At each table, hushed whispering carried secret exchanges between the princes and his trusted men. The warriors too understood the real purpose behind the invitation and gauged all present vying for the Outstanding Talents Exchange Games.
But what surprised Austin was the royal family not even trying to gloss over the ugly competition between the princes. It was so obvious that the Outstanding Talents Exchange Games seemed like a prelude to a ruthless war between the brothers.
Ten princes were determined to succeed to the throne but the throne would seat only one.
Anyhow, power and politics were hardly on any warrior's mind. Rather, they were focused on one thing and one thing only—to participate in the Outstanding Talents Exchange Games come hell or high water.
Each person was a competitor for the warrior, of and beyond their camp. With a stony silence and nervous looks, most pierced the others with their stare to see how strong of will and mind his opponent was.
Among the group of warriors, one was particularly large. It contained a whopping five hundred warriors that looked arrogant and conceited. To be a part of such a huge team, all felt mightily superior from the rest for they belonged to, of course, the host, the grand prince.
As for the other groups, one had around three hundred people, which was a pretty impressive strength of show in itself. And then there was one with around two hundred people, which too couldn't be called weak. There were multiple groups with just a hundred people, of which one had Austin in it. The ones who were a bundle of nerves were formations with just a dozen of people. Among the latter, the most conspicuous anxious formation was Prince Louis's that had just twenty warriors.
"Oh, Louis, look at you! You have got me laughing my head off! Don't be too tight with your money! Recruit some warriors! You only have twenty! Twenty! Don't you understand what it means! It means, my warriors, my three hundred men, can drown your pitiful twenty men, with their mouth water!" said a man to the Prince Louis, as he roared with laughter.
"My brother, listen to me. Just go home. You have brought shame upon our family. I demand you to withdraw from the competition."
The man looked young, wearing a ginger-colored robe. He seemed confident about his position in the family so much so that he felt he could bully the prince into quitting.
"Frederick, I take your criticism with respect. But I don't think the number of warriors can make a difference. It's a competition of excellence and not numbers. And all my men fight bravely with superior skills."
Prince Louis retorted unruffled by his brother's jibes. The seventh prince was remarkable among his brothers. Sitting next to Prince Frederick, both couldn't have drawn more of a contrasting picture.
Overhearing the conversation between his two brothers, another prince also cut in, "I agree with you, Louis. Frederick, you should really trim your slack team. Take a look at my cracking troops. Each and every of them is one in a thousand. I don't think your men stand any chance fighting against them."
This alleged "one in a thousand" team had only about forty warriors, a little more than Louis's. But yet this prince sounded more confident. He felt audacious enough to provoke Prince Frederick and his three hundred men.
"Ernest, I can't agree more. Frederick, if you believe in the logic that a greater number of warriors translate into a stronger team, then our eldest brother, whose team has five hundred warriors, is the strongest among ours. But is that true? Is that true, my brothers? If that's true, why are we still here? Why don't we just lay down our arms and surrender?" he paused, "So how about stop saying such nonsense and get down to combat? I can't wait anymore. Who will accept my challenge first?"
This prince was obviously quick to pick a fight.
Aroused, Prince Frederick stood up, "Well, well, well! My brothers, don't think you can gang up on me like that! You want to fight? So let's fight!"
He smashed his cup on the table as he finished his sentence. And then, a hush fell over the crowd.
Austin observing the sons of the emperor thought how they bickered over trivialities. It was a meaningless argument of who triumphed over whom.
By now, the platform was occupied by all the princes except for the grand prince. And as the war of words intensified among the princes, the eldest brother was still nowhere to be seen.
The princes taunted each other and raked up the past to give weight to their futile arguments. They locked horns in both open strife and veiled protests. Not a single prince could unanimously prevail over the others. With a spark of a tinder, their fights had become a sheet of flame.
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