It was with a pale face and mildly pained expression that Leon hurried back to Ariminium.  So hurried was he that apart from letting his people know he was on his way back, he didn’t wait for anything on his return journey, leading him to return sans Anzu.

Because he used his magic to keep everyone apprised of his progress, he was greeted by a party almost as large as that which had greeted him upon his initial arrival to the city—the Bull King and his family; Leon’s family, save for Maia and Anzu; his retainers and their families; the Bull Kingdom’s Paladins; and the Tempest Knights, alongside their Bull Kingdom counterparts.

“Leon!” Julius called out, his eighth-tier voice easily rising above the din of the crowd, even as they clapped and cheered as Leon’s boots touched the stones of the citadel’s largest courtyard, right in front of the large statue of Trajan that stood in its center.  “Welcome back!”

The Bull King rushed forward, moving ahead of even Leon’s wives to pull him into a brotherly embrace.

When Julius released Leon, he only pulled back a bit, allowing him to leave a hand on Leon’s shoulder while he escorted Leon back toward the citadel.  “Was your journey good and fruitful?  You look like something bad happened up in the mountains…”

Leon grimaced, having not spoken a word yet, or even given much more than a shallow smile so far.

“I’m fine,” he croaked.  “Good and fruitful.  Yes.”

The Bull King continued to smile, but he hurried Leon out of the public eye about as fast as dignity would allow, his and Leon’s family following close behind.

As they moved, Elise took one of Leon’s arms and gave him a deeply concerned look, her question otherwise left unstated.  Leon gave her a reassuring smile back, relieving just a little of the tension, but it wasn’t until their group—consisting of King Julius, Prince August, Princess Cristina, Elise, Valeria, Cassandra, and Leon himself—found themselves in a private courtyard that he allowed his mask to drop and his real concern to come to the fore.

“Leon!” Elise cried out as Leon doubled over in the middle of the courtyard, a much more pronounced look of pain on his face as he wrapped his arms around his stomach.  Elise, Cassandra, and Valeria all rushed to his side, while Julius and his children looked on with great concern.

Leon could only groan as he pried one of his hands away from his belly and waved it at the empty space next to him, and in a flash of light, Rakos appeared in all his glory.  It was fairly early in the evening, causing the flecks of gold on his body to catch the reddening sun, while the countless rubies embedded within him glowed so fiercely that they illuminated the entire courtyard.  Even then, its aura was the brightest thing about it, ‘glowing’ so brightly that August and Cristina had to avert their eyes for a moment.

But for all that, the stone giant itself seemed remarkably fine, with its body remaining intact without even the slightest sign of degradation.

“APOLOGIES, DIVINE ONE,” Rakos rumbled as it took a knee in contrition.  Despite that, it still towered over everyone in the courtyard, even the three remarkably tall members of the Sacred Bull’s bloodline.  “I HAD NO IDEA THAT I WOULD PROVE SO DISCOMFORTING…”

“It’s fine,” Leon responded, both to Rakos and to the others, as looks of confusion and alarm had spread following Rakos’ appearance and statement.  Leon had to remind himself that aside from Aquillius and perhaps a few individuals in the Bull Kingdom, no other human being could understand the stone giants’ language.

Cassandra lightly pinched Leon’s arm, and when he turned to face her, she stared at him without amusement.  “What’s going on, Leon?” she asked, her question mirrored in the faces of the others.

Leon groaned in relief as he pushed himself to his feet, his ladies following suit.  Color was rapidly returning to his features and the pain was gone from his face.

“Have any of you ever eaten something that you soon realized was a mistake?” he asked.  “Like a piece of bad meat that your body decidedly to rapidly… expel?”

“No…” Elise replied with a look of slight confusion.

“Huh?” Leon murmured, expecting the exact opposite response.  He looked around at the others, and between the fantastically wealthy Elise and the collection of palace-raised Royalty, only Valeria appeared to understand what he was talking about.  “Damn, I was kind of counting on that.  Well, if any of your chefs ever make this kind of mistake, think of this conversation and you’ll understand.  Anyway, this is the kind of feeling I’ve had for the past couple of hours.”

“Is this why you didn’t wait for Anzu?” Valeria asked a little chidingly.

Leon nodded in confirmation.  He then waved at Rakos and said, “Rakos has absorbed all of the other stone giants into… themself?  The animating wisps of more than twelve thousand giants, all compressed into one stone giant’s body.  Such a concentration of foreign magic power sitting in my soul realm had me feeling like I’d swallowed a stone.”

“A TERRIBLE MISTAKE ON MY PART.  SUCH A MISTAKE I WILL NEVER MAKE AGAIN.”  Rakos couldn’t bend much lower given its immense size and only rough resemblance to the human form, but it certainly tried, showing Leon the depths of its regret.

“That’s not necessary,” Leon quickly said.  “Don’t worry, no permanent harm done.  All that we need to do now is to find a better way to transport you south.”

“I can have some room made on my ark,” Cassandra said as she frowned in thought.  “It might be tight…  Our new friend looks very heavy…”

“Let’s take some time to figure that out,” Leon said with gratitude.  “We can take as much time as we need.  Besides, it’ll give us more time to wait for Naiad and Anzu to return.”

“Leon…” Julius said, taking a few steps forward and drawing Leon’s attention.  “Perhaps some introductions are in order…?”

“Ah!” Leon cried out in dismay.  He quickly rectified his mistake in propriety, introducing Rakos to everyone else.  Julius had, of course, known about Rakos before, but they’d never formally met, and Leon had been so caught up in just getting this uncomfortable lump of foreign magic out of his soul realm that he’d let decorum slip.

Not that it took all that much for decorum to slip in the first place…

Once introductions were had, everyone got as comfortable in the courtyard, taking seats in a number of chaise lounges that had been brought out specifically for such an outdoor event.  Rakos, unfortunately, had to remain standing, though it hardly seemed to care.

“… so I think we’ll have much to discuss later,” the Bull King said as the introductions finally concluded.  Rakos had promised to pass on its knowledge of the Border Mountains and the natural resources they held before departing from Ariminium, hopefully giving the Bull Kingdom a head start compared to Talfar in securing the mountain range.  “For now,” Julius continued as he turned back to Leon, “there’s something I would like to discuss with you, King Leon.”

“Oh?” Leon responded, noticing that not only did August start sitting up straighter, but Elise and Cristina, who’d been sitting close together in the same lounge, perked up.  “Sounds serious…”

“It is,” Julius said with a deadly serious demeanor.  “It concerns the matter of formal recognition between monarchs.”

One of Leon’s eyebrows shot up as he fixed the Bull King in his golden gaze.  “I’m listening…”

“My Kingdom formally recognizes yours as legitimate,” Julius announced.  “Anything less would bring nothing but shame upon House Taurus.  House Raime has given us much in the past few thousand years, and I owe much of who I am today to the lessons that Kyros, your honored grandfather, taught me.  He was truly my best friend and mentor, and I miss him terribly…”

Julius seemed to lose himself for the briefest of moments, his eyes flickering north as his tone grew wistful.  But as quickly as his demeanor changed, it snapped right back.

“With that recognition, I wish to ask you, my counterpart, for a pact of nonaggression.”

“Consider it done,” Leon said with a smile.  Kataigida was about as far away from the Bull Kingdom as it could possibly be, so any kind of aggression, even for a Kingdom as powerful as Leon’s, would be prohibitively difficult.  A nonaggression pact was easy to accept.

“There are other matters I would like to discuss with you,” Julius continued with a grateful look.  “Matters of trade and friendship.  However, before anything else can be done, diplomatic ties must be formally established.  That is why I would like to create a formal embassy in your Kingdom and appoint my youngest, my darling Princess Cristina, to lead it as its ambassador.”

Elise and Cristina immediately began laughing and squealing in delight, and even Valeria got into it as Cristina, after giving Elise a tight hug, shot out of her lounge, and practically launched herself at her former guard.  Valeria, despite being taken aback, easily caught the Princess and embraced her back.

“I suppose my decision has already been made,” Leon said with a cheeky smile.  “I’d be delighted to host your embassy, and for the Princess to lead it.  I’m sure Elise and Valeria will be overjoyed to have their old friend so close again.”

As he spoke, Elise had already risen and joined Cristina and Valeria in their embrace, and the three ladies quickly sat down on Valeria’s lounge, all three sitting as closely as three old friends could.

“Wonderful,” Julius exclaimed, beaming at the three, and Cristina in particular.  “Wonderful.  I hope we’ll be able to more regularly communicate with this arrangement.”

“That would be nice,” Leon replied.  “I’ll have some of my people leave a few of our comm lotuses here and teach yours how to use them.  They’re far superior to the comm stones that just about everyone else use.”

Julius’ smile widened.  “Leon, my friend, you have my deepest and everlasting gratitude.”

“Think nothing of it.”

“Now,” he said as he glanced at his son, “I believe August has something he wished to ask?”

“Indeed, Father,” August said as he warmly regarded Leon.  “Your aid to me back in your time as a knight in this Kingdom has not been forgotten.  It is to my greatest shame that I find myself now unable to return the favor—for what kind of favor could I render you, in return?”

“None is needed, believe me,” Leon said with a wave of his hand.

“Your graciousness only shames me further,” August replied.  “If there is nothing I can do for you, then there’s only one thing I can ask: for the opportunity to repay your invaluable assistance and service.  I have formally declared my daughter, as my eldest—and currently, only—child, to be my official heir.  Should I have any more children, I would ask for your permission to send them to your Kingdom for their squireships.  And should they wish to stay and serve you, then I ask that their requests be… considered.”

Leon smiled and nodded.  “I can promise to consider it, at least.”

August nodded in gratitude.  “As for right now… Roland has indicated to me that his son would like to swear himself to your service.”

“Really?!” Leon blurted out in surprise and confusion.  “Is he…  Why?”

“A knight from a storied family who won honor and glory in three wars, gaining spectacular power in a short amount of time, only to leave on a mysterious quest to recover his family’s lost power?  And all in the span of a few years?”  August paused and gave Leon an almost embarrassed smile.  “Honestly, Leon, you’ve become quite popular here over the past few years.  Stories of the ‘White Griffin’ of House Raime have spread far.  I wouldn’t even hesitate to say that you have become something of a hero to the people of this Kingdom, thanks in no small part to your role in relieving this Kingdom’s troubles and for your connection to my tragically absent uncle.”

“Heh,” Cassandra softly chuckled.  She leaned over to whisper to Leon, though not so quietly that the others couldn’t hear, “Criticism or commentary on the major players would be… unwise, I’m sure.  But you, my strong and handsome husband?  Someone who played a major part in these events, yet who wasn’t in the Kingdom to punish or contradict them for embellishments, exaggerations, or outright lies?  You’re like a feast laid out before a man dying of starvation.”

Leon’s smile tightened the more his wife spoke, his comfort in this kind of attention lessening with every syllable.

“I’m not sure I want to hear any of these stories,” he said as he fought hard to keep his smile from turning into a scowl.

“We heard some this morning,” Elise informed him with a radiant smile.  “We went to a play.  It was incredible.”

“Highly inaccurate,” Valeria added.  “Your importance was exaggerated and credit was given to you for decisions you never made.”  She paused, then gave Leon a shallow and teasing grin.  “You’d have hated it.”

Leon rubbed his chin in discomfort.  “Well.  Fine.  Let them… say… I don’t care.  Whatever.”  The ladies burst out laughing at Leon’s response, but he ignored them and forced the conversation to move on.  “So, anyway, Your Royal Highness.  I’d be perfectly willing to take Roland’s son into my service.  I’ll need an introduction at some point, though.  Which I think I also promised Roland himself yesterday…”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” August said with a smile packed full of gratitude.  “I know Roland will be overjoyed to hear you accept his son’s request.”

Leon nodded, and silence descended upon the group for a short moment, to be broken by King Julius.

“Leon…” he said.  “I feel ashamed to ask so much of you, and have you be so gracious in return.  Please, if there is anything you wish for us to provide, tell us, and we’ll do what we can.”

Leon went quiet for a long moment as he thought about the offer.  There truly wasn’t much that the Bull Kingdom could offer him that he couldn’t already get.  At most, he supposed unfettered access to places like Argent Palace would be nice, but he didn’t think he had to ask for that for it to be granted.

But…

“There is… one thing,” he slowly said.  “I was going to go there anyway, but I suppose asking for an escort is only polite…”

“Anything at all,” Julius stated.

Leon gave the King a sad smile and made his request.

Julius’ good cheer was instantly dampened.  He nodded in understanding, and after taking a moment to control his reaction, he said, “Of course.  I would never even think of denying you this.”

---

The capital of the Bull Kingdom was much as Leon remembered it.  Even though he’d only lived in it for a few years, it still felt comforting to return to its streets, even if thousands of people turned out to welcome him and their Royal Family back to the city.

But for as much as Leon would’ve otherwise wanted to take his time and take in the sights, he had a specific reason for visiting, and it wasn’t for standard tourism.

It had taken the King only a day to escort Leon’s people to the capital.  They left Rakos and the arks behind with most of the Tempest Knights, allowing them to move quickly, and Leon had gotten in touch with Anzu and Maia along the way.  Anzu was already on his way to the capital while Maia hadn’t said much, only telling him that she was going to be just a little bit late.  Leon was understanding and told her to take as much time as she needed; he had some personal business to take care of.

King Julius wasted little time getting them through the throngs of people lining the streets to wave and cheer as they passed in large, ornate, topless carriages and chariots.  Leon knew Elise was quite interested in visiting their old home and the Tower Lord’s estate where she’d grown up, but it was to the palace complex that Julius led them to first.  They sped through the streets and across the fortified bridge connecting the palace on the island in the lake at the center of the city to the noble district.  Once across, instead of making for the main palace building, however, Julius veered off onto a smaller path, followed by Leon and his family.  Leon’s retainers and Tempest Knights were instead escorted by August to the main palace, with Julius, Bronze, and Penitent acting as Leon and his family’s only escorts.

Past the main palace buildings they went, moving northward until they were mingling among the older, more decrepit, and uninhabited palace buildings on the north side of the island.  This older part of the complex used to be the main palace, Leon knew, but it hadn’t been permanently occupied in more than a thousand years, with most business taking place in the more recently-built buildings on the island’s southern half.

‘Or, I suppose, not occupied until Lapis,’ Leon thought, remembering the stone giant taking up residence in an old amphitheater on this side of the island.  A pang of regret resounded through his chest at the thought of the giant, and not for the first time, he dearly wished he’d made different choices in the past.

But it wasn’t even to most of the buildings that Julius and his two oldest and most powerful Paladins led Leon and his family.  Instead, it was to a clearing in the dense forest that blanketed most of the northern half of the island.  That clearing was filled with various monuments and mausoleums for past members of the Royal Family.  Some statues on these monuments even depicted members of the Royal Family as having bull-like horns sprouting from their foreheads.

The one he was there to visit did not feature bull horns in that way, however.  Instead, it showed a tall, handsome, and powerfully built man standing in front of two fortresses linked by a triple-layered set of walls, defending the Kingdom from external threats.  Behind this man were many Royal Legion soldiers in battle formation—and, to Leon’s surprise, one knight in particular riding a griffin.

His eyes began to sting as they stopped in front of this mausoleum.  Julius said something, but Leon didn’t hear him.  Elise laid a supportive hand on his shoulder while Valeria took his other hand and squeezed.

With them by his side, Leon stared up at the carved face of Prince Trajan, his statue watching over the Kingdom from atop his large marble mausoleum, intricately carved with various events from his life.  Leon soon realized that several other reliefs close to the one of the Prince standing in front of the Bull’s Horns also featured a helmeted knight riding a griffin, and he very nearly broke down at the sight.

He became vaguely aware that Julius, Bronze, and Penitent left at some point, so with only Valeria, Elise, and Cassandra there with him, he allowed himself to more openly mourn the Prince who had taken him in and tried to teach him to be the best person he could be.

Leon knew that he hadn’t lived up to that ideal nearly as well as he might’ve, but just as with Artorias, he dearly hoped that Trajan would’ve been proud of the man he’d grown into and could see what he had built.

Leon remained largely silent in his mourning, but after a while, he finally whispered to the mausoleum, “Your loss will always be keenly felt, no matter how long it’s been.  May you feast with your Ancestors and be free of all pain.”

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