Roche placed Tigris' newly polished armour on with practised ease that morning, its surface gleaming. Tigris looked down appreciatively at the handiwork.

"Huh. Did you use a new polishing oil?" she asked.

Roche flashed a smug smirk. "Nope. I'm just that good." The reply was surprisingly short, not accompanied by a small lecture about the history of polishing techniques. Tigris blinked.

"You're quiet today," she noted, lifting her arms so that Roche could easily fasten the leather straps of her chest armour.

"I'm worried about you," Roche muttered plainly. The words took Tigris aback. It had been a long time since anyone had said those words to her face.

"Me?" Tigris spluttered.

Roche shot her an amused look as if to say yeah, who else?

Tigris chuckled, warmth filling her chest. "I'm touched." she teased, "I didn't know you were such a softie."

Roche rolled her eyes, brushing away the taunt. "Aren't you nervous at all?"

"Of course not." Tigris scoffed, ignoring the way her heart rate picked up.

"Not even a little bit?" Roche pressed.

"Nope." Tigris shifted.

Roche's brows furrowed as she tied on a piece of armour at Tigris' thigh. "Really?"

"Yep." Tigris was feeling the buzz of anxiety press against her more and more with each moment of conversation.

"Because it's totally normal to be scared. You know, sometimes it even helps. Adrenaline is a hell of a hormone. Did you know that the synthetic version of it was used to restart the heart nearly three hundred years before the first great fall of civilisation that predated the rise of the Faultless kingdom? That reminds of this really cool procedure-"

Roche continued to ramble as she strapped on Tigris' armour, and Tigris let the endless prattle fade into background noise. She regretted even talking to Roche.

"Alright, alright, I've heard enough." Tigris sighed after fifteen minutes of Roche's lecture, which had somehow drifted to a conversation on the feeding habits of robins. Roche pouted, but obediently handed over Tigris' sword. Tigris spun it experimentally, relishing in the easy motion of switching between stances.

A bell tolled loudly on the training grounds, signalling the first match. Tigris watched with detached interest, categorizing the weaknesses and strengths of the battling knights. Today's matches were much more entertaining, as the weaker knights had been weeded out the day before. Now more experienced knights went head to head in a tango of glistening hilts and crashing metal. Matches ended with knockouts and stabs rather than disarmings. Leinos was frequently called to the tournament grounds to haul away unconscious knights.

Roche squeaked at a few of the closer matches. Tigris chuckled at her. "Come on, Roche. Don't be a baby."

"How does anyone enjoy this?" Roche muttered sourly, wincing sympathetically as another knight crashed into the ground and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding getting pinned. Clouds of dirt flew into the air as he popped to his feet.

"It's a show of strength and art." Tigris explained, watching the knight who had gotten back up press forward, managing an artful stab that forced his opponent's blade upwards. That was when he shoved himself forward, his dagger pressing towards his foe's chest. His opponent danced back, using his free arm to catch the hand with the dagger, twisting it to a painful angle. The dagger fell to the ground with a deafening thud.

"It's a bunch of men whacking each other with pointy sticks." Roche scoffed. Tigris kept her eyes glued to the match. All hope looked lost for the man who'd held the dagger, but his eyes were surprisingly hopeful.

"It proves to the people who's worthy of protecting and leading them." Tigris explained, grinning as the knight formerly with the dagger used the sudden proximity he'd gained to shove his opponent to the ground. Before the opponent could recover, a sword was levelled at his throat.

The crowd cheered wildly.

Tigris turned back to Roche. The maid looked thoughtful. "Is brute strength really such a good way to measure leadership?"

Tigris was taken aback. She hadn't expected Roche to actually listen to her. Usually her knights just agreed with the general placation. "Of course it is."

"Does pure strength make a leader?" Roche asked casually, distracted by the events in the arena. It sounded like treason to voice such a thing during a tournament, but Roche seemed genuinely curious. Tigris felt the strangest urge to explain herself.

Tigris sputtered. "Well... no. But it's one aspect of it. A leader needs to be strong."

"Among other things." Roche replied pointedly.

"Perhaps," Tigris agreed, gripping the hilt of her sword as she tried to find the right words to explain the importance of this event, "But even if we're measuring just one aspect of leadership, it proves something. It proves to the kingdom that you have a chance to grow into something well rounded, into a good leader. Strength is the foundation for leadership. This tournament... it'll prove to everyone that I am worthy of the opportunity to become queen one day." Tigris swallowed, "For the knights, it proves that they are worthy to serve this kingdom's peoples."

Roche blinked. Tigris could see the gears in her mind turning, filing away the new tidbit of information. Slowly, the bookish girl nodded. Tigris felt oddly triumphant, like she'd won a debate. Usually conversations with Roche went like this, either with some mind boggling, reality shifting worldview, or Roche conceding to an inner truth.

Somehow, her wide eyed maid had mastered the craft of finding the heart of someone's thoughts and feelings. It was surprising considering that Roche seemed to have no other redeeming skills, save for being a chattering idiot.

"Finn's up." Kai huffed, coming up behind Roche. He wrung his hands nervously. "I hope that back plate stays on, that cord I tied is on its last legs."

"I'm sure it's fine." Roche assured her friend, "Look at Tigris' arm brace. It's one blow away from falling off."

Tigris sighed. Yep, Roche was an idiot. "I asked you to fix that days ago."

"Oh," Roche blinked stupidly, "Well, I guess you should protect that arm!"

"She's kidding." Kai glanced at Roche with wide eyes, "You're kidding, right?"

"Definitely." Roche grinned in a way that suggested she was not kidding, and Tigris was ready to throttle the girl. Thankfully, Roche scrounged up a new brace before the match could begin.

Tigris watched her brothers fight their opponents and win easily. Tigris' first match came well into the afternoon. She was fighting a knight with nearly as much experience as Harold, but the match wasn't too hard. She managed another two matches before she broke a sweat. She noticed the crowd of competing knights thinning significantly. It wasn't lost on her that Harold was advancing as well, leaving a trail of unconscious and injured knights in his wake.

Roche muttered to herself as Harold fought. Tigris could have sworn that she saw a dagger slice his exposed elbow, but not a drop of blood hit the dirt. Harold quickly knocked his opponent unconscious. His movements were sure, his eyes frigid. There wasn't a hint of remorse or concern in his eyes as his fallen opponent was dragged off the field. The sight made Tigris' stomach flip. The Harold she'd known had thrown many matches before he'd risked nicking his opponent. Tigris barely recognised the wild fighting of the man on the field.

The day raged on. Tigris' next two matches were long and brutal, against skilled knights with a myriad of weapons. In her last fight, Tigris was actually forced to abandon her sword and fight in close quarters with her best pair of daggers. If she wasn't so exhausted and sweaty and covered in dirt, she might have commended her opponent for such a fine fight. Instead, she just hauled the man to his feet and breathed out a quick compliment.

By the end of the day, there were eight knights left standing. Tigris, her brothers, and five other knights, one of which was Harold. They'd fight in pairs tomorrow, the victors fighting each other until a victor was declared.

Tigris' blood thrummed excitedly at the prospect. She could feel her father's gaze bearing down on her.

Don't worry, father. I'll make you proud. Tigris promised silently as she walked out of the arena.

-------

"You've got to be kidding me." Tigris sank onto the bench of the armoury. Kai winced apologetically.

"I'm sorry, my lady. I'm sure Roche will be back soon." he tried. Tigris shook her head.

"You've been saying that for the past hour, Kai. She's probably gotten distracted by a shiny rock like last time." Tigris rubbed her forehead, brushing a sweat soaked lock off her forehead, "I should fire her."

Kai smiled shyly. "But you won't."

Tigris chuckled. "I'm not sure why."

"I know why," Kai's eyes were warm and fond in a way that suddenly made Tigris' chest feel tight, "Because she's a really good friend. Those are hard to come by."

"I suppose so," Tigris mused. Kai hovered beside her awkwardly.

"If you'd like... I could help." Kai said hesitantly. When Tigris opened her mouth to reply, his cheeks darkened with a blush. "I didn't mean to impose. I could find Roche or even another maid if you'd like. Finn's armour might be completely different and I won't know what to do-"

"Kai," Tigris interrupted before Kai could pass out. She waited for his gleaming honeyed eyes to meet her gaze, her chest fluttering, "It's fine. I'm sure you're way better at it than Roche."

Kai sputtered in defense of his friend, but he obediently moved behind Tigris as she stood. His calloused hands began working the knots Roche had made this morning. His face was set with concentration as he methodically untied the leather cords holding her arm braces in place, collecting them in a neat pile.

"Where do you think she went this time?" Tigris asked after a moment to fill the silence that stretched between them. Kai hummed thoughtfully.

"I didn't see any shiny rocks on the training grounds." he paused, "I'm worried about her. She looks exhausted."

"Roche?" Tigris repeated. Now that she thought about it, her maid had looked a little peaky. But the girl always looked pale and thin. "I'm sure she's fine."

Kai's hand brushed her shoulder, leaving a pleasantly warm trail of heat behind. "I think she's worried about you."

"She'll never understand that I can hold my own in the arena." Tigris scoffed. Kai smiled tightly.

"To be honest, I've been worried too. So has Finn. Sir Harold's still in the running." he mumbled. "Did you see his last opponent?"

She had. They'd hit the ground so hard that Leinos thought it would take weeks to recover from the resulting concussion.

Kai's hand brushed the small of her back as he peeled off her back plate and the contact made Tigris shiver. She covered it by clearing her throat.

"I'll be fine."

"I know you will," Kai replied. He paused in front of her, meeting her eyes. Nothing but earnestness was reflected in them. "You're a great warrior, I have no doubt you'll be fine."

His faith warmed her. "Thanks, Kai."

He offered her another shy smile. "Besides, I think Roche would tie you to the bed if she suspected you were in danger."

"As if she could." Tigris scoffed. Kai laughed, a warm baritone sound so unlike his timid voice.

"You'd be surprised. I've seen her shove aside a crowd of people in the market to get fresh herbs before." Kai chuckled as he pulled away, armour stacked neatly in his arms. Almost on cue, Roche sprinted into the armoury, sweating and out of breath. She doubled over as she came in.

"Dungeons. Until dinner." Tigris said before Roche could get in a word.

Roche looked up, mud streaked across her face. "But-"

"Go."

Roche groaned and stalked off. Over her shoulder, she called, "Your bath's ready, you ungrateful royal brat!"

"That could have gone better." Kai said meekly. Tigris merely smiled.

"She should have known better than to worry about me."

A/N: Here's a bit of a filler chapter for you :D I feel like it fleshes out Roche's and Tigris' characters a bit more as well as their current relationship.

What do you think of it so far?