Mark remained knelt before the Chief, his head bowed. He would feel the intense pressure emanating from the tall man, feeling the glare atop his head. He had just informed the Chief of their task, leaving very little out. The Chief had listened patiently, but there had been a white elephant in the room.

"So,” Chief Bloodwall began, “Sir Anthony gave you the slip while leaving Riverhill?" His voice was cool, as though his voice could freeze Mark's bones.

"That is correct." Mark remained kneeling, head bowed. He knew it was foolish to lie to the Chief, so he didn't say that Sir Anthony had done it without them noticing.

Chief Bloodwall rubbed his forehead. He knew that Mark, one of Sir Anthony's men, was probably in on the plan to have Sir Anthony stay behind. "Leave," the Chief said, waving his hand.

Mark bowed slightly. "As you wish, my Chief." He stood and left, leaving Chief Bloodwall in the company of his thoughts and Sir Ozcar. "Gave him the slip, as if he didn't know." He sighed. "Sir Anthony might be a drunkard, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't disobey my orders for no reason, but even so, I have no idea what he's planning. He hasn't sent word back either."

"Should I send Sir Mark to follow up on the young knight's whereabouts?"

"No," Chief Bloodwall said, shaking his head. "Whether it's Mark or Sir Mark, there's no need to send anyone else. Sir Anthony is a grown man, and he's capable of making his own decisions. If he's off doing as he pleases, he must have a reason." He couldn't figure it out, but he had faith in his knight.

"Should we set a punishment for the guards and the driver?" Sir Ozcar asked

Chief Bloodwall nodded. "Have each of them take a week long shift at the wall. It would be good to have an extra eye out.” There was something about the situation which irked him. He hadn’t expected Sir Anthony to go rogue, and it was going to be very awkward for him to explain it to the Eldermen. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. He threw a look to Sir Ozcar and then realised he had been played.

“To think the boy I picked up all those years ago would have the audacity to abandon his post,” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Sir Ozcar smiled, having finally been caught by his Chief. “It seems he’s growing up, just like our little Jack.”

The Chief leaned back and looked up towards the ceiling. He had sent Jack away so that he could finally flourish outside the confines of the Bloodwall. The Bloodwall was not where such a kind hearted and naive boy should remain. Even now he couldn’t help but think of his eldest son, Sir Oliver. What would he have said having learnt that his little brother had been banished by his father. He could already feel the migraine begin to set within his head.

“You’re thinking too much,” Ozcar said.

“I don’t want to hear that from you.” Jax sighed once again and shook his head. “Since when did you have the gall to sneak around behind me, going against my orders?”

“Isn’t that my role?” Sir Ozcar asked. “As your right hand man, I should wipe your bottom when it would be unseemly for you to do that.”

“Perhaps I should assign you to the latrines so you can wipe the bottoms of all the Bloodwalls?” The Chief raised his brow.

“Haha,” Sir Ozcar smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. “I hope you don’t do that. I don’t think I’m suited for that kind of work. What happens if I don’t wash properly and then I have to stand beside you smelling like shit?”

“A little bit of shit didn’t hurt nobody,” Jax replied, though he smiled at the thought of Sir Ozcar actually cleaning the latrines. Perhaps he should set an example.

“Don’t think about it so hard,” Sir Ozcar said quickly, trying to distract the Chief. “It seems Mister White has dealt with the issue.”

“I expect no less,” Jax replied. “Mister White is the only reason we haven’t been stamped out by that foolish Third Prince.” Chief Bloodwall frowned at the thought of the man. He was powerful, and his forces could deal with the Bloodwalls, though it would have been a hard fought battle. Mister White was an unknown threat to the Third Prince, one he didn’t want to dance with as of yet.

“It seems that the Third Prince has ideas about confronting us soon,” Jax said. “He’s going to be desperate for more of our cores, or perhaps he’ll talk politely with merchants and he’ll constrain our routes.”

“If he aims for our grain supply, it’ll be difficult to deal with.” Sir Ozcar frowned. The only issue with their current goals was the Third Prince moving quickly.

“He knows that too, but he won’t make a move yet. Having sent Mister White to deal with matters, he should hear about it soon enough. It should buy us a few more months…” Jax sank into his chair. “All we need to do is continue to this charade for a few more months. A couple of years would be nice, but I’m not that optimistic.”

“What happens if he acts quicker than expected?” Sir Ozcar asked, having a few ideas of how the Chief would handle such an event.

Jax frowned. He knew exactly how to handle the issue, but it was his last resort. If the Third Prince decided to cause trouble, there were only a handful of things he could do. Mister White couldn’t do much if the Third Prince became too audacious, but there were many ways to cause the Chief grief.

“Should I prepare to disappear?” Sir Ozcar asked, his voice barely a whisper.

“That’s the most likely outcome,” Jax said. The Chief really only had one plan which had been fleshed out, but he’d need to meet with Mister White and that woman. He sunk further into his chair at the thought of meeting her.

“How troublesome,” Sir Ozcar said.

“Yeah.”

*

It was during the evening when Mister White had finally returned to his family. He had been gone for some time, but it seemed they continued to enjoy their time with the Knights of Bloodwall escorting them. Though the pair were fairly powerful, they weren’t anywhere near as powerful as himself. The potential threat which would come for them would be someone that neither of them could handle, as he himself could barely handle it.

He remained in the shadows for a moment before the little girl straightened up and then glanced around. “Daddy!” She rushed at him and tackled him. He embraced her and spun her around.

“Good evening, princess. Did you have fun without me?”

“Yes! Sir Roman took me to the top of the mountain,” she said, smiling. “I could see all the way around but I couldn’t see you.”

Mister White smiled, but Sir Roman could feel a chill run through his spine. “Oh? He took you to the top of the mountain? Do you want to go again, I’ll let you see further.”

Serena shook her head. “I don’t want to,” she said, and Mister White felt a pang of pain. “You’re already here, daddy. Why do I need to go on top of the mountain now?”

“Princess!” Mister White tossed his daughter up, far too high, but he easily caught her and swung her around. “Were you a good girl?”

“Mhmm!” She nodded her head firmly. “I was.”

“It’s okay if you weren’t, no one will tell you off.” Mister White peppered her with kisses all over.

“Did you help cousin Jack?” Serena asked, squirming under her father’s affection.

“That’s right, I did.” He let her down. “I have something for you too.” He smiled as she straightened up further. He dropped down to a knee and then reached back to find the daggers he had acquired. “Look.”

Serena’s eyes lit up as she reached for the daggers, aiming for the handle as her father spun the dagger around. She managed to grab the handle once she felt confident she was able to avoid the blade. She lifted the dagger up and looked at it with the stars behind it. “Pretty!”

“I managed to trade for it,” Mister White said, smiling down at his daughter as she flipped the dagger between her fingers and then stabbed at the air. “How does it feel?”

“It’s good! Is it two parts cobalt?” she asked. “Did Uncle Kanders make it?”

“That’s right, it is two parts cobalt,” he said, brushing her hair. “No, no. It was someone else.”

She continued to stab and slash with it. “It’s a little big. I don’t think I can hide it so easily.”

“Just carry it around at your hip,” he said, strapping a small dagger belt around her waist.

“Thank you, daddy.” She smiled and then hugged his head to her chest. “Can I use it tomorrow?”

“Why don’t you practise with Sir Roman?” Mister White asked, smiling wider. “I’m sure he’d be glad to practise with such a cutie.” He pet her head.

“Okay! Mummy says that you need to go and see her right when you come back.”

“Alright, I’ll go see her now then. Have fun.” He waved a hand as he left, and Sir Roman understood that he was on thin ice.

‘What was I meant to do?’ Sir Roman thought, sweating. ‘She insisted, and I didn’t want her to cry to you when you got back!’ He had thought about refusing the order from Chief Bloodwall, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He sighed and then turned to face the little girl, who stood firm with a smile on her face.

“Let’s play,” Serena said.

“Yes, let’s-“ Sir Roman brought up his sword in that moment, skidding back from an unseen blow. He was certain he had been attacked, the killing intent had been so immense that it had formed a physical blow.

“Daddy says you need to always be prepared, Sir Roman.” She smiled politely at the knight.

Sir Roman stared at the tiny girl, his eyes filled with uncertainty. That attack had certainly held a despicable killing intent, it must have been Mister White.

Serena smiled wider.