“I know we had a deal Markus, but don’t you think this is a little above what just the two of us can handle? And it’s not just the Prince Zorren and Command. There’s a sizable chunk of the College that might be a problem.” Gayle said as she flopped down on her bed and shucked off her boots.

Markus leaned back in the chair he’d been occupying for the last hour, waiting on Gayle to show up and give her report on how the news of the attack on Adar was being received. Markus frowned as he considered her words. “Are things that bad?”

Gayle leaned her head back against a stark gray headboard and gave a heavy sigh. “Depends on who you ask. I did surface scans of the Cadets and Disciples and most of them are in the camp of outrage at what happened at the chalet, and want to do their part in helping find who would make such a bold attack, especially on College grounds.

“I also scanned the Pledges and many of them are still upset because they didn’t get put on the Heir’s potential list. And that camp is split in half between those who want to track down the attacker themselves and catapult themselves to the top of the list, while the others are upset at Hame’s dismissal.

“The second group believes that the Heir had overstepped himself with Hame and the the attack was just a warning. They don’t think he was ever in real danger at all. I even got from some, that if offered the chance, they’d be open to offering other warnings to the Heir just to make sure he got the message.”

That caused Markus to sit up straight in his chair. “About how many were of the last thought?”

Gayle shrugged her shoulders. “It’s not an exact thing, Markus. I can’t passively scan every single person at the College in one day. I just jumped around and got a sample here and there, but like I said, it was about half and half on the Pledges and only a small few of the Cadets and Disciples. But if that sampling holds true, then we are looking at––”

“Well over several hundred people who might be willing to do something against Adar, and at least one of them already did,” Markus finished for her.

She exhaled again, “And we have a bunch of unknowns coming in. Initiate Day is in three days.”

Markus gave the woman a sour look. This was not the time to be adding in a bunch of new faces to the College with who knows what allegiances, but Initiate Day only happened twice a year. It was the semi-annual event where the proverbial doors opened wide to the normally exclusive College, and anyone from the Empire could walk the grounds as long as they had an intention of joining the Protectorate Program. It was how the Program got its new blood, and the only way the higher ups would considered canceling it, was if there was a full-blown attack on the College.

Gayle threw Markus a knowing smirk, probably figuring she’d just derailed all his protests about not going to Command. “I will say again, how are we, just the two of us, supposed to keep the Heir safe with so many potential threats? And I’m not so sure Command is in on it like you think.”

Irritation spiked in Markus. Irritation at her. Irritation at the circumstances. And it certainly didn’t help that she’d been making that same statement a lot since he’d broken the news to her earlier in the day. Like if she said it enough it would make it true. He really wished she’d get out of the denial phase. She was hampering potential progress. He need Gayle to be bringing her whole game to the table.

“Are you forgetting the restricted access code the attacker had? If we go to Command, we could be walking right into a trap.” Markus reminded her, not of for the first time, or the second either.

Gayle shook her head. “You don’t know that, Markus. There are other ways to get codes. They could have been stolen for instance. Besides, do you really think someone high up in the College would really do something against the Heir? You really think anyone is that stupid?”

Markus closed his eyes and blew out a long breath before he could answer her with a calm tone. “They may not have had a choice. Zorren is a ruthless bastard. If he wants something, he gets it, no matter what he has to do or who he has to manipulate to do it. I’m telling you Gayle, we go to Command, we are as good as giving ourselves up to Zorren himself.”

Gayle raised her arms as if giving up in surrender. “If that’s the case, then we really are doomed. We might as well hand ourselves over now. We can’t hope to protect the Heir like things are, Markus. There are simply too many people at the College that are potential threats.

“If we could find a way to keep him secluded to the chalet, maybe. But you know as I do that will only last so long. He’ll be back out walking the streets of the College, and then anyone could have a shot at him. If we go to Command, maybe they will agree to keep him secluded in the chalet until we can catch those involved in the attack.”

Markus shook his head. “They will never agree to that, not more than a day or two. Besides, he’s supposed to be doing the quat-lo assessment.”

Gayle snorted. “At this point, I think the College would overlook him knowing the discipline, especially since what happened this morning.”

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“They won’t do that. That whole thing is about holding a certain standard, a standard only meant for those in the Protectorate Program. If they don’t address Adar being taught quat-lo, then they run the risk of other Protectors doing it for their charges too, and then every Cadet, Disciple, and Pledge down the line will question their commitment to College. If anyone can learn what is taught at the College, then why bother coming here and dedicating years to it. What’s the point?”

Gayle raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you disapprove of him knowing the discipline.”

Markus shook his head. “On the contrary. I think it’s a very good thing Adar knows quat-lo. But it doesn’t change the fallout from him being taught the discipline. Honestly, I think all charges should be taught to protect themselves. You know as well as I do how unpredictable things can get in the heat of the moment. A Protector can’t be in every place all the time. Sometimes the charge is going to die just because the Protector was too overwhelmed, or just not fast enough.”

Gayle was quiet for a moment as she pondered that. She had heard the horror stories from retired Protectors just like he had. That many of them had lost their charges in just that kind of situation, and because they blamed themselves, and could not bear the thought of being bonded again. Instead, they had retired to teach and gave dire warnings to every trainee to not make the same mistakes they had made.

“I like how you managed to change the subject, Markus. Your philosophical moment almost made me forget what we were originally talking about––almost. But you may be right about Command. I’m not saying I completely agree, but there seems enough to be cautious. Though that still leaves us without enough resources to protect the Heir properly.”

Markus let out a heavy sigh as he stood up and started to pace the room. “I know. I’ve been putting some thought to that and I have an idea of how to circumvent that, but you aren’t going to like it.”

“You mean any more than I’m going to like that we are putting ourselves right in the middle of a war between two Princes of the Empire?”

Markus stopped his pacing to give the woman his full attention. “Make no mistake about this, Gayle. This isn’t a war. This is an assassination. I very much doubt Adar has any intention of making a move against his brother. He might not even realize who was behind the attack in the first place.”

Gayle folded her arms across her chest and gave him a questioning look. “How can you be so sure?”

“Because I know Adar, or at least I used to.” He let that last part come out a little more quietly than his first words. Because Markus knew Gayle was right. He really couldn’t be sure of anything. Markus didn’t know this Adar. He might very well had turned into a power hungry fool like his brothers.

No. Markus would never believe that, not with Aragon and Adar’s mother influencing him. They would have never encouraged that sort of behavior, or tolerated it either. Markus might not know this older version of Adar, but there were some things that had to be true, simply because Markus knew the people who had raised him.

That line of thought brought Markus back to something he had been considering. There were still people here at the College who supported Aragon, and if they supported the Protector, they would most likely be trustworthy when it came to the safety of the man’s charge. Perhaps that could be a pool of people they could pull from?

But there was the problem of Kaller Hame as well. His Renowned status made him highly respected at the College. Markus knew the way he’d been removed from service wouldn’t sit right with a lot of people, which meant they might fault Adar for Hame’s dismissal. Maybe even some of those who had once shown loyalty to Aragon. So maybe that pool wasn’t a large as he hoped?

Gayle was right though. The College really wasn’t a safe place for Adar, not with the unknown of all who supported Hame. Who was to say how many might be willing to volunteer to put the man who had disgraced a Renowned Protector in his place, but then become unwitting accomplices in Zorren Zahn’s much bigger plans?

“Adar isn’t safe at the College,” Markus replied with finality as he came to a decision.

Gayle raised an eyebrow. “Did you come up with that all by yourself, Nador? Did you forget I made that comment myself as soon as you reported to me of what happened at the chalet. We should put him on a ship and send him back to the White Palace. I’m glad we are finally in agreement.”

Markus waved an impatient hand. “That might keep him safe from those at the College, but not from Zorren. He will follow wherever Adar goes. No, we need time to get enough evidence to present to the Emperor. Only he can effectively reign in Zorren. The last thing we should do is send Adar back to the White Palace.”

Gayle crossed her arms across her chest like she was the one growing impatient now. “Then what do you suggest. We send him somewhere else? And where the yavit would that be?”

Markus smirked. “What makes you think we should send him anywhere?”

The woman’s impatience turned to confusion. “I’m not following. What exactly are you suggesting?”

He tapped his chin as the rest of the pieces of his plan started to fall into place. “But you are right, we can’t do this alone. We are going to need some help.”

“So we are going to Command?” Gayle said as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion.

Markus looked at Gayle as if she’d said something stupid. “What? No, I told you no one in that office can be trusted.”

Gayle let out a frustrated sigh. “Then what are you talking about? You aren’t making any sense.”

Markus almost laughed as he saw the brilliant idea of his plan in his mind’s eye. It was perfect. It would have everyone at the College chasing their tails and Zorren would be furious. It might just keep everyone off guard and distracted enough for Markus to get the evidence against Zorren that he needed. Then that yavit Prince would finally get what was coming to him.

Sure, maybe the Emperor had taken the Ascendant title from Zorren for what he’d done to Adar as a child, but it never seemed enough. Maybe Ghar Zahn would finally realize that his eldest son was too much of a liability and take more drastic measures than a simple banishment, then Adar would be safe, at least from his oldest brother. It would give his old friend a fighting chance, because Markus was certain that as long as Zorren Zahn was around, he wasn’t going to allow Adar get a foothold in the Empire.

Markus looked to the flustered woman and grinned with the certainty of his plan that was growing with every moment. “Let’s just say that I think things are about to get very interesting around here.”