Valerian, The Legendary

64 Snake In The Sleeve.

Valerian did not waver in the face of the magical beast approaching him at a high speed, suddenly, he cast a spell, ‘Vitis Ligatura.’

A few meters ahead of the raging horse, vines sprouted from the ground, as the horse got closer the vines quickly entangled with it, stopping its charge. However, the attribute of wood was weak against fire. It will not take the beast to break free from the bindings.

Valerian turned back to face the prince and slashed the sword, his eyes did not waver, and neither was his movement slow. Vertex felt an impact on his neck and his consciousness faded away.

Valerian heard a defiant neighing sound from behind him and vanished quickly. The flame horse had broken free of the bindings, the magical beast wanted to chase after him, but his master lay on the ground.

Magical beasts were smarter than normal animals, so Jonas bent his neck, and using his mouth he picked up the fainted prince and flung him over his back. Then it rode straight to the palace. Saving the life of his master was his priority.

Valerian moved through the woods and made his way to the secret tunnel. He did not have the time to check whether the flame horse took the prince back safely or not. He got rid of the clothing and put on his old clothes. His memory was sharp enough to find the way back to the tunnel.

After a couple of hours when he reached the tunnel he found Quies standing outside. The old man asked, “How did it go?”

Valerian replied, ‘Three people dead and the second prince suffered some injuries and bone fractures, nothing else.’

Quies nodded and asked, “He did not see you, right?”

.....

The child shook his head and the two entered the tunnel leading back to the palace, they were basically running now. It was still early morning and Valerian had to make it look like he was inside the palace all the time. Inside the tunnel, Valerian put on the suit for the attendant prepared by the old man.

When they came out of the tunnel, the palace was somewhat active. Valerian understood that the matter of the attack has been disclosed. The horse would have taken the second prince back to the military check post, and the people there would have sent the news back and provided them medical attention as well.

Quies led Valerian back to the chambers of the Empress. The warriors heard the news of the attack and were alert. They reacted to Quies, but the old man was once a general. They bowed and one of the guards asked, “Sir Quies, do you need an audience with Her Excellency?”

The old man nodded, and the warrior turned around to knock on the door. Fragrantia spoke from the inside, “What is it, Kayla?”

Kayla was the guard on duty. She replied, “Your Excellency, Sir Quies is here.”

“Send him in.”, replied the lady from inside.

Quies pushed open the door and entered the room with Valerian in tow. The old man looked at the Empress sitting on the chair and bowed. While the child moved from behind him to stand next to the lady.

Quies wanted to reprimand him but then he saw, Valerian, serving tea for the Empress. He said, “Greetings, your excellency.”

Fragrantia nodded and said, “I assume that the task has been completed?”

Quies nodded and was about to give her the details but Fragrantia waved her hand to silence him before she took the cup of tea served by Valerian. She said, “You can leave and tend to the Second Prince, make sure to be vigil about the someone in shadows.”

Quies nodded and after bowing he left the room. Fragrantia asked Valerian in a soft voice, “Valerian, can you narrate the happenings to me?”

The reason she did not allow Quies to speak was that she was cautious of any surveillance. Valerian on the other hand did not only finish the task but also because he could narrate things in silence.

Valerian nodded and went on to narrate the entire thing to the Empress, his actions were fluent and every time the Empress interrupted him with a question of different aspects, Valerian replied meticulously.

Fragrantia nodded, she was impressed with the things he had taken into consideration during this task. The skin armor covered his scent under his clothes to make sure that the next time he approached the Flame Horse, he will not be attacked.

Fragrantia smiled at him and said, “You did a good job, Child.”

Valerian was surprised at her address. He raised his head to look at the lady in front of him and was shocked. Her soft tone seemed to have touched the strings of his heart. This tone and sense of warmth was something he received from his mother and Diligentia in the past.

He has only seen his mother only once, but looking at it now, he found that the features of the Empress were slightly similar to his mother. He shook his head thinking that his idea was absurd, and asked, ‘Your Excellency, do you know who were the people in the shadows?’

Fragrantia nodded and said, “I do, well let us deal with that later. Time for us to go and meet the second prince, and also, today we are going out. Your exam has been rescheduled, that old man has come back from his exploits and said that he wants to see his potential students.”

Valerian was surprised but then he nodded. He wanted to get stronger and faster, so he could not let go of this chance and was a little excited. Fragrantia stood up from the chair, she was already dressed up and her crown was resting on her head gently, adding to her beauty.

Valerian walked over to the door and pushed it open. The guards were surprised but not numb, they could tell that her Excellency was going to meet the second prince, so they followed her quickly.

Fragrantia walked ahead of the three, with Valerian following two steps behind and the guard on two sides. The children of the Emperor were given rooms on the second floor of the palace, while the Empress and the Emperor lived on the third floor.

They moved through winding corridors and descended a flight of stairs to get to the second prince’s room. Although his wounds were healed, the shock from the attack was enough for him to stay inside his room.

Fragrantia stopped in front of a door, where two warriors of a lower grade stood. They both bowed to the lady and one of them knocked on the door and said, “Your Highness, Her Excellency is here to meet you.”

“Let her in.”, sounded a voice from inside.

Fragrantia cast a gaze at Valerian, who tactfully bowed and took a step back. The empress wanted to say that she will go inside alone.

...

Inside the room, the dashing second prince was sitting on his bed with his brows furrowed together. Fragrantia walked over and asked, “Who was it?”

Vertex could sense the slight chill carried in her voice. He knew that his mother was angry. He stood up from the bed and said, “Mother, it was a stranger.”

Fragrantia looked at her son and then she walked closer to him, caressed his head, and asked, gently, “Explain what happened to me.”

Vertex shivered slightly and told her about the incident from his perception. The fight was exactly how Valerian had told her it was. The Empress put up an expression of surprise when Vertex said, “I was overwhelmed in a face-to-face battle.”

Valerian had mentioned that the prince was quick enough to cast a wind blade and almost kill him, but because the speed of the prince was much slower than the Ventus Lupi so he could counter it well. Also, this was a sudden attack and thus the righteous man, Vertex was not ready for the battle.

Fragrantia asked, “Anything particular you recall about the assailant?”

Vertex instinctively replied, “It had a pattern on the shoulder...”

Amidst his speech he stopped, he did not mean to say it in front of his mother. Fragrantia caught on and asked, “What pattern? Vertex.”

The prince knew he could not lie, but he was not in favor of ousting his allies, the sign on the shoulder of the assailant belonged to a certain family. Just when he was thinking about what to do or not, his brain was jolted by a loud clap, followed by some heat on the side of his face.

Fragrantia said, “You wastrel. Do you not realize that your so-called Ally, has ideas for the throne? They want it for themselves.”

Vertex countered, “No, how can this be true, those men followed me for the past few months and never hindered my training. Why now?”

He was not willing to accept that this was something done by his ally.

Fragrantia sighed and said, “Vertex, we both know, that it could all be a play. If they were really for your security, why did they not come clean about it? Alright, I put your word higher, if your ally was going to support you, then why did she keep an eye on you in secret? Why will someone strong enough to support you in getting the throne, sit on the sidelines? Why did the people under your direct command, listen to her orders? Is this not a way to control you like a puppet?”

Vertex heard this and raised his head to look at his mother.

Fragrantia said, “Do you really think that lady is so selfless? She was my handmaid, I know her more than anyone on this continent. Her love for the prime minister was nothing but a trap, to seize power. Alas! I do not want you to fall for her tricks my love, what will I do if any of my children were hurt by a snake in their sleeves?”

The second prince was a man of honor, he believed that everything should be done righteously. The attack on his sister was something against his wish and that has already put a rift between the two parties. Now when he saw that his mother had tears in her eyes, his heart began to shake.

He said, “Mother, please forgive me. It was madam prime minister. It was her idea to do this all. Help me.”

As he said that Vertex hugged his mother, Fragrantia stopped crying and her eyes were burning with rage. She said calmly, “I will, my child. Do not worry.”

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