A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Oliver shook his head. "I have few enough men as it is, I would not risk you until I'm confident that everyone will make it back alive."

Though he scowled, Karesh did not manage to say any more than that, though Lady Blackthorn looked like she wanted to – a fact that Amelia noticed, and was desperately imploring her Lady to keep quiet, with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Would you… bring me?" Lasha asked, tentatively.

Oliver shared a look with Verdant. "On a mission with quite likely fatal consequences? I'm unsure, my Lady… Goblins are one thing, but wherever they plan to send me is quite another. I already invited your father's ire earlier. I'm sure he'd be the one sending assassins after me if I were to put you in harm's way on a battlefield."

She frowned at that, looking unhappy. "But I'm stronger than those three," she said pointedly. They were not kind words, but they were true ones. "If you want them stronger so that they'll follow you, you'll be waiting an awful long time – they'd have to surpass me first."

Oliver couldn't help but break into a small smile at that. He could see that Kaya and Karesh were looking thoroughly embarrassed at that truth, but Lady Blackthorn had hit the nail on the head. If his excuse for them was that they weren't strong enough, what could he say to Lady Blackthorn..?

"Fine," he said. "I'd say you're definitely strong enough to bring, no matter what we end up doing, as long as the odds are fair. But I'm not sure if you've noticed, but as far as politics goes, I'm not exactly sitting at the top of the class. If I were to bring a Lord's daughter out onto battlefields without his permission, I'm sure my position is bound to get even worse.

As too, likely, is Lady Asabel's, given that Lord Blackthorn now serves her."

"I would also note, my Lord, that I would most definitely be joining you on whatever task it is that General Skullic gives you," Verdant said. "Though I do not think you had need fear my father's disapproval in that. I imagine he would be pleased, even."

"Then..?" Oliver said, gesturing to Lady Blackthorn.

"Oh, no. I'm in agreement there. Lord Blackthorn would hang you from the Central Tower by your ankles if he ever found out," Verdant said.

"I thought as much…" Oliver said, turning to apologize to Lasha, only to find the person sitting there to be every bit as obstinate and every bit as terrifying as her father likely would be.

"No," Lasha said firmly. "You will not refuse me."

"I will not?" Oliver said slowly. She was afixing him with big round eyes. "Are you trying to hypnotize me? You do have rather pretty eyes, I suppose."

"Oliver!" Amelia shouted, outraged by a mere compliment.

"I'm not hypnotizing you," Lasha said firmly. "I'm merely setting my foot down. On this, I won't budge. We made an agreement, that you would teach me the sword. This is a valuable experience, isn't it? You're always telling me how you learned the most important things in battle.

That training is not a replacement for the true thing."

"I do, and I also agree," Oliver said, "but that isn't the issue… besides, weren't you just saying earlier that you wanted to do more, that the scales were balanced too heavily in my favour?"

"That was before the trial," Lasha said, confidently. "I'm pretty sure they're back on my side now."

"I'm not disagreeing, but the sudden switch is still… worrying," Oliver said. Indeed, he did think that her standing as a witness in court was most certainly a more difficult – and to him, more valuable – affair than him spending twenty or so minutes on a lunchtime each day half-heartedly teaching her.

"My Lady, does this not seem too dangerous..?" Amelia protested. "Was it not meant to be a trap for Ser Oliver in the first place?"

""Ser Oliver?"" Both Jorah and Pauline noted at the same time, making Amelia blush, but not distracting her from the task at hand.

"That has been remedied. It's General Skullic that is setting the missions now, I'm sure they'll be fair," Lasha said confidently.

"Fair… Isn't the word they use to describe General Skullic," Pauline offered hesitantly.

Jorah agreed. "Insane is usually the one they use."

"Now that you mention it, I do think I accidentally walked in on him once, as I was looking for Command Class," Oliver said, only now just realizing that it was the same man. As he reminisced, half a dozen expectant eyes were cast his way, wanting him to elaborate.

"And?" Lasha prodded.

"And…" Oliver could hardly hide a smile at the memory. "And his furniture was smashed to pieces and his papers were all over the floor. He'd quite obviously just been a rage mere minutes before."

"Insane," Jorah agreed again.

"That does sound an awful lot like General Skullic," Verdant agreed.

"Are you sure this is going to be all right?" Amelia asked desperately.

"Hm? Is that it? Father does that all the time," Blackthorn said, tilting her head to the side. "He hates paperwork. If mother is away from home too long and he gets stuck doing it, that usually happens. I thought that was commonplace for Generals."

"You're going to be the strangest woman when you get married," Oliver said, breaking the silence, as everyone stared at Lady Blackthorn in horror. "It's a battle getting you to talk and then when you do, there's always something strange waiting to be said."

Lasha sniffed in distaste. "Regardless. I am joining you. I will take responsibility for whatever happens should my father go astray."

"I suppose I at least have Asabel to hide behind now," Oliver said with a wry grin, imagining being chased around the campus by Lady Blackthorn's giant bear of a father.

They'd long since finished their meals as they spoke. They all had a satisfied fullness in their stomachs, and as Oliver drank that blackberry tea, it was hard to think of the Princess herself. She was the main player now, after all. He could hardly imagine how busy she was after her announcement at the trial.