Jerome, Kathrine, and Alessandra

When Jerome had first awoken as a young boy, he had been disappointed that his only gift had been one that was usually dedicated to a support role on the battlefield. As he got older and found some Non-Guild Mages to train with, he learned that no power's role is set in stone on the battlefield. He had surprised many an enemy by using his barriers in unconventional ways. The various unconventional ways to use his magic against trained Mages filled Jerome's head as he watched the ram bite the lead Inquisitor's head off.

Jerome had held little hope of getting the Elitist Guild members to leave his front porch without a fight, but political reality required him to try. Thankfully that strange ram, which he really hoped was a spell and not whom he feared; biting the head off that pompous idiot had solved that issue for him. Jerome decided to use one of his favorite tricks when he heard Helga give the order to open fire on the back line. He immediately surrounded the highest-ranking Inquisitor that he could see in a barrier and shrunk it down to squash him. He heard shrieking to his right and saw Investigator Rochelle parrying a blow from an Inquisitor with a leg that she had acquired from someone. Seeing she was fine, he jumped back into the fray, blocking blows with conjured barriers for his soldiers and Fluffies, occasionally squishing or stabbing someone as time allowed. Though he was deadly with his sword and barriers in single combat in a full battle he was best used in a support role, which was a role he knew well. He stayed near Kathrine who was in rare form today. She was growing tumors, bones, and flesh on enemies left and right; if Alessandra saw her like this she would never feel safe around her again. She was even using her healing arts offensively, closing wounds around swords or projectiles, locking them in place hindering movement or opening a wound that didn’t hinder movement allowing a projectile to fall out but not closing said wound, causing the victim to bleed out. Frankly, she terrified Jerome in battle and he was glad she was honorable and his vassal.

Dodging a frantic strike from a panicked support Mage, Jerome found himself facing the pompous Healer from the Inn. “Well, hello there, jackass,” he said with a smile. He took a second to enjoy the panic on the soon-to-be-dead Nobles face before taking his head. “Goodbye, jackass.”

Jerome looked over the battle, seeing if he was needed somewhere, and saw that the few remaining Guild Mages were being drained of their mana and bound with slave collars; Kathrine must have ordered those up, he hadn’t, but most were dead or wounded. Properly trained Inquisitors and Magisters should have realized that going against trained Battle Mages and soldiers, even those with no magic of their own, was suicide.

Jerome looked to Kathrine and asked, “Enough mana left to help clear the Guild?”

‎ With an evil smile, she answered, “Yes, My Lord, this was barely a warm-up.”

As they neared the edge of the square, a sweet voice asked, “And where do you two think you are going?”

****

Kathrine had really been enjoying herself in the fight. Ever since she had defeated her husband’s Clan and won his hand, her borders had been too quiet; even bandits avoided her territory. She so rarely heard Helga’s command voice, and even rarer was when her friend had to use it on her. However, it did have the effect Kathrine was sure that Helga had been intending in getting her to think. She was a battle junkie and had no shame in admitting it. She pretty much let her nephew, the only member of her family worth a damn, run the County, and unless she ever had a child, he would be the next Count. That didn’t mean she was stupid or didn’t keep an eye on what her nephew was doing in her name, so she understood how bad things would have gone for the Duke and herself if they had interfered in the battle raging at the Guild. Even for a Duke of Halrond, going against the King was death at the very least.

She stopped long enough on her way to Alessandra’s classroom to change out of her bloody armor and clothes but was still there in less than five minutes. She peeked through the classroom window to make sure that all was well and saw the Paladin guards assigned to Alessandra keeping watch on all the windows, and the lead, Arabelle, if she remembered correctly, was just in front of the door. She wondered why there was no one posted outside until the doors until a shadow turned the handle, admitting her to the room. Right, Shadow and Life, she knew I was here the moment I entered the hall, Kathrine thought.

“Greetings, Colonel; the problem went away, assume?” Arabelle asked quietly.

“It did; the Duchess sent me to stay with Alessandra until she or the Duke can collect her. Does she know what’s going on?” Kathrine asked. It was then that the lamb that she thought was a plushie looked at her with eyes that clearly said “SHUT UP” in an indescribable way.

“The Lamb does not want us to speak of what is happening too much; that is why I simply acknowledged all messages. Sargent Lock still has yet to return from wherever the lamb sent him,” Arabelle said.

“Let’s step ou….”Kathrine started to say, but a hand motion from Arabelle cut her off. The Lamb was looking at the women and then the window and jerking his head towards it. Alessandra giggled at his wriggling. The educator kept droning on about the history of Ciel.

Kathrine and Arabelle walked to the window next to the other Paladin.

“Paladin Kimi, the Lamb thinks the Colonel and I needed to join you over here. Do you sense anything out of the ordinary?” Arabelle asked.

“I think so, ma’am. The shadow of the third tree to my right in the front row hasn’t moved in a few minutes,” Paladin Kimi replied.

“I see, Colonel?” Arabelle asked.

“Already done,” Katherine replied, the message spell already fading from her fingers.

They stood there watching the trees for a few minutes until a troop of guards came by and blasted the area with light mana, exposing a few men who were quickly cut down.

“BBBBBAAAAA!!!” came a cry from the lamb. Kathrine got turned around quickly enough to see the Lamb bounding into a wall while Alessandra tried to catch him. She tripped over a stuffed lamb that wasn’t there a second ago and fell into a white pillow that appeared after she tripped.

“Well, if that Lamb is whom I think it was, someone else is in for a very bad day,” Kathrine said. “Others, myself included, still have one ahead of us.”

“Oh?” Arabelle asked. “The assassins got caught; why would you have a bad day?”

“Because the only way into this garden is through the house or a gate I didn’t tell you about to the Royal Palace,” Kathrine replied, “Areas that I am responsible for securing. Let's just say I’m glad that the Duke, Duchess, and I are friends first and lord-vassal second.”

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****

After making sure that all the wounded and his dead were seen too, which was, fortunately, a short task with only three deaths and ten wounded, Jerome and Helga started making their way back to the townhouse as their soldiers finished the clean-up. As they neared the hall, a page came barreling out the main door.

“MY LORD, THE BACK GARDEN QUICKLY!” the boy hollered while skidding to a stop and running off back into the house. Jerome and Helga, surrounded by guards, immediately took off, fearing the worse had happened to Alessandra. Reaching the grove of fruit trees, the Ducal couple sighed in relief seeing the bodies of a half dozen assassins.

Through clenched teeth, Jerome declared, “This goes beyond ostensibly upholding the law. When we find out who hired these men, their blood will run down my walls.”

“Just their blood? My Dear, I was thinking the gate needed an intestine garland,” Helga said in a tone of voice that sent shivers down the guard's spines due to its emotionlessness.

****

When the fluffy lamb made it clear that it was not going anywhere, Mr. Declan continued his lesson. He informed Alessandra that, yes, being God Touched as she was that for some reason, a God had noticed her, but that was not the type of attention he meant when he said you shouldn’t draw the Gods attention. What he meant was doing something like disrespecting their priesthood or burning a Temple. The only time you could really get away with actions like that was in a war or if you were a devout follower of a rival God.

Alessandra truly tried to pay attention, but the lamb kept demanding pets, and Mr. Declan started talking about ancient history, which bored her. The lamb reminded her to at least pretend to pay attention to Mr. Declan, or he would rap her head again. After a long, boring lecture about how the ancestors of the nobility led a bunch of people from somewhere else that wasn’t important to the area around the city, Mr. Declan started in on how they built the city as a new capital. The lamb kept lightly kicking her and telling her to look at Mr. Declan and not him. Alessandra was more interested in how the lamb did that without making a noise than in why and when dead people had done whatever it was they had done. The lamb told her more recent history was very important and she needed to really pay attention now or she wouldn't understand why the current problems were happening.

“….so when King Xaiver completed his overthrow of the old dynasty, he granted the western lands and beyond the River Wythe and this palace to his younger son Prince Rond as Duke in exchange for renouncing his claim to the throne. After the Prince's death twenty years later, his son assumed the surname Halrond, meaning heir of Rond in the old tongue, to definitely declare his house’s intention to stay out of the succession forever. Though the relationship is more distant now, the Halronds and the Halvers have intermarried enough to remain distant cousins. If I remember correctly, Duke Jerome’s Great Aunt married the current Kings Grandfather. Do you see know why Duke Jerome and Duchess Helga are so sure they can protect and care for you, Alessandra?”

Alessandra was surprised. The lamb was right. That was important! Mr. Jerome and Miss Helga were related to the King! She nodded her head vigorously.

“I won't get into all the boring family stuff…..” Mr. Declan got cut off by a loud “BBBBAAAAHHH!!!” from the lamb who stood up and started to run toward a wall. Alessandra tried to follow but tripped over a large stuffed lamb and fell face-first into the softest pillow she had ever felt.

Picking herself up, Alessandra looked at the wall the lamb had run through forlornly. Grabbing the stuffed lamb and plopping herself down on the ridiculously soft pillow, she mumbled, “He was ssssooo fluffy…..”

She heard rapid footsteps heading her way and looked up from the stuffed lamb; where had that come from? She saw Miss Kat and Arabelle heading over to her.

“Alessandra, are you okay?” Miss Kat asked.

“Yes, Miss Kat, confused though,” Alessandra said. “I don’t have a stuffed lamb, but this one tripped me. And where did the fluffy lamb come from and go?”

“I wish I had answers for you, sweetie, but I don’t. I think that’s enough lessons for today. How about we go get some lunch in your playroom?” Miss Kat asked.

“OK,” Alessandra replied, more than ready for lessons to be over. “I’d rather play outside, though.”

“Not right now, sweetie. There is some…work going on in the garden right now that we shouldn’t interrupt,” Miss Kat said while guiding her out the door.

“Ok,” Alessandra replied somewhat dejectedly while dragging her new pillow and stuffed lamb behind her as she walked out of the lesson room. She looked longingly out the window, but for some reason they were cloudy, and she couldn't see the garden outside.

****

Later that afternoon, while the Paladins and Caretakers had Alessandra running off energy in the now blood and body-free garden, Kathrine, Helga, Inspector Rochelle, and Jerome were meeting to discuss the events of the morning and early afternoon.

“According to Hector and other sources, the Elitist faction has been more or less eliminated from the Capitol Guild. The Guild master has officially ended most of the policies that have kept poor commoners from being able to advance,” with a dismissive wave of his hand, Jerome continued. “While that’s good, it doesn’t address what happened here, though. Officially I am now a fugitive from Guild Justice and have been stripped of all authority in areas controlled by the Capitol Guild. I have been charged with failing to turn over an Awakened for training, not harboring an Untrained Mage, a much more serious offense, as I was asked by an official from one of the Temples certified to care for Awakened children to look after Alessandra. Unofficially the Guild Master has informed me that he will not peruse the charges and will drop them when he can do so quietly.”

“So does this mean Alessandra can leave the townhouse? And if so, will we be taking her out?” Helga asked.

“If her security and the Counselor think it’s safe, then yes,” Jerome answered. "I can't wander around openly until the charges are dropped."

“I think we should wait,” Kathrine said. “Those assassins still have me worried. We still haven’t figured out how they got into the gardens, and them being by the children’s wing has me thinking they were after Alessandra.”

“From the reports I’ve gotten from Counselor Rathom I would advise taking her out on the town as soon as possible,” holding up a hand to forestall questions, Investigator Rochelle continued, “Alessandra has made quick progress in not seeing everyone as a threat. The Counselor wants to push her just a little to see if she is making true progress or just telling her what she wants to hear. A trip somewhere she would want to go would be just the thing. Something simple, a dress or sweet shop, and then right back here.”

Raising his hand to get everyone’s attention, Jerome took back control of the conversation, “That’s all well and good, but we are here to discuss the attack and assassins. Investigator, how are your wounded? Do they need anything?”

‎ “They do not, Your Grace. Those that can be moved have been taken to our chapter house to recover. The healers tell me that the worst wounded should be able to be moved by morning. Seeing that the Guild faction that would harm Alessandra is no more, I have been instructed to release our troops and Inquisitors back to their regular duties,” the Investigator said. “If I may digress again?” At a nod from Jerome, she continued, “I was going to inform you of this before our friends arrived this morning. The Temple’s investigation into you and the Duchess is complete, and no impropriety has been found. We are releasing Alessandra fully into your care, except for the counseling; our rules don’t allow us to end that until the Counselor in charge is satisfied that the patient is stable. The paperwork to this effect should be here by morning.”

“As expected, but still a relief,” Helga said with a sigh. “Do you have anything else for us, Investigator?”

“One more thing. During our purge of the Slums, we took several prisoners. During interrogation, it was revealed that a mid-level enforcer had gone missing in The Wet the day you brought out Alessandra. A member of his crew had reported that he was chasing a street mouse that had been spying on him. I assume the street mouse he was after was Alessandra. As it’s well known that you took in a girl from the Slums, maybe the assassins were seeing if she was related to that incident. The enforcer's boss was quite upset that the man had disappeared apparently, he was holding on to some expensive loot and was the only one who knew where it was hidden,” the Investigator said with a shrug.

With a shrug, Kathrine said, “It’s a place to start the investigation, at least. I still want to know how they got in; the only thing I can think of is unthinkable.”

Jerome and Helga nodded their agreement.