A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 549 The Expected Enemy - Part 7

Oliver did not reply. He didn't seem willing to. He leaned his back against the wall aimlessly, with no word for anyone now that he was sure Verdant would be safe. If the others had not been there, his eyes might have drifted shut, and he might have fallen to sleep amongst the dead.

"Thank you for that information, Jorah," Asabel said, surprising the retainer by her remembrance of his name. "You were right to fear expressing such things. It is a taboo amongst underage nobles, but more than that for the Serving Class. There are some amongst the nobility that would target you for that, under the guise that it is knowledge beyond your station.

Do be careful – and I thank you nonetheless."

Jorah nodded hesitantly. "If I might be so bold, Your Highness..." he motioned to the bodies. "Who are they? And why? I mean not their names, but their purpose. It doesn't make sense to me.

Oliver Patrick has not done anything worth assassinating him over, has he? For all I know, he's done battle with the Yarmdon – but these can't be Yarmdon-employed men, can they?"

"I fear that they are not," Asabel said with a shake of her head. "Things would be much simpler if they were. Despite your question, I fear to answer it, even amongst our small group. This is a matter to be handled by the Ministers. But know this – I will get to the bottom of this, and I will do my utmost to make sure that such a thing never happens again."

Lancelot twisted his lips. "I fear your efforts there might be wasted, my Lady... If this failed – an attempt this large. They will not try such a tactic again. If they could not claim his life through assassination, it will be through other means that they try."

"...And there too we will crush them," Verdant said in a hoarse voice, as his eyes flickered back open.

With the stretcher-bearers, there came Asabel's soldiers, ten of them, armoured with spears in hands. Though their yellow shirts were still visible beneath, labelling them as the students that they were, they seemed to have an aura similar to the real thing. That fierce stoic determination to carry out their duty. They were quality retainers, as one would expect from royalty.

The students that had begun to clammer at the ends of the corridor were forced back, though they could still peer over the men's shoulders, if they strained hard enough. Rumour soon spread of what had happened, just as Asabel had predicted it would. There was no way they could stop it. What even would have been the worth in stopping it.

Oliver sighed, drawing himself upright. He'd been sat for long enough that his legs ached. Though it was not yet particularly late into the evening, nor had he exerted himself all that much, he still found himself feeling peculiarly tired. His bed would have been more than welcome then – to dive under its covers and pretend that nothing had happened.

The stresses of the past two days were catching up to him. It was hard to get more stressful, but by the looks of it, he wouldn't be getting his time to rest anytime soon.

His clothes were ruthlessly drenched in blood. It would likely be impossible to get the stains out. He hadn't been cut, though, he supposed that was a small mercy. Perhaps this Academy had some sort of high-level washing facility, in the same way that it seemed to excel in so many other areas.

If there was ever a place to find a good technique for removing blood from clothes, it would likely have been here.

"Crikey..." A snippet of conversation between the others drifted on over to Oliver. He looked over. Karesh and Kaya had arrived – he didn't know when they'd even been sent for. Now they were surveying the scene, staring at Oliver, and then urgently checking with Jorah to make sure that he was uninjured.

"Poisoned weapons, they got Verdant. Her Highness cured him though – he should be fine, after a little rest," Jorah was explaining to them as Oliver listened in.

"Man... Man... This is insane," Karesh said, looking at the scene. "Fuck. We should have been here. What the hell were we doing? Why didn't we come?"