Leon watched for a moment in shock at seeing someone so familiar in a place he least expected, laughing and exchanging friendly banter with Marcus and Alcander, looking happier than he’d seen the man in… well, ever, really.

After that moment was over, though, Leon picked his jaw off the floor and walked on over, Legate Sigebert right behind him.

“Hey,” Leon said just loudly enough to draw their attention, while Sigebert decided to be a little more boisterous.  Marcus, Alcander, and Alix, who’d been hovering nearby, all nodded to Leon in greeting and walked over to stand next to him.

“Tullius!  You finished with your duties already?”

“I am, Sir,” Gaius cheerfully replied, giving the Legate a wide, confident smile.

“Good on you,” Sigebert responded.  “You know Raime, then?”

Gaius blinked about a thousand times as he turned his attention back to Leon.

“… Raime…?” he asked aloud.

“Ah, yes, Gaius, haven’t you heard?” Alcander loudly exclaimed.  “Our good friend Leon, here, is actually a long-lost scion of House Raime!  The grandson of Archduke Kyros himself!”

Gaius stared at Leon, his smile frozen, his eyebrows risen about as far up his forehead as they could manage.  Leon could almost see Gaius’ preconceptions about him fighting to stand tall, and failing.

Not that he wasn’t a little entertained by it, Leon just smiled and said, “It’s true.  My father was Artorias Raime, the second son of Archduke Kyros.”

“That’s… that’s…” Gaius sputtered, unable to complete the thought—assuming, of course, that the thought was actually complete in his head.

“Don’t worry about it,” Leon said, clapping the man on the shoulder, smiling as if their rivalry during the Knight Academy had never happened.  “Not like I’m suddenly going to go live in Teira and lord my status over everybody.  I’ll likely not even stay in the Bull Kingdom for long once all of this ugliness with Octavius is over.”

“… Right,” Gaius replied as his brain almost visibly cleared its jam.

Unfortunately, that revelation just about killed all momentum the conversation Gaius, Alcander, Marcus, and Alix were having, but after a couple of awkward seconds, Sigebert came to the rescue.

“Tullius, to my office.  We make way tomorrow, and we have a lot to go over before then!”

“Yes, Sir,” Gaius replied, taking the proverbial lifeline to escape this situation.  He quickly scuttled off into the central tower of the ship, making for Sigebert’s office.

Sigebert himself stuck around for a brief moment, just long enough for him to say to Leon, “That boy’s the best damn assistant I’ve ever been assigned.  If he’s a friend of yours, you keep him close.  Boy’s a bit rough, but he’s got integrity.”

And with that, Sigebert followed Gaius into the tower, leaving Leon alone with his squad.

“Damn, high praise from a Legate,” Marcus said, not even appearing upset that the man hadn’t recognized him.  He was the son of an influential Marquis—for a little while longer, at least—and Leon knew many who wouldn’t be so charitable.

“Yeah,” Alcander agreed.  “Funny running into Gaius here, isn’t it?”

“That it is,” Leon replied, though as he scanned the deck of the ship, he was consumed by another question.  He quickly scanned for Maia, using his connection with her to ascertain her location—she was only a single deck beneath him, closer to the ship’s stern, where the officers were given private cabins.

[Maia,] Leon whispered into her mind, [are you with Anzu?]

[Yes, he fell asleep as soon as he was brought to his cell.]

[Thanks.]

Leon didn’t disturb her anymore.  He could feel that she was in a bit of an anti-social mood, so he left her to her own devices.

Turning his attention back to the rest of the squad, he quickly informed them of everything that he had learned during the meeting with the Legates, including their current schedule.  They’d sail out of port the following morning and reach the first island of the Serpentine Isles about four weeks later.  There was likely to be some excitement on the way there, but nothing three Bull fleets couldn’t handle.

Rather, the more important job for them was to wait for when they made landfall near Kraterok.  The fleets weren’t foolish enough to simply try to sail into port without any scouting first; instead, they’d check the place out and find a good spot to land a few thousand marines.  Leon and his squad were to accompany these marines as they secured the outlying parts of the city, including the Earl’s palace, while the fleet would create a good distraction, and take the port if feasible.  Of course, there was no chance in any hell that they could do this stealthily, the Serpentine Islanders would likely be able to see them coming at least a few days before they made landfall and then watch them like hawks for the rest of their approach.

“Sounds a bit like the ships aren’t going to be doing much if we’re relying on the marines to take the city,” Alcander observed with a slight scowl.

“We’ll get some fire support from them if needed,” Leon said.  “We’re not anticipating much in the way of resistance until we get to some of the farther islands.  Still, ‘not much’ isn’t ‘none at all’, so stay ready.  The day we arrive at the island, we’re probably going to be in for a bit of a fight.”

“Got it,” Alix replied.  “Won’t be the first scrap we’ve been in.  We’ll be ready.”

Leon gave her a nod of appreciation, and everyone went below deck to finally check out their assigned quarters.  For a Legion ship, they weren’t half bad: a bed apiece, private rooms, enough space in each cabin to stand up and to have a chair and dresser.  Leon even had a room big enough to have a writing desk, which he fully planned on using for his enchantment work.  Unfortunately, they all had to share a bathroom, but after fighting alongside each other during the civil war, none of them were too upset about that.

Maia, too, had been assigned a room of her own, but Leon had a feeling that she’d be sleeping with him more often than not—not that he was complaining.  Anzu, meanwhile, had been given a comfortable cell in the same compartment.  Leon was momentarily curious as to why their compartment had a cell for war beasts, but Marcus explained that they had been given the quarters usually assigned to high nobles who might require lodging.  Many high nobles had war beasts and were loath to leave such expensive animals behind or in more common storage places.

Whatever the reason, Leon had his griffin nearby, and for that, he was happy.

Fortunately, they all had a common room, as well, that came complete with a mini-kitchen, letting them be truly independent from the rest of the crew if they so chose to be.  Leon wasn’t sure if his three companions would, but he was grateful—at the very least, he knew he wouldn’t be leaving too awfully much, and he felt Maia wouldn’t be, either.

He and his squad got themselves situated as best as they could in their assigned quarters.  Leon, wanting to get to continue his work on some of his enchantment projects, secluded himself away in his cabin for about an hour before a knock came at their common room door.  A few seconds later, Leon was disturbed from his work when Alix informed him that Gaius had shown up.

Leon was surprised, but not too upset.  He’d been wanting to catch up a bit with Gaius since he’d seen the nobleman, and especially to play another game of keeps.

And so it was that Leon found himself sitting with Gaius in the small common room, the others having given them a bit of space when Gaius indicated that he wanted to speak with Leon privately.  They sat with a table between them, another game of keeps set up, but neither had touched the pieces for long seconds after Leon sat down.

They stared at each other, unsure how to respond.  Their last time speaking to each other had been fairly cordial, though neither were even close to considering the other a friendly acquaintance, let alone an out-and-out friend, regardless of how warmly they treated each other in public.

Gaius broke the silence first, speaking to the business that had brought him to Leon’s door.

“Sir Sigebert wants me to accompany you and your squad whenever things kick off.”

As he spoke, he leaned forward and started the game, moving one of his infantry pieces forward.

“Any particular reason why?” Leon asked as he mirrored Gaius’ move.

“He just wants me to be a liaison to your squad.  The two of you aren’t going to be in the same place when things kick off.  Or probably ever, really.”  As he spoke, he and Leon took quick turns moving their infantry pieces across the board.  Gaius chose a more cautious, defensive advance, making sure his pieces were properly supported by others.  Leon, however, advanced quickly with a few pieces, taking a much more aggressive approach, but seizing quite a bit of ground as he did.  He’d already started moving his missiles before Gaius had finished his initial advance, ensuring that if Gaius wanted to switch tactics, he’d have to pay a price.

“What exactly are you going to be doing, then?” Leon asked.  “I hope you’re not going to be hovering around us trying to tell us what to do…”

“No,” Gaius replied as he stuck to his strategy, keeping a slow advance against Leon’s aggressive moves.  “I think he just wants to make sure he’s got eyes on you at all times.  Since we know each other, I was an obvious choice for him to pick.”

“Am I that untrustworthy?” Leon asked, a trace of sarcasm in his voice.

“Yes,” Gaius replied as he made the first kill of the game by unexpectedly taking one of Leon’s pieces.

“… I suppose I can’t argue with that,” Leon replied as he started moving his line to compensate for the loss.

“It’s something that would’ve happened anyway.  This way, we can ensure a secure line of communication between you and him, so long as we remain within signal range.”

“What signals are we going to relying upon?”

“Probably horns, flags, and flares.  There aren’t enough comm stones to keep us in proper contact when we make contact with the enemy, but I’ve spent most of the past month memorizing the fleet’s communication scheme.”

“Does that mean we need to carry a horn and a bunch of flags with us wherever we go?” Leon asked as he finished moving his pieces and set himself up for an obvious counter-attack.

“No flags,” Gaius replied as he shifted to reinforce his flank that Leon was setting up to strike.  “I will have a small horn and a bunch of flares, though.”

Leon paused their game for a moment to give the blond man a long, searching look.  When he turned his attention back to the board, he suddenly struck at a different angle than he’d led Gaius to expect, taking three of his pieces.  “That’s fine by me.  I have to say, though, I’m quite surprised to see you here.  Marcus and Alcander were both pushed out of the Legions, I assumed that you would’ve been, too.”

“I kind of was during the civil war after Prince August ransomed me back to my brother,” Gaius replied, unperturbed by both the question and the loss of his pieces.  He simply moved again, shifting around so that Leon couldn’t continue the slaughter.  “It seems that my fate, however, is to be the pawn of Royals, for a few weeks ago I was ordered to return to the Legion.  Specifically, to come here.  My job here is essentially the same as my squireship to Prince Octavius.  I was a hostage then, and I’m a hostage now.  Only this way, I’m also out of the way and put in a place where my family can’t try and rescue me if things turn sour.  Even my and Gratian’s brother, Nicomedes, was reassigned all the way to Clear Ice Fortress, keeping him about as far away from my family’s lands and any trouble he might get up to as he can be.”

“Does the King expect your family to revolt when he gets around to confiscating their land and titles?”

“He’s already promised us that we could keep a significant amount of our private lands, but what we stand to lose is… significant.  I don’t think my elder brother intends to rebel, we threw in too much for August to do so now.  Besides, we’re still going to be quite wealthy even without the titles, and without the financial responsibilities of caring for the Duchy, I think we’re actually going to see an improvement in our quality of life.”

“Were things that bad in Lentia?” Leon asked as he prepared another assault, though this time Gaius didn’t respond to it quite so readily out of caution, simply concentrating on reinforcing his front line.  He didn’t want to fall for another of Leon’s feints.

“Lentia has never been the most economically prosperous of the Kingdom’s many Duchies,” he explained.  “Keeping everything moving and properly funded has always been a challenge.  The way things are turning out, Lentia will probably be a drain on the Kingdom’s resources, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it slowly depopulates over the next few decades as opportunities dry up.  But I suppose that’s what’s going to have to happen.  Part of the reason why Lentia survived for so long even before the Bull Kingdom was united was because of its utter lack of resources that might attract greedy eyes to our lands.”

“You sound pretty OK with all of that,” Leon replied as he launched another assault on Gaius’ forces, taking two pieces but losing one in the process.  Still, Gaius’ slow, ponderous advance continued and despite the disproportionate losses, Leon’s line was forced to retreat a couple of spaces.

“I am,” Gaius said.  “I never would’ve been the Duke, I would’ve been relegated to maybe a poor barony somewhere, living out the rest of my life in a small, cramped wooden castle, trapped by my name and lineage.  I think I prefer things this way.”  He launched his second attack on Leon’s retreating pieces, managing to take another without eating more loss.  “How’s Valeria?”

“Still hung up on her a bit?” Leon cheekily asked as his retreat slowed, and he took another of Gaius’ pieces.

“Maybe a little bit,” Gaius replied, his advance not stalling at all and finally coming into proper contact with Leon’s pieces, ending their small skirmishes with an immediate loss of four pieces to Leon’s five, evening the score by a small margin.  Leon was only ahead ten to eight.  “I don’t love her as I did back in the Knight Academy, but I can’t deny that I feel some type of way about her, still.  She and I will never be, and I’m ready to move on.  But, I told you once before that I would kill you if you ever did anything to harm her, and I still stand by that statement even if my ability to follow through is laughable.”

Gaius swiftly took another piece, bringing his deficit down to only one.

“I think Valeria’s doing much better than she has been in months,” Leon replied as he widened the deficit again by taking two of Gaius’ pieces.  “We found her father, though he was injured.  She wanted to stay with him during the early stages of his recovery, which is why she isn’t here right now.”

“I see,” Gaius replied as he took another of Leon’s pieces in retaliation.  He began to spread out a little bit more, trying to force Leon’s flanks to bend, but Leon’s missile pieces kept that from happening.

The two continued playing in silence for several more minutes, not saying a word, simply focusing on the game.  After a few dozen more moves, they’d each whittled the other down about half their pieces.  Leon was still two pieces ahead of Gaius, giving him a slight advantage, and with every exchange that slight advantage grew more pronounced even if it didn’t grow.

Still, it was looking more and more like the game would end in another draw, and Leon couldn’t let that stand.

“Ugh, you’re being quite vicious, aren’t you?” Gaius complained with a somewhat bitter smile as Leon suddenly took three of his cavalry pieces in a single move.  During the start of the game, Gaius’ defensive posture had allowed him to push Leon back a bit, but Leon’s aggressive strategy was paying off as he bled Gaius enough to push the line much closer to his keep than to Leon’s.

“I’m not fond of losing,” Leon replied as he took advantage of the gap in Gaius’ line that now presented itself.

“I think I’m one of the people most familiar with that side of you,” Gaius said as he barely managed to close the hole in his line before Leon was given a straight shot into his keep, which would’ve won him the game.

“Right, I suppose I have fought you more than anyone else,” Leon replied as he swung wide on his right flank, which Gaius had weakened in order to seal his breach.  It seemed more and more like he was on the verge of winning and proving his worry about another draw false.  “I didn’t kill anyone you were close with, did I?”

Gaius rapidly blinked in shock that Leon would ask like that, but held off his assault admirably, his left flank only retreating a little bit before Leon’s assault.

“Some people I knew,” he answered.  “When you stopped us cold in the Eastern Territories, I’ll admit that I knew a few of the noblemen in that army.  I wasn’t particularly close to any of them, and I lost little sleep over their loss once I returned to Lentia, but I won’t pretend that you didn’t really screw me up.  I don’t think I’ve had a single meaningful victory since I took your banner back at the Knight Academy.”

“Doesn’t seem to be due to lack of ability,” Leon responded as his assault fizzled out, both he and Gaius losing an additional four pieces in the process, though that still left him five ahead of the other man.

“I appreciate the sentiment,” Gaius whispered.  He then launched a sudden bold maneuver that cost Leon nine pieces, while he lost only six, and managed to push the line back almost to the center of the board.

Leon scowled, but he consolidated his pieces as best as he was able, and over the next minutes, managed to batter Gaius back towards his keep.  It cost Leon five more pieces, but Gaius lost nine of his own.

At this point, they’d lost enough that it was clear that Leon had won.  He was six pieces ahead of Gaius, there wasn’t much of a way for Gaius to recover from that.  But Gaius didn’t end the game.  He held on right to the end, managing to narrow Leon’s lead enough that by the end of the game, when he lost his last piece, Leon was left with only three on the field: a mere two missile units and his most powerful lord piece.  All of his infantry, cavalry, and artillery pieces had been taken by Gaius.

“Well, that was a hell of a game,” Leon said as he sat back in appreciation, the warm sense of victory settling in his stomach.  It was tainted a bit by the fact that his win was so narrow, but it had been a thrilling game from start to finish, so he wasn’t particularly upset.

“It truly was,” Gaius replied, nodding to Leon as he did.  He took a moment to appreciate everything that had happened in the three-hour game—the moves he and Leon had made were far more brilliant and inspired than they had been in their previous match, with both being less wary of the other and more willing to take risks.  It felt good to him to let loose like that, and his performance, while ultimately unsuccessful, was still something he could take some pride in.  “Thank you for the game, Leon Raime.  I look forward to working with you in the battles to come.”

“You too, Gaius Caecilius Tullius,” Leon replied as he stood and saw the other man to the door.

“I’ll be in touch frequently over the next few weeks,” Gaius said before Leon showed him out.  “I’ll try not to intrude, but expect to see me a lot more, especially after we make landfall at the Serpentine Isles.  If possible, I would also like reports regarding your intentions and observations once things kick off.  They can be brief, but Sir Sigebert will need to know where the only seventh-tier mage in the entire fleet is and what he’s doing.”

“I understand, I’ll keep things simple for all our sakes,” Leon replied.

Gaius paused halfway out of the door, then turned back to Leon and held out his hand.  Leon stared at it for a long second, then smiled and clasped the other man’s wrist.  Neither said another word.

When they released each other, Gaius departed, leaving Leon effectively alone in the cabin.  Alix, Marcus, and Alcander had left to spend time on the upper deck, while Maia and Anzu were busy lounging around their private cabins.  So, after taking a few minutes to appreciate the intense game he’d just played with Gaius, Leon decided to get back to work.  He had a lot of enchanting to do, and only a month to do it in.

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