A little bit late.

Sorry about that.

Loyalty and bindings.

Tatsumi threw a low kick towards Wave's leg but the other boy managed to avoid it by jumping up a little bit into the air. When he was in the air he used his position to deliver a kick against Tatsumi's chest. Tatsumi did however manage to block it in time. He was pushed back a couple of steps from the force of it.

The crowd of youngsters that had formed a ring around them in the training yard cheered Wave on with enthusiasm.

They were all part of Wave's training group. They were the ones that he trained so that they might become jaegers themselves one day. Many people saw it as a bit of a futile effort. Since Esdeath decided which warriors she would include in the jaegers and she had no intrest in this group. But she let Wave try to train them if he so wished. Even if she found it unlikely that she would ever include any of them in the jaegers.

They were shouting and cheering for Wave to win his and Tatsumi's little sparring match. They were both wearing training clothes and both carried training swords. Wave's training sword was a bit larger than Tatsumi's but Tatsuim also had a training knife attached to his belt. Both of them mainly used kicks and punches though. They were both more proficient with that.

Tatsumi lowered the arm he had used to block Wave's kick. "It seems like you are the crowd favorite." he said with a smirk.

"Everyone likes an underdog." Wave returned with a smile and jumped at him. Tatsumi simply took a couple of steps back. Not willing to engage Wave again yet.

It was early midday and he had just gotten back from his mission at the imperial archives six hours earlier. He hadn't slept for almost thirty hours and he felt it in his body. He was starting to doubt that he would be able to beat Wave in this match. But he felt no pressure to do so. The atmosphere was friendly and competitive.

Wave's students were cheering for their teacher to kick his ass but he knew that they were his friends as well.

After a good ten minutes they had both worked up quite a sweat and Wave was in the lead with seven clear hits against Tatsumi's four. He sheated his training sword. "Should we take a break?"

"Yeah, sure." Wave said. Breathing heavily as he sheated his own.

The group of people around them started to applaud. Clearly impressed by Tatsumi's and Wave's display.

"Okay, go back to your exercises."Wave shouted at them. "Just observing ain't gonna make you any better."

Tatsumi grinned at Wave. He had clearly grown very fond of his little training group. Even if his tone was harsh he always seemed to care for them.

He was considering to head back to his chambers to get some sleep. He was ,however, afraid that Esdeath would find him sleeping in the middle of the day when she returned. That would be suspicious. He needed to seem completly well-rested in case Bellany would come with her accusations to Esdeath before she met him.

He was weighing his options when an all too familiar feeling drenched his entire being. Making him realize that he was out of time either way.

The atmosphere in the training yard did a complete turn in just a second. The merriment and friendly mood was suddeny replaced with tenseness and fear. Everyone in the room felt pressured by the new presence. Standing in front of the only entrance to the training yard in her white longcoat.

"Tatsumi." Her hard and authorative tone echoed through the now completly silent yard.

Tatsumi turned to the doorway. Meeting Esdeath's hard gaze. She did not look happy. Her scowl was directed directly at him. She looked much more controlled than the malicious energy she was emenating, though. He could almost feel the anger she radiated. He had a feeling that she wanted him to feel it as well.

"Hi!" he said and tried to give her his warmest smile. "You look a little peeved. Is everything okay?"

She didn't give him an answer. She simply continued to glare at him. Her hair swaying slightly in the wind.

The youngsters from Wave's group that were standing all around him were very anxious now. Even those few that knew nothing about Esdeath could still feel the hostility she emanated. Some of them were reaching for their training swords or crouching down into fighting positions by instinct.

Wave noticed it. Wave was confident that Esdeath would never hurt one of his students unless provoked in some way but his students didn't know that. Drawing weapons or taking fighting stances against her might be all the provokation needed if she was in such a bad mood. He decided to intervene.

"Alright, that is enough for today." he shouted at the youngsters. "Leave the yard and go and get changed. Now."

For a moment it looked like nobody was going to move. Esdeath was standing in front of the door. They would have to walk past her if they wanted to get out. But then they slowly started to leave in small groups. Keeping as much distance they could from the general. Some of them sweating slightly as they passed her. Esdeath didn't even give them a single glance. Her full focus was on Tatsumi.

Tatsumi himself was meeting her gaze steadly. It was a bit unfortunate that she had caught him here. He would feel better about the situation if he had Incursio but both his and Wave's teigus were in the locker room. He would not be able to reach it without passing her since she stood in front of the only way out.

The question was if Bellany had brought her any evidence that proved what he had done but he couldn't be specific in his questions without revealing himself. If he had Incursio he would actually have had to consider running away from her for a little while. Just to fix some more things before she took away his freedom entirely.

Now it was not an option, though. Without Incursio he had no chance in the world to escape her in this situation. He would have to place all his hopes on that Bellany didn't have a strong case against him.

"I feel like our interactions these last days have mostly consisted of you being irritated with me for one reason or another."he said with a smile and a shrug. "Maybe we should get some help with that." he tried to joke.

The entire yard grew much colder as Esdeath let some of her powers out. Demonstrating that she was in no mood for jokes without saying a word.

This could get messy, Tatsumi thought. It seemed like it would be safer to assume the worst right now.

"You go too, Wave" he said silently.

Wave looked at Tatsumi. This was exactly the kind of problem he thought that the prime minister wanted him to help them with. He had no idea of why Esdeath seemed so angry. And it seemed like Tatsumi thought that his attendance was a bother. But he still figured that he was obligated to try.

"Tatsumi I think you coul-"

"Wave, listen to me!" Tatsumi's tone was so serious that the other man stopped and stared at him in suprise.

"If we don't see each other again, then I want you to take care of the letter we talked about. Do you understand?" he said as he kept his eyes on Esdeath. He knew that she was not going to kill him but if all he had done had been exposed to her then she was probably going to take his freedom away from him for the foreseeable future.

Esdeath's nostrils flared when she heard him say that and she started to walk towards Tatsumi in a brisk pace. Her expression growing even angrier.

Wave was shocked to hear Tatsumi say that. He stood gaping for a moment before he desperately reacted. He turned to Esdeath. "Commander, please wait. I don't know what has happe-"

"WAVE!" Tasumi roared. Forcing the now panicking Wave to look at him.

"Do you understand what I asked of you?" Tatsumi almost shouted. Looking his friend in the eyes. He needed to get his point across. That letter had to reach it's destination.

Wave didn't have time to answer him before Esdeath's hand grabbed Tatsumi's throat and hoisted him off the ground. Lifting him above her head. He grabbed her arm with both of his own. Not really trying to dislodge himself. Just lifting his body up so that it became more comfortable to breath.

"Commander!" Wave shouted, reaching for his training sword. He knew that any attempt to fight her was futile but he would not just stand on the side and watch her kill Tatsumi. Even if she was his respected commander.

"I hope you realize that you just insulted me." Esdeath asked in a hard voice. "How many of my subordinates are dead because of your involvment with night raid? I forgave you for that, didn't I. And yet you honestly think that I would kill you now?"

"So did you just come here to spar then?" Tasumi said with a very strained smile. Maybe he could make her mood little bit lighter if he played around with her a bit. He reached down and grabbed his training sword and started to unsheate it.

The grip around his throat tightened as soon as he did. When he looked at her she slowly shook her head at him."Do you want me to administer your punishment right now, here in the training yard?" she asked. Keeping a hard and cold voice as she did. Making Tatsumi stop his movement. "Since you were provoked for a long time, I will give you the option to take it in the privacy of our chambers,if you wish."

Tatsumi realized that he, for the moment, was talking to the general and not his lover. He should have seen it coming since her loyalty to her subjects would force her to be hard on him. She often hurt and played around with him on her own free will for enjoyment but the few times when she had been obligated to do so because of her duties, she usually didn't let her feelings play into it too much. However, unlike his lover, who just did what she felt like, Esdeath the general could be reasoned with.

"I don't even know what I am accused of." he wheezed through her hard grip.

She raised an eyebrow at him. She brought his face closer to her own so that they only were a little bit apart. She looked him straight in the eyes, still keeping her cold expression.

"Where is she, Tatsumi? I want to give her body to her family." she whispered to him in a threatening way.

Tatsumi was still unsure of what was going on but now he could manage a guess. "I have no idea of what you are talking about."

"Then why did you just tell Wave that you were about to never see each other again?" she asked, a little bit louder.

"I'am not sure that you believe in innocent until proven guilty and you seemed kinda pissed off. So I guessed someone had lied to you about me."

"I have a good intuition about these kind of things, Tatsumi. And I have been angry at you before without you starting to bid farewell to your friends."

"And you don't even think I deserve the benefit of the doubt?"

She lightened her grip a little bit. "You are my main suspect, Tatsumi. And I warned you that I would punish you if you killed her."

"Killed who?" Wave asked. He had been very unsure of what was going on ever since they started talking but he had chosen to take a backseat as soon as it was clear that she wasn't going to kill Tatsumi.

"Bellany has not reported in today." Esdeath answered without leaving Tatsumi with her eyes.

"So what? She might have overslept!" Tatsumi said as he struggled to get more comfortable.

"This is the first time during her entire military career that she hasn't checked in on time. Her attendants have checked her quarters and she hasn't been there since yesterday and an anonymous source say that the last time she was seen was during the night. When she apparently was chasing you through the slums." Esdeath said. Still looking at Tatsumi.

"With all due respect, general.", Wave said loudly. Trying to make the situation easier. "As long as those sources are anonymous, they can't be fully trusted. You know that there are many people in the capital that would love to frame Tatsumi for something like this."

Esdeath turned her gaze to Wave. Making the young man uncomfortable now that he momentarily was recieving the same pressure Tatsumi had been feeling since she entered the yard. Tatsumi was quick to jump on Wave's train of thought

"Whoever sent you that information knows more about what has happened to Bellany than I do. You should be looking into who they are instead of coming here."

"I'am already having people look into it. I still think you are hiding something from me though, Tatsumi." she said, returning her gaze to him. "You haven't answered why you told Wave that you wouldn't see each other again."

It seems that his panic had digged his own grave for him, Tatsumi reflected.

"I have many secrets that I want to keep for myself. You can't demand to know them all." He looked her in the eyes. Trying to look as fierce as he could when his feet were dangling in the air. "You are my partner. Not my mind. I did not kill Bellany and I have no idea of where she is."

He was careful to formulate himself so that he was telling the truth. Just in case that she knew more than she was saying or if she indeed had a good enough intuition to tell the diffrence. Wave was quick to jump in and try to help Tatsumi's case.

"He is right, commander! Everyone carries secrets with them. You can't demand to know every single thing in his head. That is simply unreasonable."

Esdeath cast Wave a short glance and then looked at Tatsumi. "Maybe." she said. Still keeping her hard and cold expression. "Then I will have to solve this through other means."

She threw him a decimeter up in the air and then caught him with both her hands. Moving his body sideways as she did. Now carrying him bridal style. With one arm behind his shoulders and another one under his thighs. She looked down on him. Still looking quite irritated.

"I will not allow you to run around until I have decided if these anonymous sources are reliable or not." she said as she tightened her grip around him.

"Ohh, come on." Tatsumi complained. Even if he just sounded like he was whining he was feeling the fear rising. This might actually be bad. He needed to be able to move around freely in the capital. It might be better if he just lie to her and say that he killed Bellany and then take the punishment for it. Then she might let him have his freedom back after that.

Esdeath turned around and started to walk out of the yard, carrying Tatsumi in her arms. Wave looked at her back. Uncertain of what to do.

"Esdeath" Tatsumi said meekly. Deciding that it would be better to be submissive right now. He pulled lightly on the black collar of her uniform. She looked down at him without turning her head."Incursio."

She stopped in the doorway that lead out of the training yard. She looked at him for a second and then turned around. "Wave, you will be looking over Incusio until I have resolved this situation. I don't have to tell you what happens if you lose it."

"Of course, commander!" Wave said and saluted by instinct. She turned and started to walk again.

"Wave," Tatsumi shouted," please take care of my other things as well, ok?" He didn't dare to mention the letter again or Esdeath might catch on to it. He had to hope that Wave understood.

"Sure." Wave answered as Esdeath left the yard with Tatsumi in her arms. He felt like he had failed to be of much help to Tatsumi. He would have to try and help them resolve this later on.

Esdeath walked through the castle with Tatsumi in her arms. Receiving many stares and odd looks. People behind them pointing and whispering. Some might actually have tried to cheer them on or whistle at them if Esdeath hadn't been emanating such a fearsome aura right now.

Tatsumi himself would had been more embarrassed about being carried around in this position if he hadn't been so busy working through the situation in his head. Incursio was now out of his reach so as long as she was around he would not be able to escape. The question was for how long she was going to restrain him.

"Hey, where are we going?" he asked quietly. Sinking in under the cover of her longcoat that swayed back and forth with her steps. Trying to express submission.

"I'am going to chain you down in our bedroom for the time being." She said without looking at him.

"For how long?"

"Until I am more certain of the situation." she said as she started to climb a huge staircase.

"I thought you saw me as a person and not just another toy that you could lock up in your bedroom when bored." he said. Making, what he knew was, a likely futile attempt to make her change her mind.

"Would you prefer the dungeons then?" she said in her hard voice. Looking down on him.

"No." he sighed. "I can actually walk on my own, you know? Without Incursio I have no chance of running away from you either way."

Her grip on him tightened so much that it hurt. "Ouch, ouch. Okay, okay. I get it." He said and looked up at her. Being faced by her ice-cold gaze.

"You are my mate and for that you will get benefits when they are mine to give." she said and lightened her hands pressure a little. Still holding him in a iron grip. "I am ,however, still a general of the empire and I will uphold my duties to my subordinates. You will get the luxury of being detained in my quarters instead of the dungeons. But I will not suffer you trying any tricks or give the impression that I am letting you do entirely what you want."

"You must really have liked this specific counselor, since her presumed death have made you so much more angrier than you usually get when losing a subordinate." Tatsumi said with a smirk.

"I do not tolerate insubordination in my own ranks and I don't like it when my own personal wishes kills people that I have promised protection. Right now it would seem like I have let just that happen by letting my love for you determine too much of my actions."

"I didn't kill her, Esdeath. I promise you."

Esdeath didn't answer him. She lift gaze up to the deserted corridor they were now walking through. Thinking about the situation.

"Come on. You are getting ahead of yourself. At least save your anger for when you actually know the truth."

He reached up and started to stroke his forehead against her jawbone. Trying to be a little bit more physical in his pleading.

She returned his movements almost immediately. Stroking her head down lightly against his in a snuggling motion. She closed her eyes as she did but still kept her stern expression.

For Esdeath, these were two completly diffrent things. He was her partner and she had promised him that if he ever needed love or intimacy then she would provide it. She enjoyed doing so, even now. That didn't mean that she wouldn't punish him harshly as a general. She would not be as hard on him as she would be on her other subordinates if they had done the same thing. But that was as far as she was willing to compromise her responsibilities. She would even handle his punishment personally, unwilling to let anyone else hurt him. And then she would later lick his wounds for him.

So if he wanted some affection or intimacy from her then of course he would get it. Even if she might be preparing to hurt him at the same time.

This all seemed completly natural to her. Even if it still baffled Tatsumi how she could differentiate these things so easily.

They had now arrived at Esdeath's quarters. She opened one of the doors with her elbow and shoulder. Closing it behind her with her foot. As she walked over to their bedroom, Tatsumi decided that getting a bit more aggressive might distract her from locking him up.

He started to lick her in long strokes up her throat. Stopping at her jawbone before going down and beginning from her collarbone again. A not very gentle grin formed on Esdeath's face. She tilted her head slightly upwards as she kept walking. Making it easier for him to keep giving her his submissive affection. She liked how he tried to please her in a physical way just to get her favor. It was like he established his submission to her with every stroke of his tongue.

When Tatsumi noticed that she was enjoying what he was doing he moved his hand down. He dislodged his small training knife that was attached to his side as sneakly as he could. Hiding it in the lining on the backside of his underwear.

She walked up to the bed with him and then unceremoniously dropped him down on it before walking over to a drawer in the room. She took of her longcoat and put it on top of it and then rummaged through the drawer for a bit. When she walked back she was carrying two sets of handcuffs, a belt and a chain.

"Take off your training clothes and weapons." she said as she opened up the handcuffs."Otherwise this will become uncomfortable over time."

"So you mean to say that this will be comfortable?" he said as he started to take off his clothes.

"Not particulary, no. But I have a rather important meeting I need to attend to now. A meeting with the prime minister which I can't really bring you along to. So you will have to wait here. I will be back with dinner for you after it is done." She attached the belt to the chain and then locked the chain to a hook positioned on the wall above their bed.

"So you mean that I will be laying here all day." he said in a complaining tone as he took of the last off his training cloths. Now sitting on his knees in the bed, only in his briefs.

She didn't answer him. Her eyes were locked on the colorful bruises on his side and back. The blue and black marks from the two kicks Bellany had given him during the night. Tatsumi didn't bother with trying to cover them up now that she had seen them.

She climbed up on the bed and sat down in front of him. One knee on each side of his legs. She laid down the chain and cuffs on his side and then lightly trailed her fingers over the mark on the side of his chest. Her eyes closely studying it. Tatsumi stayed still and let her examine him. It served no purpose to stop her now.

"..a knee, most likely.." she silently said to herself. She put a strong hand on his shoulder and forced him to turn slightly to the side so that she could look at the other big one on his back. "..this one as well.." she said and put her fingers on it. "And they are both still really warm. This damage is fresh."

She turned his body back and looked him in the eyes with the same stern expression. "Tatsumi?" she said with a demanding tone.

"I received some hits during training."

"Even if it was just the damage on your side I would still be sceptical. You know that I am in favour of harsh excercise but.." ,she gently put her hand over the blue mark on his side "this would have broken all of your ribs if you hadn't been hardened by training. Besides, it looks like someone has kicked you straight in the back with the intention of seriously damaging you."

He doggedly kept silent. Staring her in the eyes.

"Come on, Tatsumi." she said. Her voice growing gentle. The hand on his shoulder trailed up to his neck and started to slowly stroke the side of it. "It's obvious that the one on your back is from a suprise attack. It seems like you didn't even have Incusio activated." ,she looked him in the eyes with a concerned expression. Moving a little bit closer. "If she ambushed you then that changes everything. I will not even have to punish you if you killed her in something akin to self-defense."

Tatsumi considered lying to her and say that he had killed Bellany in self-defense. Though, if he did that then he would have to make up a story about how it had happened and he had no way to fabricate any evidence for it right now. He didn't even know if Bellany really was dead or not. The risks were too many.

"It's just from training." he said and looked down on his hands.

Esdeath was reminded of how he had refused her for two days down in the dungeons before she finally managed to get him to surrender to her. She remembered how he had completly shut her out from everything. She remembered how powerless it made her feel.

She hated this.

She clenched her teeth. Tatsumi could feel how her irritation returned. She reached down and took up the belt and the handcuffs. She bent forward and reached around his sides with her arms. She started lock his legs togeter by the ankles, behind his back. Her fingers making sure that the metal bindings were not sitting too tight.

Tatsumi had already realized how she intended to bind him down. She was gonna lock his arms and feet together behind his back and then connect the four of them together with a belt which was attached to the wall with the chain. It was not gonna be easy to move around. He knew from experience.

She straightened up a little bit and took hold of his arms, moving them behind his back. When she did this, her face was right in front of his. He made a final try to appease her through a more physical interaction, since it seemed to have worked when she was carrying him. He leaned in and kissed her. Pushing his tongue against her lips. She halted in her binding of him and immediately responded. Opening her mouth and moving her tongue out to welcome him.

They stayed like that for some moments before she started to move her arms again. Continuing to lock his arms up behind his back while her tongue was still moving around in his mouth. When his hands were cuffed together she let go of his arms and placed her hands on his back. After a moment she moved her head away a little bit from him. Disconnecting their mouths.

She smiled at him. But it was more of a domineering smile than a compassionat one. Then she quickly moved her hand down into his underwear and grabbed the training knife he had hidden in it's lining.

She put it in front of his face while still keeping the same smile.

He looked at it and then at her for a second. "Sorry." he said and lowered his gaze.

She threw the knife over her shoulder so that it landed on the drawer she had put her longcoat on. She then moved her hands back down and grabbed his butt through his briefs.

"And you dare to question why I didn't let you walk here on your own.". It was a sweet voice but Tatsumi could feel that there was a malicious joy behind it. She liked to break his hopes of opposing her. She wanted him to understand that she possesed all of him. Including his hopes and wishes.

She leaned in and gave his lips a small lick. Her arms grabbed the belt behind his back, starting to close the final clasp on his bindings.

"Please don't bind me up here, Esdeath. I will be bored out of my mind! Can't you just lock the doors or something? Then I can at least can walk around in these rooms." He asked her. Trying to look as remorseful as he could. If he could walk around then he could pick the door locks.

Esdeath halted herself.

"Okay then, I will give you a chance." She straightened up a bit more so that she was looking down on him. Her hands still holding the last clasp behind his back. "Tatsumi, why did you tell Wave that you were never gonna see each other again?"

I seem to have been beaten by my own panick, he thought. For now at least. "Sorry Esdeath. That is a secret that I will continue to keep from you."

She smiled at him and closed the final clasp. Making him unable to move his arms or legs. She leaned in and gave him a peck on the head before giving him a light push with her left hand. Making him tip over to his side into the bed. Unable to keep his balance with all the bindings.

"I will be back by dinner time." she said and reached over to one of the covers and pulled it over his body. "I will bring some food back with me and then I will give you a lot of attention throughout the night, Tatsumi. Hopefully you will be a bit more talkative then."

She looked him over one last time to make sure that he was tucked into the bed properly. She nodded to herself and put a hand on her cap. "Don't hurt yourself further by trying to break free. You should know that you can't escape this."

He nodded sullenly to her. She looked at him for a moment and then walked out of the room. Heading for her meeting with the prime minister.

Wave walked through the inner streets of the capital. Heading for the military district beloning to the imperial guard. He had already been at the main office of the great general but Budo had not been there so he had been asking around with the military personell that the man usually worked with and had found out that he had been walking towards this district to look over the rearrangement of their documentation.

Wave had met the great general a couple of times before. His many internal missions with the jaegers had seen him working rather closely with the imperial guard that Budo took such pride in. Not that the legions didn't deserve the praise they got. Due to their amazing resolve and morale, the imperial guard was deemed to be the force with the highest defensive capabilities in the entire empire.

Wave had actually found the great general to be a rather fair man. A bit harsh and grim but if you reached the rank of great general then you had probably seen enough fighting and death to turn a little bitter, Wave reasoned. Even if Budo was very open about how he found Tatsumi to be unworthy and how he strongly disliked the way Esdeath conducted her operations, he had still been very fair to Wave. Praising him for his work within the military and thanking him when he helped the imperial guard.

Wave reached the huge gates leding into the military district he was heading for. After quickly proving his identity to the gatekeepers he asked them if they knew where the great general currently was. They gave him some directions and he walked off.

Among all the jaegers he was probably the one who was most popular with the imperial guards. Receiving some recognizing shouts and greetings as he walked through the busy streets. There was a lot of activity going on in all parts of the military today.

The loss of the imperial archieves had sent the military into a bit of a frenzy. The loss of most records and documents that concerned the military had been quite a blow to the regular procedures. Most military institutions were at the moment calling in all soldiers and military personnel for registration and identification. Since most records of who was a part of the military and who wasn't was now lost. Anyone with a uniform could claim that they worked for the military right now and it would be hard to disprove them.

There were long lines and queues of people standing outside of diffrent buildings in the district he was walking through. All called in for that exact purpose.

He could hear the great generals booming voice from far away. Budo was standing outside of one of the bigger buildings in the district. Shouting commands at soldiers that were carrying boxes filled with papers. It seemed like the imperial guards were going to establish their own version of the imperial archives until everything was back in order again.

Wave walked up and saluted the giant man.

"Great general! May I have a moment?"

"Are you here on official buisness,Wave of the jaegers? Otherwise I can't afford to give you much of my time. There are lot of things that require my attention right now."

"Can't say I am, great general. I would ,however, implore you to still give me a moment,sir. I believe that this might be important."

Normally, Wave would not bother the great general if he was busy but Tatsumi had said that this was important. Tatsumi had told him that he had to deliver this to the great general since Budo didn't trust him.

"Well then, be quick about it, soldier." the general said and turned to him.

Wave reached over with the letter to the great general. The big man took it and looked at Wave.

"It is sealed. You are supposed to open it in private later." the young man said. Meeting Budo's gaze.

"What is it?"

"I don't know, to be completly honest. But I have been told that it is important."

"By who?" the great general asked. In his position you received quite a lot of useless letters. And poisoning was always a possibility.

"I would rather not say."

"So I am to take your word for it?"

"I haven't failed you before. Have I?" Wave said with a smile. Hoping that whatever message was inside the letter was as important as Tatsumi had claimed.

The big man looked at him for a moment.

"No, you have not." he said at last. He put the letter into a pocket and turned around and started to shout orders again.

"It is rare for you to be late to our meetings." the prime minister said while he took a big bite from the lobster tail on his fork.

He was surrounded by plates with food and folders of paper on the end of the long table that they were sharing. Esdeath sat on the other said with a single cup of tea in front of her. Her cap resting on the table. They were the only people in the giant room.

"One of my subordinates required a bit more attention than I was expecting." she said as she sipped on the tea with closed eyes. "No one can predict everything."

"Fully agreed." the big man said."But we can always try." He opened up one of the folders that lay beside the many plates.

"Have you looked up the evidence?" Esdeath asked. Putting down her tea cup.

"It's seems that about half of the information you brought have been correct. And the other half is still plausible." the prime minister said as a troubled expression formed on his face. "I have only been able to verify a few of them but the papers and wares have been at all the offices and storages that I have had raided."

"So the warden wasn't working alone,then?" Esdeath said with a calm smile. Not at all bothered by this outcome.

"No he wasn't. We have raided many of the trading caravans and agents that he governed over. And we have found a lot of hidden messages and hidden wares. I have asked a few of the involved if they knew anything about it but they denied it."

"Obviously." Esdeath commented. Crossing her fingers under her chin as she rested her head upon them.

"Which means that it is likely that your information is correct. The warden of the west was only a part of a larger network of people within the empire that planned to overthrow the current emperor." he said and took another bite of his lobster tail.

"And by that, you mean that they wanted to overthrow you." Esdeath said with a smile tinged with cruelness.

"You are associated pretty strongly with the current state of the imperial court. If they were trying to overthrow me then they are also trying to remove you from office."

"I wouldn't have put myself in this position if I didn't want people to come and challenge me. And I certainly wouldn't have made myself your ally so long ago if I didn't enjoy crushing these upstarters." she said calmly.

"I 'am certainly blessed that you have these intrests then, Esdeath." he said. Throwing her a smile."I would usually not care too much about this but the fact that all of this has gone unnoticed from all my spies and informants is quite disturbing. I was pretty sure that I would know if something this big was going on." he said as he opened another folder. Rummaging through the pages.

"I don't think we have to worry about any coup d'état, now that the warden is dead but..." The prime minister went on and looked over at her.

"We can't really allow such unloyal servants to the emperor walk around unpunished." Esdeath said, her eyes narrowing a bit. Still wearing the smile.

"Exactly. Especially since they managed to arrange all of this without us noticing it." he said and drank some beer from a pitcher. "However, we need to be a bit.. discreet about it."

"Hmm?" Esdeath looked at him.

"Ever since the revolutionary army started to crumble, the great general have been gathering as much information he possibly can about the two of us. He is rather competent but the man knows nothing about subtlety." he said with a smile.

"Do you think that he is intending to present these things to the emperor in hopes of making young Makoto send us away from his service?" she said, picking up her tea cup again.

"Might be. He is probably going to turn against us sooner or later. He might be planning to present it to the rest of the military leaders as well. Hoping to turn them against us. But then the military would have to chose between him or you."

"Are you insinuating that I would revolt against my commanding officer?" she asked as she sipped some more of the tea.

"Oh come now, Esdeath. Doesn't the title great general Esdeath have a certain ring to it."

She looked at him for some moments. "Your hunger really is obscene, old man." she said with a sinister smile.

He returned the smile."You don't mind though. Do you?"

Esdeath looked up at the ceiling for some seconds. She had never really cared that much about titles as long as she could do what she wanted. If she became great general then she would have to put a lot more time into administrative work. But on the other hand, she would be able to choose whatever opponents she wished among the empire's enemies. She would also be an even higher target for those who stood against the empire, which could be pretty entertaining. And she would get a chance to fight Budo himself.

She shrugged. "I guess I don't."

The prime ministers smile grew wider."I knew you would say that. Then I trust that you will know what to do if the great general suddenly summons all the military leaders stationed in the capital."

"You aren't worried about those stationed outside of the capital?"

"If he tries to get in contact with any of the generals outside of the capital, then I will know it. If he should chose to try and turn the military against us then we can make sure that those outside of the capital only hears about the relevant parts of his betrayal after he has been dealt with."

"Which leaves one general missing from our plan. Do we have any idea of Makeias's allegiance?"

"No, not at all." The prime minister looked a little bit annoyed. "After spending all those years on the battlefield everyone expected that he was only returning to the capital so that he could retire. Yet he has chosen to stay in his position. Would he be a problem for you?" he asked and started eating on his next dish.

"I would not think so. I'm actually about to go and fight him in a sparring match later today. Then I will be able to gauge his strength. Though not his teigu since we are omitting those from the fighting. Do you know about it's capabilities?"

"I will look into it." The older man said and stroked his beard. "I do know that he actually got his teigu by accident. Since the imperial court were unwilling to send his army any."

Esdeath gave him a questioning look.

"His teigu apparently takes the form of a small knife. Some kind of assassin used the teigu as a weapon and stabbed Makeias with it. Without knowing anything about what the blade actually was. The teigu then resonated with him and he survived because of it's powers. It is supposedly still stuck into his mid-section. I will research it capabilities a bit more."

"So in other words, it is one of the lost teigus."

"It would seem so. Anyway, this is nothing we should have to worry about in the immediate future. I don't think Budo will act if we just are a bit discreet and subtle in rooting out these weeds in our dear empire. He has no reason to research anything more about these traitors, anyway. So as long as we don't make a big deal about it, then things will continue to run smoothly."

"Well then." Esdeath said and rose up from her chair."Let me know if there is anyone of the traitors that you would need my help with. I will keep an eye on the military and Budo."

"Certainly. By the way, I think it is about time that you paid a visit to the night raid member down in the dungeons. I would like to know what information she might have about the warden's network and allies."

Esdeath smiled at him. "Thanks for reminding me. I think I will go down and talk with her the next time I got some time to spare." She turned around to leave.

"One more thing, Esdeath."

She looked at him over her shoulder.

"Could you do me a favor and keep an close eye on your boy." he said and gave her a reproachful look. "He seem to be a bit more.. capable than I first expected."

Esdeath felt her defensive instincts rise but quickly quelled them. She gave him a hard glance. "How I manage my subordinates is nothing that you need to worry about. And I don't want to hear complaints from you about how I handle my mate, considering how well you managed to handle your son."

"Do you want Tatsumi to meet the same fate as my son?"

She looked at him in a rather unfriendly way. She was considering if he was challenging her in some way but reminded herself about their strictly buisness oriented relationship. If he brought this up then he probably had his reasons. "Fine. I hear what you say. Leave Tatsumi to me and focus upon your own problems."

The prime minister sighed deeply when the doors had closed behind her. Just as I suspected, he thought, this is gonna be really tricky.

"Well, Tatsumi is starting to become my problem, as well." he said as he returned to his food.

"Thanks a lot for helping me out." Tatsumi said as he rose from the bed. Stroking his hands where the bindings had been.

"Don't mention it." The young maid was still carrying the knife that she had used to cut him free from the belt. "I just hope that Esdeath doesn't find out that it was I that did this."

"Don't worry about it. I will see to it that you are transferred to a diffrent part of the palace immediately." Normally the maids and attendants wouldn't dare to intervene with any of Esdeath's affairs or projects. This girl was a bit diffrent though. She had helped Tatsumi many times by stepping out of line and doing things she shouldn't be doing. Small favors in exchange for diffrent rewards from Tatsumi. Mostly money. "Your reward will be waiting for you at whatever your new workplace will be."

"Thank you."

"Now go work in some other rooms. It won't do well to be around when Esdeath returns."

She nodded and quickly scurried off. Hurrying out of Esdeath's chambers.

Tatumi watched her go. It was a little sad that he would lose one of his most useful attendants. She had been of much help in the past. But he dared not have her around anymore. Esdeath would want to know who had freed him and her hunting and tracking skills were almost as superhuman as her fighting prowess. If the maid stayed around, then chances were that Esdeath would figure out that it had been her sooner or later.

He walked over to one of their many drawers and started to put some clothes on. He needed to be quick now. He had a clear plan in his head.

He needed to find this anonymous source that had seen Bellany following him and silence it for good. And he needed to do so before Esdeath's agents found it. So he needed to figure out who it was. That would probably require some investigation but if he called upon all his informants and allies he could probably figure it out relatively fast.

After that, he needed to go to Esdeath. If he broke free and then came to her of his own free will, then that might actually lessen her annoyance at him breaking free. If he presented it right he might even play it off as proof of his loyalty.

First of all he needed to get Incursio back, though. So he needed to find Wave. And then convince him to not only hand over his teigu but he also wanted him to act as his fake alibi. He needed someone to assure Esdeath that he hadn't been up to anything suspicious after he broke free.

He didn't like the idea of involving Wave more into his plans but he didn't have much of a choice right now.

After he had dressed up in his civilian clothes, he walked out of their quarters and closed the doors behind him. Esdeath had not locked a single one of the doors. Fully confident in her bindings. As she shoud have been, he thought, I would not have been able to get out on my own. She just didn't expect help to come from outside.

A positive thing about the situation was that he didn't have to hide from anybody else since Esdeath was the only one who knew that he was supposed to be locked up inside her chambers. So he didn't need to hide from anybody else. At least not if he moved fast enough.

He knew that he didn't have to much time to finish his task now.

Esdeath would come hunting after him the moment she found him missing. And she would not be holding back this time.

Author's note:

So... three days later than promised. Sorry about that. I have no idea of why this one took so much more time to get done. I already have the coming chapters planned out in my head but for some reason this one was a bit harder to write. I have been spending the same amount of time working on this story as I have before.

I do not plan on letting it affect my release schedule though. The next one should be released in five days.

As always, thanks for reading/following/favorite;ing and just being awesome in general.

I have to run now. Got places to be.

Have a great day and take care of each other.