"Wakey wakey, princess!"

The curtains were thrown open, sending beams of sunlight searing across Tigris' eyes. She groaned, burying her face in her pillow to block it out, but a hand was already tearing away her blankets.

"Come on, princess! You've got a tax meeting and tons of practise to get in shape for the tournament."

Tigris groaned, the chilly fall air making her shiver. She stretched to grab back her blankets, but ended up brushing up against a scarred palm. Her eyes flew open.

"Roche!" Tigris exclaimed, shooting upright in her bed.

Her insolent maid, damn her, shot her a cheeky grin. "That is my name. Good to see that your brain is working."

"Oh, you have hell to pay today." Tigris growled, swinging her legs over the edge of her bed. "You abandoned your duties to go drink in the tavern! You are lucky that I haven't fired you."

Roche had the audacity to act confused. "The tavern?" she sputtered.

Tigris was going to enjoy this. "Don't play dumb. Verita told me the truth." Tigris took a moment to inspect the girl. With glee, Tigris noticed that Roche looked rather pale. "I didn't know you had it in you to drink for an entire day." Tigris increased the volume of her voice until Roche winced.

"I can't believe Verita said that." Roche muttered, rubbing her probably aching temples.

Tigris smirked. Good. The girl deserved it.

"I hope you learned your lesson about drinking during your shift." Tigris said with relish. Roche muttered something obscene under her breath.

"What was that?" Tigris asked sweetly as she padded towards her washroom. Roche crossed her arms.

"I said that I left you for one day and you made this place a mess!"

"Well, I expect it all to be cleaned up by lunch!" Tigris shouted over her shoulder, chuckling to herself when Roche groaned in frustration.

-------

Tigris jerked her head towards Roche who obediently approached to distribute the documents that Tigris had spent all night working on.

"We'll be able to decrease taxes on the lower town significantly when winter comes." Tigris explained to her father and the gathered nobles.

One of said nobles frowned. "This would require a hike in taxes for the upper town for the upcoming term," he pointed out. Disapproving murmurs spread across the nobles and Tigris felt a flare of heat fill her cheeks.

"It's well within the budget," Finn came to her defense. He was still pale from his hysterical fit, but he'd recovered well once he'd learned Roche was safe. He pushed his glasses up his nose as all eyes turned to him. "The upper town certainly has the means to support a hike. At most, we'd be facing a reduction in luxury goods for a month. The lower towns on the other hand would face starvation considering the expected poor yield of the merchants."

"You expect the nobles to deprive themselves of luxury goods for the sake of a few hungry peasants, my lord?" another courtier sniffed. Finn's cheeks bloomed a hearty red. Aodh rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Prince Finn said it was only luxury goods," he pointed out, irritated. He stood behind his chair, arms crossed.

"Still," the courtier muttered, "it seems excessive to do this all for a few hungry peasants, my lord."

Finn's eyes flicked to where the servants gathered and Tigris hid her wince. Her brother had never been good at hiding his emotions. It was well known that he listened to those from the lower town more than any of the royals. Unfortunately, that only devalued his opinion.

"Lord Igor is correct," King Romulus finally weighed in, his eyes cold as he regarded his children, "As much as we have a duty to those in the lower town, we cannot jeopardise our relationship with the nobles in the upper town."

Finn's eyes hardened. "I'd hardly call the loss of a few pieces of jewelry and ceremonial swords a means to jeopardise the relationship with nobles, my lord." he said, his voice carefully even. Tigris had to force herself to stop cringing as her father's eyes flared, picking up the subtle jab at his decision. His lips pressed together into a bloodless line.

"It could be the last straw after a long line of weakness," the king declared, his eyes darting to Tigris, "With the upcoming tournament, tensions will run high among the nobleborn. Old battlelines will be drawn, new divisions will be made. The castle will be bursting at the seams, we cannot afford to destroy the few sources of joy that will remain through finery and entertainment."

Tigris bit her lip. Unwillingly, her mind darted to Kai. He currently stood behind Finn, his face perfectly still as if they weren't discussing the fate of his home. Tigris' stomach fluttered.

"Perhaps the tournament could be postponed," Finn suggested. Tigris wanted to smack him. The king chuckled, agreeing that it was a stupid idea.

"Absolutely not," the king replied, "After our recent failures in battle, it is imperative that our strength in battle is proven." He said this while maintaining eye contact with Tigris. Her throat went dry.

The word 'failure' rang in her ears, whiting out the sounds of the court muttering. Her father still hadn't forgiven her for letting Ivie win the fight with the Atrex. It didn't help that Tigris had sent out all of her best knights to fight for the stupid object of power and only one of them had returned.

Tigris swallowed, shame rising in her throat. She could feel the press of her father's gaze against her. He thought her to be weak.

The thought drained her of any resistance..

"The lower town will starve, my lord." Finn was pleading, "There must be something we can do."

Tigris glanced at her papers. "There is an alternative." she pointed out, her voice more hollow than she would have liked. "In the interest of maintaining the newly forged alliance, Irulia has agreed to heightened tariffs now that their crop yield has recovered. Some of the extra money can be allocated to the lower town instead of to the emergency funding."

The king snorted derisively, and Tigris felt the rejection like a pinch to the arm. "And leave the economy defenseless to an arising emergency?"

"No, my lord." Tigris lowered her eyes respectfully, "If we allocate seventy eight percent of these additional funds to the emergency funds, we'll have just enough to manage a financial crisis. The remaining funding should be enough to prevent mass starvation."

The king scanned the document Roche ferried to him, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Why wasn't this the first thing you suggested?" he asked.

Tigris lowered her gaze again. "It would be optimal to allocate the full funds to the emergency funding. This minimised funding would not protect the entirety of the lower town should a severe crisis occur."

Aodh's forehead wrinkled with concern. Still, he didn't say anything. The king nodded.

"There are always casualties in severe crises, any resulting deaths would have occurred eventually." he reasoned, "Besides, we haven't had to use those funds since the inkblood purge. I'd rather the lower town survive the foreseeable issue at hand."

The words were callous. Finn looked as uncertain as Tigris felt.

"Surely the removal of a few luxury items would be preferable!" he announced. The king turned to him, his expression positively frigid.

"My final decree is that we implement the alternative plan." he declared. The courtiers clapped courteously, cheering loudly. Tigris numbly clapped along, her heart sinking. The king rose from his large throne at the head of the table.

"Dismissed! Tigris, a word?"

Tigris stood obediently, unable to look at Kai's face as she walked over to her father, curtsying as expected.

"My lord," she greeted. Her father bid her to rise with a tilt of his head.

"You did well today, daughter." he told her curtly, his words edged with warmth Tigris had yet to feel. "I trust that you will do just as well during the tournament?"

"Of course, father." As if there was any doubt.

"Are you certain?" Tigris lifted her gaze then, finding him staring at her with an unreadable expression, "Because earlier today, Aodh mentioned a concern he had during one of your fights with the head knight. Aodh feels as if he shouldn't participate in the tournament."

Damn Aodh and his incessant protectiveness! Tigris kept her face blank. "Sir Harold is still adjusting after his experience with the inkblood, my lord. He's assured me he is fit to fight in the tourney, and Leinos has agreed to this as well."

"Oh, I wasn't concerned about Sir Harold." the king walked closer, his steps echoing ominously against the floor. Tigris instantly lowered her eyes. "I was concerned when Aodh told me that you tried to tap out."

Tigris swallowed. She'd been overwhelmed by Harold's surprising show of force. As much as she hated to admit it, she'd been lucky that her last ditch maneuver had worked. But she couldn't tell her father that.

"I thought that the move I was demonstrating to the new knights had been appropriately displayed, my lord." Tigris lied. The king pursed his lips in disbelief and Tigris' heart sank.

"I hope so. After all your recent failures, I know you will make me proud during the tourney against all your opponents. Our family hasn't lost a tourney for over three reigns."

"Of course, father."

His hand clapped her shoulder. His face creased with a smile, but there was no warmth in his eyes as his gaze locked with Tigris'.

"Make me proud." he repeated, his fingers squeezing her shoulder. Tigris nodded, the words settling in her chest like stones sinking in a river. The king released her then. She felt the loss of the weight of his hand keenly, a cold empty space on her shoulder.

"Dismissed." he said. Tigris curtsied, running her hand over her weapons belt as she exited the throne room. Roche waited for her out of earshot by the doors, her face lit up with curiosity.

"What was that about?" Roche asked. Tigris cleared away her disgruntled expression, replacing it with a familiar annoyed one.

"Stop being nosy and fetch my armour. I'm going to train."

Roche's eyebrows lifted. "Without having lunch?"

"I'm not hungry." Tigris muttered, determination tightening her muscles. She rolled her shoulder, gripping the familiar weight of her sword's hilt. "Now hurry up before I decide you're the target today."

Roche scurried off without another word and Tigris sank back against the wall, her father's words echoing in her mind.

I won't fail you, father.

A/N: Romulus' court is made of pompous jerks confirmed :)

So, what did y'all think of this chapter? As always, happy reading!