A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 663 Back Home - Part 3

"And what is it?" Oliver asked. Again, it seemed like Skullic knew more than he let on.

"A Pandora Flame," Skullic said. "You already named it aptly yourself, did you not? Did your father tell you about such things? I had not thought him to be well acquainted with the matters of the arcane."

"I could say the same for you, General," Oliver replied. "You make it sound as though it's an oddity to know."

"Of course it is," Skullic said, "I'd wager only a handful of the most serious scholars have plumbed into it quite as deeply as I have."

"Are you a fan of the arcane, General?"

"Hardly," Skullic said. "I'm a 'fan' as you put it, of matters that concern me and my men. I knew a month ago I'd likely receive a request asking for the liberation of that Fort, and I did my research. I found traces of occupation long before we last assumed. Thousands of years ago, rather than hundreds.

There was mention of occult happenings there, including the Pandora Flame, though it seems most of it was a falsity."

"It's a danger," Oliver said, "what do you plan to have done with it?"

"I'll order it destroyed, if at all possible. If not destroyed, then I'll have my men seal the way towards it," Skullic said. "Before I make a gift of it to Lord Barlow." Find more to read on My Virtual Library Empire

"A gift?"

"The benefits of being a young General," Skullic said dismissively. "I'm more open-minded than the rest. You've been compared to your father a great deal, young Patrick, but I think I might see a flicker of something in you that exceeds him. I might gamble on that – to my benefit. Of course, with a hundred men under your command, I would expect far more from you."

"I would push for one more thing," Oliver said.

"Oh?" Skullic raised an eyebrow. "Another hundred men? Come. Don't be greedy."

"Not that. My retainers," Oliver said. "And Lady Blackthorn. They've asked for the opportunity to ride with me next time I attend one of these missions. If they seem fit enough for it, I would like to be able to bring them – at my own discretion."

"Now that's dangerous territory," Skullic warned. "They haven't been cleared by Royal Decree to fight as you have."

"Are my retainers not an extension of me?" Oliver asked. "If you asked the Skullic House to defend a city, you would mean the whole Skullic House, would you not?"

"You would..." Skullic agreed reluctantly. "That would clear Idris – though he's of age anyway – and the other few beneath you. I wouldn't clear Lady Blackthorn. Besides, she's a servant of the Pendragon Princess now, since her father has declared himself to her."

Oliver perked up. "Is there a possibility there... If by alliance, would the Royal Decree somehow extend to the Pendragon House? It would give Asabel political backing as well, if her own were fighting with me."

"Tenuous," Skullic said, shaking his head. "Dangerous too. You'd be shaking the hornet's nest, just for the sake of one girl. Perhaps it would work to the benefit of Asabel too, so it would be for the sake of two girls, I suppose. Is that a risk you want to take?"

"I don't like the way you phrased that," Oliver said, twisting his lips, "as though I'm doing it for the sake of a woman."