The voice Leon and Minerva heard emanating from Trajan’s clothes stunned them completely. It also took them right out of their fugue states, and as soon as they recovered, they subtly glanced at each other, knowing exactly who that voice belonged to.

Minerva jerked her head toward the rest of the warehouse—the very crowded warehouse—and Leon briefly nodded. The two then glanced back at Trajan’s body for a moment before Leon stepped back, an expression of anger and confusion upon his face. He averted his gaze, took a few pacing steps back and forth before stopping a few feet behind Minerva. Conveniently, he happened to block her from view from just about everyone else in the warehouse.

For her part, Minerva took a deep, steadying breath, then kneeled in front of the Prince, completely disregarding the blood she was getting on her pants as she did so. She laid a hand on Trajan’s chest, right below the hole where his sternum and heart used to be, and then leaned in to whisper something in Trajan’s ear.

If anyone else in the warehouse were paying any attention to Leon and Minerva at this moment, they would’ve seen nothing except Leon looking furious and Minerva whispering to Trajan. With those distractions, it would be incredibly difficult to notice Minerva’s hand momentarily slip in and out of Trajan’s breast pocket, and the briefest flash of light as something was pulled into her soul realm. Given how many people were in the warehouse, Minerva thought it likely that someone was watching them, thus the need for the deception.

Once she had taken the object, she quickly stood back up.

“Let’s go,” Minerva said to Leon, and the younger man followed the older woman toward the door. As they went, the other knights in Trajan’s retinue that were present noticed and followed them out, including Alix.

Both Leon and Minerva were dead quiet, and none of the knights were going to break that silence. None of them had seen what their leaders had, not even Alix. Instead, they took Leon and Minerva’s silence as shocked grief, rather than subdued anger and curiosity.

Neither were going to be succumbing to grief anytime soon. There was a time and a place for that, and once they recovered from their initial shock, they knew that their circumstances were too dire to waste on grief.

‘Trajan wouldn’t have wanted us to lose our lives to grief, anyway,’ Leon thought as he glanced back at the warehouse as he and the rest of the knights exited. Perhaps it was his imagination—though he didn’t think it was—but he felt more than a few pairs of eyeballs on their procession as they left the ambush site.

Almost coincidentally, as they were walking away, a carriage happened to fly past them, one bearing the sigil of House Taurus. Whether it was August, Octavius, Antonius, or Princess Stefania within, no one stopped to see. Instead, they continued walking away without a word.

It was only once they had broken the cordon that the Legion had established around the ambush site that Minerva broke their silence, and even then, it was only to whisper a quick question to Leon.

“Have you finished those defensive wards you were going to put up around your villa?” she asked.

“I did,” Leon simply replied.

“Then we’ll go there. Mine isn’t so fortified,” Minerva replied, to which Leon nodded.

They made for a strange sight walking down the streets and into the noble district. They were a group of about a dozen relatively strong mages practically parading down the streets with military discipline and grim expressions. No one got in their way, but they attracted more than a few stares.

They noticed this, especially Leon with his head on a swivel as he did his best to try and see if they were being followed. He didn’t notice anything of note on that front, but he did happen to pick up on a slightly familiar aura. It was faint and nearly imperceptible, but he had been immersed in it long enough that it was unmistakable: he could sense Naiad’s power, and he knew she was keeping an eye on them from afar.

It irked him a bit to be watched, but since it was Naiad, he let it slide, especially given the circumstances. He knew that he’d be in for a great deal of questioning from Elise if his first lover were still home, which he thought was quite likely.

The walk home was, itself, uneventful. No one stopped them and Leon was unable to pick up on any obvious tails. However, Leon didn’t feel secure until their group finally approached his gate, which opened automatically to admit him entrance. Leon was particularly proud of that little feat, though it did require him to study a bit about blood magic. He’d had to preserve a drop of his blood in a hollow glass orb and keep it in a small storage closet that he’d retrofitted into the control center for the villa’s enchantments. As he approached the villa, his drop of blood in the ball would subtly vibrate, activating the enchantment, and thus, opening the gate.

There were certainly other applications for such enchantments, including remote control of the enchantments in his villa, but Leon had yet to figure that out—from what he’d been able to glean so far, taking advantage of this phenomenon was easy, but actively controlling it was another matter entirely. By his own estimation, it would take a long time to figure out how to remotely control enchantments.

The gate was an experiment. It could automatically open when he arrived, but he’d have to close it himself. When he left, he also had to open and close it himself. Still, that he got this far was remarkable to both Xaphan and the Thunderbird, the closest things he had to proper instructors in the arts of enchanting.

Upon leading the troupe of knights into his home, Leon found both Elise and Naiad waiting for him. Both were dressed to impress—likely because Naiad had been watching them the entire journey back—and were ready to play host to their guests.

Given the seriousness of the situation, though, Leon didn’t waste time on pleasantries.

“Were we followed?” he asked Naiad.

[Nothing out of the ordinary,] Naiad answered with a sly smile. With her at his side, Leon had already learned that the villa was constantly being watched by various people, but so far, he hadn’t been able to follow up on that information. Not even Naiad could track them too far within the city, and with the likelihood of them working with the man who had fought her to a standstill, Leon wasn’t confident in directly confronting them. It aggravated him, but his villa was secure, and it was private. They could only track his comings and goings, not what he did within his own home. At least, as far as he knew.

But at least it seemed that no one besides the usual people were watching them.

It was a bit suspicious to the rest of the knights why Leon was asking her, since they couldn’t perceive her power level, but Alix knew about how strong Naiad was and Minerva could see that the river nymph was stronger than her; no questions were asked, and all simply went along with it when Minerva seemed to accept Naiad’s answer.

Minerva wasted no more time, sitting down at Leon’s dining table. Leon, Elise, and Naiad sat down with her, while the rest of the knights stood by, politely refusing Elise’s offer of drinks or seats.

With a wave of her hand, Minerva revealed what she had retrieved from Trajan’s corpse that had so affected her and Leon that it had jolted them out of their shock at the Prince’s death. To neither her nor Leon’s surprise, it was a small but brilliant ruby set into an onyx plate.

It was the vessel that held the magic body of Caecilius, the founder of the Bluefire Guild and seventh-tier mage that had died centuries ago.

Naiad, Elise, and the rest of the knights, on the other hand, were quite shocked at her behavior. Trajan had kept his possession of the Bluefire Guild founder quite low-key, and few knew that he had the gem.

“Explain,” Minerva curtly demanded of the gem.

Everyone else’s confusion about the immediate situation was quickly answered when, seemingly from within the depths of the ruby, came a clear, if aged, voice.

“His Highness was lured away from the palace, and he was ambushed by elements of the 1st Legion led by Petrus Duronius!” the voice said.

Leon’s rage surged, but he kept his cool. Glancing at Minerva, he could see his anger mirrored in her eyes, but like him, she kept it under control.

The waiting knights, conversely, were a bit less restrained as they swore and cursed under their breath.

“Are you sure of this?” Minerva quietly and seriously asked, instantly quieting down the members—or, at this point, former members—of Trajan’s retinue.

“Prince Trajan identified him by name, and I saw with my magic senses a few knights who wore the insignia of the 1st Legion,” Caecilius responded.

“… Who is this?” a very confused Elise quietly asked Leon.

Leon quickly filled her, and the rest of the knights by proxy, in on who Caecilius was and how Trajan came to possess his gem.

[Interesting little trinket…] Naiad absentmindedly whispered into Leon’s head, and he saw something that might have been envy flash across her stoic and disinterested face.

Fury passed through the faces of the waiting knights. One of Octavius’ followers killed their Prince! It was unthinkable, it was borderline heresy in the Bull Kingdom to harm one with the blood of the Sacred Bull.

And yet, their Prince was dead. It was almost impossible to fathom, but all had seen Trajan’s corpse. He was gone.

Containing his own rapidly rising anger, Leon took a deep breath and asked everyone present, “What do we do now?”

“There’s going to be an investigation, we take this ‘Caecilius’ testimony to whoever is leading it!” one knight vehemently advocated.

“If a Paladin was involved in our Prince’s death, then there’s definitely more going on, no way there’s going to be a clean investigation!” another knight denied.

“Then what do you suggest?!” the first knight demanded.

“That we respond in kind!” the second responded. “They murdered our Prince in cold blood! We should do the same! Earthshaker is Octavius’ creature, so let’s go to wherever he is and show him that his actions have consequences!”

“One Prince is dead,” a third knight chimed in, “and you would suggest we kill another?!”

“Why not? Prince Trajan is allied… was allied with Prince August, if we kill Octavius, then are we not fulfilling Prince Trajan’s will?”

“Murder is not the solution to murder!” a fourth knight spoke up.

“We must let the courts decide,” added a fifth. “Revenge is all well and good, and that will always be an option, but we must give the Arbiters their day. Prince Trajan fought all his life for peace and justice in this Kingdom, and I, for one, do not believe that rampaging through our Kingdom’s capital killing his family fulfills his will!”

“I agree,” a sixth knight said. “However, if justice does not prevail, then it is our duty to bring it to those responsible.”

“The murder of a Prince already indicates that justice is long lost to us,” the second knight bitterly stated. “However… I suppose I can agree with giving it a chance.”

Leon remained silent during this debate. For his part, he fully agreed with the second knight, at least to an extent. His first instinct was to gather together Trajan’s old retinue, find where the Earthshaker Paladin rested his head at night, and then slay him in his sleep. However, it seemed that most of the other knights had other intentions. They had internalized Trajan’s ideals better, and the way they were speaking made it seem like Leon wasn’t going to see his revenge on that front anytime soon.

In fact, it brought some amount of shame when he considered the fact that they were actually right; Trajan would not want such wild violence wrought against these people, especially not against his young nephews. He was a man who responded quickly to threats and wasn’t averse to using force, but his desires were for peace and justice, not blood feuds and lawlessness—those were among the things he had worked his entire life trying to eradicate.

Minerva, during all of this, remained quiet and stoic, simply listening. Her face was inscrutable, her opinion unreadable. She didn’t seem ready to speak, so Leon decided to throw in his two cents first.

“Waiting for the courts is one thing,” he said, his deep, smooth voice instantly quieting the room, “preparing for what seems inevitable is another. To kill a Prince is serious, and no doubt there is more to whatever it is they’re planning. We must be ready for anything, and we must prepare for every eventuality. I, for one, do not believe that we’ll find much justice for Trajan in the courts, and so if we are going to wait for the Arbiters to weigh the evidence and make their judgments, then we should use that time to prepare for the eventuality that things do not go our way.”

“What are you suggesting, specifically?” Minerva asked, her voice quiet but carrying immense weight.

“We look into this matter ourselves. See if we can dig up something more substantial than the word of a dead man.”

“My word is as good as gold!” Caecilius loudly declared, but Leon ignored him and continued on regardless.

“We find whoever it is who’s responsible, and prepare to act against them if this investigation isn’t clean. We also prepare for any further moves against us.”

“And not just us,” Minerva said, giving voice to her own concerns for the first time, “we should also assume that something will happen with August. Prince Trajan was his biggest supporter, and with him gone, Prince August will be left vulnerable. Someone will try to exploit that vulnerability, regardless of how involved they were in Prince Trajan’s murder. We must decide how to deal with Prince August moving forward, whether to ally with him or not.”

The knights all nodded their agreement.

“So, here’s what we’re going to do,” Minerva said as she stood up. “We’re going to prepare for war, while hoping for peace. I want all knights loaned that are out to other units recalled. We should have twelve hundred of Prince Trajan’s knights here with us in the city, another three hundred or so helping with peace keeping efforts. The remaining five hundred of the retinue are back at Ariminium. We recall everyone here, send word to Constantine at the Horns of what just happened and to be ready for trouble. We also need to ensure that Prince Trajan’s body is guarded round-the-clock. We’ve already left it unattended for too long…

“And another thing, I don’t want anyone attacking Octavius! Without irrefutable proof, doing so would lead to nothing more than charges of treason!” Minerva’s eyes darted between the knights, but they lingered for just a moment longer than everyone else when they turned in Leon’s direction. “Even if we succeeded in bypassing Octavius’ entire retinue and two Paladins, the Kingdom would be honor-bound to send you to the headsman for the murder of a Prince! No one kills Royals without severe consequences!” The knights nodded, with even Leon agreeing to this demand, at least for the time being.

With an understanding established, Minerva rapidly began to give out more orders to the knights, sending the four sixth-tier knights she had with her to return to Trajan’s side and guard his body until a more permanent guard detail could be established. The rest of the knights, including Alix, were deployed as messengers and sent to those who could recall all of Prince Trajan’s retinue back to the city, to ensure they had the capacity to respond to any aggressive moves.

Lastly, after everyone else had left, she turned to Leon.

“Ursus,” she said, looking at Leon very intently. The two were calm, focused, and sharp as blades. Fury was mirrored in their eyes, as was intense determination. “I want you to stay here. Lady Elise, if you could, I would like your help to ensure that Sir Leon doesn’t do anything reckless and stupid while we wait for things to happen.”

“He’ll stay here for the time being,” Elise said, nodding to Minerva.

“I have to speak with Lapis, at least,” Leon protested, though since he understood where Minerva was coming from, he didn’t push too much. “Having a stone giant ready to fight with us would be an immense help.

“Do that, but do no more,” Minerva said. “If possible, I’d like to use your villa as our meeting point. I don’t think any of our other estates are as well defended as yours is right now…”

“Works for me…” Leon said, looking to Elise and Naiad for their opinions. Elise nodded her assent and Naiad shrugged noncommittally, so it was essentially an agreement all around.

“Good. We need to see what happens now, and be ready to respond accordingly,” Minerva repeated. “I’m not sure if I can keep the retinue together, but we have to do what we can to avenge His Highness…”

“Out of curiosity, what are you going to do?” Leon asked.

“Keep us organized. Keep us together,” Minerva said. “The knights followed His Highness, not me, I don’t have the resources to pay them as Prince Trajan could. I have to find a way to keep all of us cohesive if we are to effectively deal with Earthshaker, Octavius, and whoever else might be involved. It shouldn’t longer than a couple of weeks to consolidate our forces, but even that might be too long. Just in case, be ready for anything that might happen before then.”

Leon nodded in understanding, and with nothing more to discuss, Minerva took her leave. It was going to be an interesting few days, and she had to get as quick a start on it as possible.

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