Interwoven

FLAMES: PART FIVE

29** th ***Day of the Shining Light, 30 AoE*

Tobias couldn't stop pacing.

He wanted to, of course, but his feet just wouldn't settle. Nor would his paws, as the tiger wrang them incessantly. This had been a mistake. This had been a terrible, huge mistake. He should have just done what he'd originally planned, and made for the Crest. Whiled away his few precious free hours with Soren until they were both panting, sticky messes. It would have been so easy. So satisfying.

But no, there he was in the tunnels under the castle, pacing. Waiting. He'd been absolutely certain that he'd mentioned the right time and place. The prince _was_a bit late, of course; Davan had been very suspicious of him ever since he'd been looking over Orlin's work with the help of the panther, and there had never been anything that Tobias could do to assuage that suspicion. He had been lucky that Orlin had done most of the talking, and assured Davan in no uncertain terms that if he suspected Tobias of overstepping his bounds that he'd kill the tiger himself.

That had been much less comforting.

It had, however, been effective. He'd believed the panther immediately, and so had Davan. It didn't relax the horse at all, of course; he'd still scrutinised Tobias as hard as he always did. What id _did_do for him was let him know that all was normal again. Tobias had his in, and his access to actual magical knowledge. The threat on his life was still hanging over his head, but the tiger had the knowledge he needed. The chance to study what Fredrick was trying to do, and how to stop him.

Hence the meet. He paused in his pacing for a second, flaming torch in one paw as he looked up and down the passageway once more. Still nothing. Tobias wracked his brain; had he messed up? Was he too late? He was waiting longer than necessary; surely he wasn't the only one in the whole damn city who'd do that.

In the silence of his stalled pacing though, Tobias' ears pricked up at the sound of footsteps. He hurriedly shifted the torch to his other paw as he drew his dagger. If it was anyone unexpected, he might well need to be ready to fight. The light of the approaching person's torch preceded them, and Tobias clutched his dagger tighter.

Only for him to sag in relief as William emerged around the corner. He sighed, lowering the dagger fully before stuffing it back in its sheath. "You're late."

"Good to see you, too." The hyena's beard and headfur were a little mussed as he made his way to Tobias' side. "I was at home. I'm trying to spend more time there when not in the castle."

A little pang struck Tobias' heart as he nodded. "Did, uh... you get any word on-"

"No, I don't know where he is. And it's still best that I don't know, so Fredrick can't dig it out of my head with magic." William tilted his head as he leaned against the wall opposite Tobias. "What's this all about? I figure you left that note in a hurry."

Tobias nodded. That was certainly true. "I didn't have a lot of time. Every minute it was left on my desk was a minute it might have been discovered by someone else. I know only you knew where it meant, but if someone had taken it to Fredrick..." The tiger shuddered. It didn't bear thinking about.

William clearly agreed, if the wince on his face said anything at all. "That's also why we couldn't talk in the castle properly?"

"Too many ears for what we need to discuss." Tobias took a deep breath. He could see that William was interested; his curiosity was plain on his features. "Promise me that what I'm about to tell you will go no further than the two of us."

The hyena perked an eyebrow. "What's this about, Tobias?"

But the prince shook his head. That was a cheeky little evasion. "Promise me."

"Alright, fine. I promise." William rolled his eyes. "Now what's going on? What's wrong?"

"Everything." The tiger pushed off the wall and started to pace again. His gait was slower as he moved back and forth in front of William, but he still couldn't help himself. "Absolutely everything. I don't know who to trust, but I know that I can't do anything on my own, and I don't have anyone else, so..."

"Tobias." He turned at the sound of his name, and blinked as William placed his free paw on the tiger's shoulder. "Start at the beginning. Breathe, and speak."

If Tobias didn't know better, he'd have thought he was talking to William's father in his place. He did as he was told and sucked in a deep breath of air, holding it for a second before he allowed his lungs to deflate again. Alright. "You remember our last meeting with Fredrick. That ring."

"That magic. I remember clearly." William nodded, frowning hard.

"Yes, that. Look, there's a lot more to it that I just don't have the time to explain, or the... the knowledge to explain in a way that would make sense to you." He winced as William's head tilted again. "Not that you wouldn't understand it! I don't understand it, not all. You're smart, and-"

"Tobias."

"You're going to kill him, aren't you?" The words just erupted out of the prince's muzzle, like a wave sent to splash across William's face. It broke the interest on his expression and turned it instantly to surprise. "Fredrick. I can't think of a single other reason why you'd ever, ever become a kingsblade."

William studied him in silence for a long moment while Tobias' heart pounded in his chest. He'd gone too far. He'd made an assumption, educated though it was, and now he'd upset or offended or angered William and it was all over. "I get the ruse, assuming... it's a ruse. Following in your father's footsteps, upholding his honour, defending Ratholarin... I get it. You've been fighting so long it makes perfect sense, but only if someone doesn't know your history with Fredrick." He paused, taking another quick couple of breaths. He had to remember to breathe, but panic had begun to settle in. "You're going to try and kill him. Would have already, if you could have."

The hyena licked at his muzzle as he lifted his head higher. "And?"

Tobias almost sagged with relief. It wasn't confirmation, but it wasn't a denial. It was also probably the closest thing to an admission that he was likely to get for the moment. "And I don't know how much harder it's going to make things for you, but if you're going to do it... it needs to be soon. As soon as possible."

Again William frowned as he stared back at Tobias. The tiger swallowed hard. The words had just sort of tumbled out of him, but it wasn't as though he was about to take any of them back. Things had gone too far for that. Maybe William, intently watching him, understood that. "Is this because of the magic? He's got more?"

"Sort of. Not yet. He's..." The tiger sighed. The processes were complicated! How to explain them to a soldier's mind? "Alright. So, the Ratholarin Institute."

"You mean the place where he creates his misinformation and stores all the magical trinkets his soldiers find all over the realm?" William's eyebrows lifted.

It was Tobias turn to frown. "How do you know about that?"

At that the hyena shrugged and smirked. Had Tobias underestimated William again? "The messaging started as soon as the Institute was unveiled, and the guardians talk a lot about the strange magical items they're recovering and bringing to the castle. Doesn't take a scholar to put it all together, does it?"

"I suppose not." Clearly he had underestimated William again. More shame on him then; just what Tobias needed. "Except it's not to store them. He seeks to learn to use it, to 'assure Ratholarin supremacy' in his own words." Tobias snorted.

"And what about in your words?" William set his torch in a rusted little wall mount a couple of steps away, but his gaze remained locked on Tobias the whole time.

"In mine? Isn't it obvious, William?" The tiger sighed as his tail flicked against the wall. "He's looking for power. He's always looking for more power. Fredrick loves the attention and subservience that he receives from everyone around him. He loves that, as king, everyone is beneath him. The only people that aren't are other kings, or the gods themselves." He slumped back against the wall. "He already revels in people kneeling at his feet. It wouldn't surprise me if he wanted to become a god... or at least be worshipped as one."

The hyena nodded slowly along with him. "And you want me to kill him?"

Tobas' eyes nervously flicked back up the passage again. It was terrifying to hear those words spoken so casually aloud. He knew that they were probably safe where they were, but that knowledge didn't change the surge of fear that gripped his heart. "He's my brother. I don't want him to be... to be killed." The tiger's eyes closed as he lay his head against the wall. "But he's going to ruin the realm, and then the region, and I don't think he would content himself with that alone. You _know_Fredrick, William. He believes he's above any rule that doesn't service him directly."

"I do." When Tobias opened his eyes again, William was staring at the flames of the torch he'd hung up. What must he think of Tobias, he wondered? Asking him to kill his brother instead of doing it himself... "Look, I can't... promise you anything. Not if magic's involved. What sort of items does he have? What weapons would I need to watch out for?"

Tobias grit his teeth. That was the issue. "The Triumvirate - the three scholars that really run the Institute - don't let me see everything, and I've only recently been able to learn about their attempts to imbue him with magical power, so-"

"Imbue?" William pushed off the wall, a sudden spark of interest glinting in his eyes. "What do you mean imbue? Isn't he just using different items?"

"That was the original hope, but the Institute's research went further. Discovered potential ways to induce shamanistic magical potential in someone who wasn't born to it." Tobias hugged his middle with his free arm. "They've been experimenting. _On_Fredrick."

He watched as William's eyebrows lifted almost completely off his head. The hyena looked terrified, and Tobias couldn't blame him. "They had... charts. Histories, bloodlines. They tracked the descendants of shamans, of priests, aspects and sorcerers. I... William, they've been finding these people." He swallowed hard. "Whenever they do, they capture them... try to use their blood to make Fredrick like them."

The hyena grit his teeth as he glanced aside. "That... can't work. Right? That shouldn't work. There's _no way_that works."

If only Tobias himself were as sure. "As far as the biology goes, it might. We know that the divine powers follow bloodlines, and that they don't seem to weaken as they grow more dilute. With careful breeding efforts, it's entirely possible that we could pair up the right people across the whole world and in a number of generations have every single person in all creation capable of conjuring the power of magic."

"If that's how it worked, then it would have worked out that way a long time ago." William shook his head again as his eyes fixed once more on the tiger. "The time of magic being gifted by the gods was ages... literal ages ago. Thousands of years."

"But not every descendant survives." William frowned as he adopted a thoughtful expression again, and Tobias sighed. He'd hoped he'd been wrong. "And not every one has children. Lenkis was the birthplace of so many religions devoted to the old gods, and none of their people had any sense of chastity whatsoever. Magic was everywhere. Outside Lenkis though..." He shrugged.

"So with the fall of Lenkis came the fall of most of the world's magic-wielders. The purge of Lenkis really almost did purge magic." William bared his teeth as he spoke, but Tobias was reasonably sure his irritation wasn't just for him. "And that explains why before they fell, Ratholarin went after the Yarovenni first. Cutting off support from the sorcerer lords."

"And then Caris, once the Yarovenni and the Lenkis could no longer aid them. All three magically-driven realms of the south sea, annihilated within the space of fifty years." The memory of the bloodline chart that Tobias had destroyed filtered through his mind. William was right there. He could tell the hyena that he himself was a powerful confluence of magical forces. But what would that do to him? And more, did he want to give William the idea that he could use magic himself? That he was capable of unlocking some part of himself that could do goodness alone knew what?

And worse: did he want to open William up to the risk of Fredrick finding out?

No. Absolutely not. "So far, insofar as I can tell, he's failed at every turn. Every attempt to transfuse the blood of a shaman into him has induced toxic shock. He's recovering from it faster each time and this has been going on about a year now, which doesn't bode well." He watched as William growled something in Carisi under his breath too quiet for Tobias to hear. "Right now, the Institute is searching for any Yarovenni or Lenkis-descended people in Ratholarin. They're going to arrest them, compare their bloodlines to the records we have, and see if their magic can be awoken."

The hyena's eyes narrowed to green slits. "They think the blood needs to be awoken and living before it goes in him."

"This is a whole school of medicinal knowledge that is so far beyond me I can't make heads nor tails of it. I don't even know." Tobias sighed. William looked furious at the prospect of Fredrick's experiments. "All I know is that if he continues on this line of research, he will find something that he's looking for. The Triumvirate are getting closer, and the guardians are pushing harder to bring Fredrick the last pieces he needs to complete the puzzle."

He watched as William stroked at his beard. Tobias held his tongue to let the hyena think through everything that he'd said. He knew it was a lot, but he needed to get it out there. Needed his old friend to hear him. "I know what it is I'm asking of you, William. I know also that I have no right to ask it, not after... everything. All we were. Are. Are not."

The kingsblade glanced up at him, claws still in his beard. "No one has the right to ask someone to kill another person. That's got nothing to do with you and me. But this..." His gaze drifted away again as he nodded. "This is why I joined the kingsblades. I thought if I could get closer to Fredrick, I could sidle right up next to him and slip a knife into his heart."

Hearing William be so bluntly honest about it after dancing around the topic so deftly earlier almost came as a surprise to Tobias, and William folded his arms with a sigh. "But Fredrick's always been about hurting people. It's not power. It's never just been about power. He..." Again he growled something under his breath in Carisi before he lifted his head again. "Ever since that day in the stables, when I got a hold of his dagger... I knew. I knew what he was. I knew he should never have been allowed to be king.

"I held out hope that something would happen. That Eric would somehow outlast him, and that some strange accident would take him and Brett both out of the world. That you'd sit the throne instead." He frowned as Tobias' eyes widened. "Even when I thought the least of you, I recognised that you had a heart. You were more a person, whole and true, than both of them put together. And now..."

The tiger blinked. "And now?"

William actually smiled at that. "And now, you've seen the damage. You've seen the harm. You've learned and you've grown, at least from what little I've seen. And certainly from what I've overheard at the Crest."

Tobias' eyes widened further as he twitched, heat rushing into his cheeks. He still wasn't used to people just... _knowing_about his nightly activities. "Right, your friend there. I didn't know I was the, uh... subject of gossip."

"It's all good, I promise." The hyena's smile faded and he nodded once. "Look, I don't know if you'll make a good king. I know you, at least, never wanted to be a king when we were both children. You didn't even want to be a prince."

"Actually, I wanted to be a prince if it meant you were a prince too, as I recall." Tobias sighed even as his ears and cheeks continued to burn beneath his fur. "If you want to talk about back then, all I wanted was to be who I was. You let me be that, so... I wanted to be that with you. Only with you."

William's shoulders drooped a little. "Tobias-"

"Please?" The tiger took a step forward, one paw raised. "Please. If you're going to do all of this... actually kill Fredrick and all that that entails, I don't know when I'm going to have the chance to say this. Anything could happen. You could be killed, and so I could I. So please, may I speak? May I say what needs to be said?"

The hyena gave a slow nod as he leaned back again, and Tobias' breath caught in his throat. He coughed quickly to clear it as he glanced down the passage again. Still no sign of anyone else, but still... "I don't know where Daniel is. I don't, and it's probably for the best because I'd... I would tell you. Right away."

It was William's turn to blink with surprise, but Tobias just sucked in a quick breath and kept going. "You were all I wanted, William, and I ruined it. I ruined our friendship, and I ruined... myself. You actually look like you came out of it well, so I don't want to say I ruined you, but..."

"You didn't ruin me." William tried another little smile. "Don't worry."

"I appreciate that, but I know how much I hurt you. How badly I treated you, and yes; I _know_I've already apologised for that." The tiger ground his teeth together as he clenched his jaw. He would have thought it easier the second time around. Third? However many times it had been. "To be fair, I sort of ruined the last attempt, too. Badly.

"But I want you to know that I..." Want you. "I mean, that I..." Never stopped loving you. "I... don't know what to say." He sighed. Slumped back. "There's so much, and none of it is sufficient. None of it is right."

The hyena shrugged. "None of it's wrong either, if it's what you feel. It's not my place to judge you. Never has been." Of course he'd say that. Of course he would, after everything they had been through and all that Tobias had done to hurt him, say that. He still was the same stupid, sweet boy he always had been. He'd grown up, but never lost that... sweetness. Not in spite of everything. William was still William. He'd just become so much more.

That knowledge gave him strength enough to make one good push for honesty. The tiger steeled himself and closed his eyes. "I want you. Even now, I do. Even during that affair before my marriage, even during my marriage, and even after with the males of the Crest I... none of them were you. They were never you, and I would have given just about anything for them to have been."

When his eyes opened again, William was still smiling. He hadn't moved and the smile hadn't grown or shrunk, but it didn't look like it was frozen in place, either. It was just... a smile. "But in spite of all of that, if I knew where Daniel was... I _would_tell you immediately. Because I know what he means to you... how much you love him. Not me. He's the one you need. He's the one you deserve, and I'd do anything to help you get back to him... even if it hurts me. Whatever it takes. For you."

It felt good, in a terrifying sort of way, to have those words leave his muzzle. Like a weight tied about his heart had been unwound and allowed to drift away. He watched as William nodded back to him. "Put down the torch."

Tobias blinked, confused as he glanced at the flames for a moment. He crouched down and tentatively set it down on the floor of the passage, standing up and brushing his arms down afterward. "O-okay?"

"Thanks." Then William moved. He closed the gap between them in the blink of an eye, quickly enough that had Tobias been capable of reacting in time he might have tried to make a pre-emptive strike to prevent the hyena's attack. There was no such attack however, and it was all the better that he had been the slow one.

William's arms closed around him, clutching him tight.

Tobias melted in an instant. He fell almost completely limp, held up only by William's arms wrapped so snugly around him. The tiger's own came up around the hyena's middle, clutching him desperately back as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut. What was happening? Why was it happening? What was William-

The kingsblade squeezed him tighter and whispered down into one of his ears. "It's good to see you again."

He shuddered in turn, shaking his head. Tobias' muzzle opened briefly to reply, but no words came out. Instead he could issue only a distinctly masculine and authoritative squeak that conveyed exactly none of his intention. It took Tobias a few seconds more before he could pull himself out of the warmth of William's body against his own and conjure actual coherent speech. "I'm... I'm still here?"

"I mean that Tobias I used to know. The real Tobias." William's arms slid down lower, paws stroking over the prince's back as he let his head come to rest on Tobias' shoulder. "The one who was honest with me. My friend. I'm glad to see him again."

All of the warmth in William seemed to pool in Tobias' chest, warming him from the outside in. He thought he might cry, but his muzzle was torn into a broad, deep smile. He choked out a laugh against William's neck, muffled but issued forth with absolute, wild abandon as he squeezed the hyena back as tightly as he could. His friend. His friend. "I'm sorry, William..."

"I know. It's alright." William's arms relaxed a little bit, but they still kept a snug hold of Tobias. That was good; the tiger didn't ever want him to let go. "I'm just glad to see you again. That you were still in there somewhere."

There was no way to stop the tears. William had uncapped them, and Tobias sobbed heavily as he didn't even bother fighting them. He leaned more heavily on the hyena, and William simply pulled him flush with his larger body and held him close. Every stroke of William's paws up and down his back coaxed fresh tears from him, like his body was surrendering all the hurt that he'd held onto since he was fifteen years old. Like William was pulling his pain out and casting it off into the night.

Just like he always had.

He'd been a fool. Tobias knew this; he'd known it for most of his life. This was what he could have had. This is what he _should_have had, but for his pride and his blindness. There was no need to stand up and posture, and there was no need to pretend otherwise. He knew the truth. Accepted it. Spoke it.

And that was what had truly unbound the weight in Tobias' heart. That's what had refilled it; refuelled it like a fire given new life. It surged for William just as it had years and years ago. Just like it had in those blissful few days between knowing how he felt about the hyena, and when he'd been taught to feel shame for it. When he'd _allowed_himself to become ashamed for it.

His eyes were reddened when he finally lifted them from William's shoulder. The hyena was still smiling even as Tobias sniffed, trying to clear his nostrils. "I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. You're alright." The hyena drew a paw up to the back of Tobias' head as he lifted his own, and it guided him gently against the kingsblade's chest. The tiger allowed himself to be pulled close again, and he sighed as his eyes closed once more. "It's all alright."

"No it's not." His words were muffled, but he hoped that William would hear them clearly nonetheless. "None of it is. I should've said this years ago."

"You didn't understand it years ago. It's fine." William squeezed him once again. "I'm just surprised. "What... where'd this all come from, anyway?"

Tobias sniffled again, swallowing as he shook his head against William's chest. "Like I said... what I'm asking you to do; what you were already going to do? It could get either or both of us killed. I just wanted you to know. I still care about you. I never stopped caring about you, and I just..." He squeezed his eyes shut tighter. Well, he'd gone that far. What was a little further? "If it weren't for Daniel, I'd be on my knees right now and I don't mean just to thank you."

There was silence for a brief moment, and a mortified Tobias froze up against William's body. That warmth leeched from the hyena's body bled back out of him for that moment before William started to laugh, deep and low and quiet against the tiger. "Sorry, took me a second there. Wow. Wasn't ready for that." He gave Tobias another squeeze, and his claws stroked gently down the back of the prince's neck. He thought he might melt as he shivered against William's body. "Damn. If only you'd said that all those years ago instead of sending me away. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious."

Tobias nodded to himself as he started to relax again. That was essentially exactly what he'd expected anyway. "But...?"

"But I've only got eyes for him." The hyena still shifted against Tobias enough to bring his muzzle down to gently kiss the top of the tiger's head. "Besides, you don't need me. Just be who you are, Tobias. You'll be on your knees for the right male in no time."

"Oh, thanks. That makes me feel a lot better."

"You're welcome. I really mean it." William chuckled again and the burning in Tobias cheeks picked up further. "So. Turned into a little tailraiser after all, did you?"

"Shut up." Tobias lightly slapped at William's chest as the hyena grinned. "I did put a cub in a female too, for your information. Uh..." He frowned. Even that was in question those days. "At least, I think I did. I _was_sure. She was a hyena, too."

"Well, well. I guess I made an impression. You've got a type." William patted at Tobias shoulders, still smiling as he drew back from the embrace. Tobias didn't quite want to let him go, but he reluctantly allowed his paws to slide back from around William's middle. "Sorry for ruining your taste in males and females both."

The prince rolled his eyes. This wasn't why he'd called the hyena there, but... as far as happy little coincidences went, this was the best he'd had in quite some time. "Not ruined. Defined, maybe, but not ruined. You didn't ruin anything... that was all me." He sighed as he stepped back, pressing himself against the wall. Some part of him still felt the urge to sink down to the floor, but William had made his feelings clear. That time was long past. "So are we... are we alright, William?"

"Yeah. I think we are." He nodded slowly even as he glanced down. "That assumes, of course, that you're okay with me, ah... killing your brothers."

Tobias blinked. Plural? "What do you mean? Why kill Brett?"

William perked an eyebrow, as if the question had been completely unexpected. "Do you really think he's going to undo all the bad stuff that Fredrick's put in place? Do you think he's going to be the king that Ratholarin needs?"

The answer was no, of course, but... "Brett's not the monster here, though. That's Fredrick. He's been brutalised by Fredrick as much as anyone. Uh..." He caught the flash of William's eyes. "Well, not as much as anyone. But more than most people know."

Whatever had sparked that flash faded quickly, and William sighed as he nodded. "Yeah, but he's still following Fredrick's footsteps. He's always done what Fredrick does. Do you think he's going to turn around what Fredrick's done? Fix things?"

The warm, happy feelings that had filled Tobias up slipped from his heart as the cold, hard reality seeped back in around it. William was right. As much as Brett had been taken in and hurt by Fredrick too, he'd aways only ever wanted to be Fredrick. If he was given the crown, how bad would he be? No worse, possibly, but better? "No... no, I guess not. But maybe he doesn't have to die. If he were to abdicate, he..." Tobias sighed. He couldn't even finish the suggestion. "He wouldn't abdicate. No, of course not. That would be too easy, wouldn't it?"

"Too easy for me." William nodded to himself. "And that assumes I'm even able to get close enough to kill Fredrick. There's no guarantee that's going to be possible. Not without a plan. Not without help. And that... might need me to break my promise."

The prince blinked. "Your promise?

"To you. Not to tell anyone." William shook his head. "Doing this alone will be... impossible. Help means telling others. No one I wouldn't trust to help us, anyway. If that's okay...?

Tobias nodded back. That much, at least, he'd known going in. That he was going to have William beside him was all that he could have hoped for, though. The beginnings of a reconciliation on top of that was tantalising, but distracting. He needed to focus on the moment. They did, after all, have a regicide to plan. "Yeah, I... guess. It'll have to be okay. But for now, let's see what we have, and what we need."

William smirked. "We have us. We need help and time."

"True enough." Tobias took a deep breath and stood up straight. William was right. "Then let us not waste a second more of that time.

"Goodness knows we have no seconds to waste."

#

Late at night, Orlin was usually the only member of the Triumvirate to be present in the Institute's vault. Occasionally Davan would have lingered later, or if Tobias stopped in on his way back from the Crest much later in the evening Mattias might have been in early. It was rare indeed to meet the three of them all at once, and it had certainly suited Tobias' purposes to be in Orlin's company alone as much as possible.

But as he made his way to the stairs that led deeper into the vault, the sight of all three robed figures together immediately set the fur on the back of his neck on end. They were working away diligently, and Tobias frowned as he made his way downward. If they were all there, something big had to be going down. He had to know what was happening. "Good evening."

All three looked up at his entrance, but only Davan's eyes lingered on him for more than a second. The horse snorted and shook his head; as Tobias drew closer he could see that all three were poring over different books. "It was, for sure. To what do we owe the displeasure of your company?"

"Be nice, Davan, please." Mattias didn't look up from his book again as he spoke. "Forgive him please, my prince. He's in a mood."

"He's always in a mood, to be fair." The tiger could hear the smile in Orlin's voice as clearly as he heard Davan's snort of irritation.

Still, the horse's eyes were on him and so Tobias couldn't even allow himself the smile that threatened to show on his features. Instead he simply nodded as he continued his descent. "I was hoping to go over the latest extraction notes; I thought perhaps there were some markers in the blood that might be cross-referenced against specific location of origin to see if there was some-"

"You can go." Davan's voice was firm as Tobias reached the bottom of the vault, and he openly glared at the tiger as Tobias frowned. "Your services are not needed here."

Tobias folded his arms, but Orlin beat him to a response. "The good prince has been exceptionally helpful in our research. I for one would be pleased to hear his theories expounded further."

"As would I." Mattias looked up at last, and flashed one of his odd little smiles at the tiger. "Please do not mind us, my prince. We have a matter of great importance to see to."

"I can see that." Tobias resumed moving forward again, and Davan rolled his eyes and turned back to his book. Clearly being outvoted hadn't done his mood any favours. "Might I ask what this important matter is?"

"No." The horse all but barked the response.

In spite of that, Mattias' smile widened. "We believe we have it. We have located and captured a subject with latent divine heritage in her blood, and believe that we have been able to isolate and activate the magic within her."

Tobias' eyes widened. If they'd found a living, breathing shaman descendant and her blood was compatible with Fredrick... "That's... remarkable. How did you manage to achieve that?"

Mattias' smile cooled somewhat as he turned back to his book, and Tobias shivered. "Exposure to the right magical artifacts during a time of great stress. While we had her chained, she was surrounded by artifacts representing each of the old gods. With them in sufficient proximity, she was beaten to the brink of death."

"The shock to her body caused her mind to reach out instinctively to the powers that were locked inside her." Orlin still didn't look at Tobias, and his tone was distracted as he read furiously. He didn't see Tobias almost retch at their actions. "We are in the process of discovering to which extent the latent power has been activated, and how it may be leveraged."

"All facts that the tailraiser need not know." Davan's interjection came with another snort. "He is not permitted to hear this."

"I am _required_to hear this, if I am to carry out my duties correctly." Tobias shook his head as Davan glared at him once more. "And as your compatriots have so eloquently pointed out, my assistance has been appreciated. Perhaps you could show some appreciation of your own and let me help you?"

Davan snapped his book shut and slammed it down on the table. The sound of it drew the attention of the other members of the Triumvirate, and as he strode forward it was Mattias who placed a paw on the horse's chest to stall his approach. "You're taking an awful great interest in the subject of magic, aren't you?"

Tobias blinked as he frowned. "Of course I am. Beyond being a fascinating topic of study, it is my _job_to study it with you."

"No. Your job is merely to deliver our reports to our king. Our_job is to study the magic, and impart its power to King Fredrick." He leaned forward, though not far enough to push aside Mattias' paw. "You were so reluctant even a few weeks ago. And now you are nothing but enthusiastic. You do not believe in the king's cause, so one wonders what _precisely you seek to gain here."

Even though Mattias' paw remained on Davan's chest, the raccoon did turn his head to regard Tobias with renewed interest. "It _is_a fair point to raise, my prince." A glance over at Orlin showed the panther nodding along. That was definitely a problem.

And it was one Tobias had better be able to talk himself out of, and quickly. "The reality is that I have no choice. None whatsoever." He shrugged as Davan's muzzle twitched with the hint of a smile. "Our king has made me a glorified courier for you. I am _tired_of it."

"So you _do_seek the magical knowledge." Davan's smile returned in full, and it was far sharper than Tobias had been ready for.

"Not for my use. And not even for Fredrick's use." He let his eyes drift over to Orlin. He was the most likely to help him. If he could convince Orlin, Orlin would help convince Mattias. Davan would as ever stand against him, but he didn't need the horse if he won the favour of the other two. "I am bored. My mind craves a challenge. This presents one."

Even as Orlin nodded again, Davan rolled his eyes. "Stimulating you is not our purpose. Go sit on a spear."

"You know, Davan, you comment quite extensively on my alleged tailraising." He met the horse's glare with one of his own, and the tiger let his fangs show as he drew himself up to his admittedly shorter height. "You give it a lot of thought, don't you? It rather does beg the question of why you would spend so much of your day considering me bent over, tail hiked."

The horse's eyes blazed as Orlin chuckled to himself at his table. That had done it; the panther would be on his side. Once Orlin's professionalism broke, he knew that he had the scholar's favour. As Davan pushed forward and Mattias held him back all the more firmly, he was a step closer. "I'm not sure I like what you're insinuating."

"I'm absolutely sure I don't like it. Such acts have been cast out of this realm for a good reason." Tobias tilted his head as he allowed himself to smile sweetly up at Davan. "And I've not ever heard any tale of you with a female. Combined with your obsessive consideration of tailraising and such things, I-"

"Be very_careful with your accusations." Davan's tone had lowered to a deep rumble that wouldn't have looked out of place on an apex predator. "I am _not like you."

"I merely beg the question, is all. Certainly you seem to be more than happy to spend more time here discussing and thinking about what males may ravage me than actually working." Tobias let his eyes drift from the infuriated horse to Mattias. "And look at how quickly he has distracted himself from his work, simply with my presence. My presence, ordered by our king. Not a good look."

"It is not indeed." Mattias turned to stare up at Davan, but the horse's eyes were locked and hyper-focused on Tobias. "Davan, you must control yourself. We understand how you feel about the prince's presence, but even you must admit that he has been useful to the cause. Continuing to aggravate him is causing your own efforts to suffer, and both Orlin and myself have noticed."

"It _is_becoming a matter of concern, my friend." Orlin's voice was gentle, but loud enough as he continued to pore over his tome.

Davan's eyes finally dropped from Tobias to meet Mattias' stare, and if anything he looked all the more incensed. "I am taking seriously his presence as a threat, and you wish to take his side in this baseless, crude accusations against me?"

Tobias smiled. It was a gamble, but if he pushed Davan just a little harder... "You know Davan, if you _do_have these urges, you could always ask me for some help in indulging them. We already study magic in secret; what's one secret more?"

The sudden surge of rage was expected, but the sweep of Davan's arm to knock Mattias' paw aside was not. The way the horse's paw closed around Tobias' throat tight enough to cut off all airflow was relatively expected, but it didn't make the sensation of being choked less unpleasant in the least. "You_dare-!_"

"That is enough!" Mattias' roar belied the scholar's smaller stature, but it alone wasn't sufficient to cause Davan to release Tobias. The tiger gripped the horse's extended arm tightly, trying to pry it away to no avail. "Davan, release him at once!"

"I will not." The horse grinned darkly down at Tobias as the tiger's legs buckled, and he leaned forward as the prince sank down to his knees. His muzzle worked at the air, unable to draw breath as fear took hold. He _may_have miscalculated! "I will _not_be denied the satisfaction of cutting this perverted little creature out of the world myself!"

Tobias eyes began to bug out as he tugged harder, adrenaline pounding in his ears as he gave a raspy groan. Mattias stepped forward to stand beside the tiger. "It is not your place to do this. His life is not yours to take." When Davan continued to squeeze, the raccoon sighed. "We will have to stop you if you persist."

Claws unsheathed, but Tobias held back from driving them into the horse's arm. He could do so, of course; it might succeed in releasing Davan's grip on his throat. But if he did that he might be put in as bad a spot as Davan himself. Every survival instinct screamed at him to use them; to shred the horse's arm; to gash his wrists and free himself. Even an as his vision began to tunnel, he resisted the urge.

"Very well. Orlin?" The words sounded distant in Tobias' ears, but a moment later the horse's grip relaxed. His fingers twitched as they fell away from Tobias throat, and the prince sagged as he sucked in a deep breath of air. He immediately began to hack and cough, one paw rising to cover his sore throat as Davan stumbled forward. He narrowly avoided tumbling down to the floor on top of Tobias, twisting at the last minute to slump down beside the tiger.

When Tobias could bring himself to look up and his eyes actually cleared enough to see, it was to the sight of a grim-faced Orlin standing over him with his tome raised. The tiger tried to nod his appreciation - speech was well out of the question at that point - and sagged forward to brace against the floor.

Mattias knelt down beside Tobias, and the prince coughed again before he turned to look at the raccoon. "Do not misconstrue what has happened here. Davan is out of line, but I am aware you were baiting him. I don't know why, and it doesn't much matter." Mattias pointed to a nearby shelf. "Unless the blow dealt him severe cranial trauma, he will not be down for long. You must be out of sight, and you must be silent."

A glance at Davan proved William right. The horse was already stirring, groaning and writhing slowly against the floor. Tobias didn't waste any time; he crawled as quickly as he could in the direction that Mattias had suggested. The shelf was stocked with books and rolled up parchment, and it was almost completely opposite the stairs up and out of the vault. Unless Davan were looking for him specifically, it was as good a place to hide as any.

Tobias had barely made it to the other side of the shelf before Davan's groans turned into speech. "Urgh... wha... Orlin..."

"In my defence, you were about to murder the good prince." The panther's words were full of amusement, and Tobias could imagine the scholar's smile even as he massaged his throat.

The sound of Davan rolling over reached him, but Tobias didn't dare glance around the shelf. He closed his eyes instead, listening intently. "No more than his _filth_deserves... where is he? I need-"

"What you need to do is leave, and now." Mattias' voice was firm and distinctly unhappy. "I do not care what reasons you think you had to do what you did, but you have crossed the line today. Leave. Now."

There was silence for a second before a sharp grunt as he presumed Davan rose. "Am I simply to ignore the assault on my person? A blow to the back of my head could have-"

"I am very aware, yes. Do you know what the consequences of murdering a prince would be?" Irritation filled Mattias' tone; a rare thing for the ordinarily focused raccoon. "Our liege has assigned him to us for a reason. If he wished you to kill him, he would have told you to do so."

"And he has given me a number of circumstances where I may do just that!" Davan was getting angry again. Tobias' heart raced even as he fought to keep his breathing slow and shallow. It was hard, in the wake of being strangled. "His perversion is one such!"

Orlin actually chuckled at that, and Tobias didn't imagine that Davan was pleased to hear it. Regardless, it was Mattias who replied. "We are on the cusp of realising Fredrick's grand design. You may have cost us a brilliant mind who could have helped see it to fruition."

"His mind is-"

"It is more valuable than yours at present, and I will tell Fredrick as much if you utter so much as another word." Tobias' eyes went wide at the suggestion, and he could only guess at how angry it had made the horse. "He came to assist us. You abandoned your work to berate and degrade him. You are tired and you are irritable and you will leave now."

Silence fell for a moment, and Tobias held his breath the entire time. It was as if even the slightest shift in the air might have given him away and invited the horse to finish the job. Finally though, Davan's voice pierced the silence. "I will. But I will be going to our liege, not to rest."

Orlin sighed. "Looking for permission to give choking him another go?"

"Looking to warn him. You may not be concerned with his sudden interest in the great work, but my role is to be suspicious. Mine is to be critical. Mine is to accept nothing as it is and find the truth behind it."

Orlin chuckled again. "That explains your constant paranoia."

"Paranoia that serves a purpose." Mattias' agreement made Tobias frown. He'd been so sure the raccoon would be on his side after that, even if he had_figured out that he was baiting Davan into an extreme reaction. "That doesn't give you the right to kill the prince. We can use him. He _wishes to be used. This is also something that Fredrick wished of us."

The tiger frowned and turned his head, but restrained himself from peering around the shelf. Fredrick wanted him to be of service? Since when had his brother ever had an ounce of respect for him? Davan's snort of incredulity only backed up Tobias' confusion. "Fredrick needs to know that I have concerns. Not just about his perversion, but his motivation. He must be informed of the prince's interest in the great work."

That, Tobias realised, would be a problem. Fredrick was already fairly paranoid himself, and if he began to believe that Tobias was looking to usurp the king's magic for his own purposes, then true or not he would come down hard on the prince. Mattias seemed to agree. "You risk Tobias' aid by such a thing."

"Then issue a counterpoint to our liege. He will give it all the thought it deserves, I'm sure." Davan's voice came along with loud, stomping footsteps as the horse began to make his way up the stairs. Going to make his report. To tell Fredrick of his suspicions, and goodness alone knew how badly things would go for Tobias if he did.

And yet he could do nothing but sit there, hidden from Davan's sight as the horse retreated. He couldn't reveal himself without drawing the scholar's ire. He had no doubt now that Davan _would_kill him if he saw him alone again. He thought that he had the king's authority to do so, and he had all the impetus he needed to do such a thing. Certainly he was more than capable of physically overpowering Tobias at a moment's notice.

It wasn't for a minute after the footsteps had faded into inaudibility that Tobias dared to rise from where he sat and peer around the shelf. Orlin had returned to his book, studying it in one paw while scribing something on some paper with another. Mattias however stood with folded arms as he watched Tobias emerge. "Fear not. He is gone for now and will not be back for some time."

Tobias nodded; he wasn't willing to try to speak just yet. His whole neck ached and goodness alone knew what damage had been done. He offered the raccoon a quick bow of his head, but Mattias raised a paw and shook his head. "You should also leave. Your help would be welcome, but as you have seen it will only become more disruptive as long as Davan is present. Perhaps you ought to work the nights and mornings with Orlin and I, the better to avoid him."

Again Tobias nodded, but more vigorously at that point. It would been upsetting his entire sleep pattern, but if it would mean reducing the chances of him coming into conflict with Davan then he only wished such a solution could have been reached sooner. Mattias himself seemed pleased with the assent. "Good. Then you will go now, and rest. Recover. I suggest you see the physician to ensure you have suffered no lasting damage; I can see that you're not talking even now. Make sure you are well, my prince." That strange smile touched his muzzle again as he waved up toward the exit. "Exciting times lie ahead. You will want to be here for them."

The tiger bowed his head in turn, as much for thanks as to hide his grimace as he stood properly. The prospect of spending more time in the vault was not exactly one he welcomed after nearly being choked to death, but this was an opportunity he was glad to take. Without any further acknowledgement, Tobias hurried back to the stairs and started up them.

He had to find William as soon as possible, he realised. The hyena was apparently off looking to source individuals who might help them in their goals, but that had only been because Tobias had expected to be in the vault for hours. With the kingsblade elsewhere, Tobias suddenly found himself vulnerable. Davan would tell Fredrick. Fredrick would consider his words, and then the threats to Tobias' well-being would start in earnest.

The prince was in danger. His only protector and ally in the world was absent. Any guardian or other kingsblade could have been given the word to capture him and drag him before a king who could cut his head off on the mere suggestion that he might be up to something. He had to be careful. Have a plan. Think.

If he didn't, the next thing to touch his neck would be Fredrick's blade.