Best 20 Men
The day went on before the signs of the first group of men returned to the flag-off podium.
As expected all the favorites made it to the next round including Prince Geoffrey.
One contender broke his leg and another fractured his arm. No casualties this time around so everyone was relieved.
Day 2 saw a further elimination of contenders down to 10 men. There was no rest for the men on Day 2 as the contenders had to endure an overnight challenge and by the morning of Day 3 the contenders were down to Top 5.
For the last 5 days, the 5 contenders were Prince Arthur of Kingdom of Rash, King George of King of Pernah, Prince Vincent of Kingdom of Magnio, Prince Geoffrey of Araneil and the lesser known Duke Zacheuss of Progen.
As the last five contenders were presented in front of the Queen, one could not help but marvel at the beautiful display of manliness from all five men.
Court's favourite: Prince Vincent of Magnio, Dark brown curls and mesmerising blue eyes age 24, the only fear the Queen had was the rumors of Magnio practicing black magic.
Second favourite: King George, Kingdom of Pernah, one son age 5, widowed, age 28, blonde locks with aquamarine green eyes and tall aristocratic nose. Strength in tactical skills winning allies to his Kingdom from across the lands except for Kingdom of Rash.
Strongest physically: Prince Arthur, Kingdom of Rash. 22. Dark brooding good looks with hair dark brown eyes. Strength in military power.
Self-proclaimed Childhood sweetheart: Prince Geoffrey (Jeff) of Araneil. 22. Dark curls light brown eyes. Desperate for a kingdom to call his own as he stood no chance in his own country.
Duke Zaccheus, Kingdom of Progen, age 23, handsome, quiet and stoic with dark brown hair with light brown eyes. A dark horse, lesser known noble that no one expected to make it to TOP 20, what more to say TOP 5.
All the men stood at least 6 feet 2 inches tall with Prince Vincent towering at 6 feet 8 inches tall.
As the physical rounds were done to only ensure the survival of the fittest, the next five days would be a battle of wits and other skills needed to be a King to rule beside the Queen.
The men were given a 2-hour-rest before the tests resumed.
Regardless of the fact that they had to be alert the entire night with hardly any rest, none of them slept a wink during the 2-hour-rest as they bathed and freshened up because the next challenge is to impress the Queen and the Court in their oratory skills.
Within 2 hours, the men were transformed from manly ruggedly handsome mess that they were after the battle, to polished, dignified dashing gentlemen.
Dressed in formal Court attire, the Queen would pick an issue that any kingdom would possibly face and the contender would need to present a solution within 10 minutes. This time around, the people would be casting their popularity vote in secret ballots. The contest is open to the people of Nitreil so the public were already crowded to the brim at the hall, with rows and rows of standing people down the steps up to 1 mile away.
The Kingdom's magician, Kristoph, projected on the sky an image of the happening inside the hall, it was so huge it could be seen from a mile away. Fairies were employed to relay the speeches in real time by whispering directly into the ears of each person who could not be inside the hall.
If the Kingdom of Magnio was well known for black magic, the Kingdom of Nitreil was well known for light magic, fairies and elves were a normal sight in the kingdom.
If the five men were exhausted after a gruelling first 3 days, they did not show it.
Youth were on their side. They were running on adrenaline as they each bowed when their names were presented to the Queen.
Theeya just nodded with a smile at each of them.
When it came to Duke Zaccheus suddenly Theeya felt a chill running down her spine when their eyes met. The light brown eyes suddenly turned red for a moment before turning back to brown.
Seeing Theeya's pale face, Sereni was worried.
"Your Majesty, are you feeling well? You looked like you had just seen a ghost! Your face is so pale!" Sereni whispered into the ear of the Queen.
"I am alright Sereni." Theeya composed herself.
Sereni did not seem convinced but she stepped back to stand just behind the Queen within earshot just in case her assistance was needed at any time.
"Welcome valiant heroes. Please take your seats. Due to a draw of luck the first man to speak is Prince Geoffrey of Araneil, Second Prince Vincent of Magnio. Third King George of Pernah, fourth Prince Arthur of Rash and lastly Duke Zaccheus of Progen. After the issue was presented, the clock shall start and once 10 minutes are up, the gentleman will be invited to leave the podium. Failure to leave the podium after one warning of 5 seconds after the first bell shall result in elimination in this round, gaining zero points. Are we all clear?" Minister Albus read out the terms and conditions to the contenders.
All five men nodded their heads and signed the parchment presented to them by the elves.
"Can our first contender take his place at the podium please?" Minister Albus gestured to Jeff with a nod.
Jeff took to the podium confidently.
"Can Her Majesty our Queen draw a piece of paper from the jar please?" Minister Albus pointed Sereni to the blue crystal jar in front of the Queen.
Sereni carried the jar and brought it to the Queen. Theeya chose one strip of paper and passed it to Sereni to bring to Minister Albus.
"Prince Geoffrey of Araneil. The issue that needed your deliberation today is this. Please listen carefully as it will not be repeated. Are you ready?" Minister Albus asked.
"Yes I am ready, Minister Albus."
"Prince Geoffrey of Araneil. If you are the future monarch of Nitreil, when there is a need for you to return to your own birth Kingdom to save it with the resources from Nitreil, would you be involved in the war that may not even concern the Kingdom of Nitreil? You have 10 minutes." Minister Albus took a seat as all eyes turned to Jeff.
"Thank you Minister Albus. First of all, I already treat Nitreil as my home, so there is no question of If I become the future King to rule beside our Queen. Whether or not my home Kingdom would need our help, if it did not directly concern our Kingdom, I do not see a need to interfere so as not to waste our resources. Before you call me cruel or heartless, please allow me to explain." Jeff saw that the people started to murmur some mixture of dissent and approval.
"How heartless. It is his own birth kingdom!"
"He can say whatever he wants to say now because he wants the throne. Let's see how our resources are depleted once he becomes King!"
"He will make a good King for Nitreil. I am confident he will be loyal to our Queen and to our Kingdom!"
Jeff did not look flustered by the chatter in the hall.
"The reason I say that is because I am only one of the many princes my Father has. Kingdom of Araneil is the furthest from Nitreil from all the kingdoms across the land. Araneil would ask for assistance from nearer kingdom rather than from Nitreil."
"What rubbish!"
"That is a lame excuse."
The people were ruthless in their judgement of Jeff's oratory skills.
"I promise you, people of Nitreil, if I become your King, I will rule beside your Queen with honour and Ensure the glory of the kingdom," Jeff took a bow and stepped down from the podium just when the bell went off.
The crowd continued to be mixed in their reactions regarding Jeff's performance. Only the secret ballots would tell.
"Up next, our second contender. Prince Vincent of Magnio." Minister Albus announced.
Minister Albus requested for the Queen to pick another piece of paper from the crystal jar.
After Sereni passed the paper Theeya drew from the crystal jar to Minister Albus, his frown deepened, the lines harshly appearing on his forehead.
"Prince Vincent of Magnio. The issue is: Half the Kingdom of Nitreil are practicing Light Magic and are very uncomfortable of you as their king. Even the King and Queen of the Fairies and Elves were strongly against you marrying their Queen. They say Black Magic has no place in the Kingdom of Nitreil. You have 10 minutes to speak."
Prince Vincent's face appeared calm without any reaction to the question.
Just then a flock of black ravens flew into the hall through the open doors and windows and circled on TOP of Prince Vincent's head.
The circle of ravens suddenly turned into black dust which sparkled under the sunlight and formed a Long piece of delicate scarf. With his right hand, he picked up the scarf from the air and blew on it, letting go of his hand. The scarf flew from across the hall towards the Queen. Royal Guards stepped up in front of the Queen to protect the Queen as the golden black scarf levitate in the air, moving towards the throne.
Theeya stood up and motioned the Guards to step aside. She reached out and received the scarf. It was indeed delicate and soft to touch.
"Your Majesty, Kingdom of Nitreil is well known for Light Magic. Just because something is white does not mean it is pure. Just because the scarf in your hands is black does not mean it is impure. Magic can be real or can be an illusion. If there is no dark, how can there be light. Each much exist to make life meaningful. Yes, Kingdom of Magnio is well known for being black magic practitioners but that is often misunderstood. Black does not mean evil..."
Just then an egg was thrown and landed on the right side of Prince Vincent's head.
Everyone was shocked. Who would dare to do that to a Royal Prince, one who was a powerful magician too!?!