Three's POV

Three sighed the boy opposite him, Gale stared at him with a shocked look on his face. "What about my lessons?!?! How am I meant to get stronger if I'm not at school?!?!" Three seemed to grow annoyed at Gale's apparently childish display. "There is no other choice, you and your fellow apprentices being here is a danger to the other students!"

Of course in actuality Three didn't care how many students were injured, or even killed, they were nothing to do with him. The three apprentices, his top three suspects at that, disappearing back home, did however interfere with his plan to find out if any of them had ties to Mervyn's murder.

Unfortunately the order to send the students home came from the Emperor himself. After all, keeping up appearances was important and by "protecting" the students the Emperor was creating a very good show indeed. Gale looked downcast for a moment before turning to face Three with a trembling expression.

"What happens next year? Will the school still be open?" Three sighed irritably. "I don't know. It'll all work out somehow, for now you need to focus on packing. You must be gone by tomorrow lunch." Gale nodded thoughtfully though still retaining his troubled expression. "Will we be safe at home?"

Three resisted the urge to scream "Of course not!" at Gale and just about managed to stay silent. He was an assassin, not a baby sitter and although he was interested in finding Mervyn's killer he had no real interest in the children he taught.

Looking at the injured boy once more he sighed and decided to ask a question. "Gale, did you by any chance see what attacked you before it ran?" Gale paused for a minute thinking back "It was a large silver snake I think." Three nodded, happier, upon getting a concrete description, of course this didn't mean he'd trust it entirely but it was good to have as a reference.

Getting up from his seat, Three turned his back on the boy. "I need to leave, I wish you luck." Gale nodded and lay back on the bed sinking into exhaustion. As Three shut the door behind him, he unfortunately missed the bloodthirsty grin on the boys face, if he'd seen it maybe things would have turned out better....maybe.

Lupos' POV

Seeing the door close behind Three, Lupos let out a grin. Of course Lupos had never been bitten by a snake, but was in fact stabbed by a dagger. However the small wound, paired with the deadly poison on the dagger, as well as Lupos' own "struggle" to overcome the poison helped create the strong impression of a snake.

The fact that the spies had probably figured out that Mervyn was poisoned when he died, helped to enforce the idea of the suspect not just targeting Mervyn but also his apprentices. Lupos smiled, leaving tomorrow was another unexpected bonus as it meant he had an excuse for leaving at the same time as Wing without it looking suspicious.

Lupos grinned and used mindspeak to contact Fenrir "Fenrir did you pass the plan to Akari?" Fenrir let out a small laugh. "Of course, she sent a reply as well." Lupos smiled. "Ok then, bring the reply here. It's time to start preparing." Lupos smiled, things were finally started to come together. Or so it seemed.

Emperor's POV

The Emperor sat on a golden throne, waiting patiently, until a man dressed in black stalked out from within the shadows. "Emperor." said the figure falling onto one knee. "Rise," stated the Emperor, impatient to get the formalities over with. "What did you learn about Mervyn's death?"

The figure hesitated. "Speak clearly Three, don't test my patience." Three nodded. "As you wish. There has been no news on the assailants themselves and even numbers Five and Seven have had no luck during their search through the darker side of society. There is however news of a different kind........."

The Emperor nodded encouragingly. "What is it?!?!" Three pointed behind the Emperor towards an old mam skulking towards the throne. "He was right." The old man trembled with fear, while the Emperor stared at Three in confusion." What do you mean?"

An uneasy air appeared around Three had appeared. "What he saw at the inter schools competition, Fenrir has returned. And, the child who summoned him was Mervyn's apprentice."