The first time an assassin had found his way into the imperial palace, Larsa was unaware until the following morning. He was then furious with Zargabaath - not because it had been kept from him, not because an intruder had penetrated the defenses that the senior Judge Magister was now responsible for, but because the man had been executed immediately upon his admission of ill intention. Though it was the way things had been under his father's rule and his brother's, this was not the way his administration was to deal with dissension.
After much argument (some of it, on the subject of the weight of obedience against pragmatism, taking place between his Judges Magister while they thought him asleep in his chambers), the second assassin was brought to Larsa directly only a few weeks later, secured with bonds both magical and physical, under escort with a dispatch of judges and Zargabaath himself. Upon questioning the man, asking him why, Larsa learned that he considered himself a patriot - that he understood the need for war as Emperors Gramis and Vayne had, that it was better for these archaic, less developed small kingdoms to have a secure government and the advanced civilization of the Archadian empire than to founder on their own. Larsa told him, in truth, that he agreed. "However, I believe that forcing other lands to accept our ways will only cause them to become bitter. I would hold out my hand as a friend, offering assistance, rather than using that same hand to point my sword." And with that, he instructed a startled Zargabaath to take the assassin outside the palace, and release him. Why, he asked Zargabaath later, would he execute a man who was thinking about what would be best for Ivalice, as he himself did? When this man returned to his comrades, perhaps a lesson would be learned from his mercy, rather than bitterness strengthened by death.
The third assassin was the same as the second, and brought assistance. With some reluctance, Larsa ordered them thrown in prison. After questioning, with much the same result, he did the same for the fourth at once.
The fifth, within the space of a year, was once again brought to Larsa, but not so subdued by his bonds as the second had been; the child emperor was soft, he snarled, and the fact that he would not destroy those who would take his life proved that he had not the nerve to defend Archadia. "Is that what the lot of you have been trying to accomplish?" Larsa asked him sadly as he stepped forward. "A sign? A show of strength? Would that give your fellow patriots confidence?"
"Lord Larsa, may it be upon me," Zargabaath implored him. "I am your sword, as I was your father's and your brother's. All know this." The newest Judge Gabranth remained silent, for which Larsa was grateful. Joyeuse was in his chambers rather than at his belt, and so he asked a shortsword from one of the lesser ranking judges.
Larsa had been surrounded by a guard all his life. He had seen men killed many a time, sometimes for his sake. Although he had slain monsters, and raised his sword to defend himself and the people of Ivalice - with such a faithful and efficient entourage, he had never killed a man himself. "I am the one who must defend Archadia," he replied, bringing the sword level. "Not my sword. I would choose to exercise my power otherwise, yet I am capable. Though my brother went beyond necessity, and indeed beyond reproach, I have always known what he was trying to teach me."
It was not the gurgle in the assassin's throat that haunted him at night, nor the eyes that grew so cold and glassy, nor the thick feel of flesh resisting the steel's intrusion. It was the fact that it had been so simple. He prayed to the gods that this was not the lesson which Vayne had wanted him to learn.