Occulara, once again.

Leon smiled as Silver Spear landed in the fields next to his villa.  It still felt great to return, and they were going to stay just a little bit longer this time while preparing to head back to Kataigida.

There wasn’t much ceremony as Leon and his people disembarked and headed inside, save for some surprise and alarm when Rakos exited Cassandra’s ark, after which Leon had the stone giant post up in a private courtyard.  Silver Spear had been cramped with so many people riding along, and after several weeks, everyone just wanted some privacy before they spent a few more days in those conditions.

In the same vein, Emilie and her attendants departed for her home in the city proper while Cristina and her retainers made for the Bull Kingdom’s embassy.  Cristina, at least, would be returning before they left to set up another embassy in Stormhollow.

For his part, Leon almost expected to get dragged to bed by his ladies, but once they got unpacked, Cassandra had to go and see her grandmother, Valeria left to check in with her father, Elise wanted to visit her mother, and Maia had to see to her river nymphs.  So, without much else to do, Leon relaxed for a few hours, then went to find Anzu.

His griffin brother was lounging in the sun in his griffin form, splayed out over as much warm stone in the forecourt as he could possibly take up.  His old stable was still there, but he hadn’t lived in it since he ascended to the eighth-tier, and it had since been converted into a proper stable for guests.

With hardly a word, Leon laid down next to the albino griffin, not caring at all if anyone saw him—and given how zealously the Tempest Knights, Heaven’s Eye, and the Empires were guarding and watching over his home, he was sure he could be seen by quite a few people when he was out in front of his home.

Leon didn’t say a word as he joined Anzu in the sun.  Neither did Anzu, but he at least wriggled over and snuggled his large head against Leon’s arm, clearly demanding some head pats.  Leon dramatically huffed, but after a few nudges, he sat up and began running his fingers through Anzu’s head feathers.

Almost an hour he spent there, grooming his little brother.  After some minutes, though, he decided that his fingers weren’t good enough and transformed into his Thunderbird form.  He found that preening the griffin was far more effective when he had both a beak and an instinct for it that came with the much larger body.  Anzu, at least, seemed to enjoy it quite a bit, to the point that he pushed himself off the ground so that Leon could do it properly.

It wasn’t a ‘productive’ use of Leon’s time, but he didn’t care.  Once he started, he found the process incredibly satisfying, especially after he transformed, like he was indulging some primal instinct.

Once Leon was finished, Anzu collapsed back onto the stones of the courtyard, his body so limp and relaxed he looked almost boneless.  Leon snorted about as much as he could with a beak, seeing the griffin mussing up some of his feathers again, and he just had to fix it before he left.  So, after taking just a few more minutes to fix the griffin, Leon left, feeling more relaxed himself.

---

Following another call with his highest ministers back on Kataigida, Leon settled in for some private training.  He still needed quite a bit of practice with certain techniques, with a focus on earth magic, and if he were feeling like it, wisp creation.  He wasn’t going to wholly rely on the stone giants, especially when he didn’t even know if they could do what he hoped they could.

However, he’d barely gotten past a few practice techniques taught to him by Sid to aid his blacksmithing before he was interrupted by a knock at the door.  With his magic senses, Leon saw that his visitor was Anshu, and after taking a moment to bury his irritation, he called for the Indradian to enter.

When Anshu was shown in by the Tempest Knights on the other side of the door, Leon noticed that his retainer looked… troubled.  He held out his hand toward a meditation pillow in a silent invitation for Anshu to take a seat, which the man accepted.

After taking a seat, Anshu was quiet for a long moment, and Leon saw no need to rush the man, especially since his anxieties were carving deeper and deeper furrows into his brow with every passing second.

Eventually, the pressure had to break, though when it did, it came with a whisper, not a roar.

“I… must beg your forgiveness, and your generosity,” Anshu said in a soft, hesitant tone.

“Why?” Leon demanded, taking a somewhat stern tone, hoping it might spur Anshu into sharing what was on his mind a bit more confidently—or at least, a little bit quicker.

However, Anshu sank his teeth into his bottom lip in distress, before opening and closing his mouth several times in failed attempts to speak.

Leon softened seeing the sheer conflict on the Indradian’s face and settled in to wait patiently, no longer intent on pushing him to speak before he was ready.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait long before Anshu found his tongue.

“I have… received word from a friend in the southwest,” he quietly said.  He retrieved a letter from his soul realm, the seal of the Prince of Tosali upon it.

The Prince of Tosali, Leon knew, was one of the most powerful noblemen in the Indra Raj, being just one step removed from the Rajah himself.  He ruled a vast Principality in the Raj’s east, and from Leon’s past interactions with Anshu, knew the two Indradians to be allies of a sort.  Anshu’s entire family—distantly related to the Rajah, if he recalled correctly—had been purged when Anshu’s brother slept with one of the Rajah’s unmarried daughters.  Only Anshu escaped alive, the rest of his family having been killed in the purge.  Anshu had spoken often of his desire for vengeance against the Rajah, whom Leon knew was yet the reigning monarch in the Raj.

And, if Anshu’s sporadic communications with the Prince of Tosali were any indication, he wasn’t the only one who wanted the Rajah gone.

“What does our Princely friend say?” Leon asked, not taking the offered letter.  He gave Anshu a look that told him he wasn’t going to take the letter and instead hear what Anshu had to say.  Anshu had earned enough credit with Leon that his word was enough, as far as Leon was concerned.

Anshu looked… Leon wasn’t quite sure about that, but after a moment, his expression settled on something that resembled gratitude.

“The Rajah has announced a new foray into the south,” Anshu explained.  “The Sunlit Empire was the only Empire to have a sizable presence in the Raj, owing to its large navy.  With its navy either at the bottom of the Veins of Vigilance or in relative disarray after our war, they’ve pulled their interests back, leaving the Raj as the strongest power in the southwest.  Even Ilion is separated by the Kyron Steppes, and won’t directly interfere in the Rajah’s business.

“The Rajah has seen this as an opportunity to accomplish what his forebears were never able to do: conquer the Free Cities of the Tam along the southwestern coast.  It was your… Naiad’s father who repelled the last invasion, and I don’t think the Tam has another of Prince Ellalan’s caliber amongst their divided leadership.  If the Rajah invades now, he might just get what he wants.”

“If he invades now,” Leon stated with a pointed look.

Anshu nodded in acknowledgment.  “It’s easy to see why he might want to try: it will win him military glories while accomplishing something that greater men than him have tried and failed to do.  He may even hope to shore up his domestic support by delivering a glorious military victory.

“But others have seen this as an opportunity.  Prince Tosali believes that when he launches his invasion will be the time to strike.  And I’m inclined to agree.”

Leon raised an eyebrow and fixed Anshu in a steely gaze.  “Are you simply offering a strategic opinion, or do you mean something else?”

“I want to join them, when they move against the Rajah,” Anshu said, determination shining on his face.  “This is what I’ve been waiting for!  For so long, I’ve had to simmer and seethe that the killer of my family had gotten off so easily!  But now…”

“… Now you have the ear of a King,” Leon gravely finished.

However, Anshu quickly said, “I’m not asking for you to declare war on my behalf, Leon.  I… actually came here today to ask your leave to deal with this… on my own.”

Leon’s steely gaze cracked, revealing a look of astonishment.  “On your own?”

Anshu nodded in confirmation.  “I would ask no one else to join me in this.  This is a private matter, and privately shall I handle it.  I ask you, once we return to Kataigida, to relieve me of my duties so that I may join Tosali and bring an end to the man who ended my family.”

Leon’s heart sank, anger and resentment blossoming in his chest.  He’d long ago promised Anshu his support in dealing with the Rajah, and while he wasn’t looking to get the Thunder Kingdom embroiled in another war, he felt Anshu asking to be released from his retinue was only a step shy of abandonment.

“You…  You would seek to leave my service?” Leon asked in a tone he carefully controlled to ensure none of his negative emotions leaked out.  He took extra special care to keep his killing intent chained, as well.

To his surprise, Anshu quickly answered, “No!”  He bowed low, nearly touching his forehead to the floor even as he remained seated.  “Your Majesty has been a far kinder and more lenient liege than the Rajah ever was!  I could never ask to be released of my duties forever!  I… I ask only that I be given leave to handle this, and to be allowed to return once it has been completed.”

Leon breathed deeply, letting his emotions bleed out of him as his lungs deflated.

‘Maybe… I jumped a bit too quickly to conclusions?’ he wondered.

Aloud, he said, “Your duties will continue until we return to Kataigida.  Then I will grant your leave.  Return as quickly as you can.  If you do not, I will come and find you.”

Such was not an empty threat or promise; Leon hoped Anshu understood that.  He took neither betrayal nor attacks upon his retainers lightly.  Still, Anshu was an eighth-tier mage, and he felt like if anyone could take care of himself, it would be the Indradian.

Anshu bowed again, this time actually touching his forehead to the floor.  “I may not return before your… meeting with the Grave Warden.  But I will return!  On my honor!  And once I do, you will have my loyalty for the rest of your days!”

Leon straightened up and stared imperiously at Anshu, his head still lowered.

And he accepted Anshu’s declaration.

---

“Jacopo Isaias?” Gaius asked as he examined the man in question’s documentation.

“The foremost specialist on reinforcement enchantments in Heaven’s Eye?” Leon responded.  “As if I’d ever leave without giving him the option to come with.”

Gaius made a note, then flipped to the next profile.  “Samuel Rockenfielder?”

Leon scrunched up his face for a long moment, turning the name over in his head, quickly matching it to the man and his skillset, and finding both wanting.

“Pass.  We only have so much room on Silver Spear; I’m not wasting time on those who won’t appreciate the offer—and especially not on those with more ego than skill.”

Gaius chuckled, then made another note of Leon’s decision.

“John Artabasdos?”

“That sedentary fool wouldn’t leave Occulara for all the knowledge hoarded by the Ravens.”

“If he has useful skills, then shouldn’t we at least ask?”

Leon regarded Gaius seriously, who stared at him right back.  Leon waved dismissively.  “I’m too lukewarm on him.  We’ll not waste our time with him until we have a great ability to transport people from Occulara to Kataigida.  Besides, it’s not like his talents will be wasted; he’ll still be working with Heaven’s Eye.”

“If you say so,” Gaius said without a gram of condescension in his tone as he marked down Leon’s decision.  “Artabasdos was our last profile.  Total count: four yeas, thirteen nays.”

“Make the offers,” Leon ordered him, and Gaius rose, bowed, and made for the door.  As he left, he paused at the door and gave a quiet exclamation of surprise.  “Your Highness!  I didn’t realize you were here!”

Leon looked up, having been just about to turn to other business when he heard Gaius’ words.  Sure enough, a quick pulse of his magic senses showed him Princess Cristina and Dame Asiya outside of his office.

After a moment, Gaius turned around and stuck his head back into the office, and Leon allowed the Princess and her most trusted knight—and lover—to enter.

As they entered, he rose to greet them as Gaius entered the door behind them, and standing by it after the Tempest Knight outside closed it.

“Princess,” Leon said with a warm smile.  “Asiya,” he added with a friendlier tone.

“Hey there, ‘White Griffin’,” Asiya said with a teasing smile, while Cristina looked almost affronted by her behavior.

“Siya!”

Asiya broke out into a fit of giggles, then said, “Apologies, Your Majesty.”  She gave him a perfect genuflection, and he rushed to wave her out of it.

“That’s not necessary.  Please, let’s not stand on such ceremony here in private.  Come, have a seat, tell me what business has brought you here today?”

“Some questions,” Cristina said as she and Asiya took their seats.  “Confirmation of some things I’ve heard from Elise and Val.”

“What kinds of things?” Leon asked as he tamped down his immediate worry, wondering just what Elise might’ve told the Princess and her knightess.

Valeria, though, he wasn’t too concerned about.  She was far more discrete than his fire-haired wife.

“That you’re going to become a god and leave this plane and conquer the universe!” Cristina enthusiastically exclaimed.

Leon blinked in surprise, and once her words sank in, he had to fight the urge to both groan and burst out laughing.

“That’s… one way to put my future plans.”

“Would you put it better, Leon?” Asiya pointedly asked.

“I would say that I plan on achieving Apotheosis, leaving this plane, and retaking all of my Clan’s old territory in the Nexus and beyond.  I’m yet unsure of just how much of the universe that would be, but I’ve been assured it’s a sizable percentage.”

“So it’s true!” Cristina yelled.

“From… a certain point of view, I suppose.  More limited than what you might’ve been implying, but sure, you weren’t wrong about me.”

“I want to go with you!” Cristina declared.  “I want to see all that the universe can show me!  I demand to not be left behind!”

“Princess…” Asiya said, a colder edge to her tone than Leon had ever seen her use with her lady before.

Despite the difference in their station, when Cristina locked eyes with her bronze-skinned retainer, she somehow grew even paler than she already was—a true feat, in Leon’s estimation.

Turning back to Leon, Cristina said a little apologetically, “I… allowed myself to get carried away there, King Leon.  I would like to humbly request your leave to join you, as the ambassador of my father and his Kingdom, even when you leave this plane.”

Leon almost snorted.  There wouldn’t be much need for ambassadors from Aeterna once he left, especially since he wasn’t planning on returning for a long time.  However, he was already taking Anastasios and the Grand Druid—or so he presumed, anyway, neither had yet given him an answer to his invitation.  Adding a few more, especially in the light of the billions he was already responsible for transporting, was hardly that big of an ask.

“I suppose I could allow it,” Leon said with a shrug.  “I don’t know when it’ll be, but you’ll have to train your asses off if you don’t want to be a burden.  I won’t tolerate weakness, even amongst honored guests.”

His tone was light, but Cristina and Asiya took him seriously.

“I won’t slack off!” Cristina declared with severe conviction.

Matching her lady’s tone, Asiya said, “Neither will I!”

“Great,” Leon replied with a smile.  “Having you two along will make Valeria and Elise happy, I’m sure.”

Cristina nodded in gratitude, and Leon began to realize he’d likely have to get used to people randomly coming up to him and asking to come with once he left the plane, for he doubted this would be the last time it happened.

At the very least, he doubted anyone who he’d actually turn down would have the audacity to ask, but he would have no trouble turning them down—it was for those that he might accept that he’d need to prepare for.

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