Chapter 32: Phineas' demonstration

I must apologize to those who eventually have noticed, but recently I found that I have spelled King Frederic's name wrong all the way. Instead of Frederic I have written Fredric; from the very beginning. I seem to have been completely blind to it. Do I feel dumb or what? Sorry for this glitch, I'll make sure not repeat that.

Also, writer's block struck me recently, so this took a while, but I hope it might be something satisfying here to make up for it.

"I still think we should do more to secure him!" Nigel said as they walked out of the royal library, His Majesty and Phineas first, then Lars and Jonas. Nigel and the Captain walked behind them, and Nigel closed the doors. "As many guards as possible would be needed, and we should at least chain him to the bed, or just to an iron ball, or..."

"Nigel, as I have said already, I can handle this." Phineas turned halfway back to reply him.

"With all respect Phineas, I would never doubt your medical decisions, but on this I must agree with Nigel." the Captain said. "This is Varian we're talking about. He is most unpredictable and..."

"I am not changing my mind, Captain. I stand my ground: No more fuzz than necessary." the physician said, but his lips were turning into a rather thin line.

"Just a pair of guards inside the sickroom?" the Captain suggested one last time.

Nigel nodded eagerly on this. "I say, that is the least..."

"NO!" Phineas said loud and adamant, raising his voice making them shrink, stopping on the way to make an example.

They all stopped, the Captain and Nigel almost bumping into the red haired brothers, who exchanges looks without turning their heads. Frederic noticed the tension that were building up, and cleared his throat. "Eh... I see that might not be a good idea, as he might grow suspicious, and that... eh..."

"... and their presence might trigger something before he is ready!" Phineas finished for him, lowering his voice now. "I cannot allow that!"

"Perhaps just... outside the sick room then?" the Captain tried again, a little more carefully pleading this time.

Phineas drew his breath and turned around to meet him, his hands still folded in front of him, his eyes a pair of small lines in a slight frown. "Listen, here is my proposal; you may place guards outside the windows to the sick room as well as outside the reception room, if that makes you feel better. But I will go no further with protection. I do not trust your guards not to start talking in the middle of the night if they get worried, or worse, if they get bored. And I will sleep in the sick room tonight myself and keep an eye on his condition. I'll even lock the door and keep he key on me. I am a light sleeper, so it will not be possible for him to search for the key without me waking up. And I will give him something to make him sleep, so I am NOT concerned!"

"But you cannot be all alone with the prisoner! Imagine what if..."

Phineas raised his hand towards Nigel while he pressed his thin lips tightly together in frustration. "I see you do not trust me, so I will simply demonstrate my ability to look after myself." Then he turned towards the youngest brother, slightly lighter when he spoke. "May I borrow you a moment, young man?"

Jonas twitched as the physician looked at him. "Me?" he asked, pointing a finger towards himself.

"Yes. Come here. I just need you for a moment." he said as he began walking away, waving after him.

"Eh... Alright."

"Captain, let him borrow your sword."

"Eh... What?" the Captain blinked.

"Please!"

The Captain hesitated, having been shaken off the branch, but nevertheless he obeyed and drew his sword, handing it to the young red haired man, who was just as confused as the Captain.

Phineas had walked a little further away, then he stopped and turned his head slightly back to the company, with a smirk. "Now, attack me!"

"What?" Jonas widened his eyes, and the others around them gasped.

"You heard me. Go on me now, lad. Run towards me and strike your best."

"I hope you know what you're doing, Phineas. My brother is rather skilled with the sword." Lars said, a little insecure on the experiment.

"Good for him, as I happen to be rather skilled... without one!" Phineas smirked as his narrow eyes became even smaller. Then he turned away, standing all still with a slight chuckle.

Jonas got a better grip on the sword, but waited, not certain of what to expect.

"Come on, lad. I haven't got all day."

Jonas looked at his older brother. "He's up to something." he whispered.

"This is going to be interesting, indeed." Frederic said, being the only one in the company who smiled. "Don't you remmeber, Captain, when he did this years ago?"

"Sire, I... I slightly recall, but..." the Captain begun, but the King interrupted him.

"Oh well then, see for yourself. I have not forgotten it." he turned to Lars, smirking. "I would be more concerned for your brother than Phineas."

While Lars stood as a mute question, Frederic turned to Jonas. "Go ahead, lad. Give him all you've got!"

Becoming rather curious, Jonas straightened up, took charge and sprang out to strike him with full speed. He ran towards him, and was to strike the wide side towards the figure in front of him.

Then all of a sudden, Phineas made a loud, odd cry as he turned around, avoiding the incoming attack with a unexpected blocking with his arm and a stiff hand, causing him to loose the sword. Then he grabbed a hold on his sword arm with both hands, and before Jonas could tell, he had made a wild turn in the air, and the next moment he was lying on the floor, looking up at the roof, loosing breath in the process. The sword was lying next to him, and he wasn't really sure of what had happened. Then he spotted a face looking down at him.

"My apologies, lad. I hope I didn't strike the air out of your lounges?" Phineas said and reached out his hand.

Jonas couldn't help but start laughing when he grabbed his hand and let himself help being pulled up. "Remind me... to stay friends with you."

"An unshared pleasure!" the elder physician said and bowed before him.

"What was that?" Lars said as he and the others approached them.

"An ancient battle technique from my homeland. Very often, a battle can be decided completely without other weapons..." he made a kneeling pose and held out his hands as if they were sharp knives. "... than your own hands." He straightened up again. "Although, it is in principle meant only for defending yourself. Using this as a direct attack would be morally wrong."

Frederic couldn't help but burst into laughter. "Alright, Phineas. You have convinced us all I suppose. You may be in charge of Varian's security as well."

"Are you alright, brother?" Lars stepped over to him, unable to hold back a smirk. "Forgive me, but that was..." he couldn't help but chuckle.

"Me, yes. My pride on the other hand..." Jonas chuckled back. "...have been better. If only I could try that on the twins."

"I have another, more effective, method meant for disarm, although I doubt it will be needed." the physician said.

"Do you need another demonstration?" Jonas asked.

"I doubt it will be necessary." the physician smiled.

"So its settled. We will continue discussing Varian tomorrow morning." Frederic said. "Then we will see if parts of his memory has recovered."

"If Your Majesty will excuse me, I must go and release my friend so he may be able to leave for the evening." Phineas said and bowed to the King before turning to Jonas. "And thank you, young man, for participating in my demonstration."

"A... a useful experience, Sir. " Jonas said smiling.

And by that, the Physician turned and walked away.

"Now..." Frederic said as he turned to the company. "Perhaps we should go and see if there might be something of a sort to be served for dinner?"

"I think I will eat with Daniel upstairs, Your Majesty." Jonas said. "I seem to owe him an apology, and I'll explain the matter to him."

"Do as you please, lad." Frederic said. "We better start all fresh in the next morning."

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"Am I the only one who still think this is a dreadful idea?" Nigel complained as he and the Captain kept eachother's company through the corridors behind the royalties. He was walking slower, and the Captain had to shorten his steps to keep his track.

"I give you my word, I am all on your side here." the Captain said as low as he could. "But I must say that that... demonstration... Of course now, I recall seeing that once before, when he managed to handle that thief that happened to pass that day he arrived to seek work at the Castle. Before we knew of his real profession, I was just about to hire him as a guard. I know he's not helpless, but it bothers me that he's preventing me from doing my job."

Nigel stopped and took a look around. The royalties disappeared behind a corner, and he looked at both sides before he discreetly winked the Captain into a servant corridor aside. There he spoke low with a serious tone.

"Listen Captain, I believe we both share the opinion that Varian is a danger that cannot be taken for granted. I know that His Majesty always tries to be fair, but there is a line between generosity and justice, and we are all dreadfully near crossing it. He promised the young Princess to help him, but I think we can agree that the boy is already far beyond help. If this is preventing His Majesty from making the boy standing up to his treason, there's just no telling what might happen soon. And we know by now how clever he can be. Even though he might have fooled the rest, I have no doubt it will be necessary to take whatever matter into our own hands to either free himself or get revenge somehow. Do not forget whom we are talking about here. Varian almost killed both the Queen and, let's not forget, your own daughter."

As the King's closest advisor, Nigel knew very well which spots to hit in order to move things into the direction he wanted. And the mentioning of Cassandra were indeed a soft spot for the Captain of the guards, especially in this case. The Captain had been completely unable to follow his daughter to battle against Varian, and therefore couldn't prevent his daughter from almost being crushed to death by the boy's automaton. He hadn't even been by her side when it happened, and he was eager to, if not avenge this action, then at least prevent him from doing more harm. Nigel knew he had him on the hook when he saw the Captain's jaw tighten up and his eyes shoot daggers.

"I know perfectly well..." the Captain frowned. "What do you have in mind? I'm all ears!"

"I say..." Nigel's own eyes grew small as he glued his look on him. "...that in the future, we might have to take matters into our own hands. Like this... Phineas did say you could put guards outside the windows, but... he didn't say how many guards, did he?"

"Hm... You are quite right about that." he reached his hands up to his chin as his eyes grew small.

I guess some people recognize Phineas' defense on Jonas as some kind of martial art. I am far from an expert here, I just picked up something that I made into... what I described. The Royal Physician is far from helpless. Let me know what you think so far.