"I mean…" John gestured at the map. "…you have all of this land, all of these resources, and the best you can do for your fighters are two random Americans?" he looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You'll have to excuse me if I am skeptical about that, princess."
"Ja, it is kinda weird," Rave agreed.
The map smoothed over and was replaced with a field of toy soldiers, standing in orderly squares. "I have a multitude of loyal subjects who would be willing to fight for me, some of them are even stronger than you currently are," Lydia told the couple readily. "However, there is a problem with all of them: they are my subjects. Publicly, widely known, pledged to my house for generations."
"And how is that a problem in a tournament?" John asked. It wasn't like they could play off each other. 'Unless the fights aren't random but set-up in advance,' it dawned on him.
