A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"Silence, Jolamire!" Tavar roared. His sudden outburst stunned the Minister of Coin in place, as he was subjected to all the aura of a Fourth Boundary General. "Know you no shame!? Have you no respect for our ways?"

Jolamire made to reply, but he could not. Fear constricted his throat like a serpent. He could hardly breathe properly.

"Innocent, we have judged him to be, by all the means that we have available to us, by the systems of governance passed down by our forefathers, and yet the High King levies us to treat him the same as a common criminal!" Tavar cried aloud.

Those without a true side in the conflict of Oliver's trial had remained silent enough, not wanting to make unnecessary enemies out of royalty, but the King himself had overstepped in the end, rendering their efforts worthless.

The Minister of Blades stood. His rise drew more eyes than one would expect. It was like seeing a statue suddenly come to life and move. An oddity. For hours he had remained silent, unquestioning, unasserting, but now he drew himself up to join the Ministers.

"General Tavar," Gavlin said formerly. "I implore you to refuse these requests, no matter what the consequences may be. We have acted appropriately, our conscience in this ought to remain clear."

"You would counsel towards fracture, towards war?" Lazarus said, his voice grave. "His Majesty offers salient suggestions. Oliver Patrick is indeed – innocent or not – a source of… tension. If we wish to be magnanimous, and allow him to remain in attendance here, we must put certain measures into place."

"It is not the King's place to suggest such things," Tavar growled.

"No," Lazarus agreed easily, "it is not. But that does not make them unwise suggestions all the same. We need not anger the King over matters that we ourselves ought to have been considering."

"Lazarus," Hod said, turning to the man. "You're quite the snake, are you not?"
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In front of all the Lords and nobility still present, and even in front of a Princess, Hod so bluntly accused the Minister of Information. To his credit, Lazarus was not nearly as stunned by the comment as he should have been. He handled himself well, if anything.

A mere smile was all he gave. "You won a great victory here today, Hod," Lazarus said, in what might have been mistaken as a kindly way. "Do not allow greed to taint it. You need not overreach."

"I need not?" Hod smiled. "You forget, Minister, I do not move for the sake of reputation as you do. I stated my purpose. I believe in the potential of our youth. The King seeks to stifle it. These are not suggestions, they are condemnations.

To send any force into conflict, week after week, you would only do such a thing if you were praying for their demise. It is unsustainable. Merely on travel time alone, he would virtually cease to be a student of the Academy in all but name."

"Ah," Lazarus said, as though such a thing had escaped his notice. "But I'd thought the boy to be seeking out challenge himself? I'd heard rumour that he'd been hunting monsters, for lack of true competition… Would channelling that energy towards dealing with the kingdom's enemies not be far more useful in its nature?"

"A trip to the Grand Forest and a trip across the country are two very different things, Minister," Tavar said gravely. "To do that weekly could only ever be interpreted as a punishment. To expel the boy from his classes, that could only ever be interpreted as a punishment. Is that what you would ask from us, Lazarus? We who are meant to be independent from the royalty?

You would ask that we render our trials meaningless?"

"Meaningless?" Lazarus repeated gravely. "Not at all, General Tavar. Oliver Patrick retains his life. That is only meaningless if you see his life as valueless."

Lombard watched their squabbling with a stony expression. "Is there any reason to keep him chained, might I ask?" He interrupted, his voice icy cool.

They paused their discussion for just a second, seeming to just remember that Lombard was there. "No, there is not," Hod said quickly, before anyone could answer for him. "Guards, free him, if you would."

"I would speak with the boy as well. Is that permitted?" Lombard asked.

Hod glanced at him. "You speak to a free man, Captain Lombard. That is well within your rights as a citizen."

Lombard nodded his gratitude, and without losing a drop of composure, he marched the length of the room, towards the stony hand that contained Oliver, well aware that there were nearly a hundred eyes on him. He felt the Ministers to be looking as well, so too did the Lords, who were forced to remain in place, waiting, despite the fact that the trial was concluded, in everything but name.

He heard their discussion resume after a moment behind him.

"Have you lost your key, men?" Lombard asked, when he saw that Oliver was still chained to the wall.

The guardsmen wore the defeated expressions of soldiers that knew they were in for a scolding.

"Did you not hear what the Minister said? They stated that you were to free this man," Lombard pressed. "I ask again, have you lost your key? Or are you merely accustomed to leaving orders until the moment that you feel like carrying them out."

"No, Ser… But—" The guardsman began to protest, his forehead sweating. Oliver sat in between the two of them, noting their discomfort. They couldn't really tell who would scold him if they were to set Oliver free. They were in between a rock and a hard place, likely to receive condemnation from all angles no matter what they did.

"Ah, good, you are capable of speech," Lombard continued, "now show me that you are capable of action. When you are done, sort out your helmet strap, soldier. It's looser than a summer skirt."