After thirty-three days, Silver Spear, followed closely by Cassandra’s personal ark, came flying in low over Stormhollow.  As much as Leon enjoyed being back in Occulara and the Bull Kingdom again, he felt even better being back in his capital city again.

‘Hopefully, I won’t have to leave again until Ambrose finally gets here…’ Leon thought as Silver Spear touched down at his palace’s main arkpad.

He barely registered the celebrations taking place around his palace, thanks to his mental fatigue, but he certainly noticed the large group led by most of his ministers awaiting him.  Iron-Striker stood out in front, with the Jaguar to his right and Ipatameni to his left.  There weren’t many other elders around since there simply wasn’t much need for an elder to be in Stormhollow unless they either had some business with Leon or the Elder Council was due to gather, but there were still a number of high-ranking officers from the central army present, as well as high-ranking members of the bureaucracy.

Leon endured the welcome as best as he could, and as the new arrivals disembarked, he made all the necessary introductions.  Princess Cristina had arrived as their first formal embassy, though Cassandra had told Leon before they’d left Occulara that the Grand Druid had heard of it and had gotten a little upset that Leon’s first embassy was from a backwater Kingdom on the far side of the continent, so Leon fully expected at least one more embassy to be sent in the near future.  And, of course, if Evergold sent an embassy, then it would only be a matter of time before Ilion sent one, too.

These were good things, Leon knew that, but it didn’t stop him from feeling tired just thinking about it.  He supposed he’d better start building out his own Diplomatic Corps, if only to give himself some insulation from the politicking of foreign powers who might seek his attention in the future.

So, he took some time to introduce Princess Cristina and some of her higher-ranking knightesses, including Asiya, to his high ministers.  He made sure to mention that they were old friends from the Bull Kingdom, and Iron-Striker personally assured Leon that he would see about having a choice estate in the city set aside for the Princess and her entourage.

Following them came Emilie, and again, Leon was sure to emphasize the personal connection between Emilie and Elise during the introduction.  He could see some in the crowd tensing up at the mention of establishing a branch of Heaven’s Eye on Kataigida, but they had no choice but to acquiesce to his command knowing that his first wife was Emilie’s daughter.  He supposed that his high minsters knowing that the Director was sworn to him helped too, but a show of public support for Heaven’s Eye was necessary, he felt.

Again, Iron-Striker promised to see about having some land set aside, but once it became clear what Leon was doing, he’d waved the Ax-Bringer forward.  The Ax-Bringer had no official responsibilities in the administration of Stormhollow, but the position had still served as the unofficial mayor of the city since it was first set aside as the closest thing to a capital the Ten Tribes had.  Bringing the Ax-Bringer in on some of these administrative issues was key to ensuring Leon’s will was carried out quickly and without fuss.

The idea of trading with the mainland was still…  Leon knew it would take some time, but he was confident that once profits started being made, the people would come around, even if the elders and Chiefs still balked.  At the very least, he thought that trade across the Veins of Vigilance could be one aspect of Thunderman—he was still quietly workshopping demonyms for his Kingdom—life that the people who lacked bloodlines could thrive in.

Once Emilie’s introduction was over and promises were made, Leon, just as he’d done with Cristina and her people, had his mother-in-law escorted into the palace, where she and her relatively small group of Heaven’s Eye representatives could be made comfortable.  His palace was large and he was more than happy to host his mother-in-law for as long as she wanted, or at least until her harem could be ferried over.  Hosting Emilie was one thing, but hosting her dozens of husbands and hundreds of concubines was another.

After Emilie came possibly one of the most important introductions of all: Rakos’.  Leon helped the stone giant exit Cassandra’s ark, and he saw more than a few people in the crowd staring slack-jawed at the sight of the stone giant packed so full of magic power.  He was sure that there were some in the crowd who didn’t quite believe him when he said that Rakos was holding twelve thousand giants within itself, but the aura emanating from its gem-encrusted shell was undeniably potent for the tier the giant appeared to be.

Unfortunately, there weren’t any Ravens in the crowd for Leon to introduce Rakos to, but he made do with everyone else.  Nestor and the rest of the Raven leadership would be arriving in Stormhollow in just a few days.  Leon would’ve stopped in Raiginn on his way back home, but given his desire to avoid the Sunlit Empire, his route had veered fairly far west before swinging back east, meaning Raiginn, near the northern tip of Kataigida, was no longer on the way.

That was the benefit of being a King, he supposed.  He knew he’d be expected to tour the island relatively frequently, but in some cases, the island could come to him.

Rakos was gracious and almost embarrassingly subservient as Leon tried to get it settled into the palace, but he eventually convinced it to head for a private courtyard while he continued with his business, though there wasn’t much left to be had out there.

Anshu left quickly, with Leon’s blessing.  The Indradian had business of his own to see to, and Leon wasn’t going to try and keep him around any longer than needed.  So, when Leon saw him off, he did so without much ceremony, which Anshu seemed to appreciate.  The brief mutual nod they exchanged was more meaningful than the handful of words they spoke, and once it was over, Anshu wasted no more time taking back to the skies and heading westward.

Leon didn’t know when he’d next see him, but he hoped when he did, Anshu would bring word of victory.

He then spent a few minutes with his retainers.  Alcander and Sofia, in particular, drew a lot of attention, with the reveal of the latter’s pregnancy.  But buried in that joyous attention, Leon detected some slight friction amongst some of his people—namely between Anna and Eirene.  He knew the two had spoken after Anna’s chat with him about her concerns for their future, and while he didn’t yet know the details of that conversation, he thought it was at least somewhat encouraging that Eirene still came with them back to Kataigida.

‘They’ll work it out or they won’t,’ he thought with some resignation.  ‘Either way, not really my business, unless it becomes so loud that I have to step in…’

So, while he was certainly concerned, he resolved himself to stay out of whatever was going on between them unless directly asked to involve himself.

Attracting considerably less attention were Valeria and Justin.  Valeria had accompanied Leon, along with Maia, Elise, and Cassandra, but once all of the official introductions were out of the way, she’d retreated to where Justin had been standing as inconspicuously as he could, and swiftly hurried him further into the palace, stopping only to exchange a few words with Leon and then the palace seneschal.  Leon wasn’t looking forward to having Justin in his palace, but as with his other guests, he knew the palace was more than large enough that he was unlikely to run into Justin unless he was actively looking for the man.

Tikos was going to have another batch of Hesperidic Apples ready soon, so he supposed he’d have to reserve one or two for Justin, depending on the size of the harvest, but aside from then, he didn’t think he’d be seeing much of the man.

Maia’s river nymphs drew far more attention as they disembarked from Silver Spear.  They were going to be set up in Maia’s largest pool, where they could serve her as their Empress.  Leon wasn’t sure what that meant, but he trusted Maia to keep them in check.  The last thing he needed was to hear of them kidnapping the men of Stormhollow and doing all manner of unspeakable things to them.

But if the nymphs could learn to play nicely with his people, then he’d welcome them wholeheartedly to his Kingdom.  He didn’t think they were so far removed from human intelligence that they couldn’t understand costs and benefits, but even if that were the case, they understood power, and that Maia was more powerful than they were, even combined.

So, he trusted they’d do as she told them, and after herding them down the ramp, she quickly told them to follow her away from the crowds of people staring at them in concern, wonder, and awe.  Twenty spectacularly beautiful women were hardly going to go unnoticed, even after Maia had them clothed.

The rest of Leon’s retinue broke apart soon after that.  Alix and Alcander had business with the Tempest Knights; Gaius, as Leon’s top secretary, had to get caught up with keeping track of Leon’s business; and Marcus all but physically dragged Lucianus to the nearest training room.  Helen, meanwhile, hadn’t even waited that long, having slipped out at some point while Leon was still making introductions.  Leon could see with his magic senses that she’d made a beeline for her workshop and was already preparing some new experiment or other.  Red hadn’t been that far behind her, though instead of getting to work, she’d assumed her wyvern form and took to basking in the sun in the palace gardens.  Finally, Anna and Eirene took a more leisurely exit, with Leon able to hear them quietly discussing the need to get Anna’s manticore some new food now that it was getting close to full size.

That left Leon with Cassandra, Elise, and Anzu, though Elise almost immediately gave Leon a quick kiss and took her leave to help her mother get settled in.  Cassandra, meanwhile, had her own business to handle with laying the groundwork for a potential Evergolden embassy, so she gave Leon a kiss of her own before departing.

And so Leon was left with Anzu and his Tempest Knight escorts.

“You going to leave me, too?” Leon sarcastically asked his little brother.

“Do you want me to?” Anzu asked a little too seriously for Leon’s liking.

Leon ruffled Anzu’s long white hair in response, then threw his arms around Anzu’s shoulders and pulled him inside.  There was always work for a King to do, but for at least a couple hours, he could spend some time with his favorite griffin.

---

Leon wasn’t able to relax for long before his head began to prickle with thoughts of Ambrose.  This prickling was only made more intense when the tau came to greet him, bringing not only words of greeting but also of caution for the amount of time he had left, and Leon decided then and there that he was done relaxing.

His biggest priority was seeing to the stone giants.  With Clear Day, he grabbed a few of the golem shells that Nestor had made along with several spare rubies that Nestor kept around.  The dead man had made a few extra soul rubies upon Leon’s request, but those were mostly kept secured.  Leon was a skilled enough enchanter to make some of his own, thanks in no small part to the fact that the Thunderbird had walked him through making the very first one he’d used to trap Nestor when the dead man attempted to steal his body.

With those in hand, he made his way to the courtyard where Rakos had posted up.  Upon arriving, he introduced Clear Day to Rakos—using the Rumble Stone for the first time to share knowledge of the giants’ language with the tau—and then began setting up for some experimentation.  To aid him, he also conjured a few of the librarian golems he kept in his soul realm to maintain the books and records he’d taken from the archives beneath Argent Palace.  The Librarian itself was not only an able assistant for these matters, but also a prime example of a perfectly functioning wisp-powered golem for Leon to compare his work to.

Upon conjuring the Librarian, the bronze golem stood straight, almost at attention, as it waited for Leon’s next command.  Rakos, on the other hand, turned its enormous, magic-dense bulk toward its more human-sized bronze counterpart.

Rakos then began making a few strange grinding sounds, not quite intelligible as giant speech, but certainly expressing something.

“Something the matter, Rakos?” Leon asked, pausing as he set up his enchantment tools.

Rakos responded with a few more strange rumbling sounds before speaking more ‘normally’.

“This one is similar, yet not.  Close to kin, but off.  Too close; too off.”

“Huh.  Can you elaborate on why?”  Leon had already landed on what he thought was the obvious hypothesis, that the Librarian was a ‘normal’ golem that lacked much sapience or free will.  The stone giants—even if Nestor was right in saying they lacked complete free will—were at least far more self-aware than the bronze golems, and were far more lively to boot.

Rakos made another indecipherable rumbling noise before saying, “Apologies, I cannot.  Others wiser than me might, but not me.”

“Well, then,” Leon said as he finished setting up his enchanting tools and arranging a few rubies and empty golems on tables in the courtyard.  “Why don’t we try and see if they’re able to join us?”

“Will these bodies work?” Clear asked Rakos as the giant lumbered over.  “They’re quite a bit smaller than what you seem to be used to.”

“Physical strength is prized, so shells of stone with great physical strength are what we use.  But the size of the shell doesn’t matter; only that we’re able to prepare it properly.”

Leon nodded along.  “I remember seeing that process.  Are you able to ‘prepare’ a body by yourself?”

“I am not by myself, Divine One,” Rakos replied as it hefted its massive right arm.  Power poured out of its arm as the rubies embedded within it flashed with light, inundating the closest of the golems in magic while Leon stared for a moment, then began hurriedly studying what the stone giant was doing and dictating his observations to the Librarian golem, who, in turn, swiftly jotted his thoughts down in machine-perfect handwriting.

From what Leon knew, the process of creating a new golem was quite lengthy, potentially taking many hours to days.  However, in this case, they weren’t creating a new golem but merely preparing a shell for a golem wisp that already existed.

After about five minutes, however, Rakos cut off the power and seemed to slump forward.

“This shell… is unsuitable.”

Leon’s heart sank, though he wasn’t completely discouraged just yet.  He’d watched Rakos’ power sink into the shell and probe its every enchantment, sinking into and inspecting every nook and cranny.  He couldn’t discern much, but he noted that while Rakos was thorough in its inspection, it was focused on the golem’s core, the densest and most important web of enchantments within its chest that surrounded the compartment where the storage unit for the golem’s wisp would go.

“It’s the wrong kind of crystal, isn’t it?” Clear whispered.

“Yes,” Rakos confirmed.

Leon’s eyes narrowed as they darted from the giant to the golem shell.  As far as he could tell, the rubies that contained the rest of the stone giants weren’t meaningfully dissimilar to the rubies he’d prepared.  The gem that would go within the golem, whatever it wound up being, would also be of a piece with what Rakos had embedded in the surface of its shell.

“In what way do they fail?” Leon asked, irritation creeping into his tone, though more at the situation than at anyone specifically.

Rakos responded quickly, perhaps sensing Leon’s irritation.  “A shell is not stone from surface to surface; within the core is where we ‘live’.  We are encased within our shells, but our cores let us maintain our shells as extensions of ourselves.”

Leon nodded, following along as best as he could.  He turned his attention from Rakos’ rubies to the stone giant’s chest.  That was where Rakos’ lightning wisp was encased.

Before he could say anything, however, Clear asked, “Would you mind if I took a look at you?”

Rakos rumbled its grudging acceptance, and Clear stepped forward and gently laid his hands upon Rakos’ upper waist.  The tau closed his dark red eyes and concentrated, and Leon felt an intense aura of earth magic spring from him, causing him to take an instinctive step back.

After a moment, Clear stepped back, his face grim.  He turned to Leon and asked, “Have you ever split a stone open before and found crystals within?”

“I have,” Leon confirmed.  It wasn’t often, but when studying under Sid and Nestor, extracting good gems from within certain stones was a critical skill he’d been forced to develop, though he’d never used it outside of practice.

“Rakos’ insides are… remarkable, really.  Complex, beautiful, and fragile, almost like glass,” Clear explained as he commandeered some paper from the Librarian and began drawing it.  A cross-section view of Rakos’ torso soon appeared, showing a thick outer shell of stone, while a relatively small core of glassy crystal remained.  The crystal was broken up into several pillars, though largely covering the inner surface of the core.  Despite that, there was still a surprising amount of empty space within the core than Leon would’ve guessed.

“Our stone giant friend lives in one of these,” Clear explained as he tapped the crystal system.  “Such an interplay of crystal and power is vastly different from that of a ruby.  A giant could probably survive inside one of these rubies, but because of the way the stone crystals interact with each other that the giants are dependent on, a stone giant that is moved into a ruby will be stuck inside of it until released.”  Clear nodded pointedly to Rakos’ rubies.

“I will release my people once suitable shells are found,” Rakos insisted, its tone not accusatory but still defensive.

“I never said you wouldn’t,” Clear said.  Turning back to Leon, he said, “The point is that these rubies will be insufficient.  Perhaps they’d work fine for more run-of-the-mill wisps, but for a stone giant, they’d merely lock a giant in and prevent them from interfacing with their shell’s enchantments.”

“Then we’re going to have to find a different material for the giants to inhabit…” Leon murmured.  “What about the enchantments within the shells?  Would they prove an issue?” Leon asked Rakos.

“Unlikely,” was the giants’ taciturn response.

Leon nodded in acknowledgment, then cracked his fingers in preparation for running experiments.  “Then let’s see if we can find some other crystal or gem or whatever that will work…”

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