Thomas sneered at the guards word, "On the grounds of protecting the realm and safety of the King, corporal." Thomas replied, as his grip on Harmony tightened, "The lives of 12 Palace Guards mean nothing to me, when in comparison to the safety of the King. Wallace is coming with us, with the blood of Palace guards on our hands, or not." Thomas lifted Harmony up, level with his own shoulder, the light blade free-floating in the air in front of Thomas, "You have three seconds to stand your men aside, corporal, or I will cut through them myself." Thomas delivered his ultimatum. Wallace knew what was happening, he had to, and these men were no doubt loyal to Wallace. Thomas had to act quickly, before Wallace either escaped, or set in motion a contingency plan.

---

Pyper frowned as he witnessed how exhausted the courier seemed to be. She definitely wasn't from Mullen, nor was she any kind of royalty, yet she happened to be caught up in all of this, "Miss Feril, I'm escorting you out of the Palace, tonight. Some events have transpired, and Commander Thomas has determined you're safety comes first." Pyper lied, as he walked in front of Feril, opening the door into the bigger hallways, "If you follow me, we'll find you a safe exit out of the Palace grounds." Pyper said, as he looked down both halls, before exiting in the direction of the Tower of the Thistle.

The man narrowed his eyes at Thomas, but immediately raised his hand and signaled his men to stand aside. They didn't have the numbers to kill his congregation in the halls and the political backlash from such an action wasn't something he savored. Thomas' request was typical of a knight, and there was no harm admitting the knights at this juncture. He was never particularly big on Wallace Canti but he was a man with respect for the law, something the Order had recently eschewed The regulars moved away, staying in their wall of a formation but backing down another hallway than the one the Thistle Knights had chosen. Now they were at arms, despite whatever their corporal had told them to do. The man himself had followed them, retaining his position at the front of their line and watching the knights cautiously. He knew better than to trust Thomas' word, and although the section would have little chance fighting knights head on, keeping his troops like this they could retreat freely to the next section of soldiers, and so on.

---

Feril's high came crashing down with the news Pyper delivered to her. Another incident meant, first of all, that she was not leaving the capital any time soon no matter how far out of the palace they intended to take her. It did, however, explain the bells. Odd, considering they had used trumpets every time prior. Her smile slowly reversed into a frown as she walked along behind Pyper. The more she thought about it, the worse it got. She resented the thought of becoming cynical, but no treatment the palace had shown her thus far suggested that 'her safety came first.' Still, there wasn't much choice for her other than keeping following along and hope for the best. She had watched the halls when they took her here, hours ago, and they were not walking down the direction they'd originated from. That made sense, there would be an office and documentation involved. "Why are the halls so empty? What events do you mean?" She inquired tiredly, craning her head around the halls and nearly losing her step as she wondered at the change.

Thomas looked back to his entourage of knights, and nodded his head. Thomas marched forward, pass the guards. Thomas admired their respect for due process, and the law, but the Order of the Thistle had never pulled it's own weight, and prevented the assassinations of many kings, multiple times, by playing by the rules. The column of knights marched on, right behind their Commander. Thomas was lucky enough to know where Wallace would be located; the only room in the Palace that was officially his. A small study, if Thomas recalled correctly. Sure enough, Thomas eventually came to a door, with Wallace Canti's own name on the door. Thomas raised a hand, and the column stopped it's movement. As the rest of the knights took up positions to guard the approaches to the door, Thomas gingerly approached the door, and twisted the handle. Unlocked, luckily. Thomas swung the door opened, Harmony at the ready, and took a step in the room.

---

"Shh, don't ask questions." Pyper replied, as they made their way to a side exit, located near the Tower of the Thistle. Pyper opened the door, leading to the grounds of the Palace. The sky was starting to turn black, with a red tint on the horizon. It was only sunset out. Pyper squinted his eyes, attempting to make out the top of the walls. Sure enough, he could make out a few guards up on the wall. Pyper had no idea how he was pull this off, but he was going to get Feril over the wall. Pyper turned back to Feril, "Whatever you do, leave the talking to me. I'm going to get you over the wall so you can get out of this place." Pyper ordered her, before reaching for a pouch on his belt, retrieving a small purse that jingled as he moved it. He took Feril's hand, and placed the coin purse in it, "This is more than enough money to pay food, water, lodgings, and maybe even a horse." He said, as he swiftly turned his back to her, and started his way to the wall's nearest stairs.

Jezin caught the sword, tossing it back and forth in his hands. It was a well-made weapon, but not one he was used to. The Lyoki military employed very few straight swords, and the ones they did use were quite a bit shorter than Tyler's blade. Still, it was better than nothing. He gave the knight a nod of appreciation as he left the group. Gareth had been put in charge of the Order's defense of the princess. The bodyguard turned to the boy as he spoke, explaining that they should avoid the princess' quarters. Jezin nodded towards the half-elf. "Right then, let's go. Lead the way, Gareth." The squire had a good head on his shoulders to think so logically in a time like this. Jezin pulled Sophia close to him, whispering. "Stay close, Princess. Everything will be fine. You will be safe, I swear on my life." His voice was as serious as the grave. Out of the corner of his eye, the bodyguard noticed Eva rushing towards them. He thought he saw a flash of metal in the woman's hand. Taurans, always full of surprises. "I'm coming with you." The lady-in-waiting spoke quickly, with a touch of panic in her voice. Jezin nodded.

Sophia's eyes darted about as the chaos unfurled around her. She could still hear the bells chiming from the Tower of the Thistle. Gareth had been put in charge of her defense, and was taking them to his quarters instead of her own. His reasoning was sound, it'd be the last place anyone would look for her. She nodded, feeling herself being pulled close by her bodyguard. Jezin spoke reassuringly, but she couldn't contain her nervousness. "R-right, let's get out of here." Her voice shook, but she fought hard against the panic building in her mind. Eva took her place at the Princess' left side. Sophia looked towards her handmaiden, noticing a small silver dagger in her hand. She had no idea Eva even knew how to use a weapon, much less that she'd been carrying one. The formation placed Gareth at the front of the group, with Jezin and Eva on either side of the Princess.

The door turned open on a dark room drearily lit in faint orbs by a handful of low-burning candles strewn across the black. Tables, desks, and bookcases set at irregular angles around the room laid covered, as did the floor around them, with hundreds of thick tomes bearing any variety of colorful and drab covers. The fallen volumes formed a dusty, disheveled brick road up to one desk at the far end of the room. Thinly built of cheap, knotted wood, its surface alone was cleared and lit red in the last remaining light of the dying day. Silhouetted against the broad, arched window at the end of the room was Canti, his back turned on the door out. Slowly, he turned to face Thomas, a frown slowly growing on his face as he locked eyes with the jacketed knight. "You're not who I expected to come for me, Morgan." He said, the happy little croak in his low voice gone. The man opened his arms, gesturing broadly to his room as a smirk dashed his face. He felt, acted, maybe even looked younger in the tension. It was home. "All you did was lead them here, and you expect me to pay the price for your mistake?" Canti shook his head, scolding a wayward youth. "You don't want to take me. Moreover, you won't. They've already been in your tower." He put his hands down on his desk, leaning forward for a closer look at Thomas with a smarmy grin and a tilt of his head. "You're an ingrate little child aren't you? You broke something important to me and I let you walk free. I believe in redemption, so here, the last advice I can give you. Play your part, or someone will put you down."

---

Being commanded to stay silent didn't make the situation seem any safer, nor their escape any more legitimate. Feril looked at the pouch in her hands, it was more coin than she'd held in a while and frankly she didn't even need it for a horse, hers was still stabled. She didn't even care, she realized, because the scenario was so foggy that there was little more she could do than stand by the wayside and try to piece together what was happening while Pyper went off to handle business on the wall. The thought of running away crossed her mind again and again, although she doubted she would make it far before the knight caught up or she got lost on palace grounds. More and more it seemed her only option was to disappear into the night under whatever kind of suspicious circumstances they were.

Atop the wall, two guards stood looking into the palace. They were fewer than the normal posting of guards, but there had been a runner requesting men head into the castle on business unknown. Whatever the case, they stood their watch in knee length, smoke blue cloaks drawn around them. Each had his hood up, a pointed rain visor at the crown casting their faces in semi-dark. The noise of someone ascending the stairs soon became apparent to both men, and one of them called out to the intruder. "State your intentions when you walk on a post. Who goes there?" Both shuffled under their cloaks, presumably reaching for weapons as they waited for the unseen stranger's response.

Gareth hurriedly unlocked the door and ushered the small group inside, the door slammed shut behind them and locked. He wasn't taking any chances, so the door had to be locked and shut. Intrusion would require kicking the door, burning it, or using the key. Harker sat against the wall around the corner from the corridor into the room, where he couldn't be seen by those entering, but could act quickly. "Sophia, dear, sit next to me." He patted the floor next to him. Huddled in places obstructed from whoever looked through the door would be most ideal for the quartet gathered in Gareth's quarters. "Does anyone have any idea of what's going on? Jezin, where were you?"

Thomas looked around the room as he listened to Wallace talk, checking for anything off, before turning his one eye to Wallace, and taking a step towards the man. Thomas' face was mostly blank as he looked at Wallace, filled with no type of emotion. Thomas looked over his shoulder, back to the Order knights who had taken up shop outside the door. They had formed a fairly good defensive perimeter, their attention solely on the protection of Thomas, and Wallace, while their Commander arrested the Regent. Thomas slowly turned back to Wallace, "No." Thomas said simply, as he clenched his fist, and sent it to the right cheekbone of Wallace. It wasn't nearly powerful enough to knock Wallace out, but it was likely enough to knock the man to the ground, "You're coming with me, Wallace, and you're going to answer every question you've been hiding from everyone." He added.

---

"I'm well aware how to approach a post, sirrah!" Pyper shouted back, his voice strong and authoritative. Even in the sparse light, his sparse armor was easily seen, and so was his white cloak, "I'm Sir Pyper of the Order of the Thistle. I have been commanded by Sir Thomas to get Feril Tatchet out of the Palace grounds." He said, as he started the climb up the stairs to the top of the wall, "Things are getting out of hand in the Palace, and Sir Thomas has deemed Feril's safety to be of paramount importance." He added, flipping his cloak over his shoulder, and placing a hand on his sword, "Any man getting in the way of completing my Commander's orders, is also getting in the way of my King Bard II's safety, and I can't stand for that."

Sophia hurried into the room after Gareth, taking a seat where he motioned. She looked around the room. They seemed safe enough, at least for now. She sat down on the floor, breathing deeply and trying to calm her nerves. She had no idea what was going on. Eva sat beside her, patting the girl softly on the back, her dagger still clutched in her other hand. "There there princess, you'll be fine." She nodded when Gareth asked the question. "Yes, Jezin, what did Thomas tell you?" Her orange eyes locked on the bodyguard. Her tone was a bit harsher and more serious than usual.

Jezin looked around the room, clutching the sword tightly in his right hand. He remained standing, watching the door like a hawk. He glanced towards Gareth when he asked his question. Eva repeated the question. He kept his eyes on the door and sighed, before speaking in a hasty, serious tone. "Thomas thinks Wallace is trying to seize control of the state. While I was in his office, I saw a letter he had received from Wallace. Something strange happened. It looked like the paper was burning, but it was near no fire. I saw that it had burned a message into the paper, but I didn't see what it said. Immediately after, Thomas rung the bells. I imagine he's mobilizing the Order to arrest Wallace." His eyes remained locked on the door. "There's something going on here that's much larger than we realize." He gripped the hilt of the sword more tightly.

Gareth found that ridiculous. A regent is literally the person in control of the state; Wallace couldn't seize what he already had. "Does he even have the slightest clue of what the term regent means?" In the safety of that room, where no other eyes nor ears could convene, it was safe to talk about pressing matters. For nobody would suspect them of being there, neither the Order nor the state nor the unseen black hand acting on events, and nobody would be capable of hearing them or finding them for the time being, what with the chaos outside. "I propose Wallace's message was a warning of something else, but it was not something Wallace had anything to do with." If they successfully arrested Wallace, then he could not be the real danger, for the real danger would not give in to arrest so easily. "The Order is not looking in the right corners... Those two, Wallace and Thomas, have a feud between themselves that has transpired into a weakness for the entire kingdom, I suspect." Gareth wasn't telling any lie, he was giving some of his best insights and conjectures then. The third party was moving, and Harker knew it—Jezin was correct, for they were indeed dealing with something larger than they knew.

Jezin listened as the boy spoke, his eyes still glued to the door. "I believe Thomas thinks Wallace wants to take up a more... permanent regency." Jezin listened as the squire finished, fully expecting something to come through the door at any moment. "That being said, you're right about one thing. This feud between the two of them will probably foul things up quite nicely. Now whether that's just mutual arrogance or there is more to this is up for debate." He glanced towards the squire. "I don't particularly trust either of them, to be completely honest with you, but right now that's not important. Right now I only care about keeping Sophia out of this." Jezin noticed an odd look on Eva's face. The Tauran woman seemed lost in thought somehow. "Eva, pull yourself together." The handmaiden shook her head and looked up at Jezin with a glare. "I'm fine, I'm just trying to process all of this." Sophia remained quiet, still sitting next to Gareth.

"Mhm." Gareth nodded along. Jezin was correct, and the half-elf was particularly enthused to see that Tremora wasn't particularly sided with anyone either, except for Sophia. It meant that he had another group of neutral people, people with no prior involvement whom the factions of the castle also fought over. "There is a war for our alliances. Defend yourselves. We need, however, to keep each other up-to-speed with information. I notion that we be each other's eyes around the castle for the time being. If we have our own set of informants, we can secure ourselves more safety." His concerns, by then, were primarily of ensuring at least the group's own security, and they weren't particularly misplaced concerns, for in such a grave time, protecting the good that was left was necessary. Sophia was of prime importance to the group, of course, given that the danger she was in jeopardized the stability of it all.

A faint smirk crossed Jezin's face. Despite the seriousness of the situation, Gareth had concocted a decent plan. They couldn't really trust anyone in the castle, but if they formed their own group, separate from the power struggle that was going on, maybe they would make it through this alright. The bodyguard nodded. "Not a bad plan Gareth, not a bad plan at all." Gareth's place within the Order, however small, would be extremely beneficial for figuring out what was going on. He glanced back towards the door. As much as he liked to think they'd be able to enact the plan without a hitch, he still felt nervous. They had no idea what was going on outside of the door, for all they knew the entire capital had erupted into a civil war.

Sophia nodded at Gareth's words. They'd have to stick together if they wanted to make it out of this alive and well. Eva patted the Princess on the back again with a reassuring smile. The girl forced a smile back, still trying to control her anxiety. After a moment, she spoke up. "That being the case, Gareth, what were you and Wallace doing earlier?" She hadn't thought anything about the boy's choice of company until now. Perhaps the regent had told him something. Any scrap of information was better than being left in the dark.

"We were snooping around the Tower. We visited the postmaster and divulged whatever information we could about Redwyne's death and that package with the snake in it." Gareth honestly confided, seeing no reason to keep it a secret. After all, at least a bunch of guards and knights probably spotted them there. "We determined Redwyne's killer to be someone in the Order, and nothing else says otherwise. Wallace also dropped off two letters." All of them in the room could cover a lot of ground in unison, which gave them a lot of information, and on top of that, Gareth could use Wallace and Walden for their knowledge. That is, if Wallace came out from his arrest... He worried for that man, whom Gareth determined to have a soft-spot somewhere in him, during that moment in the courtyard. He also worried for himself and for those around him then, for their being dragged together into something they wanted no part in. Unfortunately, they had to get through it, but they weren't going through it alone.

He cursed himself for expecting more, and felt the old hate welling inside of him as Thomas moved around the room. By the time the man said 'no' Canti had already decided the answer for him. Canti abruptly stepped back from his table, springing off his hands and letting Thomas' fist sail by before retreating immediately to the window. He pressed his back against the glass and held his hands against the window, dragging them across a broad swath of the glass to spread his arms. "It's no secret what I'm doing, I never had to hide thanks to you." He smiled at Thomas, waiting for his next advance as his vision began to spin with pain. "You waste your time chasing ghosts. I know everything in this palace, Thomas. You made enemies when you turned Lexine's presence into a carnival, but what I want is better for you than what they're after." He met Thomas' eye with a cold glare, or at least what he presumed to be Thomas in the blur of dim and dark his vision had become. "There are more letters. How many people do you want to know the truth before you step around that desk?" As he ranted, the desk's surface began to char and blacken. If the knight in front of him didn't beat him down first, he felt prone to collapse, and leaned ever more heavily against the window. It was hard to even remember what he'd been talking about. "They have Lexine, and some burning questions for you."

---

The two men mostly ignored what Pyper was saying until the mention of Feril Tatchet. They looked at each other for a moment, affirming something between the two before turning back to Pyper. Any diplomacy they had hoped to conduct with the man went out of the way the instant he flipped his cloak, a motion which caused both men to draw a shortsword from under their own. "We will see Tatchet to safety," one of the men said and locked his eyes on Pyper before commanding his fellow, "Emme, go tell Yellow that we're coming out." The other man obliged, and sprinted off before any further incident could ensue. The remaining man lowered his stance, anticipating nothing but unreasonableness on the opposing side. "Seems like we're both after the same thing Pyp, so hang the threats and let's work together." That said, he didn't take a step back. Tatchet was on the shortlist with the rest of the prisoners, she was leaving whether he had to hold a Thistle Knight's hand or not for the process.

Thomas glanced down at the desk, looking at the seemingly burning desk, with an air of indifference, before looking up to meet Wallace's glare, with a glare of his own, "You're coming to the Tower. You're going to help us end all of this. Then, the King will decide what to do with your head, if I don't decide first." Thomas spoke, his words cutting, but his voice level. Thomas placed one hand on the side of the desk, and lifted with surprising strength, flipping the entire desk over on it's top, out of the way between Wallace and Thomas, "I'm down with games. I'm down hunting down the answer. I'm going straight to the source." Thomas started walking up to Wallace, until he would be mere inches from his face, Harmony still tight in his hand.

---

"I'm not 'Pyp', good sir. I'm Sir Pyper." Pyper said, with a degree of venom on his voice, as he drew his own sword. Pyper dove forward, with considerable speed, attempting to bull rush the guard over the crest of the wall, while first committing a swing, from left to right. Pyper was thankful for his speed that day, and knew if the guard were to jump to either the right or left, he'd be fast enough to change his bullrush. He had been taught from his first day in the Order to not trust the guard, especially these past couple of days. They might as well of been in Wallace's own pocket, according to the rest of the Order members.

---

A gentle knock rang out across Gareth's quarters, coming from the other side of the door. A gentle knock that had knocked on that door before. After a moment, another gentle knock rang out, this time accompanied by a familiar and friendly voice, "Gareth, if you're in there, I need your help." The gentle voice of Sir Walden called out, "It's getting dangerous out here, and I'm not the warrior I used to be. We need to go make sure Princess Sophia is alright." He added, as he accompanied the call out with another couple gentle knocks.

Jezin had been about to comment on the legality of shipping a snake out of Lyok in the first place, but was interrupted by a knock on the door. As soon as he heard the sound he raised to sword in his hand, gripping the hilt tightly. As he heard the voice on the other end, however, he lowered the blade. Sir Walden. He didn't trust many people in the castle, but Walden seemed like a genuinely decent man. He looked toward Gareth and nodded, as if telling him he could open the door. The sword, however, remained hanging at his side. Even if he did trust Sir Walden, anyone could follow him in.

Sophia felt her heart skip a beat when a knock resounded across the room. Just as she was on the verge of panic, however, she heard Walden's gentle voice. She relaxed for a moment, and a faint smile crossed her lips. She looked towards Gareth, to see what he planned to do. Eva remained vigilant, tapping her dagger gently against the marble floor of the room. Sophia wondered what had happened to the woman. She had never seen her behave like this before.

Gareth rose slowly from his place, bow drawn and pointed at the door in case anyone else was there besides Sir Walden. "Princess Sophia is in here with me." He opened the door slowly as he announced that information loud enough for at least the person next to the door to hear it. It seemed as though he held a hostile tone, but the hostile tone was only an offense and the drawn bow was only a means of protection for those in the room, in the event that it wasn't actually Sir Walden at the door. His gut wrenched as his hand tentatively pulled the door open to reveal who was behind it.

Walden stood at the door, and almost smile when he witnessed the drawn bow, "Are you going to strike me down, Mister Harker?" Walden asked, with a small chuckle. He looked past Gareth, and into the room to see Eva, Jezin and Sophia, "Impressive work, Gareth. I'm glad you could get everyone together." He added, as he stepped into the room, looking behind him to make sure no one had been following him, "Are any of you hurt? Is everyone okay?" Walden asked, his voice now worried, as he inspected the group, Sophia especially, "Princess Sophia," Walden said, bowing his head slightly, "You need to come with me. Commander Thomas and I have found a place that will be of much better protection than here. Things are starting to escalate outside." He explained, as he looked from Sophia, to the rest of the group.

Sophia looked up at Sir Walden as he entered, smiling weakly. She shook her head when he asked of their state. "No, Sir Walden, none of us are hurt." Despite her weakened tone, her voice was still smooth an musical. A look of worry crossed her face when Walden mentioned moving her to another location, however. She glanced around at Gareth, Jezin and Eva. "W-where are we going, Sir Walden?"

Jezin looked a bit concerned with Walden's course of action. "Yes, Sir Walden, where exactly is this place that you speak of?" He spoke in a respectful tone to the man, but he worried about moving the princess. Even if the new location was safer, moving between the two would be exceedingly dangerous. Tyler's sword hung loosely in his right hand, seeing that no one had followed Walden. He had respect for the man, a boast few others in the capital could make, but the thought of maneuvering through the corridors didn't feel right.

Gareth raised a brow and narrowed his eyes. "Just what is this commander Thomas intending to do?" He served Thomas, but he questioned Thomas's actions strongly and really didn't feel up to honoring his leadership. Harker wasn't going to entrust Sophia with the Order, even though he himself was a member of the organization. This couldn't be as simple as moving her to a 'safer' location, there was an ulterior motive in this somewhere. He didn't vocalize that thought, but he held onto its veracity. More and more the Order of the Thistle began to look more like a deceiving cult of lunatics than a respectable crew of knights. 'You didn't find it, he did, and moreover, he's ordering you to do what you're about to do.' Gareth privately thought to himself. 'You know better than I do that it isn't safe to move her around.' "Leaving this room is twice as unsafe as staying in it." The security of the room was better than outside, and at least the location was an unanticipated spot for them to be in.