"Allow me, sir." Delancey said, imposing herself in front of the prince and opening the door slowly peering inside. She held her hand out to get Jarvan to hold position and then gestured for the Sergeant Major to keep eyes on Jarvan. The older officer glared at her for a moment and then nodded, his hand hovering over the single large knife on his belt. Delancey moved through the door swiftly, creeping like a cat, sweeping left and right across the room, checking all of the empty offices off of the central area, and then nodded to herself when she was confident all the adjacent rooms were clear. She cast a quick glance as Valentine Isaacs who had stood up, a confused look upon her face, nodding once to reassure the young brunette that everything was under control.
"Where's prince Jarvan?" Valentine asked nervously, her eyes following Delancey as she scanned the room again, a determined look on her face.
"One moment, Ms. Isaacs." Delancey said with a frown. She pulled the small ring-box and pressed the button on top of it, letting it scan the room and then report back that it was all clear before she nodded to herself again. "He's on his way in now." Delancey said confidently. She hesitated a moment before she headed towards the door, turning and looking at Lee. He met her gaze for a few brief moments before she exhaled sharply, casting him a withering glare before she turned away in disgust, moving back to the door.
"What was that all about?" Lee growled, his gaze following after her as she stepped out of the door again. Valentine looked at him and shrugged, surprise and confusion still on her face.
"All clear, sir." Delancey announced, saluting to Jarvan and then stepping to the far side of the door, gesturing for him to proceed and enter. Jarvan frowned and glowered, but entered the room.
"Is there a reason for all of the increased security?" Jarvan muttered, glancing back over his shoulder as Delancey and the sergeant major moved into the office, the former glancing both left and right along the hallways before closing the door. Jarvan shook his head as he stepped away from the door. He paused, looking at Lee for a few moments before he continued deeper into the room, headed directly towards his office.
"Sir if you have a moment..." Valentine said nervously, reading the anger on Jarvan's face with trepidation.
"Not now." Jarvan growled.
She blushed slightly and then glanced at the ground and then looked up at him, distress sliding onto her face and into her voice. "Sir, this is something you really should..."
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT!" Jarvan snarled, wheeling about to face her. He met her green-eyed stare for a moments, suddenly seeing his reflection in his old lieutenant's eyes. He had often looked at Valin with anger, but the old man had just snapped back with a quip or a retort that promptly shut the prince up. He stared at himself in her green eyes, his face contorted in rage, surprise clear on her face as she blinked a few times and took a half step back in fear. She clasped her hands in front of her and the prince could see them start to quiver. He snarled in disgust at himself and shook his head, turning away and pushing past her towards his office.
"Sir, you really shouldn't take your temper out on Valentine." Lee said derisively, watching the prince with a dark frown.
Jarvan wheeled about, unbridled rage now clear on his face as he met Lee's scathing gaze. "I don't need a fucking spy to tell me what to do or say to my staff." Jarvan growled menacingly. "You, my office, now. Don't say a fucking word."
Lee opened his mouth in a mix of astonishment and outrage, but he snapped it shut and stomped past Jarvan into the office wordlessly. Jarvan sighed, growling under his breath as he exhaled. He glanced at the sergeant major and then Delancey in turn, a mix of frustration and surprise on their faces as they watched him. Jarvan cast a fleeting glance at Valentine, her lower lip quivering as she stared at the floor, refusing to meet his gaze. Jarvan snarled as he turned towards the door, shaking his head and then slamming the door behind him, shaking the wall hangings as dust rained from the stone ceiling.
"What was that?" The sergeant major growled, shaking his head. "I thought he was a bit more level headed than that."
"He usually is." Delancey said, frowning as she moved towards her desk. She dropped into her seat and ran her hands over her face in frustration and exhaustion. "I don't think I've ever seen him explode like that before."
"Is the prince alright?" Valentine said nervously, leaning on the edge of her desk as she wiped at her eyes.
"Yes and no." Delancey muttered as she started pulling some of the weapons from her belt and putting them away in one of the drawers in her desk. "We ran into a bit of trouble this afternoon with a Security Brigade officer who is drunk off power and seeking to get his neck snapped by the prince or the dragoness. Unfortunately, he's got enough power that he can try and take advantage of Jarvan."
"Can't the prince just order him not to?" Valentine said with a confused frown replacing some of the pain. Delancey offered her a sad smile, reading the worry on her face.
"Not in this situation." Delancey shook her head and sighed, slamming the drawer shut and then pushing herself up onto the desk, kicking her feet out as she looked up at the ceiling. "The Commandant of Demsec wields a lot of very real power. He's also batty as the Shadow Isles and he's decided that the best way to attack Jarvan was through Shyvana."
"What did he do?" Valentine whispered, her eyes wide as she covered her mouth with her hand. She looked to Delancey, but she shrugged and shook her head, pulling out a knife and a sharpening stone, making a big deal out of sharpening the knife to distract herself, suddenly falling completely silent.
"The fucker threatened to have the dragon-girl raped." The sergeant major grunted angrily as he shuffled through a stack of papers on his desk, shaking his head in disgust.
"That's horrifying!" Valentine gasped.
"Now you know why he's in such a piss-poor mood." The sergeant major said with a shrug. "I won't defend him for being a complete ass, but he is under a lot of stress right now."
"I understand." Valentine said sadly, sighing as she glanced down with a nostalgic smile on her face. "I feel bad for him. He was always like this back when he had an important mission. I only met him a few times back then when I went to visit my father, but the prince was always angry. Father said it was his way of worrying about his men."
The sergeant major snorted and rolled his eyes. "Young lady, you are a much better human being than I." The sergeant major shrugged as he set the papers down, his eyes running over several lines of ink on parchment from the stack he had held onto. "I woulda just slugged him and told him to stop being such a fucking pussy."
Delancey shook her head as she laughed, struggling to keep a serious expression. "Jesus, sarge, you really don't tone it down at any point, do you?"
"And make life easier on you little shits?" The silver haired sergeant major gave Delancey a thin grin as his dark eyes sparkled mischievously. "Life would be too damn easy that way."
"Yeah, yeah." Delancey waved him off as she crossed one leg over the other, looking around the room. A bout of shouting coming from the inner office could be heard as silence descended upon the room. "They... they're really going at it, aren't they?" She shook her head and leaned heavily on her arm, cheek in palm, resting her elbow on her knee as she watched the door as if it were about to get shouted off its hinges.
"Should we stop them?" Valentine said, nervously, glancing at the door as more shouting came from within.
"Fuck 'em." The sergeant major grunted as he pulled a metal hip flask from his desk. He unstopped the top of the bottle and took a swig, tipping the flask back, wiping his mouth and sighing heavily as he dropped the flask from his lips. He corked it again and slid it into a pocket on his uniform jacket, straightening his tunic. He glanced at Delancey who had been watching him with a raised eyebrow and a exhausted expression. "What?" He growled, turning away.
"Isn't it a little early to be drinking?" Delancey said, with a slightly amused grin. She looked up at the clock that hung on the wall and then looked back to the sergeant major who was now concerning himself with adjusting the contents of his desk top. "It's not even five o'clock."
The sergeant major shrugged, taking the flask out and looking at it thoughtfully for a few moments. He frowned and set the flask on his desk, grumbling as he scratched the back of his head. "Shit, if I've got to listen to more of this then I'm going to need something stronger."
Valentine giggled, smiling softly as she looked at the sergeant major. "That sounds like something my father would have said."
"Hey now..." The sergeant major said, raising his hands in front of him defensively. "I fucking know I haven't had anywhere near enough to try and deal with that sort of thing, young lady." He blushed slightly, turning away, running his hand over his short cropped silver hair along the back of his head.
Delancey laughed aloud. "Bashful?" She grinned triumphantly. "That's not an emotion I ever expected to see from you, sarge."
"Shut yer fucking mouth." The sergeant major growled, shaking his head. "She's young enough to be my granddaughter. You make a single joke about it and mark my words, Delancey, and I will wring your damned neck till they stick you in a cell and mail you to the fucking zoo as a giraffe."
Delancey raised her hands in submission, wearing a ironic grin. "Yeah, yeah, no jokes." She glanced towards the doorway as her smile faded. "It's gotten strangely quiet. You think one of them killed the other?"
"I hope not." The sergeant major growled. "More fucking paperwork if they did." He shook his head as he dropped himself into his chair, setting about the already considerable stack of paperwork.
"Um, Sergeant Major?" Valentine said nervously, blushing slightly as she looked over at him. The sergeant major's shoulders tensed up slightly as he looked over at her, a strange expression on his face. "I-if you like, I can help you with your paperwork." She wrung her hands in front of herself. "I've finished all of mine for the moment."
A moment of silence followed.
"Okay this is just fucking killing me." Delancey said, a grin breaking out on her face. "Just call him 'grandpa' already! I'll gladly take the beating just to see his face." Delancey chuckled to herself but then the unexpected happened.
"G-g-grandpa..." Valentine's face burned a bright red as she closed her eyes and waited for the worst.
"Oh. My. God." Delancey watched as the sergeant major's face burned a similar shade of red, her mouth hanging open. She burst into laughter, red int eh face and gasping for breath. She fell from her chair and held her stomach. "I think... I can die ...and go to... heaven after... seeing that." Delancey spoke in broken English in between pants for breath.
"Delancey..." The sergeant major's face was hidden by the shadow of the silhouette of the lamp on his desk, though his face had turned a decided more violent, angry shade of red. His hands trembled in anger and a blood vessel threatened to burst on his forehead. "I am going to fucking kill you." The was a single second of ringing steel and then there was only the heavy thunk followed by the waggle of a knife buried deep into something.
Delancey opened her eyes, wiping a tear away and came eye to eye with her reflection in the sergeant major's combat knife, the steel buried nearly up to the haft in the side of her desk. The sergeant screamed and sunk down, back onto the floor, her eyes wide in fear, the laughter now just a painful memory in her gut as it ached. The sergeant major stood over her, cracking his neck, staring down at her menacingly.
"Something to say, sergeant?" He growled menacingly.
"N-n-no, sarge!" Delancey stammered, sweat pouring down her face in fear. The sergeant major kneeled down and jerked the knife from the desk, dragging the heavy wooden piece of furniture forward a few inches. His brow darkened slightly and Delaney gulped audibly. "No, Sergeant Major!"
"Good." The sergeant major sheathed the knife in a single fluid motion, pausing to stare down at Delancey. "It'd be a shame if I had to miss again."
The shock of the revelation caused Delancey's eyes to widen again. "You mean..." The blinked a few times, her face paling. A single glance from the sergeant major quelled her words as she snapped her mouth shut.
"Here, sergeant." Valentine said, offering to help Delancey up. The sergeant accepted her help, though she kept a wary eye on the sergeant major as he returned to his desk as if nothing had happened. Delancey sighed explosively, clutching at her heart in mock fear. Valentine giggled slightly and that brought a weak smile back to the sergeant's face.
"Oh!" Delancey said, as if she had just realized she had something to say. "What did you need to tell Prince Jarvan, Valentine?"
The secretary covered her mouth with her hands, her green eyes wide with surprise. "I completely forgot!" She dashed to her desk and dug around in the paperwork, drawing out a scrap of paper, her eyes flying over it breifly. "You remember that incident that happen on the East road this morning just before noon?"
Delancey's brow creased as she pushed herself up and sat on her desk and looked at Valentine with a frown. "No, what happened?"
Valentine looked shocked that Delancey hadn't heard the news, but shook her head, a worried expression again befalling her green eyes. "There aren't many details yet, but something exploded just outside the eastern gates... Shyvana was wounded and is in the hospital right now."
"What!?" Delancey barked, toppling off her desk in surprise. She shook her head as she pulled herself up from the floor, rubbing her head. "What the hell happened?"
"I don't know." Valentine said nervously. "A Lieutenant... Vorscham stopped by and asked for the prince, stating that he urgently needed to speak with him directly. When I told the lieutenant that Prince Jarvan wasn't here, the lieutenant asked that I pass on the fact that she was in the ICU."
"God damnit." Delancey said, shaking her head. She looked to the sergeant major who sighed but nodded. "We better let him know. He's going to be fucking pissed."
Jarvan closed the door behind himself, stepped around Lee and then moved to his desk. He paused in front of it, his eyes dancing over the assortment of papers and small nicknacks that littered it, but he finally sighed, shaking his head. He move around to his chair and slumped down in it triedly, grunting in pain as he landed on his arm wrong.
"How is your arm, sir?" Lee said formally, his eyes straight ahead, over the top of Jarvan's head and locked on something out the massive windows behind the prince. Jarvan grunted as he undid the knot that held the sling around his neck and pulled the cloth free, moving his arm about gingerly.
"My arm is of no concern to you right now." Jarvan growled, moving it about to check its range of motion discreetly. Though extending it to some of the extremes caused the prince to wince, he seemed satisfied. He sat back in his chair as he slid it forward and glared at Lee, steepling his fingers together as he leaned on his desk. "My concern at the moment would be you, sergeant."
"Sir, if I did something to anger you..." Lee started to say, but his voice faded out when he noticed Jarvan's molten glare. The prince sat back in his chair heavily, gently massaging the wound with one hand while he worked the arm about.
"I'll give you a chance to come clean about why you're here." Jarvan grimaced as he stretched the arm a bit too far. He sighed and then sat up, looking over his desk. He pulled a pen from the bottle of ink that sat on the corner of his desk and drew the top sheet of parchment from the stack that had been left for him to sign.
"Sir, you asked—ordered me in here, sir." Lee said, a moment of confusing playing over his face. "I'm not sure I understand the question, Lieutenant Colonel."
Jarvan did not look up from where he was reading over the document, his eyes dancing left and right over the paper before he finally signed the piece of paper and started a new stack next to the one he had drawn the sheet from. Jarvan sighed heavily, returning the pen to the bottle of ink, leaning heavily on his desk as he ran a hand over his face, massaging his eyelids as he breathed heavily for several moments. "Sergeant Wallace Lee, you graduated at the top of your class at the Demacian Martial Academy and you did time at the Demacian Arcane Academy as well, earning your Combat Magician's Certification, though you rarely use said magic according to record. You received top marks from all of your instructors there. You have next to no personal history, and you're more ghost than guard. Now, explain to me why it is you're working as a bodyguard and aide to a lowly lieutenant colonel." Jarvan's voice was even and quiet, but there was a hint of menace that hurried his words just enough to clue Lee in to how much the prince was struggling to control his temper.
Lee's brow furrowed slightly, his eyes flickering down to the prince and then back up to continue staring out the window at a rigid state of attention. "Sir, I hardly think you a low-..."
"You can drop the act, sergeant." Jarvan said, running his hand over his face. "Perhaps if you're straight with me now, we can avoid a very difficult working relationship in the future." Jarvan's voice was growing slightly more agitated.
Lee's frown darkened for a moment, but his head came up and he shook it. "Sir, I don't know what you're-..."
"You may take me as a fool, and a fool I may be, but I swear, Sergeant Wallace Lee, if you don't start talking, your commanding officer is going to have to pry you out of my trashcan with a crowbar." Jarvan's threat was low and menacing, but Lee breathed a short sigh before he again stood up straight and stared straight ahead, as if it didn't phase him in the slightest.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, sir." Lee replied formerly, his voice stiffer than before. "You are my commanding officer, sir."
"CUT THE BULLSHIT!" Jarvan snarled, slapping both hands down on the desk and bouncing everything on the desktop. Papers fluttered to the ground, ink leaked from the spilled jar, the single photograph that was framed on his desk lay face down. He pushed himself up, meeting Lee eye to eye, forcing the Sergeant to stare straight at him. "I know you're with Demsec, Lee." Jarvan growled menacingly as he moved back around the desk, looking at Lee's profile as sweat formed on the man's brow. "I had a nice little chitchat with the commandant about an hour ago. How do you think that went?"
"I'm not familiar with the commandant of the Demacian Security Brigade, sir." Lee said, the formality in his voice faltering.
"I have eye witnesses who could put you away for years with charges of treason!" Jarvan snarled, watching as Lee didn't so much as flinch as the prince paced around him like a dire wolf stalking its prey. "Said eyewitness is a trusted friend, and Lee, I'm inclined to believe her when it comes to matters of this sort." Jarvan took a deep breath before he continued, his tone filled with menace despite its even and metered words. "However, she was captured by Demsec, and held there unlawfully. When it came to my attention, I went to have her freed. Do you know what I ended up walking into when I did?"
"No, sir." Lee said stiffly.
"I walked into a nice, elaborate set up designed to bring me to heel like a dog." Jarvan's voice was now shaking with fury, his white-knuckled hands held behind his back, though every timed he turned away from Lee, his hands could be seen quivering with anger. "I, being my stubborn self, refused to play the bitch to General Jormander. He threatened me. I did not take kindly to this and promptly informed him about what threatening me and my friends carried, being the crown prince of Demacia." Jarvan chuckled, though the sound lacked its normal warmth or even the very essence of humor. Jarvan stood mere inches from Lee now. "Now, he holds threat of treason over my head, and the life of my loved ones hang in the balance with threat of even worse." Jarvan stepped in front of Lee, his face now bare millimeters from Lee's face. "He threatened to have her beaten and raped, by his command, by his men, if I did not bend to his will. Now, Sergeant Lee, if you would like to explain to me just what the fuck you are doing here, I may spare you the mercy of beating the ever-loving-shit out of you!" Jarvan stepped back, waiting silently, his face contorted in a mask of anger and displeasure.
Lee sighed, dropping his eyes to the floor. "Our intentions were never to threaten you or Shyvana with bodily harm, sir." Lee shook his head in mock disgust.
"Well you and your confederates already did." Jarvan snarled. "So pardon me if I'm not exactly feeling accepting of apologies right now."
"Yes sir." Lee said, a haggard look dropping over him like a veil. "Like I said, it was never our intention. My original assignment was to observe and work with you while monitoring your mental state to try and judge whether you were even mentally competent after your time spent outside of Demacia. I was under orders to gain and maintain your trust while ensuring your safety. I was also to keep you from getting involved with other ongoing investigations that were being undertaken by Demsec."
"So what, I got to close to one of your commander's little witch-hunts?" Jarvan sneered, though some of the menace had faded.
"It actually found you first, sir." Lee said, blowing air out of his nose in an unimpressed shrug. "We're constantly running counter-surveillance and counter-terrorism operations in Demacia, and I was working on an ongoing case regarding a group of assailants who had been working in Demacia for a period of time now. When you turned up and started poking around, it seems their time table was pushed forward and they started making mistakes. I was assigned to you as insurance, mostly to ensure you weren't working with them or had lost your... ah, Demacian pride somewhere in the wastes."
"And?" Jarvan growled.
"We weren't sure at first, but the attempt on the life of you and your consort confirmed our suspicions. Unfortunately, the tracker girl, Quinn? She was already suspicious of me." Lee shrugged. "When I intervened with the mage who was casting what we expect to be dream-manipulation spells on you that evening, your friend assaulted me, thinking she was protecting you. Confusion ensued, the mage died, your friend was captured and you were injured when you took the crossbow bolt that was aimed at the dragon."
"Hold on, you say that the bolt was aimed at Shyvana?" Jarvan said, stopping his pacing, a confused look on his face.
"Yes sir." Lee said, nodding. "At first we weren't sure, but I believe it wasn't meant to kill you, rather, to dispose of the dragon, Shyvana, to facilitate something in the future. However, you jumped in front of it like an idiot instead of simply knocking her out of the way." A flicker of a smile played across Lee's lips. "Quite chivalrous of you, by the way, taking the bolt rather than inflicting bodily harm on her."
"But what does that have to do with you being here, under my command?" Jarvan said, shaking his head. "What does any of that have to do with Shyvana?"
Lee glanced at the floor for a moment, his body slackening slightly before he straightened up and snapped to attention again. "That was my fault, sir." Lee barked. "I originally suggested that she, Shyvana, would be the key to controlling you here in Demacia. You were losing sleep and were mentally distressed by the separation from her, and it was causing your actions to become erratic and dangerous. I suggested that we reunite the two of you and let you concern yourselves with each other rather than intrude upon Demsec business, but obviously my suggestion was completely ignored." There was a hint of anger in his voice as Lee shook his head.
Jarvan grabbed Lee by his collar and pulled him close, taking the man by surprise. Lee grabbed at Jarvan's wrists, but Jarvan had already hauled the man off his feet as if it were nothing, his face contorted with anger. "Are you saying you put Shyvana in this position!?" Jarvan roared, shaking the man. Lee's face was turning red as he struggled against the prince. "If anything happens to her, Wallace..."
"It was never my intention!" Lee gasped, wheezing against the prince's hold on his collar. Jarvan snarled in disgust but dropped the sergeant, sending him sprawling to the ground. Lee coughed, running his hand along his neck as he caught his breath. He looked up, watching as Jarvan leaned heavily on his desk, holding his injured shoulder, his breathing surprisingly ragged considering he had just lifted Lee, who was easily his equal in height and weight, directly off his feet. "I honestly didn't think they would threaten her like this, Jarvan..." Lee said, his voice still slightly strained as he stood up, straightening his tunic and fixing his collar. "I told them it was bad idea to continue to hold her against you, but they obviously didn't listen." Lee straightened his tunic and then fell in at attention again. "I would like to formally apologize for all of this, sir!"
"I want you to know, that if they do anything to Shyvana... if so much as a single hair on her head is harmed, I am going to personally hunt you down and beat you within an inch of your life." Jarvan growled, his voice dripping with menace and hatred. "I will then have first aid administered to you so I can continue beating you until you have sufficiently suffered ten time the pain and humiliation she faces. Am I clear?"
"Sir." Lee said stiffly.
"I asked you a fucking question, sergeant!" Jarvan snarled.
"SIR, YES SIR!" Lee barked.
"Now get out of my office." Jarvan muttered, moving towards his chair behind his desk. He slumped down in it, a myriad of emotions playing over his face as he stared at the desk top, his hands gripping the edge of the desk as if it had been the one to threaten the life of his loved one.
"Sir?" Confusion marred Lee as he stopped his salute half way through. "I'm not discharged from the unit?"
Jarvan looked up at him, a frown on his face as the prince sighed and shook his head. "I'd rather deal with the spy I know about, rather than having Jormander trying to sneak another in." Pain played across the prince's face as he pushed himself up in his chair. He ran a hand over his face. "Just get out of my office before I decide against my decision."
"Sir!" Lee barked, saluting and moving to the door. He opened it and came face to face with Valentine and Delancey, both of which looked worried as they stood at the door, waiting. Lee glanced at both of them and then pushed past. Delancey looked back at him with a mix of surprise and anger playing on her face, but she turned back to Jarvan, worry overriding the anger.
"I'm not really in the mood, Del." Jarvan muttered, running a hand over his face. "What is it?"
"Something you're really going to want to hear, sir." Delancey said hesitantly, looking at the contents of the top of his desk and how they had been disrupted. She opened her mouth, her jaw working slowly, but she shut it after a few moments, looking at Valentine. The young Isaacs girl looked genuinely worried about the prince, surprise on her face as she looked over the desk.
"Sir, are you alright?" She whispered, taking a step inside the office and looking around, as if she expected the entire office to be destroyed. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't see anything, but she still had a worried look on her face.
"Yeah... I suppose so." Jarvan said, running a hand over his head as he tried to smooth out his disheveled hair. "What do you want?"
"Well..." Delancey said, still looking at the desk, but she shook her head and looked to Valentine and then back to the prince.
Valentine wrung her hands in front of her, staring at the floor, only daring once to look up at him, immediately dropping her gaze back to the floor. "Jarvan, it's Shyvana."
The prince blinked a few times and sat up, anger crossing his face. "What happened?"
"I don't know much, sir." Valentine shook her head nervously. "There was a Lieutenant Vorscham here looking for your earlier, sir. He needed to speak with you urgently about something."
"Vorscham needed to talk to me?" Jarvan sat back frowning. "But what about..."
"Shyvana was wounded in an accident earlier this morning, sir." Valentine said, grabbing her arm nervously. "He said the wound was bad and she was going to be in the Intensive Care Unit for the rest of the day."
"WHAT!?" Jarvan leaped to his feet, knocking his chair over, practically sending it skittering across the floor. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Jarvan balked, still to stunned to move.
"Well..." Valentine stared at the floor.
"You kinda chewed her out for simply talking to you." Delancey said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I..." Jarvan shook his head as he moved around the desk, urgency hurrying his paces. He paused next to his green eyed secretary, looking down at her as she stared up at him. He sighed and then shook his head. "I'm sorry, Valentine."
"It's fine sir." The young Isaacs said, blushing slightly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
"If you ever need, just tell me to shut up, alright?" Jarvan said with a worried smile on his face. Valentine nodded. He patted her once on the shoulder as he moved past, grabbing his overcoat from the rack that hung just inside his office door. "Which hospital did he take her to?"
"She was moved to the Medical School at the Academy, sir." Valentine frowned slightly. "The wound was apparently magically disturbed... or something." Valentine shook her head, indicating that was all she knew. "Vorscham didn't say anything else, only asking I pass it on when you returned." Jarvan's frown darkened as he spat a silent curse. He nodded once.
"Thanks, Val." Jarvan turned, gesturing for Delancey to get ready. "Come on, Del, we're going."
"Sir." Delancey said, saluting as she bounced out of his office to fetch her jacket. She reappeared a few moments later, her hat perched upon her head as she tugged on her jacket, the pockets overflowing with weapons as she buttoned the uniform jacket. She began stowing knives in various places, finally standing up straight and saluting again. "Ready to go, sir."
"Good." Jarvan nodded once, his massive strides carrying to the door. Jarvan turned and cast a glance at Lee, but he didn't let his face betray any of his emotions. If you had anything to do with this... He shook his head and paused at the door. "Sergeant Major."
"Sir!" Perrywinkle barked, snapping to attention.
"You're in control here for now." He turned back to the open doors to his office. "If anyone needs me, give them the run around. I don't want to be disturbed."
The sergeant major grinned and nodded. "I'll keep em busy, sir."
"Good." Jarvan grabbed the door handle and pulled it open, freezing as he came face to face with a courier, the man's hand frozen just above where the door had been, as if he had been about to knock. "Out of my way, corporal." Jarvan growled, eying the young soldier's rank tabs and the crossed swords on his unit patch of the Royal Guard. "Speak with the sergeant major if you need something."
The corporal saluted, but he did not move from in front of the doorway. "The king requests your presence at once, sire." The corporal said, nearly choking on his own voice. "He says you are to come to the throne room at once."
Jarvan snarled angrily, but the sound died in his throat before he could make it as menacing as he wanted. "I don't have time." Jarvan shook his head. "Tell my father that I shall deal with it later. Now move."
"Sir, I was to inform you that the king would not accept any delays in this matter." The courier blushed nervously, but he stood up straighter and tried to look braver than his quivering knees would imply. "There is going to be an official announcement regarding something, and the king specifically requested I fetch you at once."
"Or what?" Jarvan growled, puffing out his chest slightly to look more imposing.
"Sir..." The courier started nervously. "I-..."
"Prince Jarvan!" The voice send a shiver down the prince's spine. He stepped into the hallway, looking left, setting his jaw as his brow furrowed in anger.
"General Jormander." Jarvan muttered through gritted teeth. "What a... surprise."
"Thank you, corporal." The general said, returning the young man's salute. "That will be all, I can take care of it from here."
"Yes, sir." The corporal said, saluting again quickly before he turned and scampered away. Jormander turned to Jarvan and let a thin smile play over his lips.
"You received the king's summons as well?" Jormander said, waiting till the prince nodded stiffly. There was a smile on the general's face, though it was serpentine and cold. " Good, good! I was just on my way there now, and I happened to be passing by. Perhaps you'd accompany me?"
Funny, this office is completely out of the way for you. Jarvan glanced back into his officer at Lee. He was working at his desk, completely and purposefully ignoring the exchange. Damn you. Jarvan turned and straightened his tunic, sighing. I'll be there as soon as I can, Shyvana.
"It would be my pleasure." Jarvan growled with some effort, forcing a smile onto his face, trying to contain the boiling anger he felt.
"Good." Jormander mused, his smile flickering menacingly. "I'm sure anything you were doing can wait."