announced.
It was just a rumour but the peasants who had never seen their queen before and would never probably have in their lifetimes had snatched at the opportunity to see their fearsome ruler.
The training grounds were close to the grand palace of the queen, and a large balcony overlooked it. It was in some unknown corner of the palace and not connected to her royal bedchambers but still, the large balcony was guarded by guards with strong magic-imbued spears.
For the tournament itself there were very few rules, but magic was definitely barred. It was clear the queen wanted to see which man was barbarian enough to fist fight his equal and win.
The tournament was begun and the people cheered like crazy with each fight.
So much so that the queen herself was clearly summoned by the cheers and the noise.
The announcement on the balcony of the queen's arrival silenced the crowds as they waited with bated breaths.
Entering the wide balcony, and surrounded by several guards, was a tall woman with dark red hair pinned up in an elaborate hairdo and several jewels pinned into it. She wore a gorgeous gown decked with gems and trailing behind her. She was splendour itself, but her face had a hard, stern quality to it that attracted the most attention. Her eyes were a very pale blue that resembled ice and her lips were pinched with a very small smirk at the end.
She looked down at the people and the men fighting in the centre.
Her gaze put a heavy silence on the people as they waited for what she would say next.
She nodded to her announcer.
"Resume the tournament and may the strongest fighter in the kingdom be rewarded by her majesty herself!" He yelled loudly.
The cheer from the people seemed to shake the training grounds as the men in the centre began to battle it out once again.
There were grunts of agony and sweat and swift movements as the fights wound on.
A good hour had passed slowly as each of the fights took several minutes to properly complete but then, a very young man stepped into the ring.
He was taller than the others and the muscle on his body was raw strength.
Challenging the man in the centre, his moves were quick and fluid, so much that it took the gathered onlookers several seconds to realize the end of the shorter man in the ring.
Before they could cheer, another defender had been defeated as well.