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Into the Icy Darkness II: The Next Generation
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<blockquote data-quote="Emperor Valerian" data-source="post: 1591037" data-attributes="member: 15043"><p>“Where is she?” Vintressa asked her brother worriedly. “What can be keeping her so long?” She started pacing, yet again. Before the night was out, Valaron was sure his sister would wear ruts into the floor of his room.</p><p></p><p>“Maybe she got held up by someone,” Valaron offered hopefully. <em>Maybe she got distracted... maybe she had to shed some people following her...</em></p><p></p><p>“Maybe she got caught,” Vintressa uttered in a frightened voice. <em>If that is the case... they may have struck her down... and maybe struck our parents down as well!</em> Vintressa shuddered. They had locked themselves up in Valaron’s room for some time; the large, ornate clock on one wall of his room spoke that it was two hours till midnight.</p><p></p><p>“Don’t talk like that Vin,” Valaron chided, even as his own heart had many of the same misgivings. “She got away... I know she did,” Val growled, rising to his own feet. <em>She’s too smart! And if she got her hands on that nasty whip Vin described... there’s no way they could take her out! I just know it!</em></p><p></p><p>Vin’s mind normally might have hung on Val’s firm statement as a sign of something, but instead, she was too worried about her friend and her family to focus on such little things. Instead, her eyes looked about the room intently.</p><p></p><p>“Do you have a rapier in here? Or a dagger?” Vintressa asked, her voice losing its fear and filling with determination. She went to one corner of the room which had a drawer, filled with antique swords that Valaron had collected to admire.</p><p></p><p>“Wait,” Val called, before rushing to his sister’s side. Normally it would have been to either chide her for disturbing his valuables, or to lecture her on the history of a blade, but this day he immediately pulled open the third drawer from the top, and reached inside. Within a few seconds, a rose colored blade appeared as he pulled Heart’s Rose from what was intended as its final resting place.</p><p></p><p>“That’s... ‘Uncle’ Shaun’s sword!” Vin started, grasping the blade revertly, her eyes wide.</p><p></p><p>“He went and bought himself a more powerful one... it dances around if he lets go of it. He had no use for this one, and his son didn’t want it. So he gave it to me to put in my collection about two months ago.”</p><p></p><p>Vintressa only half listened to her brother, instead she held the blade out at arms length, feeling its heft and balance in her arm. Rather cautiously, she gave an initial swing, letting her mind and arms adjust to the blade they first became familiar with. After feeling the first swing, she brought the blade around, and swung again, and again. Harder and faster each swing came, as she allowed the momentum of the previous slash to carry her into the next one. The pink blade danced through the air, singing the lovely swishing sound of a rapier slicing about. Finally, she settled in, and from memory, conducted a series of parries, thrusts and slashes she had practiced every day since her ‘Uncle’ had shown them to her.</p><p></p><p>When the last slash finished and she gripped the blade firmly, pointed out at arm’s length, Vintressa heard a little gasp beside her. She turned, and gave a brief grin to her brother’s mouth agape.</p><p></p><p>“Close your mouth, Val, it’s impolite,” the quipped. Glancing down at the blade, she added, “It’s got the same balance it had when I was learning with it, though this dress still gets in the way.” She gave a grunt of disapproval, before grabbing the sleeves, and ripping them off. “That’s better.”</p><p></p><p>“Vin... I... um...”</p><p></p><p>“Are impressed?” she finished his statement, before reaching into the drawer and pulling out the relevant scabbard as weell. “Two years of practice. I’m surprised mom never told you. I know I intended it to be a surprise, otherwise you would have accused me of trying to copy you!”</p><p></p><p>“What, exactly, are you planning on doing with that blade?” her brother asked guardedly.</p><p></p><p>“Well,” Vin sighed, “seeing that I am guessing they have caught and hurt poor Raven, this needs to end now. I am going to find mom or dad, whichever does not have Hemmel with them, and alert them. Then, we take out Hemmel.” The last part was delivered in a deadpan, the voice Vintressa took when she was utterly determined to see something through. She inherited that stubbornness from her mother.</p><p></p><p>“So you’re going to take on Hemmel, with no armor, and only a rapier?” Valaron raised an eyebrow, before sliding the open door shut. “My, and they say I inherited mom’s tendency for recklessness.” He started opening the drawer below it.</p><p></p><p>“It’s not reckless as long as you come with! The two of us can hold him off long enough that <em>someone</em> should be able to respond!” Vintressa replied in the same deadpan, “Or have you gotten lax in practicing with your swordplay?” The final part was delivered with a slight smirk... a challenge.</p><p></p><p>“No, I haven’t,” Val replied gruffly, pulling out a rather large, dull greenish-gray sword. Gently he hefted the blade upwards, closing his eyes, feeling its weight. He flipped the sword so it rested on his outstretched plams, and looked at the chips along its top, tiny bits of chitin from the armored hide of a monstrous spider still lodged in the small chips along its upper length. “Father’s old blade will do.”</p><p></p><p>“Now, we can’t just tramp through the palace with weapons drawn,” Vintressa added, seeing the massive side of the bastard sword Val held in his hands. “We need subtlety.” She slipped the rapier scabbard around her waist, and the blade into its holding area. “I can cover my blade with a little short lived magic... can you do the same or have you-“</p><p></p><p>Valaron turned, and the large sword that was in his hands seemed to have disappeared, as did the scabbard around his waist. “There are people other than you that have mastered the ability to change one’s appearance,” Val smiled. “Of course, I can’t pull Raven’s idea and turn myself into a gnome. Though after we take care of Hemmel... assuming we can,” Val’s smile vanished, and his voice became serious, “what do we do then? Of course we’ll go after House Erelion, but what about the Fire Stone? If its out there...”</p><p></p><p>“I haven’t planned that far ahead Val,” Vintressa confessed. “I’m playing this... as Aunt Tess would say, ‘by ear.’”</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Raven, Royukgan and Aegrifyr, after some ten minutes of traversing the depths of the Academy, finally reached the wizard’s personal office and laboratory... a view that caused both Raven and Royukgan to give a slight gasp of wonder.</p><p></p><p>The room, on ground level, was cavernous in height, even as its floor area was rather small. Enormously tall bookcases, filled with tomes and writings, rose some twenty feet into the air, touching the room’s ceiling. Seemingly hanging in mid-air were numerous specimens of strange animals that neither youth had seen before. Dark torchlight gave the entire room an eerie glow.</p><p></p><p>“Here you are,” Aegrifyr said as with the snap of his fingers, the would-be assassin found himself dropped to the ground. The wizard then pried the dagger from the man’s immobile hands, and proceeded to bind him up with simple rope. When he looked up and saw the two youths questioning looks at his using simple rope to restrain the man, Aegrifyr gave them a smile. </p><p></p><p>“Its always good to have a non-magical backup,” he spoke. He then turned to a case laying on the floor nearby. Both Raven and Royukgan crowded close as he opened it, wanting to see the undoubted wonders inside.</p><p></p><p>All manners of spell components were inside this simple wooden box, ranigng from roc feathers, newt eyes, and other animal appendanges. Aegrifyr’s hand wandered around for a bit, before setting on the tongue of a salamander, and some honey oil. The wizard then gave a grunt of satisfaction, and turned back to the prisoner.</p><p></p><p>“You will shortly, tell me everything you know,” he said to the <em>held</em> man, as he dipped the tongue in the oil, and muttered a few simple words. The twisting magic of enchantment was not as visible or spectacular as the spell Vin used earlier, but transmutation spells were usually visual in nature. Despite not being able to see it, Raven and Royukgan, with their tenative young links to the world of magic, could <em>sense</em> the sinews of the planes of magic flowing from the concoction in Aegrifyr’s hands and into the man’s mouth.</p><p></p><p>“Tell me, good sir, about yourself, your employers, and everyone you know that seeks the same results as your fellow assassins,” the wizard said gruffly. A gentle wave of the wizard’s hand released him from the <em>holding</em> spell that had kept him unable to move.</p><p></p><p>The man sputtered briefly at his freedom, his eyes all the while on the wizard. At first, they were wide with defiance, but it took only a few seconds for the magic to seep into the man’s will to resist, sapping it of all strength. His voice, cracked and weak, finally spoke out.</p><p></p><p>“My... name is Philberon Ulmis,” the man began. “I work for the Baron Darien, of House Erelion,” he started. He then began listing the names of his two, less fortunate compatriots. He blurted out that they had been instructed to follow Raven, and should the situation look right, kill her quietly.</p><p></p><p>As he spoke, Aegrifyr turned to Raven. “Do you two know any more than this? Why they were after you?” he said quietly, clearly dissatisfied with the man’s mere regurgitation of names and mission. He wanted to know <em>why</em> they wanted to kill her. It was serious business to him if one of his students was threatened... and while Raven was not the most gifted of his pupils, she was one of <em>his</em> pupils!</p><p></p><p>“Yes,” Raven bowed her head. “House Erelion is currently threatening the Vintressa. I,” she looked at Royukgan, watching his mouth open in shock and rage, “came back to fetch Vintressa’s equipment. They...”</p><p></p><p>“...were following you. I saw them trailing a small gnome I had not seen before, hence me stopping you. I followed you upstairs, remaining invisible. They almost got past me... fortunately you all seemed very capable of defending yourselves with non-magical means,” the wizard said dryly. He held a wrinkled hand to his beard, and stroked it in thought.</p><p></p><p>“Well, that explains why they were after you. And we can now raise the alarm. After all, we can’t have hooligans running about threatening one of my students, especially the one that’s the Emperor’s daughter,” he started out, only to find Raven’s hand clasped around his arm like a vise.</p><p></p><p>“No! Don’t!” she yelped, before swallowing the gulp that filled her throat. Seeing her teacher’s look of confusion, she stuttered for a few moments before blurting out, “they have assassins in place close to...”</p><p></p><p><em>Tell him!</em> part of her mind yelled. <em>He is a powerful mage! He can help immensely!</em></p><p></p><p><em>But Vintressa said it was a security risk if anyone knew an assassin has gotten so close to the Emperor and Empress!</em> another part of her mind remembered. For a second or two, she stuttered in confusion.</p><p></p><p>“...the Emperor!” she finally told the truth. “They told us they would kill His Majesty if we tried to warn anyone,” her voice cracked slightly, and her eyes became pregnant with tears. <em>I just told someone! If they find out, they’ll kill Uncle Luke and Aunt Siabrey!</em></p><p></p><p>The wizard saw her face, and gently put a hand close to it. His eyes reflected understanding at her worry and fear, and he quietly started to shush her as a muffled cry rose from her frightened lips.</p><p></p><p>“No one will know, sshh,” he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her in a fatherly fashion, even as his own mind grew fearful of the information he had just learned. Normally, mere academics such as himself stayed out of Imperial politics... but it was very apparent that he’d been sucked in far deeper than he thought. Thinking ahead, he looked over her shoulder to the still wide eyed Royukgan, his voice appearing in the boy’s head.</p><p></p><p><em>”Go hide the other two bodies in their room securely. They must not be discovered. I shall remove them at a later date. Go!”</em> his eyes flashed towards the door.</p><p></p><p>Royukgan ran.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Empress Siabrey Sipner-Caladron was in a less than pleasant mood. The ball supposedly for her son was still an hour from ending, and yet neither Valaron nor Vintressa, the two socialites that were supposed to grace the rest with their presence, were nowhere in sight. </p><p></p><p><em>When I see that boy, I’m going to have to have another long talk with him about responsibility,</em> she sighed as she came up more of the ornately decorated halls and alcoves of the palace. <em>I can’t blame him for not liking those affairs... but he NEEDS to be there, at the very least to keep the nobility happy!</em></p><p></p><p>It required sacrifice, to be sure. Siabrey, at this moment, would have much preferred her old traveling outfit, her simple tunic and jerkins, to the costume she felt was overly ornate. She had never really <em>liked</em> dresses, and the only items of such clothing she enjoyed were ones her dear husband bought for her. Even then, she liked them more because they were gifts from Lucius, not because they were dresses.</p><p></p><p>Yet here she was, in the 17th year of her reign, still wearing dresses... albeit ones that were rather loose and allowed her the freedom of movement her fighter muscles were used to. The nobles had raised too much of a stink for her to not wear one. She’d given in, and compromised to keep the peace. <em>That’s what being Empress, and being Crown Prince, is about, it seems. Keeping the damn peace,</em> her mind growled.</p><p></p><p><em>”He is being independent minded, Siabrey,”</em> a gentle voice in her head reminded her, and she instinctively ran her hand along the rough, sandhog skin of her katana, Kelir. <em>”I do remember you were that way once... sometimes I think your mother let you start practicing with me to focus your independent spirit!”</em> the sword added.</p><p></p><p><em>”Well, its not like he doesn’t get to practice with sword and magic to focus HIM,”</em> Siabrey rejoined mentally. It had taken practice, but a few years of people staring at her funny when she spoke aloud to her blade had taught her to merely mentally relay her words to it.</p><p></p><p><em>”True,”</em> the blade answered in a laughing voice, <em>”Talk to him about it... you are reasonable at times, and he is your blood...”</em> </p><p></p><p>Siabrey gave a mental eyeroll at the sword’s slight critique of her personality, and continued her march down the corridors to her son’s room. <em>Yes, he’ll be reasonable because it is his mother that will be talking to him about this. If I can’t fix that idea in his head, maybe he’ll have to talk to Luke again...</em></p><p></p><p>As she walked, she felt footfalls behind her. A gentle turn of her head revealed the dark mop of hair that marked the family’s official manservant, Hemmel.</p><p></p><p>“Ah... Hemmel,” she said with little warmth in her voice. She was too focused on her future words to Valaron. She motioned him to come alongside, and despite her shorter height, Hemmel had to adopt a brisk walk to keep up with her strides.</p><p></p><p>“Majesty,” he gave a partial bow while on the move.</p><p></p><p>“I’m just on my way to give Val another lecture on responsibility. It seems he skipped the latter part of the ball, despite my urgings!” she growled, her eyes flashing towards him. She caught a slight change in his face when she mentioned the ball, and mentally growled again. <em>Your job, Hemmel, was to watch him there. You said he was going to stay when we saw him up on the balcony, but he skipped. I know he’s a close friend of yours, but...</em> she sighed.</p><p></p><p>“I am terribly sorry, Majesty,” Hemmel replied, seemingly flustered. “I thought for <em>sure</em> that he would remain at the ball and properly entertain guests until the end.” Siabrey wasn’t sure, but something in his voice told her he was sure of the exact opposite.</p><p></p><p>“Listen,” she stopped, turning to face the servant, “I know you’re close to Val. That’s why I asked <em>you</em> to urge him to stay and make sure he did!” She gave another exasperated sigh. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t fire you over something like this. Val likes you too much. But I <em>would</em> appreciate you watching him more carefully when you’re asked to.” Siabrey had never adopted a patronizing tone with the servants, and her matter-of-fact method of talking and treating them had earned her the respect and devotion of the vast majority of the palace servants.</p><p></p><p>“I will, Majesty,” Hemmel replied. And she detected it again, another slight halt in his voice. <em>Why does he have that little halt? Maybe something is wrong with him today... he doesn’t usually halt like that when replying.</em> She looked at his body, and saw that he was in a state of what looked to be <em>forced</em> relaxation... his muscles were secretly tensed up. </p><p></p><p><em>He’s nervous! He thinks he’s in major trouble!</em> her mind realized, and she gave him a genuine smile when they started moving again. </p><p></p><p>“Hemmel, you are a good manservant. Just try to listen to us more carefully than Val sometimes, okay?” she smiled, and she saw him relax slightly at her statement.</p><p></p><p>The pair rounded one of the innumerable corners in the immense palace, and Siabrey’s surprised eyes suddenly found the equally surprised eyes of Valaron and Vintressa, both stopped in mid-stride towards the two.</p><p></p><p>By her children’s face, Siabrey immediately knew something was not right. Their eyes were wide with seeming horror and terror... far more than they should have been if it had merely been disobedient children seeing their mother. Her hand instinctively slid from resting on Kelir’s pommel to slightly gripping the sword’s hilt.</p><p></p><p><em>”Something is wrong, Siabrey! Something is very wrong!”</em> Kelir mentally shouted.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Emperor Valerian, post: 1591037, member: 15043"] “Where is she?” Vintressa asked her brother worriedly. “What can be keeping her so long?” She started pacing, yet again. Before the night was out, Valaron was sure his sister would wear ruts into the floor of his room. “Maybe she got held up by someone,” Valaron offered hopefully. [i]Maybe she got distracted... maybe she had to shed some people following her...[/i] “Maybe she got caught,” Vintressa uttered in a frightened voice. [i]If that is the case... they may have struck her down... and maybe struck our parents down as well![/i] Vintressa shuddered. They had locked themselves up in Valaron’s room for some time; the large, ornate clock on one wall of his room spoke that it was two hours till midnight. “Don’t talk like that Vin,” Valaron chided, even as his own heart had many of the same misgivings. “She got away... I know she did,” Val growled, rising to his own feet. [i]She’s too smart! And if she got her hands on that nasty whip Vin described... there’s no way they could take her out! I just know it![/i] Vin’s mind normally might have hung on Val’s firm statement as a sign of something, but instead, she was too worried about her friend and her family to focus on such little things. Instead, her eyes looked about the room intently. “Do you have a rapier in here? Or a dagger?” Vintressa asked, her voice losing its fear and filling with determination. She went to one corner of the room which had a drawer, filled with antique swords that Valaron had collected to admire. “Wait,” Val called, before rushing to his sister’s side. Normally it would have been to either chide her for disturbing his valuables, or to lecture her on the history of a blade, but this day he immediately pulled open the third drawer from the top, and reached inside. Within a few seconds, a rose colored blade appeared as he pulled Heart’s Rose from what was intended as its final resting place. “That’s... ‘Uncle’ Shaun’s sword!” Vin started, grasping the blade revertly, her eyes wide. “He went and bought himself a more powerful one... it dances around if he lets go of it. He had no use for this one, and his son didn’t want it. So he gave it to me to put in my collection about two months ago.” Vintressa only half listened to her brother, instead she held the blade out at arms length, feeling its heft and balance in her arm. Rather cautiously, she gave an initial swing, letting her mind and arms adjust to the blade they first became familiar with. After feeling the first swing, she brought the blade around, and swung again, and again. Harder and faster each swing came, as she allowed the momentum of the previous slash to carry her into the next one. The pink blade danced through the air, singing the lovely swishing sound of a rapier slicing about. Finally, she settled in, and from memory, conducted a series of parries, thrusts and slashes she had practiced every day since her ‘Uncle’ had shown them to her. When the last slash finished and she gripped the blade firmly, pointed out at arm’s length, Vintressa heard a little gasp beside her. She turned, and gave a brief grin to her brother’s mouth agape. “Close your mouth, Val, it’s impolite,” the quipped. Glancing down at the blade, she added, “It’s got the same balance it had when I was learning with it, though this dress still gets in the way.” She gave a grunt of disapproval, before grabbing the sleeves, and ripping them off. “That’s better.” “Vin... I... um...” “Are impressed?” she finished his statement, before reaching into the drawer and pulling out the relevant scabbard as weell. “Two years of practice. I’m surprised mom never told you. I know I intended it to be a surprise, otherwise you would have accused me of trying to copy you!” “What, exactly, are you planning on doing with that blade?” her brother asked guardedly. “Well,” Vin sighed, “seeing that I am guessing they have caught and hurt poor Raven, this needs to end now. I am going to find mom or dad, whichever does not have Hemmel with them, and alert them. Then, we take out Hemmel.” The last part was delivered in a deadpan, the voice Vintressa took when she was utterly determined to see something through. She inherited that stubbornness from her mother. “So you’re going to take on Hemmel, with no armor, and only a rapier?” Valaron raised an eyebrow, before sliding the open door shut. “My, and they say I inherited mom’s tendency for recklessness.” He started opening the drawer below it. “It’s not reckless as long as you come with! The two of us can hold him off long enough that [i]someone[/i] should be able to respond!” Vintressa replied in the same deadpan, “Or have you gotten lax in practicing with your swordplay?” The final part was delivered with a slight smirk... a challenge. “No, I haven’t,” Val replied gruffly, pulling out a rather large, dull greenish-gray sword. Gently he hefted the blade upwards, closing his eyes, feeling its weight. He flipped the sword so it rested on his outstretched plams, and looked at the chips along its top, tiny bits of chitin from the armored hide of a monstrous spider still lodged in the small chips along its upper length. “Father’s old blade will do.” “Now, we can’t just tramp through the palace with weapons drawn,” Vintressa added, seeing the massive side of the bastard sword Val held in his hands. “We need subtlety.” She slipped the rapier scabbard around her waist, and the blade into its holding area. “I can cover my blade with a little short lived magic... can you do the same or have you-“ Valaron turned, and the large sword that was in his hands seemed to have disappeared, as did the scabbard around his waist. “There are people other than you that have mastered the ability to change one’s appearance,” Val smiled. “Of course, I can’t pull Raven’s idea and turn myself into a gnome. Though after we take care of Hemmel... assuming we can,” Val’s smile vanished, and his voice became serious, “what do we do then? Of course we’ll go after House Erelion, but what about the Fire Stone? If its out there...” “I haven’t planned that far ahead Val,” Vintressa confessed. “I’m playing this... as Aunt Tess would say, ‘by ear.’” Raven, Royukgan and Aegrifyr, after some ten minutes of traversing the depths of the Academy, finally reached the wizard’s personal office and laboratory... a view that caused both Raven and Royukgan to give a slight gasp of wonder. The room, on ground level, was cavernous in height, even as its floor area was rather small. Enormously tall bookcases, filled with tomes and writings, rose some twenty feet into the air, touching the room’s ceiling. Seemingly hanging in mid-air were numerous specimens of strange animals that neither youth had seen before. Dark torchlight gave the entire room an eerie glow. “Here you are,” Aegrifyr said as with the snap of his fingers, the would-be assassin found himself dropped to the ground. The wizard then pried the dagger from the man’s immobile hands, and proceeded to bind him up with simple rope. When he looked up and saw the two youths questioning looks at his using simple rope to restrain the man, Aegrifyr gave them a smile. “Its always good to have a non-magical backup,” he spoke. He then turned to a case laying on the floor nearby. Both Raven and Royukgan crowded close as he opened it, wanting to see the undoubted wonders inside. All manners of spell components were inside this simple wooden box, ranigng from roc feathers, newt eyes, and other animal appendanges. Aegrifyr’s hand wandered around for a bit, before setting on the tongue of a salamander, and some honey oil. The wizard then gave a grunt of satisfaction, and turned back to the prisoner. “You will shortly, tell me everything you know,” he said to the [i]held[/i] man, as he dipped the tongue in the oil, and muttered a few simple words. The twisting magic of enchantment was not as visible or spectacular as the spell Vin used earlier, but transmutation spells were usually visual in nature. Despite not being able to see it, Raven and Royukgan, with their tenative young links to the world of magic, could [i]sense[/i] the sinews of the planes of magic flowing from the concoction in Aegrifyr’s hands and into the man’s mouth. “Tell me, good sir, about yourself, your employers, and everyone you know that seeks the same results as your fellow assassins,” the wizard said gruffly. A gentle wave of the wizard’s hand released him from the [i]holding[/i] spell that had kept him unable to move. The man sputtered briefly at his freedom, his eyes all the while on the wizard. At first, they were wide with defiance, but it took only a few seconds for the magic to seep into the man’s will to resist, sapping it of all strength. His voice, cracked and weak, finally spoke out. “My... name is Philberon Ulmis,” the man began. “I work for the Baron Darien, of House Erelion,” he started. He then began listing the names of his two, less fortunate compatriots. He blurted out that they had been instructed to follow Raven, and should the situation look right, kill her quietly. As he spoke, Aegrifyr turned to Raven. “Do you two know any more than this? Why they were after you?” he said quietly, clearly dissatisfied with the man’s mere regurgitation of names and mission. He wanted to know [i]why[/i] they wanted to kill her. It was serious business to him if one of his students was threatened... and while Raven was not the most gifted of his pupils, she was one of [i]his[/i] pupils! “Yes,” Raven bowed her head. “House Erelion is currently threatening the Vintressa. I,” she looked at Royukgan, watching his mouth open in shock and rage, “came back to fetch Vintressa’s equipment. They...” “...were following you. I saw them trailing a small gnome I had not seen before, hence me stopping you. I followed you upstairs, remaining invisible. They almost got past me... fortunately you all seemed very capable of defending yourselves with non-magical means,” the wizard said dryly. He held a wrinkled hand to his beard, and stroked it in thought. “Well, that explains why they were after you. And we can now raise the alarm. After all, we can’t have hooligans running about threatening one of my students, especially the one that’s the Emperor’s daughter,” he started out, only to find Raven’s hand clasped around his arm like a vise. “No! Don’t!” she yelped, before swallowing the gulp that filled her throat. Seeing her teacher’s look of confusion, she stuttered for a few moments before blurting out, “they have assassins in place close to...” [i]Tell him![/i] part of her mind yelled. [i]He is a powerful mage! He can help immensely![/i] [i]But Vintressa said it was a security risk if anyone knew an assassin has gotten so close to the Emperor and Empress![/i] another part of her mind remembered. For a second or two, she stuttered in confusion. “...the Emperor!” she finally told the truth. “They told us they would kill His Majesty if we tried to warn anyone,” her voice cracked slightly, and her eyes became pregnant with tears. [i]I just told someone! If they find out, they’ll kill Uncle Luke and Aunt Siabrey![/i] The wizard saw her face, and gently put a hand close to it. His eyes reflected understanding at her worry and fear, and he quietly started to shush her as a muffled cry rose from her frightened lips. “No one will know, sshh,” he said quietly, wrapping his arms around her in a fatherly fashion, even as his own mind grew fearful of the information he had just learned. Normally, mere academics such as himself stayed out of Imperial politics... but it was very apparent that he’d been sucked in far deeper than he thought. Thinking ahead, he looked over her shoulder to the still wide eyed Royukgan, his voice appearing in the boy’s head. [i]”Go hide the other two bodies in their room securely. They must not be discovered. I shall remove them at a later date. Go!”[/i] his eyes flashed towards the door. Royukgan ran. Empress Siabrey Sipner-Caladron was in a less than pleasant mood. The ball supposedly for her son was still an hour from ending, and yet neither Valaron nor Vintressa, the two socialites that were supposed to grace the rest with their presence, were nowhere in sight. [i]When I see that boy, I’m going to have to have another long talk with him about responsibility,[/i] she sighed as she came up more of the ornately decorated halls and alcoves of the palace. [i]I can’t blame him for not liking those affairs... but he NEEDS to be there, at the very least to keep the nobility happy![/i] It required sacrifice, to be sure. Siabrey, at this moment, would have much preferred her old traveling outfit, her simple tunic and jerkins, to the costume she felt was overly ornate. She had never really [i]liked[/i] dresses, and the only items of such clothing she enjoyed were ones her dear husband bought for her. Even then, she liked them more because they were gifts from Lucius, not because they were dresses. Yet here she was, in the 17th year of her reign, still wearing dresses... albeit ones that were rather loose and allowed her the freedom of movement her fighter muscles were used to. The nobles had raised too much of a stink for her to not wear one. She’d given in, and compromised to keep the peace. [i]That’s what being Empress, and being Crown Prince, is about, it seems. Keeping the damn peace,[/i] her mind growled. [i]”He is being independent minded, Siabrey,”[/i] a gentle voice in her head reminded her, and she instinctively ran her hand along the rough, sandhog skin of her katana, Kelir. [i]”I do remember you were that way once... sometimes I think your mother let you start practicing with me to focus your independent spirit!”[/i] the sword added. [i]”Well, its not like he doesn’t get to practice with sword and magic to focus HIM,”[/i] Siabrey rejoined mentally. It had taken practice, but a few years of people staring at her funny when she spoke aloud to her blade had taught her to merely mentally relay her words to it. [i]”True,”[/i] the blade answered in a laughing voice, [i]”Talk to him about it... you are reasonable at times, and he is your blood...”[/i] Siabrey gave a mental eyeroll at the sword’s slight critique of her personality, and continued her march down the corridors to her son’s room. [i]Yes, he’ll be reasonable because it is his mother that will be talking to him about this. If I can’t fix that idea in his head, maybe he’ll have to talk to Luke again...[/i] As she walked, she felt footfalls behind her. A gentle turn of her head revealed the dark mop of hair that marked the family’s official manservant, Hemmel. “Ah... Hemmel,” she said with little warmth in her voice. She was too focused on her future words to Valaron. She motioned him to come alongside, and despite her shorter height, Hemmel had to adopt a brisk walk to keep up with her strides. “Majesty,” he gave a partial bow while on the move. “I’m just on my way to give Val another lecture on responsibility. It seems he skipped the latter part of the ball, despite my urgings!” she growled, her eyes flashing towards him. She caught a slight change in his face when she mentioned the ball, and mentally growled again. [i]Your job, Hemmel, was to watch him there. You said he was going to stay when we saw him up on the balcony, but he skipped. I know he’s a close friend of yours, but...[/i] she sighed. “I am terribly sorry, Majesty,” Hemmel replied, seemingly flustered. “I thought for [i]sure[/i] that he would remain at the ball and properly entertain guests until the end.” Siabrey wasn’t sure, but something in his voice told her he was sure of the exact opposite. “Listen,” she stopped, turning to face the servant, “I know you’re close to Val. That’s why I asked [i]you[/i] to urge him to stay and make sure he did!” She gave another exasperated sigh. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t fire you over something like this. Val likes you too much. But I [i]would[/i] appreciate you watching him more carefully when you’re asked to.” Siabrey had never adopted a patronizing tone with the servants, and her matter-of-fact method of talking and treating them had earned her the respect and devotion of the vast majority of the palace servants. “I will, Majesty,” Hemmel replied. And she detected it again, another slight halt in his voice. [i]Why does he have that little halt? Maybe something is wrong with him today... he doesn’t usually halt like that when replying.[/i] She looked at his body, and saw that he was in a state of what looked to be [i]forced[/i] relaxation... his muscles were secretly tensed up. [i]He’s nervous! He thinks he’s in major trouble![/i] her mind realized, and she gave him a genuine smile when they started moving again. “Hemmel, you are a good manservant. Just try to listen to us more carefully than Val sometimes, okay?” she smiled, and she saw him relax slightly at her statement. The pair rounded one of the innumerable corners in the immense palace, and Siabrey’s surprised eyes suddenly found the equally surprised eyes of Valaron and Vintressa, both stopped in mid-stride towards the two. By her children’s face, Siabrey immediately knew something was not right. Their eyes were wide with seeming horror and terror... far more than they should have been if it had merely been disobedient children seeing their mother. Her hand instinctively slid from resting on Kelir’s pommel to slightly gripping the sword’s hilt. [i]”Something is wrong, Siabrey! Something is very wrong!”[/i] Kelir mentally shouted. [/QUOTE]
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