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“What about… my parents?”

Just four words.  Words spoken with a quiet desperation that he understood completely.  From her tone, he could tell that Asiya knew her parents weren’t long for the world.  He didn’t know what he might be able to do about it without getting spectacularly violent, and he didn’t know how to tell her that.

He had the power to rescue them—or at least, he had enough power to be confident that he could.  With Xaphan and Maia, there wasn’t much question in his mind that he could extract them and escape.

But the Samar Kingdom might do to them what the Bull Kingdom had done to Jormun.  Leon’s crew was more powerful than Jormun’s was at the time of Octavius’ kidnapping, but he couldn’t foresee the consequences of angering an entire Kingdom by breaking accused traitors out of prison and denying their King ‘justice’.  It could disbar him from Heaven’s Eye.  It could mean that he’d have to worry about powerful assassins paid for with Samarid gold coming for him and his family.

It was an awful thing to do, but Asiya was who he was here for.  Her parents, though…

“I don’t know,” Leon honestly whispered to his ‘concubine’, his eyes flitting to the closed doors of the guest chambers.  “I will do what I can.  I… can’t promise anything.  I’m here for you, and you are my priority.”

Asiya shuddered and looked to him in horror.  “I can’t lose them…” she whispered, her warm brown eyes taking on a glassy quality as they filled with tears.  “I can’t lose them…” she repeated, and then fell to her knees, sobbing.

Leon quietly sighed, then took a knee and laid a friendly hand upon her shoulder.  He’d told the Samarids that they were lovers, but outside of their overt attention, he wasn’t going to get too physically intimate with Asiya unless he couldn’t avoid it.  Still, he could tell she needed some comfort, and he’d provide what comfort he could.

“I’ll try,” he whispered as her weeping continued.  “Are they being held in the same place you were?”

He didn’t expect an immediate answer.  He just hoped that if she had something to focus on, some shred of hope, then she might be able to hold herself together until they were back in friendly territory.

After about a minute, Asiya’s tears had dried, and she answered him, “Yes.”

Leon nodded, and after conferring with Maia and sticking his head back out of the window so he could project his magic senses, he’d pinned down roughly where Asiya’s parents were.  During that time, Asiya pulled herself together, taking a seat in the guest chamber’s lounge, though she hardly looked comfortable.

“How have they been treating you?” Leon inquired as he strode back over, hoping to project such an air of confidence that some of it would rub off on her.  “Have you been getting enough food?  Have they touched or abused you?”

His last statement came with an undercurrent of killing intent, and his eyes flitted over to the doors.

“No,” Asiya replied, her eyes dull and unfocused.  “At least, not yet…  There have been a few jokes, and some of the people who took me and my family prisoner had… roaming hands, but nothing overt…  I don’t know what’s going to happen to me, though…”

“Nothing’s going to happen to you,” Leon said as he went to sit next to her.  “I think they’ll let me take you out of here.  That much shouldn’t be a problem, especially since I’m not associated with a rival Kingdom.”

“I am, though,” Asiya pointed out.  “I’m a knight in the service of Princess Cristina.”

“And the Princess is heading south,” Leon replied.  “As powerful as the Empires are, down in Imperial lands is not a place where they’ll have to worry about you.  The Ilian Empire is a long way away.”

Asiya didn’t respond, but her arms crossed her chest as if she were hugging herself for solace.

Leon once more glanced over at the doors.  Maybe he couldn’t do much for her parents, but Asiya was going to come with him back to Ariminium whether the Samar Kingdom wanted her to or not.

---

“We’ve decided we’re amenable to your request,” Ashar said to Leon as they sat in a formal meeting room.  After two hours with Asiya, Leon was visited by the Vizier once more, and brought to a place that, while still formal, was decidedly much less so than the court.  The Sultan wasn’t present; only Ashar, the seventh-tier water mage, two other elder sixth-tier mages, and about a dozen assistants and secretaries who were making themselves as invisible as was feasible were in the meeting with him.

“I’m sensing it won’t come without a price?” Leon asked as he gave Ashar a mildly derisive look.

“There will be a ransom,” Ashar responded, “and we would require a written declaration from Lady Asiya and yourself that you won’t interfere in our administering of justice against her treasonous parents.”

“Treasonous,” Leon growled, channeling his inner Thunderbird to aid him in showing disdain for ‘human’ law.

“Yes,” the Vizier replied, his tone cold and unhumorous.  “They came to this Kingdom to foment dissent and rebellion against our Sultan.  Such actions must have consequences, even if those consequences have consequences of their own.  Treason against a sitting monarch cannot go unpunished.”

From within Leon, Leon heard Nestor quietly whisper, [He’s right, you know…]

Xaphan decided to toss in his two silvers and agreed, [Threats must be eliminated, however possible.]

Leon ignored them, though he was of a similar opinion.  It wasn’t the morals of the Samar Kingdom’s actions that bothered him; merely who those actions were directed against. 

“What ransom do you require?” Leon demanded to know, his imperious tone cranking up a notch.

“Three million silver coins,” came the response from the aged Vizier, and for once, Leon thought he saw a smile briefly play out within the man’s thick white beard.

Leon smiled viciously at the man, his disdain showing more obviously now that he more genuinely felt it.

“A hefty sum for so weak a woman,” he spat.

“A woman worthy of being taken by an… ‘eighth-tier mage’ has such value,” Ashar replied, his otherwise emotionless voice taking on just a hint of amusement.

Leon scowled, and he called upon all of his skills in negotiation.  Naturally, there weren’t many he could call upon, but he did manage to drop the ransom to ‘only’ a million and a half silvers.  Still a hefty sum, but not one that would hurt him too much—not with Elise taking charge of his already relatively staggering finances.

Still, it was money he wasn’t thrilled to part with.  His mood was further ruined when one of the other sixth-tier mages was revealed to be a representative of Heaven’s Eye who was there to facilitate the transfer—the Samarids weren’t expecting Leon to just drop the ransom on the table.

And Leon, though loath as he was to part with so much coin, dearly wished that he could do that, just to see the looks on their faces.  He remembered the awe and respect he felt when, right after her negotiation with Trajan for reparations following the war, Andraste, Queen of the Talfar Kingdom, dropped dozens of gold bars on the table.  Leon didn’t necessarily think of that moment often, but now that he was in a similar situation, he understood why she did it.  She was a Queen, after all, and maintaining political power was as much about the symbolism as it was about personal power or charisma.  And so casually throwing around so much wealth was a powerful symbol that he wished he could replicate.

Fortunately, he had something almost as good, and pulled his gold card from his soul realm, presenting it to the Heaven’s Eye representative to facilitate the ransom payment.  The rep, the seventh-tier water mage, and Ashar all stared at the card for various periods in shock, and though none lasted longer than a second, Leon still reveled in the surprise.  None of them said anything about it, but he could tell they were tensing slightly at this display of relations with Heaven’s Eye.

At the very least, he hoped this would help convince them that he wasn’t affiliated with anyone else, such as the Bull Kingdom.  Gold cards were generally reserved for Royalty, not for the servants of Royalty.

Once the ransom was complete and Leon received his card back, he broached the topic of Asiya’s parents with Ashar, but unfortunately, Leon wasn’t able to make much progress.  Making matters harder, Leon was also unwilling to push the Samarids too hard to free Asiya’s parents.  He felt like pressing too hard for them, especially since the Samarids were so stubborn in their refusal, would come off almost like a weakness on his part.

So, he let the matter rest, and finished the negotiations by merely inquiring after their sentence and when it would be carried out, slowly growing more frustrated with this whole situation.   Asiya was his priority, but he still wanted Khayu and Iset to leave with him, too.

Ashar, at first, looked like he would refuse Leon’s request, but the final sixth-tier mage in the meeting room, who’d up to that point been silent, shrugged and said that since a public statement had been made, it wasn’t like they could keep it secret.

Asiya’s parents had been sentenced to death, and the sentence was to be carried out at dawn the following morning.

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“So,” the female Samarid water mage said as she escorted Leon back to the guest chambers, “Aetos, where do you come from?”

Leon, having expected to travel through the palace in silence, took a moment to process his mild annoyance before answering.  “Many places,” he said in a tone that was almost a growl.

“Just asking,” the water mage replied with an amused half-smile.  “I’ve never seen an Ascended Beast, before, and I can’t help but be curious…”

Leon sighed and asked, “What’s your name, again?”

“Kaouther.”

“Right, Kaouther.  Is there something specific you’d like to ask me?”

She shrugged.  “I guess I’ve always just been kind of fascinated by the concept, you know?  Like, if something becomes strong enough, they can transform into a human…  It just seems so strange and arbitrary, like why not transform into a dragon?  Why don’t things transform into something other than a human?  And become so clearly taken with their new forms that they form romantic attachments…”

She gave Leon a pointed gaze that he did his best to ignore.  He didn’t want to know what was on her mind.

“I suppose I’d just like to take the opportunity to pick your brain a little, you know?  Get your perspective on things…”

Leon had to bite his tongue to stop himself from snapping back at her to mind her own business.  He wasn’t in much of a talking mood, and the prospect of returning to Asiya to inform her that while he was able to ransom her into his custody, he would have to get more drastic for her parents weighed heavily on his mind.

But this was a seventh-tier mage, a relatively young woman of considerable power who was filling the role of a Paladin within the Samar Kingdom, and she was being fairly polite and cordial.  There was no reason to bite her head off for asking some questions, even though they annoyed him.

“I don’t think you’d find my perspective particularly flattering,” Leon drily stated.

“I don’t mind,” Kaouther replied, smiling warmly at Leon.  “I’m not blind to the flaws of human society.  As I said, I’m just curious…”

“Unfortunately, I can’t say much,” Leon said as they arrived at the guest chambers.  “I’m not that interested in human society all that much.  Too many rules.  Too many people.  Life would be so much simpler if there were less humans around, wouldn’t you agree?”

“I wouldn’t,” Kaouther responded, though she continued to smile and waited for his next statement.

Leon shrugged.  “I take what I want, and I don’t let your petty disputes get in my way.  That’s my perspective.  No more, no less.”

“I’m sure there’s more than that,” Kaouther replied with a mysterious look in her eyes, “but we’ve arrived at our destination.  Might I ask you and your Lady for the honor of a visit later?”

“Define ‘later’.”

Kaouther leaned in to whisper into Leon’s ear, though not nearly so quietly that the rest of the guards around them couldn’t hear.  “It means ‘whenever you want’…”

Leon froze at that implication, and he felt Xaphan’s attention begin to rise.

[Ohhh ho…  Be careful with this one, young human,] the demon cautioned.  [This one’s a shark, and it seems she’s got her eyes on you…]

“I’ll see you then, Aetos,” Kaouther said, her tone laced with additional meaning as Leon entered the guest chambers and firmly closed the doors behind him.  She continued to smile at him until the doors finally blocked her from view.

Leon sighed, letting go of all the stress and anxiety that that conversation had built up.

‘Was she… really flirting with me?’ Leon wondered, unable to see why she’d want to do so.  ‘That has to be some kind of trick…’

He spent a couple minutes there in front of the door trying to puzzle out Kaouther’s intentions, but he received no insights from his ruminations.  Having come to no conclusions, he could only hope not to encounter her again before he could get the hells out of this Kingdom.

First, though, he had to steel himself.  He could hear Asiya in the other room, and he wasn’t quite sure what to say to her.  He didn’t want to talk to her until he had a plan.

And then, something occurred to him.

[Xaphan, you still there?]

[Crawling back to me for help, human?] Xaphan responded.  [A most wise course of action.  I assume you need advice about women; now, the thing you’re going to have to do is to—]

[No, not about that,] Leon interrupted exasperatedly.  [I was wondering if you were willing to go on a bit of a rampage…]

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Leon and Asiya, with the latter’s ransom paid, didn’t stick around for long within the Samarid Royal Palace, regardless of the invitations that the Sultan and Kaouther had extended to him over the course of the day.  They didn’t have much time, and neither were all that interested in experiencing more of the Sultan’s hospitality—Asiya, in particular, had endured more than her fair share.

Some of the Samarids made token efforts to get Leon to stay, but he could tell from the subtle mannerisms of the officials that could muster the will to try that they all wanted him gone.  He guessed it was having an unknown eighth-tier mage in their midst that made them nervous.

He was fine with that.  He wasn’t here to make friends with the people who’d kidnapped another friend.

To that end, Leon led Asiya out to the nearest open-air courtyard to the guest chambers and got ready to leave.  He could sense quite a few Samarid guardsmen following them, including Kaouther and Commander Mansur, the male seventh-tier fire mage, and he wasn’t sure if it made him more nervous or more relaxed that this was the case.  On the one hand, it meant that they hadn’t found what he’d left in the guest chambers.  On the other hand, when they did, they’d be close enough to engage him in battle, possibly harming Asiya in the process.  So, while Leon trusted in Xaphan’s ability to hide, he still wanted to get Asiya out of here before things started kicking off.

So, with a degree of hurry but not so much to be suspicious, Leon led Asiya out into the courtyard.  The young Samarid woman was far more nervous than Leon was, but having him by her side kept a measure of calm about her, enough that she was able to keep a straight face.

The hardest part came next, where Leon pulled all of his clothes back into his soul realm.  His face burned with embarrassment at exposing himself like this before so many Samarid guards, but if he was to be believable as an Ascended Beast, he supposed having no compunctions against showing his body could only help.

Still, he transformed back into his Thunderbird form as quickly as he could, shrouding his body in rich brown and gold feathers.

The next part was only marginally better.  He wasn’t a horse, and he didn’t enjoy being treated like one, so it was only grudgingly that he lowered himself and let Asiya jump onto his back.  He felt her adjusting herself and grabbing some of his feathers; a deeply uncomfortably feeling, but one he could endure for the sake of getting her out of here.

And with nothing left to do, Leon summoned his wind magic and took off into the evening sky, leaving the Royal Palace behind.

But he’d be back soon.

---

Leon and Asiya watched as Leon’s ship ran aground on the sandy shore of the Samar Kingdom about twenty-five miles outside of the city of Samar itself.  The ship was built to spend its nights on the coast rather than at sea, so while it seemed strange to Leon, Anshu at the helm was completely unperturbed with the ship now being mostly on land.

It was about midnight, and Leon and Asiya had been waiting around the inlet for hours.  Maia and Leon had made such good time in their journey that they’d long since left the rest of the retinue behind, but the ship had still arrived before Leon had been expecting it.  Anshu had pushed everyone hard to reach this place in such a short period of time, and Leon couldn’t help but smile in pride at seeing his recruitment of the Indradian so validated.

“Asiya!” Valeria shouted as she ran to the guardrails of the ship, frantically waving her hand.  A moment later, Marcus, Alcander, Gaius, and Alix appeared at her side, bows in their hands, their eyes sharp as they scanned the horizon, looking for any potential threats that might’ve followed Leon.

Leon appreciated their vigilance, but there wasn’t much need for it, thankfully.  He’d flown as fast as he was willing to with Asiya on his back, and quite high up.  Some of the Samar seventh-tier mages might’ve been able to follow them with their magic senses, but Leon hadn’t noticed anything.  As far as he could tell, the Samar Kingdom had neither followed nor tracked them.

He frowned at their negligence, but in this case, he’d take the unexpected windfall.

Asiya gave him a quick look, questioning him with her eyes, the spark of hope still alive within her.  Leon nodded, and she began to walk toward the ship, then picking up speed until she was in a full-tilt sprint, and then using her magically-enhanced strength to leap up onto the deck right into Valeria’s arms.

Leon followed just behind her, but he didn’t get comfortable.  Instead, he gave Valeria and Anshu orders to shove back off and head out into the Gulf.  Valeria wanted to ask him questions, but Anshu practically growled at her as he went about fulfilling Leon’s order.

Leon, out of an abundance of caution, didn’t tell Valeria what he was doing.  Instead, he simply asked her to stay on the ship and wait for his return.  Then, the ring on his finger flashed green, and he faded from view.  Without another a word, he vanished into the night, running back to Samar.  His priority had been seen to: Asiya had been recovered from Samar hands.  But his job wasn’t over, yet…

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