A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

"An impossibility," Lazarus agreed. "There is no basis for such a claim. The youngest record we have of a boy breaking the Second Boundary is seventeen. One Rudeus Finch. He did so under particular circumstances, after the destruction of his House, the murder of his family, and the loss of their estates, it was vengeance that drove him to such strength.

And vengeance that resulted in his untimely death. He lost his life at eighteen, in a most dishonourable fashion."

"How is it that you intend to counsel me, then, Lazarus?" Tevar asked, seeming to have no patience for stories.

"I mean to say that based on historical record, we can assume his claim is a lie. But even if we dare – foolishly, might I add – to believe him, then still, the merit of such a thing is tainted by its unnaturalness. The consequences of that early achievement are not likely to bring us reward for cultivating it.

Indeed, it seems to me more likely to give birth to an abomination, an early death, as in the case of Rudeus," Lazarus said.

Tevar nodded gruffly. "There is truth in what Lazarus states. The talented that I attended the Academy with, those that learned faster than everyone else, they did not go on to achieve as much as one would expect. Many of them reached the Second Boundary and fizzled out there. They lacked what was required to go any higher. They lacked the will."

"Comeeeeee on!" Hod cried, incredulously. "You can't all be spilling such drivel, can you? Mayhaps you'd have a point, if this were someone else – but this is the son of Dominus Patrick!"

Hod declared it, and the room went silent at his declaration. The youthful Minister seemed to allow that silence to seep in intentionally, as he forced the other Ministers to truly absorb the significance of his words.

"That's the son of the strongest sword to grace the Stormfront. And even if you believe the slander that the king's faction has spread – and I'd be disappointed if any of you Ministers would buy into such obvious propaganda – then he would still be the son of the second strongest sword in the Stormfront. If that was the son of Arthur standing before you, you would not be acting so, would you?"n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"If that was the son of Arthur, he would not have struck a professor merely two days into his admission," Jolamire pointed out. "I am in agreement with Lazarus. Even if we assume the boy is not lying, he is obviously tainted. He carries his father's disagreeableness, perhaps worse. The King does not need another repeat of what happened in the past."

Gavlin spoke up, his words slow, and his voice full of gravel. "If?" He said. "He threw around Heathclaw like a toy. He caved in Bournemouth's armour with a wooden sword. If?" He shook his head, as if to indicate that they were all fools.

Hod smiled, and said nothing. The Minister of Blades had made his point for him.

The other two Ministers shifted uncomfortably, whilst the Minister of Information coughed the frail cough of an old man.

"A pertinent point, Minister of Blades," Tevar said. "It should not need to be made, for I can feel the boy's aura streaming off him. It is no lie. Whatever your opinions on the man might be, Dominus Patrick's legacy stands before us, and his name makes yet another mark in the annals of history. His boy is the youngest in history to breach Claudia's Second Boundary.

Whatever the case might be, poison, or impurely done, or otherwise, that stands to me as a fact."

"From my own understanding of this case, it would seem that Heathclaw himself had been inappropriate. He did not carry himself with the grace we would hope for from our professors. The fact that he set a fully trained soldier in Bournemouth on a student with a wooden sword seems to be evidence of that. As things stand, I believe punishment is in order in both cases."

"But! General Tevar, can you really punish Heathclaw for a deserved animosity? It is Dominus' son, after all – would he not expect a certain level from him?" Jolamire pointed out.

"Hypocritical, good Minister of Coin – it goes against what you were saying earlier. By the way, is Heathclaw not a man of your faction? Does your coin not find its way into his purse? I do not mean to accuse you of being unbiased but… actually, that's exactly what I accuse you of being," Hod said, as he stretched gleefully over the arm of the other chair.

"Kick the weak professor, I say, good General, and give the boy a pardon."

"Too far, Hod, too far," Tevar said, his voice betraying his exhaustion. "Will anyone else speak in Heathclaw's defence?"

He looked pointedly towards the Minister of Information as he said that, but Lazarus betrayed no interest in the matter. When it was quite clear that he would not raise his hand, General Tevar continued.

"Then we will have Heathclaw removed from his post, for conduct unbecoming of a professor. Galvin, I'll have you find a replacement professor of sword to cover for Heathclaw's lessons, and Jolamire, I'd have you find your man some assistant work for the rest of the year. We will review his case come next autumn, and see if he is ready to be reinstated as a full-coloured professor."

Oliver noticed the Minister of Coin flush with anger at Heathlaw being called 'his man'. Hod grinned triumphantly at it, whilst Jolamire seemed to direct all the anger that he felt for the Minister of Logic towards Oliver instead.

"Yes, General," Galvin said, rising briefly from his seat with a sharp salute to receive the order, as though they were on campaign. Tevar acknowledged the formality with a nod.

"As for the boy… For now, I revoke the notion of expulsion, out of respect for Lord Blackwell, as he's about to begin his Eastern campaign. As punishment, he'll spend the evening enduring the Three Trials, and will be barred from all swords training lectures in future," Tevar said.