Georgius didn't expect to make another trip to the capital so soon, but it was only two days later from the messenger arriving at the academy that he and his master were being led by Agnès down the hallways of the royal palace. Not that they had received any kind of special invitation or anything of the sort, rather Louise had promptly dropped everything and immediately left for Tristania after the courier had brought word of the allegations against the princess, intent on being there for her childhood friend. Georgius was actually surprised by this considering how she had said that she wasn't worth the princesses time before (and her earlier insistence that she needed to remain at the academy), but he saw no need to stop his master. Particularly since they had been granted an audience with the princess almost immediately upon their arrival.

They were not being led to the same audience hall as before though. The pair was led down a series of twisting corridors that lead deeper into the place until they came to a set of well-made double doors, flanked by a pair of heavily armed guards. It wasn't until Agnès nodded to the pair and they opened the doors to reveal an elegantly bedroom that he realized that they had been led to the princess's chambers. The girl herself sat in a chair near one of the windows, looking out thoughtfully.

Louise wasted no time rushing to her side. "Princess! Are you alright!?" She all but shouted. "The nerve of them to accuse you of something so sordid! It is unacceptable! It is-" Louise started to rant, and princess Henrietta blushed a little at her friend being indignant for her.

Being in her presence again, Georgius was once again reminded of just how young the princess was. Dressed in an elegant gown the same shade of violet as her hair, Henrietta was a little taller than Louise, and the way she sat slouched made her seem small and fragile, like a pretty flower made of glass. He knew that this could not be her strongest moment, but given that he had already heard of the queen having problems of her own in regards to her constitution, he felt a small amount of worry for the state of the nation.

Regardless, Henrietta finally managed to calm down her friend. "I have been better, Louise Francoise. And I do appreciate you coming here to see me. I… could certainly use some support at the moment." As she said this, Georgius did not fail to notice that the girl slipping a wand into her hand. She then muttered a few words under her breath and the man felt the air around them snap, like they had been trapped in a bubble. He cast a glance over at Agnès, who gave him a small nod. "We can talk freely now." She confirmed.

His attention was brought back to the other two as his master continued on. "Of course I would come to support you!" Louise exclaimed, not knowing or caring about the spell her friend just cast. "I mean, how dare Albion go and accuse you secretly eloping with Prince Wales in some sordid affair!"

"I know. Honestly, I wish they didn't have to make it so… intrusive," Henrietta remarked, looking off to the side in frustration. "I would have been so much better to keep all of this out of the public eye."

"It shouldn't be an issue at all, let alone have the rabble know about it!" Louise said, insistent on being indignant on the princess's behalf. "This slander is completely baseless and unacceptable! I will not rest until I find the source of these accusations and expose them for the falsehoods that they truly are!"

Henrietta blinked and looked at her childhood friend for a long moment before a blush crossed her face and she let out a nervous laugh. "Ah… you certainly think very highly of me Louise François."

"Of course I do!" The other girl replied, completely missing the subtle response. "The mere idea that you could commit such an act is preposterous."

"Yes, err, about that…" Henrietta started awkwardly. "Do you remember that time at the Royal Gala about a year ago where I asked you cover for me for an hour or so? And how Prince Wales was noticeably absent during that time as well?"

Louise paused in thought. "Now that I think about it, I did wonder where he had gone. Why do you ask?"

The room was silent for a moment as the others present looked each other. Georgius started to say "Master, I think that the princess is trying to say-"

"Wait, wait." Agnès interrupted with a smirk on her face. "I want to see long it takes for her to get it."

Louise became indignant at this. "What am I supposed to get? So what if they both disappeared at the same time- oh." Her jaw dropped as the pieces finally clicked into place in her head. "Oooooh."

"Yes," Henrietta said with a blush. "We knew it was improper. We knew that there would be problems if we were found out." She gave her old friend a sad smile. "But we couldn't help it. We were in love."

"I-It's true?" Louise managed to squeak out. "You actually married your cousin in secret?!"

Georgius's eyebrows rose at that. Marriage within the fourth degree of consanguinity was not looked on kindly back in the Empire, and he doubted that it was regarded any better here. Still, Henrietta continued. "Ah, not exactly." She said with a scowl. "The accusation that the Albionese have so wantonly cast about is that we were wed in secret by a priest near Lagdorian Lake. That is a lie though, and no doubt the 'priest' who they claim to have confessed the incident, is in their custody is little more than their stooge."

"Oh. W-well then it shouldn't be too hard to expose it for the lie it is." Louise said, putting her shock to the side. "After all, they can't possibly have proof of this, and no one is going to accept the word of some random priest that the Albionese bring forward over your own."

Henrietta was not assured by this however, and her hands gripped tightly on the helm of her skirt. "That's… not exactly true either. They haven't said anything about it, but there is only one way they could have known about Wales and I. There was a letter I had sent him some time ago, about how much I missed him and how I wished I would not have to marry the Kaiser. How… how I wish we could have been married instead." She let out a worried breath. "They have him. They have my poor Wales. Oh I knew I should have done something sooner but everything happened so fast…"

"Would Prince Wales tell the people who overthrew his kingdom about his… relationship with you?" Georgius asked awkwardly.

"Never!" Henrietta said fiercely before she calmed down. "No, that is not the problem. Within the lake there is a sacred elemental of water. While we did not marry in front of it, we did pledge our love for each other, and that we would one day no longer hide it. There is a noble family in Tristan with ties to the being, and it will answer them truthfully about what happened if asked."

Agnès spoke up. "What the princess did is not exactly a crime, but it is highly embarrassing and improper on a political scale, especially with the current arrangements with Germania. Albion lied because, well, nuanced and accurate slander usually isn't quite as effective at stirring outrage. Sure, they might get a reprimand for misleading the facts, but that will hardly matter if relations break down between Tristan and Germania."

"My mother will be furious." Henrietta said despondently. "She always insisted that I had to be a paragon of nobility and faith for the sake of Tristain. But Founder damn it that it had to be so hard! Now I will have to deal with becoming a national embarrassment on top of patching things up with Germania."

"The problem is that it shouldn't even be necessary." Agnès remarked. "Despite the severity of the oath, Germania is a non-Brimiric nation, and a rather… liberal one at that. The Kaiser himself may be a boisterous, loud mouth barbarian, but he does have a sense for politics. He'd understand the princess's reasons and want all of this to be kept private to keep the upcoming alliance stable. But since this has been made as public as possible, he will be forced to condemn her actions if the allegations are proven true."

"Something tells me that it was intentional." Georgius said.

Agnès looked at him flatly. "Of course it was. The Republic of Albion is looking for any advantage it can get to keep the other nations from looking towards themselves too hard. This will force a wedge between Tristain and Germania, keeping the continent at odds with itself."

"What is known about this Republic?" Georgius asked. "Do they have any motivations beyond their own sovereignty?"

"They are villains and usurpers!" Henrietta suddenly yelled. "They have killed almost all of the rightful royal family and put a bunch of blackguards of nobles in their place! Those foul, wicked men must be doing terrible things to my Wales…" the princess started to sniffle a bit at this, with Louise moved forward to put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

Agnès took over for the princess. "The Republic of Albion is now made up of a parliament of nobles who run the country. Supposedly they give every noble (who supported them at least) a fair say in how the government is run and the laws it will be making. Of course, even if it were true, I have no doubt that the real power is in the hands of a select few, and they will be doing everything they can to consolidate that power until they are ready."

Georgius let out a hum , reminded of the times when the Senate had killed or cast down the Emperor in days gone by. He was not much of a historian though, so he could not comment on whether or not they were justified and instead asked "Ready for what?"

The Musketeer shifted uncomfortably. "The nobility weren't alone in this uprising. Up until about a month ago things were looking grim for the Royalists, but they managed to hold out. Then, a religious movement of some kind swept over the nation, entire towns of commoners arming themselves to go to war against the army. I've only read the reports from my spies, but they… they were shocked by the level of zealotry the people showed. Some even threw themselves into lines of pikemen to give the ones behind an opening when they stormed Londinium."

"How is that possible?!" Louise exclaimed in horror. "Have the people gone mad?!"

"I don't know!" Agnès snapped. "This… Reconquista somehow has gained sway over their minds and hearts. They say that it is their holy duty to reclaim the Holy Land, and I think they're a bit more serious about it than the Founder's Church has been as of late." The woman sighed and paced nervously. "There have always been crazy people willing to do stupid things, cults that pop up every now and then that either burn out or get killed. But this? This sort of thing hasn't been seen in millennia."

Geogrius was silent. Something about this worried him greatly, especially with how it coincided with the loss of the Spear. He could not be certain, but he felt now more than ever that he needed to find the weapon, regardless of what the princess, or perhaps even his master wanted. "So, what is to be done now?" He asked, half to himself.

Henrietta let out a sigh. "There is not much that can be done, I am afraid. Given what they seem to know about myself and Wales, it won't be difficult to convince the Council of High Judges to investigate at the lake, at which point things will become… complicated. The only way to avoid this is to somehow completely discredit Albion's claim before it gets to that point, and for now I see no way to do so."

"Then your only recourse is to come clean." Georgius commented. "Tell the truth about what has happened and why. I cannot promise that it will end well, but your sincerity could go a long way in maintaining trust with your people and allies."

Louise was taken aback by this. "Familiar! Don't tell the princess that she has to give in to the barking of those dogs!" She turned to Henrietta and said. "Don't mind him, I promise I'll do whatever I have to in order to keep this from happening to you!"

Henrietta though gave a sigh and waved her off. "No, no, the man has a point. Besides which you would be rather strapped for time to do so. Due to the severity of the claims, the trial has been arranged for tomorrow. And to make matters worse, the Albionese delegation that came here to stand as accuser is headed by Lord Thomas Harrison. From what I have heard, the man was a rather accomplished lawyer before assuming his current duties, so I imagine that will be able to take apart any… subterfuge which might be attempted."

"But… but…" Louise stuttered, a look of helplessness crossing her face. She had come here to offer assistance, to be useful to the person she respected and admired. And now she was being told, once again, that she could do nothing. "Isn't there anything I can do?" She asked in a small voice.

Henrietta gave her friend a small smile. "Well, if it wouldn't be too much trouble, do you think you could stay for the trial? I… am not sure what I will do, but it would mean the world to me to know that you were in the room with me. I know that you have the academy to get back to-"

Louise cut her off. "Nonsense, of course I'll be here for you! This is far more important than mere school work!"

The princess's smile grew wider. "Louise François, it does my heart well to know that I can always rely on you." She let out a small sigh. "Well then, I guess there is nothing left but to see what the Founder has in store, both for me… and my people."

And so it was on the following day that Georgius found himself standing on the steps of the Royal Court house next to his master, surrounded by several members of Tristain's high nobility as they waited for the princess to arrive. It seemed like an odd tradition to the knight, but apparently in Tristain when someone of high enough rank committed a crime worthy of the Royal Courts, they would walk past their peers and accusers before entering the courtroom, upon which the rest would follow. Georgius supposed it was to impose upon them a sense of severity of the crime, and that the lives of those in charge of managing the country were affected by it as well. It was not a bad tradition, he supposed, but it did mean that there was some waiting involved.

Louise fidgeted nervously next to him, as she looked down the street which led to the courthouse, staring with the masses who came for the occasion. Georgius landed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Do not worry, I am sure things will be fine in the end."

"How would you know?" She shot back at him, though she didn't move to shake off his hand. "How can you be so sure about everything?"

"I am not. I merely have faith."

She snorted at that. "Oh, you mean the faith you have where mages don't mean anything?!" she hissed out in an angry whisper. "I think the princess could do without that!"

The man sighed. "That is not how it works and you know that."

"I don't know anything about your 'faith' and right now I don't care to." She said stubbornly. "So unless your religion has a way to wipe that smug grin off of Harrison's face, I don't want to hear it!"

Georgius sighed as he glanced over at the Albionese delegation, noting that in spite of what she had said the man in question had a neutral expression on his face. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his posture at ease as he looked ahead. The man was of average height and build with dark green hair and equally green eyes. He certainly didn't strike Georgius as the conniving sort who he had been painted out to be, but he would have to reserve judgment until the trial was underway.

Finally there was movement from around the far bend of the street, and a carriage came into view surrounded by a number of mounted women dressed and armed in a similar manner that Agnès. Like many things he had seen since his arrival to this land, the carriage bore a resemblance to something he had known in his previous life (sprung wagons in this case), but was much more finely crafted and constructed. The vehicle was a deep purple with gold filigree wrapping around it, ornate designs of leaves and trees carved into the wood. It was almost too extravagant in his option, even for royalty. Not to mention the fact that the distance to the Royal Courthouse from the palace was easily walkable.

The Royal Carriage slowly rolled down the street and past the rows of houses, numerous commoners lining the sides the road, watching the procession pass. Though this was not the normal sort of event that people would gather to look at their rulers it was not something anyone wanted to miss. Depending on the outcome of the trial, this may be the last chance they would ever get to see their princess. The crowd was mostly quiet as it moved by, the only thing to be heard was the wary mutter of people unsure of what to make of things.

Georgius scanned the crowd of people from the steps, its unease setting him on edge. From what he had been told, the princess had been well like by her people, even if she had only been a figure head until recently. From that he would have expected something much more chaotic, a riot of people decrying the slander that had been besmirched her good name, or maybe crying out in anger at her supposed betrayal. But no, the masses were more peaceful than that, merely settling for a sort of nervous tension. Georgius supposed this might have been a sort of cultural difference; the mob of Rome never missed a chance to cause a ruckus. Not that he was complaining, as he was looking forward to getting the mess resolved civilly.

Something caught his eye then, a bit of movement that seemed out of place. He turned his head and scanned the area but at first didn't see anything. Then it happened again and his eyes drifted up to one of the nearby rooftops. His position on the steps gave him a slightly elevated view so he was able to see the shape of a man sit up on the lip of the thatched rooftop, hefting what looked to be a small barrel over his head. Georgius could only let out a shout of alarm before the man threw it into the street at the carriage. It fell short, impacting the ground next to it.

It then erupted in an explosion.

There was a burst of fire and smoke, shrapnel flying in all directions. The nearby musketeers were knocked to the ground off their horses, both them and their mounts perforated with metal. Georgius caught sight of the carriage starting to topple over before the entire area became obscured by a thick black smoke, and chaos broke out as people screamed and scrambled away from site.

On reflex Georgius drew his sword, but for a moment he held his ground. "Master!" he said.

Louise did not hesitate. "Protect the princess!"

Georgius immediately shot forward, ducking through the various people either running away or standing still in shock. As he drew closer he saw several other figures move into the smoke, but he couldn't not make them out fully. He heard sounds of combat, cracks and clangs of metal combined with yells, but all he could make out were blurs through the haze. He was not sure who was who, so he focused on trying to find the carriage. As he moved in deeper he finally spotted one of the musketeers who had been downed by the explosion, dragging herself away from her dead horse. A figure resolved itself out of the smoke, a large man wearing a heavy green overcoat and hood. He spotted the woman and moved in close, unhooking an axe off his belt and hefting it over his head.

Well, that cleared things up a bit.

Before the axe could fall Georgius had already closed on him in a blur, and by the time the axman turned to face the knight an armored fist was smashing into his jaw. Considering the force behind it, the knight was a little surprised at how the man only stumbled back a bit before swinging his weapon at him. Georgius ducked underneath it and shot forward, driving his elbow into the man's sternum, and as the man doubled over the knight hammered his fist into his temple. As the axman tumbled and collapsed on the ground, a grunt came from Georgius's hand. "Is this how you're going to start every fight? By punching a man unconscious?" Derflinger complained. "I mean, it's not bad, but it lacks a certain style that can only be gain with a sword. Hint hint."

"My answer now is the same as the last time." He replied, hefting the talking blade. "As well, I would imagine the local authorities would like a few answers from this one." Regardless, he stayed where he was only long enough to ensure that the man he hit was down and that the musketeer would live before he moved on, quickly finding the knocked over carriage amid the smoke.

However, once again his attention was grabbed by another man in the same uniform as the first, this one climbing up the side of the carriage. Georgius moved, but the man was already there, and he pulled open the carriage door, drawing a short sword as he did so. That was as far as he got though, as a flash and a sharp crack suddenly echoed from inside the carriage, and the man's head snapped back in a spray of blood before he tumbled to the street.

Georgius made it to the overturned vehicle in time to see a scuffed up Agnès pulling herself out of the carriage, her smaller weapon already being pointed around for other targets. It briefly pointed in his direction as she finally noticed him before she raised it up. "You just bring trouble with you, don't you?" She said with a sort of growl.

"I like to think that the Lord sees fit to ensure that I am where I am needed most." He replied back. "Is the princess alright?"

She snorted at this before here expression turned grim. "Banged up, but nothing serious." She let out a small snarl. "Gunpowder bomb, who the hell would be mad enough to go this far? Where the bloody hell are my-?!" she started to say before she cut herself off, and her eyes narrowed. "Ah."

Georgius turned to see that the smoke had started to clear, and more of the men in green were moving towards the carriage. Though the sounds of the skirmish still echoed around them, some of the men were covered in blood, having finished their previous opponent. They were armed with axes, swords, knives, several carrying multiple weapons at once. There was something wrong About them, Georgius felt, something almost… feral about their stance and their eyes. He could not ponder on it for long though, as he moved to place himself between the men and the carriage. "You will not hurt anyone else this day." He announced.

"Whore kill treachery we will!" The nearest man shouted before the lot of them charged.

Georgius only has the shortest moment to blink in confusion at that gibberish before the first man was on him, swinging a sword to take off his head. The knight parried the blow before kicking hard at the man's center, sending him tumbling away. He heard a crack from Agnès's direction and the sound of a body crumpling, but he did not spare time to look as another man was already bearing down on him with an axe. Georgius parried the series of blows, but was surprised to be driven back the sheer ferocity of it. He quickly found his back pressed against the bottom of the carriage and the axe coming in to bury itself in his head. He tilted to the side at the last second, causing the weapon to bury itself in the wood, and then in the short space between them he simply lashed out and punched his assailant in the face with his cross guard, breaking the man's nose and causing him to stumble away.

Unfortunately, the rest of the assailants had already circled around him to get to the carriage, one of them climbing up the side, trying to block and dodge as Agnès's sword rained down on him from above. Georgius slid along the side of the overturned vehicle, intercepting another man who was trying to climb up behind the musketeer to dispatch her. He grabbed the assassin by the shirt and roughly and tossed him to the ground, smashing the flat of his blade against the man's head before his could rise. He gave it more force than he normally would, deciding not to take chances with the strange, feral men.

As if proving his point Georgius quickly had to spin out of the way of another man with a knife who went for the tackle, his cape blinding the man but earning a tear in the process. Without delay two more men with swords leapt at him, clearly deciding that the knight was a threat to be dealt with before they could accomplish their mission. All three closed in on Georgius and attacked viciously, forcing him to move as fast as he could to parry and dodge all of their attacks. Even though he was significantly stronger and faster than any of them, it was becoming increasingly clear that he would not be able to easily subdue them.

These men were not like the bandits he had fought before, who fought only for greed and fled at encountering a stronger opponent. These men, these assassins were not like that. They fought with the tenacity of savage animals, not caring if they exposed themselves to attack, as long as they managed to injure him as in the process. Georgius had managed a few shallow cuts, but he had also earned a few of his own in the process, as well as a painful blow to the head as a fourth man with a club entered the fray from his blind spot. It would not just take broken bones and weapons to deter these men. A sigh passed his lips as he readied himself for what he had to do.

When the man with the club came at him again with his weapon held high, Georgius suddenly moved in towards him, his free hand shooting out to grab the club's handle. At the same time, his leg shot out and smashed into the other man's knee with such force that it bent the wrong way. The man screamed in pain, and he had no leverage to resist as Georgius pulled him around and threw him into the knife wielder, sending them both tumbling to the ground. Georgius continued his spin and turned it into a horizontal sweep against the two swordsmen. He then pushed the assault aggressively, forcing his opponents back with a series of hammering blows.

The first to fall was the one who tried to plant his feet and block Derflinger rather than parry. The two handed strike shattered the other blade and continued on, slicing diagonally through the base of the man's neck down across his torso. He let out something between a scream and a gurgle before collapsing. The other swordsman took that chance to attack, lunging in to slice at Georgius's thigh. The knight managed to slide back before making a feint, lunging back himself before twisting it into a chop. This attack was aimed at the hand holding the sword, and a moment later the blade, along with a few fingers, clattered to the ground. Though the assassin grit his teeth and went for another weapon, Georgius gave him no chance and swept his legs out from under him, insuring that he would land head first onto the cobblestone below.

Georgius then turned back to the first two to see the knife fighter, having disentangled himself with the other one, coming at him again with a roundabout stab meant to find a gap in his breastplate. Wanting to end this quickly, Georgius simply grabbed the blade mid-swing, ignoring how it cut into his hand. He then started to bash the man in the face with the hilt of his sword until the other man's legs gave out.

Georgius straightened and looked about to find other threats, and to his surprise, found none around him. The sounds of fighting around him had died down, and as the last of the smoke cleared he saw that a handful of the remaining musketeers were still standing and were running towards the carriage, having finished their own combats. Georgius turned back towards the vehicle to see that Agnès still standing atop the side of it, engaged with the last remaining assassin. She finished it with a flourish of her cape to distract him before stabbing through it, catching the man off guard and running him through. She tossed the body to the street and gave a quick glance around. "Anyone who's still standing, fan out! I don't want any more surprises!" She yelled before she jumped back down into the carriage.

It was over. Georgius knew that the whole event lasted little more than a minute, but the chaos of it had taken everyone by surprise. He glanced around the street to see all of the bodies that now littered it, friend, foe, and a few commoners as well. He felt regret fill his heart, both at the lives lost and his part in it. He was not sure if the men he took down would live or die, but he had done what he had to do. Yelling got his attention, and he turned his head to see a contingent of the city guard riding towards them very quickly. He sheathed Derflinger as they approached him, but was caught off guard when the one in the lead pointed a sword at him. "Who are you and what are you doing here? You will be placed under arrest if you don't-"

"Shut up, Andrews! He's with me!" Agnès bellowed from inside the cab, and a moment later she climbed out of it with the princess in her arms. Henrietta was very pale and her dress was torn in a few places, but her face remained a neutral mask and only the slightest tremor in her body indicated that she was unsettled by the assassination attempt. Agnès set the princess down in the street, and the girl drew herself up tall and straight. A few members of the gather crowd cheered, but Agnès ignored them in favor of addressing the guardsman. "Of course you would have known that had you managed to get here sooner rather than letting him do your job for you."

The man's face twisted into a scowl. "Well, I must apologize then. We would have been guarding the princess ourselves, but someone decided that we were not even good enough to right alongside her own forces. And we saw how well that turned out didn't we? Goes to show you that the Crown should have relied on more… traditional soldiers."

Agnès and Andrews then started to shout at one another, and Georgius decided that he would stay out of it (He was half sure that Agnès would not care for his assistance in this conversation). Instead he kept an eye out for his master, who he was sure would be trying to reach the princess. He did not see Louise though, as the crowd had started to grow denser to see what had happened now that the apparent danger had passed. A different sort of chaos from the one of battle started to settle in the street, with the guards fanning out to see to the fallen and injured musketeers, commoners and nobles alike milling about in the same space, Agnès arguing with the man on horseback and the men behind him-

It was by chance that Georgius happened to be looking in the right direction at that moment. At the other end of the street, a man stepped out from crowd wearing a brown cloak that covered his body. In a smooth motion the cloak was swept aside to reveal a weapon much like the one Agnès carried on her back, if a little shorter and thicker. "Look out!" Georgius screamed as he already started to run towards the princess.

Agnès reacted instantly, turning and throwing herself at her charge. In that moment, Georgius could see what would happen. Agnès would push Henrietta out of the way just barely in time, but then there was still the crowd behind her. Georgius still didn't understand how those weapons worked, but he was willing to bet that they didn't do nothing if the target suddenly ducked. There was no time for further thought. In the span of a second, Agnès pushed the princess to the ground, the man raised his weapon, and Georgius moved in front of the commoner woman who was now in the way.

Intense pain suddenly blossomed in his midsection, and he let out a gasp in shock. He staggered for a moment before gritting his teeth and forcing the pain away. When he looked up again he saw the man in brown shoving his way through the crowd to run. Georgius started after him, but paused when he heard Agnès yell "Wait!" He turned back to her just in time to see her throw her long weapon at him. "You might need this!"

For a moment he was unsure if he should take a weapon which he didn't know how to use, but the moment it hit his outstretched palm he felt energy and purpose fill him. He gave the woman a curt nod before resuming his chase. He stumbled a little at first but pushed past it and picked up speed, ducking through the crowd to get to the alleyway he saw the man duck down. He got there just in time to see the man turn a corner before he moved to follow, holstering his new weapon on his back.

However, following was more difficult than he thought. To be sure Georgius was much faster but the assassin knew how to navigate the streets and back alleys of the city. The knight lost sight of him several times during the chase, having to back track to find him hiding in a cubby hole or a nook before the assassin took off again. This went on for some time, the pursuit taking them all the way back towards the palace grounds. Georgius emerged from yet another alleyway onto the streets, looking around for where his prey went. He spotted him a short distance away running away from him. However, Georgius also happened to spot a small squad of guards nearby guarding the gate to the palace grounds. "Assassin! Stop him!" He yelled.

The men looked at the running man in the brown cloak before looking at each other in confusion. "GO!" Georgius bellowed at them, and they jumped a little before they ran after him, fanning out to cut off the man's escape. The knight paused for a moment to think, trying to think of how to block the assassin's way. Every time I get closes he turns another corner and I have to search for him again. I need to get ahead of him somehow, he thought. The street curved around a section of the palace grounds, particularly a long building with an arched roof of some sort overhead. It looked to be made entirely out of thick stone save for roof, which looked to be of wood in and odd overlapping plate pattern. The assassin was heading in that general direction, and if the guards managed to hound him that way...

That was as long as he had for planning. Without another moment lost he ran straight for the building. There was the slight matter of the wall that separated the grounds from the street, but Georgius simply grabbed the hilt of his sword, flexed his legs and leapt into the air, clearing the stone work that was as tall as he was with ease. He landed on his feet running, ignoring all the shouts from the various servants he was running past. I must admit, this enchantment is quite useful, he thought to himself as he idly glanced at his left hand.

He reached the building quickly, startling a man who had been about to enter it himself. He was a large man dressed in thick leathers, and he blustered as Georgius approached. "Wh-what are you doing?! You can't just enter the royal dragon stables-"

Georgius cut him off as he shoved the man to the side (regrettable, but he had not time to explain) before he wrenched open the door and dashed inside. He got three steps before what the man said registered and he stopped to looked back. "Wait, dragon sta-?"

The door slammed shut in his face after rebounding off the wall. He slowly turned back around to see that the inside of the building was a series large, stone pens, and several long serpentine necks craned into view. At least half a dozen dragons of various colors and sizes were now staring at the man in surprise.

"Oh dear." Georgius said.

No one outside of the stable could say for certain what happened next. All they knew was that shortly after the man entered there were a number of draconic roars followed promptly by a great number of loud crashes and torrents of fire shooting out the roof (As that was the only direction the fire could go in the very sturdy stone building. Would be dragon tamers learned that lesson a long time ago). The giant ruckus continued until the doors at the opposite end of the stable flew open and barreling out of the smoke was the same man somewhat more singed than when he entered. He didn't stop running until he jumped clear over the nearest wall out to the street, and then promptly stumbled back to lean against the said wall to catch his breath. "That was… stressful." He said to himself, trying to ignore that he was still smoking a little.

After a few moments he finally managed to get his breathing under control and looked around… only to see the assassin he had been chasing standing a couple of meters away, paused in mid run and looking at the knight in bewilderment. There was a long moment of silence where the two looked at each other awkwardly before the other man turned and bolted. Fortuitous, Georgius thought to himself, both in how he had managed to get ahead and in that at that moment the street was sufficiently empty to get a clear shot. He wasn't sure if the assassin had lost the guards or they were coming soon, but Georgius wasted no time in slinging the musket off his back and into his hands. He took stance, led the target ever so slightly, and fired.

The bullet slammed home into the man's upper thigh, and he let out a scream of pain as he hobbled into a nearby alley. Georgius made to go after him, but paused for a moment as a thought occurred to him and he looked down at the weapon in his hands. "…Since when do I know how to use a musket? And know what one even is for that matter?" He shook his head and filed it away for latter as he moved, intent on finishing the task at hand.

Now that the assassin had been all but crippled, it was trivial to catch up to him as he limped down the space between buildings. The man heard Georgius coming and turned, bringing his own musket to bear. Georgius was too fast however, and in that span of time the knight dropped his own gun and drew his sword once in range, smoothly knocking the weapon out of the assassin's hands. Not stopping, he grabbed the man by the shoulder and used his forward momentum to bear the both of them to the ground with himself on top.

Georgius breathed heavily as he straddled the man, one hand griping his shoulder and the other holding Derflinger to the hollow of his throat. Now that he was close enough Georgius could finally see underneath the hood, and saw that it was a somewhat older man with dark hair just starting to grey, and a sharp angular face. More than that though, he was taken aback by the man's grey eyes, which held a fervor he had not seen in men in a long time. These were the eyes of a man who believed in something so strongly he was willing to kill for it. Memories of the eastern front dredged themselves up in Georgius mind, but he pushed them back down before he said "You and your comrades will face judgment for the lives you took today."

His eyes still wild, the man let out a horse laugh. "You think to judge me? You think any in this land are fit to judge me? No, what I do just!"

"I fail to see how the murder of innocent people and the attempted assassination of the princess is just."

"A weak little whore like her would lead her people astray, to ruin. It is the Lord's will that she die."

Georgius froze at that. "What… what did you say?"

"God has decreed that the impious must be cleansed before we take back his Land. Halkeginia shall be purified in the blood of the unfaithful!"

Slowly, Georgius's hands started to shake and he fought to keep his voice under control. "That is not the way of God." He said through clenched teeth. "If you had even the slightest knowledge of what you speak you would know He would never condone such a thing."

Again, the man laughed at that. "People forgot how Brimir forged our world through fire and blood. They had grown soft and complacent, and need to be shown the true way. It is God's will that-"

"It is not!" Georgius yelled, his anger getting the better of him before he got himself under control. "I have no words for one who would state such profanity, but it matters not. I will bring you to the authorities and they will determine where you learned such blasphemous ideas."

A viscous grin played over the other man's face. "You will not get me to betray my cause. You cannot sway me." In a blur of motion the man reached up and grabbed the blade with his bare hands. Georgius tightened his grip and braced his arm to keep him from moving it. However, he had done so expecting that the man underneath him was going to try to push it away.

"My faith is too strong." He said, before plunging the blade into his own throat.

The soldier froze in shock for a moment before he quickly pulled the blade out, clamping his hand over the sudden wound in a vain effort to keep the man's life blood from spilling out. The man gurgled blood from his mouth, and even as the light slowly left his eyes Georgius could see nothing in them but a mindless intensity, a zeal that defied words.

Slowly, Georgius pulled himself to his feet, unable to look away from the body. The death wasn't what was disturbing him; he had taken life in the past, and this wasn't his doing. But what the man had said… He shouldn't be this shocked by this twisting of his faith, not after hearing about Founderism's favoritism of mages should he be naive. And yet this was different, this hate and bloodlust in the name of God was just so wrong-

"Hey!" Georgius turned his head to the side and say Agnès rushing towards him, who stopped and scowled when she saw the now cooling corpse. "I hope he gave you no choice." She said, her tone laced with anger at not being able to interrogate him.

"He… took his own life." Georgius replied quietly, sliding Deflinger back into his sheath. "I was not expecting it… Is the princess well?"

"She's secure." Agnès grunted, not showing much surprise at Georgius's response. Though she didn't look any more pleased for it. "I'm surprised. Given what I've seen of you I would have thought you could have subdued him."

"I did, but… he said some things which-" As he said this he started to turn towards the woman, but he suddenly stumbled. He caught himself before he fell to the ground, but now his injures were starting to catch up with him. The pain he had been shutting out was starting to become a problem even for him, with a burning pain in his middle being the hardest.

"Are you hurt?" Agnès asked.

"Yes, I have sustained a few wounds. I… oh." He said as he pulled himself up, now noticing the growing dark stain that spreading out on his cloths from underneath his abdomen. He dimly noted a hole in his armor right beneath his navel, and the knowledge he had gain from briefly holding that musket let he realize what had happened. "It seems I have been shot."

Agnès froze when she saw it and her eyes widened. She quickly moved in close, probing the hole and the wound with her fingers. Georgius stifled a cry of pain at this but said nothing, assuming she had a purpose to this.

When she pulled her hand back, Georgius could see that the blood on her fingers was black. "You have five minutes to get to a Water mage, and even then I can't guarantee that you'll live." She said gravely.

Georgius blinked at her. "Ah. I should have taken more care-" He started to say before he suddenly retched, foul dark blood passing his lips and spilling onto the ground next to him. "L-let us go find a mage." He managed to say before he turned and started to walk back to the street, but he stumbled again as he moved.

He heard a huff from behind him and then felt his arm being lifted and wrapped around a pair of shoulders. "Honestly, you could at least try to feign bravery like a normal person rather than... honestly not worrying about it somehow." Agnès remarked as she started to lead him herself, her tone tense.

"It is not that I am not concerned," Georgius said as he tried, and failed, to walk away unaided. "I merely have faith… that if it is my time-"

"Oh Lord just please stop talking you relic-from-a-storybook." The woman said in exasperation, and her pace quickened.

As they made their way back towards the palace, Georgius's vision started to blur and the pain was starting to spread from his center to the rest of his body. Internally he cursed himself for his inattentiveness. Gut wounds like his were almost always fatal, but in the heat of the chase he had ignored it, not bothering to check how much damage the smaller musket had actually done. It was made more shameful in that he had seen these weapons used before, and yet he had not bothered to find out what they actually did. His failure to study the tools of war in this land could well cost him his second life.

Soon than he though, he found himself being half lead/half dragged back into the palace courtyards, where a number of the victims of the attack were already being laid out and treated. Agnès bellowed out at the closest mage tending to the knights "I have a man who has been shot in the stomach! He needs immediate attention!"

The robed man turned away from what he was doing to look at the pair as they approached him. However, by the time they reached him his critical gaze turned back to what he was doing. "It's too late. Lie him down and get him some milk of ambrosia. It'll help ease the passing."

Agnès's tone became heated. "This man is tough as nails. He's got a good chance if you-"

The mage turned back to her and cut her off, his tone cold. "Listen to me when I say that I have been treating wounds for years and I know a lost cause when I see one. Triage is not pleasant, but it must be done. So if you don't mind-"

This time the man was cut off as Agnès's free hand shot out and grabbed the man's collar, dragging him close to her. "You listen to me. This man is responsible for saving the life of the Princess today, and if you do not do everything in your power to keep him from passing on to the next world I promise I will throw you into the darkest dungeon we have. And no one will come to your aid when they find out who you let die."

Terror briefly flicked across the man's face before it resolved itself into and angry frown. Still, the message was received and he gave a curt nod. Agnès released him, and the mage took his wand and gestured to a nearby bucket of water, the liquid flowing up into the air next to him and glowing with a soft light. Muttering under his breath the mage carefully moved mass water towards Georgius's abdomen…

Which broke apart and simply splashed all over him as soon as it got close. There was a moment of silence before Georgius said weakly "Well… at least the wound's a little cleaner."

"What the hell was that?" Agnès said angrily.

"The spell just… failed." The mage said, dumbfounded.

"What do you mean it 'failed?'" she yelled.

"I mean that it failed!" He yelled back before incanting again, another blob of water forming at his words. Again it merely splashed over the knight as soon as it got close. "I… how is this possible? It's like my spell is simply unraveling as soon as it get near him!"

A moment later Agnès seemed to realize something, but Georgius's vision was becoming darker and darker, and he couldn't make out her words as she turned to him. His feet would no longer hold him, and he slowly slid out of the woman's grasp, darkness taking him before he reached the ground.

A/N: Thanks to cronodekar for betaing.

Sorry about how long this one took. It was supposed to be done weeks ago, but I went on vacation, got sick, and lost motivation for physically writing for some reason. This on top off my normal habit of cycling through fics. Hopefully I'll get my groove back soon.

In any case, this chapter should get things moving again. In regards to that last scene, as far as I know, there was never an instance in FSN/FZ where a Servant dropped their Magic Resistance so they could accept a spell, so I have to assume that they can't drop it willing. This is made more complicated by the fact that George's Magic Resistance is unique both in its source and that he had it in life. For now, I'll say that there is a circumstance where that spell could have worked, but that's for a future date.

Till next time.