The Earthshaker Paladin was dead, his body charred to ash. Leon was still standing, his aura mighty even as his mana reserves dipped perilously low. The noble armies that had accompanied the Earthshaker in his attack on the fleet were surrendering, and as Leon glanced around the deck of his ship, those who didn’t surrender quickly leaped over the edge, landing either on the stone bridge or in the river itself.

The Augustine troops, on the other hand, began to madly cheer. Their casualties had been remarkably light, the scouting fleet aside.

Alix and Valeria approached Leon, while Anzu bounded forward to press his head into his human’s hands. However, before anyone could say so much as a word, the consequences of Maia’s assault on the bridge which had blocked the scouts became apparent.

A great wave of water came flooding down the Naga River, big enough to buffet even the largest of the ships in the fleet. Carried by this great wave were hundreds of bodies and many great chunks of stone—the remains of the bridge.

“EVERYBODY HANG ON!” Leon roared, his order relayed up and down the ship and echoed across the fleet.

Right before the wave hit them, Leon glanced at the rest of the fleet. The Augustine rebels and the Octavian troops that had accompanied Earthshaker had surrendered on his ship, but they had yet to do so on the rest of the ships they’d managed to board. However, many of those that had been on the shore had fled, for the Legion was already assembled on both sides of the river and were advancing upon them. It looked like the battle had been won, but the fighting wasn’t over, yet.

‘That’s going to be messy…’ Leon thought, wondering just how many people were going to die because they couldn’t stop fighting long enough to brace themselves against the imminent flooding of the river.

Leon closed his eyes, got down on the deck, and braced himself as best as he could. The rest of the people around him did likewise, with even Anzu huddling down and lowering his center of gravity. Everyone waited for the wave to hit the ship.

And they waited.

And they continued to wait.

Long seconds after the wave should’ve hit them, they waited still.

Leon hesitantly opened his eyes to see just what in the hells was happening. He saw the great flood of the river parting around them, avoiding the ship by some power that he could only assume was Maia’s doing. The rushing, corpse-filled river got close enough that Leon could’ve stuck his hand over the side of the ship and brushed it. It crashed past the ship, rising almost halfway up the ship’s bridge tower.

But the ship remained steady. No Augustine troops were washed overboard.

The same, however, could not be said for those who had attempted to retreat by jumping off the ship. The water spared no strength as it hit them, crushing nearly all of them beneath its immense weight. What was left of them was quickly swept downriver, where many of their fellows who had tried attacking the other ships also found themselves washed away.

Even better, those ships that had been boarded were quickly fighting off their attackers, while the Legion that had been dropped off on the riverbanks advanced on those who remained on land.

Leon smiled, relishing the victory, his chest swelling in pride at the thought of finally having gotten some measure of the revenge he’d craved against those who were directly responsible for Trajan’s murder.

[Well done, boy,] the Thunderbird said, her voice dripping with as much pride as Leon felt. [Your power is growing quite nicely.]

[Thank you,] Leon replied.

[Yes, you’re almost not an embarrassment,] Xaphan added. [I might even tell a demon or two about you once I return to the Void.]

Leon frowned, his mood dampening a bit at the thought of Xaphan leaving. Over the past few years, he’d gotten used to the demon’s presence, and the reminder that their arrangement was temporary wasn’t one that Leon enjoyed.

He was silent for a long time, long enough that his opportunity to respond came and went. He felt the attention of both the Thunderbird and Xaphan turn away from him, while Alix, Valeria, and Anzu all turned back to him, waiting for his orders. He glanced at them, then around at the gathering soldiers and marines. It seemed that everyone was waiting for him to make some kind of speech, or at least to acknowledge their victory.

“We’ve won!” he shouted, keeping it simple. But as simple as it was, it was enough, for several hundred Augustine troops on the deck immediately began shouting and screaming in elation, making it clear to the entire fleet that victory was theirs.

---

With their victory and the routing of the surviving Octavian forces, the fleet decided to stop roughly where they were for a few hours. The prisoners taken during the battle were secured to await judgment by Prince August, the Legion elements on the riverbank were taken back aboard their respective ships—the battle had been over so quickly that a few battalions hadn’t even the opportunity to disembark—and Maia returned to Leon’s ship. She’d done so in a dramatic fashion, too, leaping aboard the ship like a fish from water, landing on the deck of the ship right next to Leon. A few startled marines almost went for their weapons, but Leon had quickly pulled her into a hug, showing everyone that this wasn’t an issue.

Once all of this was taken care of, the fleet got moving north again. They had a schedule to keep, and neither nighttime nor an attack by a Paladin was going to stop them. During the next few days, however, their situation changed a bit.

The prisoners they’d taken during the battle were interrogated, and intelligence was gathered and corroborated indicating that Calabria’s garrison had been left understaffed after the Earthshaker Paladin came in and took most of their knights for the attack. Hearing this, Leon and the fleet Legate ordered them to pick up the pace and sent numerous scouts further ahead to confirm the situation.

By the time they finally got in sight of the city, it seemed that those reports were true. The Legion they were transporting was let off and began moving to secure the city gates and the districts outside of the walls, but it hardly seemed necessary, for the gates never closed. The Legion was able to march straight into the city, while the fleet sailed unimpeded right up the river.

Leon, still aboard the fleet’s command ship, could only watch from the bow of the ship in disbelief as they went completely unchallenged. In fact, he saw just about no one in the streets next to the river, and his repeated pulses of magic senses confirmed that most of the citizens who remained in the city had hunkered down within their homes.

The Exarch’s palace was a little different. A garrison remained there, but in the palace courtyard what seemed like a reception was waiting—the man who seemed to be the Exarch that replaced Justin Isynos and his assistants and retinue were standing there, all dressed to the nines as if they were expecting the King himself to visit. Notably, Leon didn’t see a single weapon amongst them, though there were a few mages strong enough to conceal their weapons and armor in their soul realms.

Many of the fleet ships entered the river ports and began disgorging marines to secure them. Leon, his small retinue, and a battalion of Legion soldiers disembarked here, as well, and started marching through the streets toward the Exarch’s palace, guided by Valeria. She’d grown up in the city and knew it like the back of her hand. Along the way, they met up with more Legion battalions advancing through the streets, each one as baffled as Leon was that there were no signs of resistance by the remaining Octavian contingents.

A few minutes later, Leon and co. were striding into the front courtyard of the Exarch’s palace. Little had changed about the place since he’d last been here when he’d accompanied Trajan and August back to the capital from his time at the Bull’s Horns. The only real difference was the palace’s inhabitants, most of whom seemed to be standing out in the stone courtyard.

Before anyone else could speak, the Exarch—or the man Leon assumed to be the Exarch—stepped forward and loudly said, “I would speak with His Highness Prince August’s representative!”

Leon continued to calmly walk forward, growing more confident with every step that what seemed to be happening was, indeed, happening. He approached the Exarch, Valeria to his right, Alix to his left, and Maia and Anzu right behind him. The Legion battalions were spreading out in the courtyard, facing the Exarch’s knights and maintaining their vigilance.

“Are you the man to whom I should be speaking?” the Exarch asked, his tone deliberately neutral, though Leon saw a moment of recognition in his eyes when the Exarch took to inspecting him more closely.

“Suppose I am,” Leon said. “What’s on your mind?”

A little tightness appeared in the corners of the man’s mouth as if he were straining to keep up his stoic mask under the insulting pressure of Leon’s informality.

“I wish to surrender this city to Prince August,” he declared. “Neither my retinue nor the remnants of the city garrison have any intention of resisting His Highness in any way!”

Leon smiled, nodded, and pointedly glanced at the rest of the assembled knights, all of whom were either watching the exchange or keeping an eye on the Legion soldiers that were still pouring into the courtyard.

“What about them? Are they surrendering too?”

“Of course…” the Exarch said, his tone almost questioning for he thought the answer obvious.

“I ask because apparently some of the garrison joined the Earthshaker Paladin in his attack on our fleet…” Leon explained. He smiled as many of the knights began to look a little more nervous and the Exarch himself sprouted a few small beads of sweat on his brow as the implication of Earthshaker’s failure settled in their minds.

“Our knights were pressed into service…” the Exarch hurried to justify. “We had no choice! And it wasn’t like there were many of our knights here in the first place! We couldn’t say no to a Paladin!”

Leon looked around again, noting that many of the remaining knights were incredibly nervous. Terrified, even. He could understand, given their circumstances.

“I suppose, then, that there’s no reason for me not to accept your surrender…” Leon said, choosing not to hold the actions of Earthshaker against them. He could leave that to Prince August—though, even if it were his place to punish these people, he probably wouldn’t. Their surrender was enough for him. “In the meantime, it’ll be best if you and your people remain in your quarters until His Highness arrives.”

The Exarch seemed to let out a held breath. “Thank you, Sir Leon,” he said, understanding that Leon wasn’t making a suggestion and that he was being remarkably merciful by only placing them under house arrest.

“You know me?” Leon asked in surprise.

“Of course I do…” the Exarch replied, though he seemed a little embarrassed about his admission. “We’ve been getting plenty of news here, especially about Prince August’s commanders. Word of the Thunder Knight’s exploits has probably reached the furthest ends of the Kingdom by now. You’re being spoken about in the same breath as Dame Minerva, Duke Duronius, and the Brimstone Paladin.”

It took a moment for Leon to move past that revelation. A moment where he had to fight with every ounce of strength he had not to visibly cringe or groan.

“What… what a splendid… occurrence…” he sarcastically muttered, not even wanting to think about what Elise thought about his ‘titles’.

The Exarch looked mortified at the thought of having offended Leon, but before he could make any apologies, the Legate in charge of the Legion accompanying Leon’s fleet arrived, and Leon was quick to have him take charge of the knights and have them escorted to their chambers where they’d await the Prince’s judgment.

For the most part, with this handled, Leon’s job was almost done. The Legion’s Legate and the fleet Legate could largely handle the burden of command, so apart from a few meetings to ensure that they coordinate and were properly supplied, Leon didn’t have much else to do with the city now in Augustine hands.

---

The sun had set and Leon was ready to head for bed. He’d taken the same room he’d stayed in during his previous visit to the city, leaving the fancier rooms for others who would arrive in a few days.

But even though Leon was ready to turn in for the night, the city was still swarming with Legion soldiers taking control of the streets, establishing patrols and filling in for the guards and military garrison that Earthshaker had depleted during his ill-fated attack on Leon’s fleet. As a result, Leon felt a little guilty going to bed so early when so many others were still working, and to try and take his mind off of it, he decided to go for a walk through the palace.

The grounds were fairly extensive, and there were plenty of places for Leon to aimlessly wander around without getting in anyone’s way. The first place he decided to go was the closest private courtyard, a place that should be deserted at such a late time. He’d heard it had some training platforms and he figured some physical exercise would help settle him down enough to get to sleep.

His assumption of how populated it would be was proven wrong when he strolled into the courtyard and found someone had beaten him there.

She wasn’t training, she was actually on a nearby terrace staring down at the central training platform in the courtyard. Her silver hair sparkled in the moonlight, her deep blue shirt and pants alluringly hugged her figure, and her normally serious and stoic face had relaxed into a gentle smile.

Leon debated whether or not he should disturb her.

“I can see you, Leon,” Valeria said, suddenly turning to stare down at him over the stone railing of the terrace.

Feeling a bit sheepish, Leon waved and made his way to her, going up a nearby staircase.

“Can’t sleep, too?” he asked as he joined her on the terrace.

“… No,” she whispered, not once turning to face him. She let him approach from behind, silently communicating just how much trust she was putting in him to be so willing to keep her back to him.

Leon had no intentions of betraying that trust, calmly joining her at the railing while maintaining a respectful distance. A distance that shrank a bit as Valeria subtly edged a bit closer while adjusting her posture.

“Any reason for that?” Leon asked.

“How about you?” Valeria evasively countered, flashing him a quick, friendly smile.

Taking her obvious deflection in stride, Leon made a bit of a show out of thinking, before sighing and saying, “Most of the fleet and the Legion are still up. We don’t have much else to do, but it still bothers me a bit that we’ve got the extra time to go to bed before them.”

“I get that. We’d only be in their way if we tried to stick around, but I get it.”

“Yeah. I guess without paperwork, people working at our level don’t have much else to do,” Leon said with a wry smile. “Your turn. What brings you out here so late? Craving some training?”

“If that’s what I wanted, I’d be down there, not up here.” Valeria nodded meaningfully down at the training platform.

“So what is it, then?”

“Any reason why you’re so curious?” Valeria smiled again at Leon, her expression turning teasing and playful, neither of which Leon had seen very often on her face. “I’d assume you could just sleep with Naiad. I get the feeling she’d wear out even the most energetic lover, and then some.”

“She can be quite vigorous in her affections,” Leon admitted. “However, I’m not really in the mood for that right now. Felt like going for a walk but didn’t want to go very far.”

“So, here you are…”

“So, here I am…”

The two were silent for a long moment, Valeria staring down at the training platform, Leon staring up at the dark near-midnight sky.

“What’s really troubling you?” Leon quietly asked.

“Why do you care?”

“You’re my knight,” Leon said without pause, but after taking another second, he added, “And, I like to think, my friend.”

“Really?” Valeria skeptically asked, cocking an eyebrow at him.

“Despite everything, yes, I like to think so. I can understand if you don’t think the same.”

Valeria frowned and turned back to the training platform, not answering Leon’s implied question.

“It’s strange being back here,” she murmured, her tone full of melancholic nostalgia. “Everything’s exactly the same, but so different at the same time. I spent nearly my entire childhood within these walls with my father and all of his household… I —”

She crept a little closer to Leon, her voice cracking as she held back her emotions as much as she could.

“— I haven’t heard anything from them. Not a word. I know you hate my father, but he’s still my father, and I can’t help but feel… lost without him…”

From the way she said ‘lost’, Leon knew that wasn’t the only thing she was feeling. Scared, worried, abandoned, he could imagine she was feeling all of that, too, but she wasn’t ready to express it.

She took another step toward him, and this time, he took one toward her and laid a hand on one of hers that rested on the balcony railing.

“Tell me about him. Your father, I mean,” he said.

Valeria took a deep breath, likely pushing down whatever was going through her mind, and slowly began.

“I… My father had me start my training young. Nothing too fancy, and it was mostly just playing at the time, but he trained me personally. After I turned eight, though, he had me train with the palace’s master-at-arms right down there.”

Again, Valeria took another step closer to Leon as she waved down at the training platform below. The two were practically touching, now, and all it would take for them to be leaning on each other would be for one to shift their posture just a little bit.

“He’d often watch from one of these terraces, giving me pointers and criticisms. He always did his best to look out for me, to teach me not only to be a better fighter but to be a better person.”

She paused long enough for Leon to glance at her and found that she’d turned her eyes to him. For a moment, they made eye contact, and Leon found himself almost irresistibly drawn into her remarkably blue eyes. She moved closer again, turning her body to face him as he instinctively responded in kind.

“He always did his best to be a good man. He ruled this city with justice and fairness foremost in his mind. He never abused his position for personal profit, he ensured that I grew up knowing nothing but warmth and kindness. The people here loved him, I know that.”

Leon was feeling more than a little awkward now, but he didn’t move. He wanted her to keep talking, and… he had to admit that he was curious where this was going. He didn’t back down.

“I can’t help but dread the moment when the two of you meet,” she admitted, her eyes turning glassy with unshed tears. “I don’t want two of the most important people in my life to try and kill each other. I can’t think of anything more terrible than that.”

Leon nodded, maintaining eye contact with her as she pushed forward again, pressing herself into him. She was a little bit shorter than Leon, standing at the perfect height for him to kiss her forehead if he were so inclined. Instead, she pushed herself up onto her toes and pressed her lips against his.

It was a chaste kiss, but it was one full of emotion, both fear and love. Leon’s arms unconsciously gently wrapped themselves around her waist as she curled up in his embrace.

And then they separated, Valeria moving back a few steps and easily breaking out of Leon’s arms. Leon didn’t pursue, letting her put some space between them again.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” she said, her voice quivering with panic. “I… uh, look, can we pretend that didn’t happen?”

Her cheeks turned scarlet, and she looked in Leon’s general direction but didn’t once make eye contact.

Leon took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to say.

“Valeria…” he hesitantly began, “… I like you, as both a friend and as more than that. That hasn’t been an easy thing, given the history between our families, and I’ve run from those feelings before. But… I’m committed to trying to make peace between us. The last thing I want is for you to be my enemy. I don’t want your father to be my enemy, I… I want to try this peace thing. Fuck, I’m bad with words… I guess what I’m trying to say is that at the end of all this, when we finally find your father and get this thing hashed out, I hope that we can still be friends.”

“Just ‘friends’?” she asked, her tone turning a bit playful, but it sounded forced to Leon’s ears as if she were trying to make it sound like a joke that she could play off if he said that friendship was all he wanted from her.

Leon measured his response. He liked her, to be sure, and he knew that Elise would be ecstatic if the two of them were to start something more intimate, but he didn’t want to get her hopes up only to disappoint her. He had no idea how the conflict between him and Justin Isynos might be resolved, he’d never even spoken to the man before. But he also wanted her to be more than a friend, that much he was willing to finally admit.

“Let’s start with friends and see where we go from there?” Leon suggested with a genuine smile. “I don’t want to promise anything I can’t deliver on, and I can’t see the future. Most of all, I don’t want to hurt you any more than I already have. So let’s take things slow.”

Valeria smiled and quickly composed herself. “I can do that, Leon,” she whispered.

—-

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