Everyone wanted to become the only ruler, to get countless riches and resources. And then, more than a thousand years ago, when the sacrifices of all sides exceeded all conceivable and inconceivable figures, the King of the Central Lands announced a big round table - promising to give his kingdom to one of the greats.
The wizard allowed only seven kings into the Central Lands, without their numerous armies - and they gathered with the eighth ruler at one table. The King of the Central Lands announced the Tournament, a great battle in which only the kings or their sons could take part. The winner received the hand of a princess and an alliance with the Central Lands for one hundred years, which allowed unlimited use of the resources of the central kingdom.
The General Counsel of the Tournament adopted it, and the seven kings came together in a series of battles that lasted a month until one of them survived. It was the king of the Northern Lands, he married a princess and was allied to the Central Lands, as promised. The war ended because all the kings had signed a peace agreement, and now the main document was the Treaty, which kept the signatures of the eight rulers and was bewitched by a wizard, which prevented the war from breaking out as long as the tradition of the Tournament existed.
Over the years, the system of transfer of inheritance has adjusted itself: the King of the Central Lands was dying, his place was taken by the heir of the winning king, usually the second son, because the first remained in his father's kingdom. If fate did not grant the king-governor two children, he was entitled to appoint one of his subjects to the reign of his closest and most loyal, and this man became a representative of the royal blood - regardless of his origin. In both the first and the second case, the King of the Central Lands began his own branch, which blossomed and bore fruit until a century of waiting, and when the Prize reached adulthood, a new Tournament began.
So that the Prize would be a young man, not a girl, only once in the history of the Tournament for more than a thousand years - and, oddly enough, then the most fierce struggle unfolded. With each new Tournament, the rules changed a little, now it was not necessary to kill all the competitors - it was enough to become the best in as many competitions as possible, although no participant was insured against death.
Now the Tournament was called the Tournament of Seven Kingdoms by tradition, because for more than three hundred years the Northern lands did not send a participant, abandoning the claims to the Central ones. And this time six representatives were waiting in the capital, because the North again replied with silence to the invitation to the tournament, sent on the day of expiration of a century of waiting.
Charles was standing on the balcony of his room, looking at the humming square and sadly thinking that he was destined to go to a completely foreign country with a completely strange man with whom he would have to spend his entire life. Yes, the prince knew from childhood that he would become a prize, but for several years as it did not seem to him either delightful, or romantic, or even just interesting. Charles wanted the only thing that no prince or king of the world had - freedom.
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The preparation of the throne room has been done for several days already - it was washed, cleaned, decorated, and the latter for the third time because the king was not satisfied with everything. He did not like the color, the flowers were not good enough, the carpet was of the wrong quality - and the servants obediently rushed to redo the point that his majesty did not like.
The royal family in the Central Lands was loved immensely, Xavier never allowed himself to be arrogant with his subjects - and they answered them with sincere affection and true loyalty. Crime in the kingdom was so small that it could be said that it did not exist at all because almost everyone here lived in abundance and in their own pleasure. During the centuries-old history of the Central Lands has changed a lot of rulers, each of them brought something different, with the coming to power of the branch of Xavier, which originated from the Mountainous Lands, because it was their representative who won the last tournament, in the Central Lands became calmer, more peaceful and ... more harmonious.
They preached education, humanism and altruism, and it gradually gave its fruit. People who were originally predisposed to a happy coexistence, just suddenly realized that the royal family, despite their status, should not be a victim of stereotypes, and people reached out to them, and Xavier never drove them away.