“What?” the Court Mage was so surprised, that he assumed he must have simply misheard the king.

  The Royal Guards were far more disciplined. They didn’t hesitate. They immediately pointed their halberds at the wizard and quickly moved in his direction.

  Even the twins were confused. They were already raising their hands in surrender, preparing to be escorted out by the armored soldiers. They stared, slack jawed as the knights suddenly changed direction.

  Tobias too, realized the guard’s new target. This was no mistake. He started backing away, dropping some vials from a nearby table. Finally, his hand stumbled upon a larger bottle. He quickly glanced at it, then chucked it on the floor.

  A huge cloud of dark grey smoke erupted and quickly engulfed much of the room. The knights immediately stepped back and surrounded their monarch, protecting him with their own heavily armored and enhanced bodies.

  Varre immediately realized that things were going pretty badly. He enhanced himself, hoping that the slightly increased stats might just be enough to save his life and tried to duck, in case any magical fireballs were about to start flying. Even Benjamin rushed over and tried to cover his liege with his own body.

  The twins didn’t wait for long either. Perry started moving towards the king, though she got stopped when one of the guards pointed his halberd at her. Jury instead moved on the offensive. She lowered her head and started rushing forward in between the tables.

  “Get him!” Varre yelled as he started backing away from the smoke.

  One of the soldiers joined Jury and ran forward, while the second remained by the king’s side. Noticing his liege waving over at the other twin, he finally lowered his weapon and allowed her to approach.

  Just then, the air cracked with magical power. Perry put her arms forward and cast some kind of shield spell around the crowded group. Whatever it was, Varre hoped it was strong enough to resist the Court Mage’s power.

  He wouldn’t get to find that out today. Tobias’s spell wasn’t intended for the king. The smoke was heavy, but a barely visible light shone through it, as some kind of projectile flew towards one of the walls. The entire castle shook as a large explosion tore through the brickwork.

  The Court Mage, just as obscured by the smoke as the others, had no idea how many people were heading straight for him right now. He decided not to take the chance. Apparently close quarter combat was not his forte. He chose to escape through the hole in the wall.

  Time was running out. As soon as they heard the explosion, soldiers from all over the castle would be on their way. Even if Tobias was strong enough to take two of them on, he probably wouldn’t handle the combined power of the entire Royal Guard. He chose to flee, with Jury and one of the soldiers hot on his trail.

  Varre, covering his face from the smoke, finally backed away out of the laboratory and into the living room. Just in time to see the Court Mage throw another projectile at the window in front of him.

  The glass shattered and Tobias jumped through it. He was surprisingly agile for a man of his age, though the enhanced state he was in probably accounted for that.

  Ignoring the guard’s warnings, Varre rushed past him and joined Jury at the window. He saw the Court Mage slowly levitate down towards the courtyard.

  Two guards stood by the gate leading out of the castle. They had their halberds lowered and were already looking at the descending mage. They most likely assumed he was escaping from an unfortunate accident in his laboratory. They wouldn’t be outright hostile to a member of the Royal Council.

  That’s why Varre made sure to yell, “Stop him! Guards, stop that man!”

  That did it. The guards immediately raised their halberds and started rushing towards the slowly falling wizard before he could reach the ground.

  An expert sorcerer like Tobias was far from helpless though, even under these circumstances. He started pointing at the two soldiers, launching magical rays out of his fingers.

  One of the soldiers tried to raise his arm to block the attack, but it wasn’t enough. Even if said arm was covered in plate. The first few rays merely slowed him down, but after five or so, he finally toppled over.

  The Court Mage immediately turned to the next one, but the distance between them was growing shorter by the second. The second guard would make it in time.

  Tobias must have realized that too. He changed up his strategy. This time, he used both hands to unleash a powerful gust of wind that pushed the soldier to the side. It was so powerful, that it even started ripping the cobblestones out of the courtyard.

  The guard fell over and rolled onto his side. He managed to stop and grabbed onto the ground, as he kneeled down and braced himself. The cobblestones bounced off his armor like a hailstorm hitting a car. He wasn’t out for the count yet, but he was no longer blocking Tobias.

  The Court Mage finally landed and started running across the ground. There was no one left to stop him now.

  That also meant, that he was a free target. Perry stood by the broken window and started casting magical energy balls right at the wizard. There was no chance of friendly fire anymore. A few other guards, stationed in one of the towers started unleashing arrows at the fleeing mage. They must have watched everything happen and were waiting for the right opportunity.

  Tobias cast some kind of shield, slowing the arrows down. Fired by enhanced archers, their force must have been massive, but it wasn’t enough to pierce through this barrier.

  Perry though was more hopeful. The first few energy balls she threw missed, but each exploded on the ground with a resounding noise and crackle of magic. She was getting closer, as she got better at leading the projectiles.

  Right before the Court Mage reached the gate, she managed to get a couple of accurate hits. Tobias lowered his head, almost falling over, but he kept going. He was clearly hurt though, by the way he was holding his shoulder.

  The Court Mage got away into the city. The guards pouring out of the castle were on his trail, but they were far behind. With any luck, they’d catch him out on the streets. The ringing of the castle’s belltower gave a signal to lock the town gates too. Now, the soldiers just needed to search through the city.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  There was nothing left to do in the living quarters. Varre moved out onto the corridor, only to immediately get surrounded by the twins.

  “What the hell was that?” Perry yelled as she pointed her finger at the monarch, “this wasn’t the plan Varre!”

  “Watch your mouth!” one of the guards barked out and put his heavy armored gauntlet on the girl’s shoulder, “that’s your majesty, to you, wench!”

  That silenced her instantly, though Jury glared at the knight. The situation was getting tense, so the king intervened by shaking his head. The girl was allowed to be angry at what happened.

  “Listen. I get that you’re mad, but look at this from my perspective,” Varre urged, “I’m not just going to let some guy, who probably murdered my predecessor, walk around freely in my house! I mean how do I know he’s not just going to kill me too?”

  Perry clenched her fists, trying to keep her voice down. “We have no proof! He’s suspicious as hell yes, but that’s not enough to execute someone for murder!”

  “The point was to check how truthful your Court Mage was,” Jury said quietly, “not get rid of him. Not yet.”

  “I wasn’t going to execute him,” the king argued, “but he’s a goddamn wizard! With poisons! He could kill me in my sleep if he wanted to. I need to trust a man in that position.”

  “That was the plan, you…” Perry began, but stopped herself as soon as she noticed the guard staring her down, “you… your majesty. Now that we know he was hiding something, you were supposed to keep investigating. In secret!”

  Jury crossed her arms. “How can you be sure of his intentions now? Maybe he was innocent after all?”

  “An innocent man wouldn’t run…” Varre began, then paused, “well, okay. Maybe he would have. But what about that smoke huh? How come he had a smoke bomb ready and available for an escape, huh?”

  That gave Perry something to think about, but Jury remained resolute. “Could have just been a coincidence,” she shrugged.

  “Oh really?” the king realized he was onto something, “your sister doesn’t seem convinced. Now I’m no wizard, but you girls are. How common are potions that result in clouds of smoke when thrown on the ground? What are the chances he just happened to have one laying around?”

  Jury looked at her twin, who nervously rubbed her hands. “Not very,” she finally admitted, “but we’re just assistants. It sure would be nice, if you had a Court Mage you could ask that, you know?”

  “A Court Mage, whose very word I can’t trust?” Varre countered, “the same one who lied to me about this goddamn hydra venom in the first place?”

  This silenced even Jury. She looked off to the side, thinking up yet another argument.

  Benjamin finally cleared his throat. “They do have a point, your majesty. We will need to find a replacement soon. I doubt Tobias would like to return to his post, even if offered,” he showed a slight smile, “but I think we should continue this conversation somewhere else.”

  The chamberlain nodded his head to the side. The king looked in that direction and noticed a growing crowd of servants watching the scene. The Royal Guards were trying to keep them away and disperse the onlookers, but the crowd was still growing.

  “Fine. Let’s move somewhere else,” Varre agreed, “we’ve caused enough of a scene already.”

  “Then may I suggest the council chamber? The sooner we discuss this whole business with Captain Hakon and Steward Marna the better,” Benjamin suggested.

  No one could argue with that. The chamberlain told the guards to send for the other councilors and the group set off towards the Royal Council room, flanked by six soldiers. They were taking no more chances today. Not even allowing any servants to come close.

  When they finally arrived at the room, the twins stopped and sheepishly stood in the corner, looking at the grandiose furniture.

  “Well, don’t just stand there,” Varre pointed to some of the chairs, “take a seat. We’re still waiting for the others.”

  After a couple minutes spent in awkward silence, the door suddenly burst open and an anxious Captain Hakon walked in. He visibly relaxed when he lay his eyes on his liege.

  “I’m glad to see your majesty safe,” he said, still standing by the doorway, “now what the hells happened out there?! My Guards told me they’re scouring the entire city for the Court Mage now?!”

  “I’m pretty sure, that Tobias had a hand in king Mikkel’s assassination,” Varre explained.

  “Pretty sure?” Hakon was about to take his seat, but froze upon hearing that, “what do you mean by ‘pretty’ sure?”

  “Well…” the king began.

  Before he could throw in another word, the doors opened again, a little more gently this time, and the Steward walked in. This was the first time Varre had seen her without any of her trusty notes. Or her glasses for that matter, but it was somehow less noticeable.

  “What was that explosion?” she asked staring nervously at the people gathered in the chamber. She cocked her brow after seeing the twins, but didn’t say anything.

  “I was just getting to that,” Varre answered, “you see, I have reason to believe, that Tobias had a hand in the murder of king Mikkel III.”

  “And what is that reason, your majesty,” Hakon repeated, as he stared at the monarch with unblinking eyes.

  “Good question! Very good question,” the king stalled, “you see, Zarkon, the world renowned healer, and magical expert, the one who once saved the life of yours truly,” he brought a hand to his heart, “is convinced that a wizard of Tobias’s reputation and knowledge should be in possession of hydra venom. And yet he isn’t. Now isn’t that suspicious?”

  “Yes,” the captain agreed, “we’ve discussed that matter earlier this morning.”

  Varre pointed to Hakon. “Exactly! And in general, it seemed like our dear Court Mage has been taking his sweet time with this entire investigation, hasn’t he? Almost as if he was… stalling?”

  “I haven’t considered that,” Marna admitted, finally taking her seat, “is that why Zarkon’s assistants are here?”

  “Indeed it is. You see, we came up with a little plan, the three of us. Or well, four if you include good old Zarkon. Anyway, we wanted to check Tobias’s alibi a little bit. And we came up with an excuse to go visit his lab and search it. Just to see whether he had that venom or not,” the king was starting to feel a little more confident in his story.

  “I take it Tobias wasn’t very happy about that?” the steward offered.

  “He wasn’t,” Varre admitted, “but that’s what the girls were for. They were supposed to say that Zarkon is officially accusing the Court Mage of acting suspicious and that he definitely has hydra venom after all.”

  Marna grimaced, when the twins confirmed the story by nodding. “Did he have it then?”

  “No,” the king smiled, “but that was the trap. You see, if he had it, that would have meant that he lied to us during the council meeting. And if he didn’t, then that’s either because he got rid of it to hide evidence, or worse, was actively involved in Mikkel’s assassination. All of these would be pretty heavy allegations.”

  “Wait,” the steward said, “so that meant there was no way out for him from this situation? I mean, consider for a second that he was innocent. What should he have done to get out of your trap?”

  “Not lie during the council meeting,” Varre replied bluntly.

  Marna nodded, slightly embarrassed.

  “That’s assuming this Zarkon is right, and a high level wizard should have access to such venom,” Hakon countered, “can we be absolutely certain of that?”

  “I’d like to ask my Court Mage, but uh…” Varre pointed to the empty seat.

  “I suppose I could visit the Mage Guild tomorrow and ask around,” the steward suggested.

  “Do that,” the captain agreed, “but that still doesn’t explain the explosion. What happened there exactly?”

  “Well,” the king scratched the back of his neck awkwardly, “I sort of asked my guards to arrest him. And then he totally freaked out and everything. He released a huge cloud of smoke, blew a hole in his own wall and then jumped out the window. And then assaulted two more guards in the courtyard who tried to stop him.”

  The two advisors exchanged worried glances. The twins tried to crouch down in their seats, making themselves as small and invisible as possible to avoid questioning.

  “That… is bad,” Hakon finally said.

  “I know,” Varre raised his hand, “I know what you’re going to say. Maybe I was a bit rash. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to fire him this quickly, without more evidence, or whatever, but look. I’m not going to have a goddamn potential killer as my personal mage alright?! He’s suspicious as hell at the very least and definitely hiding something. How can I have someone on my council, if I do not trust him? He’s far too influential to allow him to stay free.”

  “I agree, your majesty. You did the right thing,” the Steward replied.

  “You what?” the king did not expect that answer.

  “It’s not your move that’s bad, your majesty,” the Captain added, “it’s Tobias’s actions. As you’ve noticed, he’s not an easy man to work with. This would not be the first time that someone threatened to arrest him. Nor even the first time he had to spend a night in the dungeon to calm down. What’s bad,” he looked Varre straight in the eyes, “is that he immediately fled and did not allow for an investigation.”

  If he had tried to attack the guards, could he have succeeded? Perhaps our hero just barely escaped with his life today?

  And perhaps something else...

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