The Four Nations Tournament

by James E. Wisher

  At the same time, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so angry. At both her and Malice. What was he going to have to do to get the Kincade family to leave him alone? Conryu didn’t want to make threats, especially since he probably wasn’t willing to do anything really violent to them anyway.

  God! What had she been thinking? How much of her story was true? She’d sounded sincere, but he didn’t trust himself to judge. One thing was certain, it was going to be awkward at the opening ceremony today.

  He tried to meditate and empty his mind. He couldn’t control what might happen later so he needed to let it go. What would be, would be, as Dad liked to say.

  Conryu jumped out of bed and took a cold shower in hopes that it would wake him up. Fifteen minutes later he was dressed and ready to go downstairs to the hotel restaurant. Conryu was supposed to meet Kelsie, Jonny and the Kanes for breakfast. He still hadn’t made up his mind whether he should tell Maria about what happened. Part of him understood he had to, but he didn’t want to risk her doing anything crazy. For someone so generally in control, she had a quick temper sometimes.

  He almost laughed out loud. Imagine him worrying about Maria doing something rash. He sighed. There was no way around it, he was going to have to tell her. If she found out some other way, she’d never trust him again. He didn’t dare take that chance.

  Conryu opened the door and found Grant standing in the hall in a crisp uniform, hands clasped behind his back, waiting for him. A quick glance down the hall revealed the other cadets waiting for their charges to emerge.

  “Did you sleep well, sir?” Grant asked.

  “Not as well as I would’ve liked. Are you planning to follow me down to breakfast?”

  “It’s my job to follow you wherever you go, sir. Please don’t try to ditch me, if you do I’ll catch hell over it with my commander.”

  Perhaps Grant could help him restrain Maria when he told her what Heather had done. “Well let’s get a move on then.”

  As he rode down the elevator Conryu asked, “Am I the first one up?”

  “Yes, sir. I suspect the others will join you shortly. The bus is due to arrive in an hour and a half to pick everyone up.”

  The elevator bell chimed and the door slid open. Conryu stepped out into the lobby and looked around, trying to spot the others. He didn’t see anyone, but they might’ve been waiting in the restaurant already.

  “Prime, do you sense Maria anywhere?”

  “No, Master.”

  Guess he’d just have to look around. He walked across the lobby to the restaurant. The maître d’, a skinny little man with a long, pointy nose and oiled, slicked-back hair, intercepted him as he tried to enter. “Do you have a reservation, sir?”

  “I’m meeting some friends for breakfast. My name is Conryu Koda, I’m on the North American Alliance team.”

  The maître d’s eyes widened. “I’m so sorry, sir, I didn’t recognize you without your robe. Two members of your party arrived just minutes ago. I’ll take you to them.”

  Conryu and Grant followed the little man deeper into the restaurant. He spotted Kelsie and Jonny seated together at a long table. Grant took up position at a small table nearby, close enough to act if he needed to, but far enough away to give them some privacy.

  “Dude, this place is awesome.” Jonny glanced at Grant. “Who’s the stiff?”

  “My bodyguard.”

  Jonny laughed. “They gave you a bodyguard?”

  “It wasn’t my idea,” Conryu said. “How are you holding up, Kelsie? You haven’t had any run-ins with your grandmother, have you?”

  “No, thank goodness. Grandmother seems intent on avoiding me and I’m happy to follow her lead. I shouldn’t be afraid of her, it’s not like the family can take anything else away from me.”

  “No, but being cautious with her isn’t a terrible idea.”

  Conryu felt bad for her. Before the Kincades tried to get Heather to sleep with him, they gave the job to Kelsie. She was entirely too sweet to make much of an effort. And thank goodness for that. If she’d tried what Heather did, he didn’t know if he’d ever be able to look at her again.

  He took a moment to center himself and banish the negative thoughts. If he never had to see Malice again, it would suit him just fine. Unfortunately, he doubted he was going to be so lucky.

  Conryu took the chair beside Kelsie and when the waiter came over to check on him ordered an orange juice. The young lady hadn’t even returned with his drink when Maria and her parents entered the restaurant.

  Conryu got to his feet, pulled out the chair beside him for Maria, and whispered in her ear, “We need to talk after.”

  She gave him a quizzical look, but he just shook his head. What he had to tell her shouldn’t be said in front of others. Mr. and Mrs. Kane sat beside Johnny across from them.

  “Nervous, Conryu?” Mrs. Kane asked.

  “No, but everyone seems to think I should be. So what about you guys? What do you have to do during the opening ceremony?”

  “Nothing important,” Mr. Kane said. “We’ll be sitting with the director and watching the event on a monitor. We’ll be in the same room as the other nations’ representatives so politics will certainly be discussed.”

  “I think I’d rather fight a demon than sit beside Malice for half a day talking about politics,” Conryu said.

  Mr. Kane chuckled. “She can be a little hard to take, but Malice gets things done. I may not always agree with her, but then who always agrees with their boss?”

  They enjoyed a quiet breakfast, but when it was over he had to bite the bullet. Conryu got up and held out his hand to Maria. She took it and he led her out to the lobby. When Grant started to get up, Conryu shook his head. He did not need an audience for what was coming.

  They found a set of chairs in an out-of-the-way corner and sat facing each other. “What’s so important?” Maria asked.

  Conryu took a breath and tried to release some of his tension. “Heather came to see me last night. Malice hired her to collect my genetic material.”

  Maria’s hands clenched and relaxed like she wanted to strangle someone. “And how did she propose to go about doing that?”

  “How do you think?”

  “Did she succeed?”

  Conryu shook his head, a little hurt. “Do you really need to ask?”

  “No, sorry. Just so you know, I’m going to have to kill her.”

  She said it so calmly, but from the look in her eye he knew she meant it. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but please don’t do anything rash.” Conryu took her hands in his. “I’m afraid you’re not strong enough to win a duel against her. Maybe when you finish school, but not now.”

  “You really think I can’t beat her?” Maria asked.

  “Right now you’re only at fifty percent of your maximum potential. She’s already reached hers plus she has four more years of experience. If it came to a fight, I’m afraid you’d lose and lose badly. I know you don’t want to hear it, but it’s the truth.”

  Maria’s jaw clenched, and he feared for a moment she might continue to argue. Instead, she made a deliberate effort to calm down. “Alright, I won’t kill the bitch now, but she is going to pay for this. I promise you.”

  Conryu suspected Maria was right. When Malice found out she failed, the confrontation would not be pleasant. For a moment, a teeny part of him actually felt bad for Heather. But only for a moment.

  An hour and a half after breakfast, the same tour bus that brought them from the airport to the hotel arrived to take them to the stadium. Maria had gotten herself fully under control, for which Conryu was grateful. The team, guests, and everyone else going to the tournament stood waiting under the canopy outside the hotel. Malice came hobbling outside, the last to arrive. For a moment Conryu thought she gave him an extra-close look, but he probably just imagined it.

  The bus door opened and the old witch boarded first. Heather wouldn’t even meet his gaze when he looked
her way. Perhaps she had a little bit of shame in her.

  He climbed up the steps and joined the rest of his team at the rear of the bus. When he’d taken his seat, Coach Chort leaned forward and said, “The real test starts now. All your training was for this moment. I have faith in you.”

  Not the most inspiring pre-fight speech, but she seemed sincere. Conryu expected some sort of discussion about tactics or maybe just about what sort of events they could expect today. Coach seemed content to simply lean back and close her eyes. It seemed she was confident she’d done as much as she could.

  He followed her example and closed his eyes. Queen’s Stadium was only a mile from the hotel—even with London traffic it shouldn’t take them that long to make the trip. After only a few seconds, it became clear to him that he wouldn’t be able to relax. He shifted his focus to the link with Prime. The scholomantic’s thoughts seemed sluggish this morning. He’d probably gone into hibernation mode.

  Conryu gave him a mental prod. Annoyance came through their link, but Prime opened his eyes. He strengthened their connection and looked around at his teammates. Everyone smiled and high-fived, ready, even eager, for the tournament to get underway.

  For his part, Conryu just wanted the whole thing over with. In a few days, he’d be home and free to enjoy the rest of his summer vacation. He focused on that until they reached the stadium and the brakes hissed, announcing their arrival.

  He looked out his window, but was on the wrong side to see the stadium. Everyone stood up and started piling out of the bus. At the bottom of the steps, he stared up at Queen Stadium for the first time. It made Sentinel Stadium look like a minor league ballpark. The designers had made it to resemble the Roman Coliseum, only built on a massive scale and with a dome covering it. He tried to imagine how many people it could hold and failed.

  The Ministry wizard, Jemma, along with two others in matching red robes emerged from the stadium and made their way over.

  “Hello, again,” Jemma said. “I hope everyone slept well. If the Alliance team will follow me, my assistants will get the rest of you settled.”

  “Good luck,” Maria said.

  Jonny and Conryu bumped fists. Kelsie glanced at her grandmother then gave him an encouraging nod and smile.

  He joined his teammates and followed Jemma to the left away from the main entrance. They walked for the better part of a block before reaching a ramp that led to a tunnel. A little ways down the tunnel, three other groups in robes stood waiting.

  “We were the last to arrive?” Conryu asked.

  “Yes, please join the others. We’ll call you out to the field in about fifteen minutes.” Jemma made a shooing motion toward the tunnel and retraced her steps back the way she’d come.

  The team went down to the end of the passage and stopped directly across from a group of six tall blond girls. He would’ve bet his bike that was the Australian Republic’s team. The two groups eyed each other for a few seconds before the blond girl in black robes stepped out from the line.

  She held out her hand to Conryu. “I’m Dot, I’ve read all about you. To be honest, I thought you’d be taller.”

  Conryu gave her hand a shake. “Nice to meet you. Were you on last year’s team?”

  She shook her head. “Missed it by a whisker.”

  “I guess we’re both rookies then. Good luck.”

  “You too.”

  “They’ll need it,” the light magic wizard from the Empire of the Rising Sun said. “Maybe with the new lineup you’ll finish better than last, but I doubt it.”

  Heather glared but Coach Chort cut things off before they could escalate. “All right, enough jawing.”

  The Empire’s coach said something harsh in Imperial Japanese, and the light magic wizard lowered her head. Conryu spoke a little of the language, but that wasn’t a phrase he was familiar with.

  When her coach looked away, the Imperial wizard gave them one last sneer of disdain before returning her attention to the rest of her team. Considering they were all supposed to be allies, there didn’t seem to be much camaraderie. He guessed it was foolish to expect much when national pride was on the line.

  Jemma’s voice came on over the PA system. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are here today to begin the Four Nations Tournament. For over a century, this tournament has been a way for the four nations to forge closer relationships and have a good time. I trust this year will be no exception. Instead of our usual four, however, we have a fifth joining us.”

  “What’s the meaning of this?” the coach of the Imperial team asked in English.

  Conryu hadn’t heard anything about an extra team. It was probably just another trick to drum up an audience.

  “Our new ally, France, has sent their first ever representative team to join us. Please offer them a warm welcome.”

  A song started playing and everyone moved closer to the end of the tunnel. Six girls emerged from a tunnel on the opposite side and trotted out onto the huge field. They all wore robes appropriate to their alignment, and each had a Fleur-de-Lis on her shoulder.

  Conryu didn’t even know France had a magic school and now they had a team. Well, these were the sorts of surprises you ran into when you didn’t pay attention to the goings on in the wizard world.

  The French team stopped at the center of the field and waved at the empty stadium, or more accurately the cameras that would show every move they made.

  “Next we welcome the Empire of the Rising Sun’s team and the defending tournament champions.”

  A different song started playing and the girls and their coach marched out onto the field. When they had taken their place beside the French team, the Kingdom team was announced. Next came the Australian team, and finally the Alliance team marched out to their national anthem.

  Conryu looked all around, staring in awe at the huge empty stadium. They were expected to compete without a single person watching? That would be so weird. Come to think of it, he remembered when he watched the tournament at home that they didn’t allow anyone to be present lest they get hurt by an out-of-control spell. This was certainly going to take a little getting used to.

  “And there they are,” Jemma said. “Without further ado, let the tournament begin.”

  Malice eased herself down to the chair in the front row of the skybox. The walk up had been pure hell on her old bones, but with grim determination she made it without a word of complaint. A huge window dominated the front of the luxury seating area. Down on the field the teams had separated themselves and were preparing for the first round of team casting. Malice wasn’t overly interested in watching as she already had a fairly good idea how it was going to turn out.

  “Are you comfortable, Aunt Malice?” one of her aides asked.

  “That’s Director Malice and I’m fine. Now be quiet.” Behind her people shifted as they found their seats. The skybox held fifty people so there was plenty of room for everyone.

  Though the match didn’t much interest her, what did was trying to figure out how Heather had failed to seduce Conryu. Malice was no expert in such matters, but considering the approach Heather took it seemed that she should have succeeded.

  Malice ground her teeth. What was it going to take to get what she needed? After Heather’s failure, Malice found she actually felt a bit of sympathy for Kelsie. Clearly the boy wasn’t just another ignorant, undisciplined man. That would make her task more complicated, but she would figure it out.

  Down on the field, Conryu blew away the Australian team’s construct with a blast of dark magic bigger than anything she’d ever seen. Such displays only made her more determined. She would get the boy’s genetic material no matter what it took.

  “What a showoff.”

  Malice looked over her shoulder to see who spoke. It was Chief Kane’s daughter. According to Kelsie, she and Conryu were dating.

  Understanding slowly dawned on Malice. As long as the boy was in a relationship with someone else, they had no hope of success. He was simp
ly too honorable to betray someone he cared about. Malice turned back to the window, a slow, evil smile spreading across her face, one that would have frozen the blood of anyone seeing it.

  She finally knew what she had to do. The Kane girl needed to be eliminated. Once that was done, Conryu was sure to turn to Kelsie for comfort. Once that happened, nature would take its course and she would finally get what she wanted. And if she was honest with herself, so would her granddaughter.

  The only question was, how best to get rid of the girl. It would have to look like an accident. There could be no sign of Kincade involvement. If Conryu had any idea she was involved, Malice hated to think what he might be capable of.

  Yes, discretion was definitely the way to go.

  Lady Tiger parked her red luxury sports car across from the Museum of Magic. It was ten o’clock and the traffic in this part of the city was minimal. She paused before she got out, making a mental note of the spells she’d need. Tonight was the night, soon the artifact would be hers. When the Blessed Army attacked the next day, the Ministry would be too busy dealing with them to chase her. By the time the fools figured out the theft was the bigger threat it would be too late.

  She got out and leaned on the roof, the cool metal feeling good against her bare arms. Across the street, all the lights were out save for those on the top floor. The smug society matrons would be in for a show tonight. She patted the car with a black-gloved hand. Over the past few days she’d gotten used to driving the powerful car and found it oddly exhilarating. It was the only thing she’d miss when she abandoned the Lady Tish persona.

  A quick glance revealed no vehicles in her vicinity so she crossed the street and walked up to the museum doors. A security guard in a blue uniform looked at her through the glass door. Lady Tiger pulled her invitation from her purse and held it up.

  The guard nodded, unlocked the door, and opened it for her. “Good evening, ma’am. Enjoy the party.”