“This is a damned shitshow,” Roland muttered as he and Brimstone arrived at Leon’s villa.

“Tell me about it,” his fellow Paladin said, no trace of any of the usual scorn in Brimstone’s voice or attitude that Roland usually received due to being a Paladin both beneath the seventh-tier and unconfirmed by the King. “How’s your family doing, by the way?” Brimstone asked as the two waited for Leon to open the gates and let them inside.

“Well enough,” Roland said. “My son is healthy, my wife is happy, and the business is making money. Nothing to complain about.”

“Good to hear, but I would’ve figured you would’ve looked into getting them out of the city, given what seems to be on the horizon…”

“I have, and they should already be on their way to Ariminium. They left this morning.”

Brimstone nodded in appreciation of Roland’s foresight. His own family had been all-but forced to side with Octavius, even though his cousin, the Duchess of Vesontio, hadn’t been too keen on doing so. However, Octavius’ allies surrounded their lands, and they hadn’t the strength to fight them all off. However, she had also requested that he support August, which was the main reason why he continued to do so even under these trying conditions.

The gates opened, and Leon emerged from the front door of his villa. The two Paladins left their retainers at the gates and proceeded into the villa alone. Upon entering, they found that only six people were present, including themselves. They expected Leon and Minerva but were surprised to see Elise and a young silver-haired woman also in attendance.

“Lady Elise!” Brimstone exclaimed in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here!”

“Why weren’t you? This is my home, after all!” Elise responded with a glowing smile. Before either Roland or Brimstone could respond, she immediately went into hospitality mode, saying, “Please make yourselves comfortable! Do you two need anything? A drink, perhaps?”

“No, but thank you,” Brimstone said. “I would prefer to get down to business as soon as possible.”

“Indeed, we don’t have much time,” Roland said.

The two Paladins proceeded to take a pair of offered seats at the dining table along with Minerva and the other silver-haired woman, with Leon and Elise following shortly after. Notably, Leon, Elise, and the other woman all sat on one side, while Minerva, Roland, and Brimstone all sat on the other.

“So,” Minerva said once everyone had situated themselves, “where do we stand? Are we ready in case things go sideways tomorrow?”

“We’re as ready as we can ever be,” Brimstone replied. “Our forces are gathered and ready for violence if need be.”

“No word from August?” Leon asked.

“They’ve not allowed visitors,” Roland said. “We haven’t even been able to slip a message in with his food, we don’t even know if he’s still alive at this point.”

“That’s unfortunate,” Minerva said, “but I’d say it’s very unlikely that he’s dead. If he were, Octavius would’ve made an announcement, as it would essentially eliminate all of his current competition for the throne. I’d even wager that he has the support to get away with it, too.”

“Then why keep August alive? Just have him killed and claim he took his own life,” Leon thought aloud.

“Perhaps to appear legitimate, to allow the courts to condemn August and keep his own hands clean,” Brimstone said. “If Prince August were to mysteriously wind up dead before ever making it to trial, then Octavius would have that cloud hanging over him for the rest of his life. Better to have Prince August killed legally than illegally if he can afford it.”

Leon rolled his eyes at these political games, but he paid it little more mind. He figured that if Octavius had already murdered Trajan, then he wouldn’t balk that much at ordering August’s death, but Brimstone’s explanation did make some sense to him.

“So, operating under the assumption that August remains among the living and that his trial will still start tomorrow, where are we with the rest of the preparations?” Minerva asked, looking to Leon.

“I think we can get Princess Cristina and Lady Isabelle, August and Cristina’s mother, out of the harem with only a few hours’ notice,” Leon said as he looked toward Valeria, and the silver-haired woman nodded in agreement.

“And this is…?” Roland asked with a friendly smile.

“A friend,” Leon replied, bringing a smile to the faces of both Valeria and Elise.

“Anything more concrete than that?” Minerva asked. “If you didn’t intend to introduce her to us, why have here in the first place?”

Leon fought back a scowl, but he silently acknowledged that Minerva was right; if he hadn’t intended to involve Valeria even further in this, then he would’ve insisted on her staying out of the room during the meeting. Instead, she sat right next to him.

Again, Leon looked to Valeria for one last confirmation; she’d wanted to be here, and as his knight, she had some right to demand that. She was essentially his second-in-command, even if his command amounted to her and her alone. She wasn’t his slave, and as such, his official business was hers, too.

Upon getting another slight nod from her indicating that she was still fine with her identity and involvement being known to these people, he said, “This is Valeria Isynos, daughter of Justin Isynos, and until recently, a member of the Royal Guard in charge of protecting the Royal harem.”

“I see…” Minerva said with some trepidation and understandable mistrust. “I trust your judgment Ursus,” she continued, though Leon had some doubts as to how much she actually meant the statement, “but I would’ve liked some more heads-up about her being here before we began.”

Leon shrugged and gave her a light smile. If it had been a problem, she would’ve demanded an introduction before the conversation began, not after they had already begun to discuss offenses that bordered on treason.

“I, for one, am glad to meet you, Dame Valeria, we need all the help we can get,” Roland replied. “I presume that you are one of Sir Leon’s knights, then?”

“His only knight, in fact,” Valeria replied, her stoic face brightening up with a proud smile before sliding back into impassiveness a moment later.

“So she was how you were going to get into the harem?” Brimstone asked. They had only so much time left, and he didn’t want to waste it on introductions.

“Yes,” Leon replied. “Well, her and a couple others, though they’re being kept as far out of the loop as possible.”

“How far?” Minerva asked.

“They have no idea any of you are involved, and they have some vested interest in keeping Princess Cristina and her mother safe,” Elise said, drawing everyone’s attention away from Leon and Valeria.

“If… if you say so, Lady Elise,” Brimstone said, reluctantly dropping the matter now that the Young Lady of Heaven’s Eye had spoken.

Minerva, however, wasn’t so willing to let the issue go.

“Dame Valeria,” she said with a tone of extreme gravity, “I hope you realize just how dire our circumstances are. Should we get wind of any betrayal, we’ll have to act swiftly and decisively.”

Without missing a beat, Valeria smiled at Minerva and replied, “I understand.”

For a long moment, Minerva contemplated making a bigger deal out of Leon bringing someone new into their conspiracy, especially since it was someone none of them had ever been acquainted with, but in the end, she decided not to. Given what she knew about Leon, she at least trusted that he wouldn’t make a habit of it, and if he brought Valeria in, then it was a sure sign that she was at least somewhat trustworthy—getting the surly and unfriendly Leon on her side was a feat worthy of recognition.

“How about the Legions?” Brimstone asked. “We have to be ready to send these corrupt bastards to their Ancestors if things take a turn towards violence.”

“The 3rd and 7th Legions will march at my command,” Minerva said, startling both Paladins. These Legions had marched with August to reinforce the Bull’s Horns and had been reassigned to the Eastern Territories during August’s reorganization, but still, neither Roland nor Brimstone had expected Minerva to actually be successful in her attempts to win them over.

After a few seconds of stunned silence, Minerva, with a look of mild amusement gracing her sharp features, said, “You two look surprised.”

Brimstone was the first to speak, and after exchanging an almost disbelieving look with Roland, he said, “… No disrespect intended, Dame Minerva, it’s just that good news isn’t that common these days, and it was difficult to be hopeful that you’d be successful in your endeavor.”

Minerva smiled to herself, then said, “I understand. I was a little surprised, myself, but it seems that even I underestimated the loyalty that Prince Trajan engendered into his officers. I even have promises from many other Eastern Legions, including those under Sir Constantine at the Bull’s Horns, to assist us in bringing Prince Trajan’s killers to justice.”

“Thank the Ancestors,” Brimstone said as he ran his fingers through his bright red hair.

“Indeed,” Roland said, though he was far less optimistic about this news. “Still, it doesn’t change the fact that our Prince has been imprisoned, and almost all of the Eastern Legions are too far away to do any good here in the capital. If tomorrow’s trial doesn’t go well, then we’re going to have to rely upon our own followers to deal with that failure. That gives us… what? Four thousand soldiers against the twenty thousand in the 1st Legion, plus the forty thousand in the 2nd and 4th Legions less than a day’s march away, plus however many knights that the local nobles will bring if Octavius were to command them…”

An ominous cloud descended over the group, only to be dispelled when Minerva confidently smiled and said, “I like those odds.”

“I like your optimism!” Brimstone almost shouted. “That kind of confidence is exactly what we need! HAHA! What have we to fear now?!”

Coming from anyone else, those words might’ve sounded sarcastic, but in Brimstone’s booming voice accompanied by his energetic gesticulation, it came off as nothing but earnest.

“Nothing… nothing at all…” Minerva quietly replied. Despite her own declaration, she wasn’t nearly so confident in what would happen once the trial began.

After that, there wasn’t much more to talk about, and Roland and Brimstone soon took their leave to ensure their own retainers were ready, just in case they were needed. Minerva almost followed them, but she paused at Leon’s door and turned to the young man himself.

“This is it,” she whispered to him. After Leon gave her a curious look, she explained, “There’s not going to be any more chances for you to back out of this. If you’re with us tomorrow, then you’re with us. There will be no running away, no abandoning us after tomorrow. Us, the memory of Trajan, and upholding his ideals. Fleeing the Bull Kingdom like a whipped savage with nothing tying himself down to this place. These are your choices. I’ll come here tomorrow morning to take you to the Assembly. You have until then to choose between these two options.”

Leon almost answered her right there, but his words caught in his throat and he remained silent until Minerva departed.

It was a hell of a conundrum. With Valeria at his side and Xaphan in his soul realm, Leon thought himself reasonably safe from Justin Isynos, so long as he kept his mouth shut around Valeria about who he was. He could leave the Bull Kingdom to its own devices if he truly wanted to.

If he wanted to.

He did not. He still had business in the Bull Kingdom. He needed to find out who was responsible for the fall of his House, whether that was Justin Isynos or whoever Justin reported to. He needed to kill the Earthshaker Paladin and Prince Octavius as retribution for Prince Trajan. What was more, he felt more than a small amount of guilt at not living up to Trajan’s ideals. He didn’t think himself capable of becoming the man Trajan thought he could be, but there was still something buried deep inside of him that wanted to be that man, no matter how much he might declare to others or to himself that he could and would leave the Bull Kingdom as soon as he could.

On less revenge related notes, he still had to return to the Northern Vales and see that place in the Forest of Black and White that had been marked on the map in the Cradle, not to mention his family’s archives.

No, he couldn’t leave just yet, not when there was still so much left to do. And if he could keep Trajan’s ideals in mind as he went about finishing up that business, then all the better.

Leon glanced back at Elise and Valeria, the two lost in conversation about what might happen tomorrow. Leon sighed and made to rejoin them at the table, knowing that no matter what, tomorrow would be an exhausting day, and he ought to get his rest in while he could.