Chapter 1029: The Lion's Pride

Chapter 1029: The Lion's Pride

Leon led Mari out of the Elder Hall and onto the spacious porch. He’d hardly been back for more than a few minutes, but he could already feel the city starting to light up with excitement and movement. He decided to give everyone at least a few minutes to get ready, so he stood out in front of the Elder Hall with Mari, gazing out on Stormhollow.

The city was no Ilion, certainly, with its almost unbroken urban landscape all down the Scamander River, and many forests of golden towers; nor was it like Evergold, which was almost more forest than city. Still, Stormhollow was grand in its own way, with many estates and palaces from wealthy merchants and Tribal holdings. The unique architecture of all Ten Tribes was represented here, from the large communal housing of the Hawks to the wider open spaces of the Lions, giving Stormhollow a unique feel among all the cities that Leon had ever lived in—even including Occulara.

Of course, all of the city’s grandiosity paled in comparison to the splendor of the palace that had been built for him not too far away, and he could see that it had only grown even more magnificent in the time he’d been gone as murals, frescoes, and reliefs were added to the wings that hadn’t yet been completed when he’d moved in.

As he stared down at the palace, he could see the Tempest Knights already assembling an honor guard in the front courtyard, while most of the various bureaucrats and Tribal elders and Chiefs in the city were hurriedly gathering there, as well. At the same time, the guard detail for Elder Hall had assembled a group of twenty guards around him and Mari, though they were keeping a respectful distance.

“So,” Leon said in Aeternan common, “what’s your first impression of my city?”

Mari responded in the same language. “It is... finest city I have ever seen.”

Leon grinned. “I’m happy you think so.”

“I never saw city... I have never... seen a city that was not affected by devils,” she continued, still struggling with the language though her pronunciation was already improving.

Leon nodded in thought. He was a bit ashamed to admit it, but the fact that Mari was still a young woman, possibly twenty years old at the most, had slipped his mind a bit. Arkhnavi was already in an advanced state of decay when she was born, thanks to Planerend, so this was likely her first time just breathing in untainted air, seeing an untainted city, and absorbing untainted power from her environment.

‘Untainted by a Primal Devil, at any rate,’ Leon revised.

“So many people...” Mari whispered in awe. However, her demeanor fell slightly as something appeared to cross her mind. She frowned lightly before turning to Leon and asking in azurian, “Where will I stay? I... uh... I don’t wanna... It looks easy to get lost down there, Lele...”

“You can stay in my palace for as long as you wish,” Leon stated in Aeternan common. “There’re hundreds of rooms available that are meant for visiting dignitaries and other guests, let alone the attached barracks for the Tempest Knights. I’ll have some rooms set aside for you that you can stay in as long as you like. We can also discuss compensation later so that you can find a place of your own, if you wish.”

“Thanks you,” Mari replied in Aeternan common.

Leon smiled and nodded before turning his eyes back toward his palace. He’d given everyone enough time and he figured it was time to head over.

“Want to see something cool?” Leon asked Mari.

“Always,” she responded with an expectant grin.

Leon returned the smile and took a few steps away. Once there was enough room between them, he activated his transformation enchantment, turning into his silver Thunderbird form in a moment right in front of Mari, who shrieked in surprise and almost fell back in her haste to give Leon even more room.VIsit n0(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

“What the fuck?!” she shrieked, switching once more back to azurian. “You’re an Ascended Beast?”

[No,] Leon replied mentally, noting that she twitched a bit as his magic connected with her. [Or... well, I suppose it would be a matter of academic debate, wouldn’t it? I’m a human who can transform into a beast, whereas Ascended Beasts can transform into humans. I was born and raised as a human with an Inherited Bloodline, though, and only gained the power to transform more than twenty years after my birth.]

“Ah... I see,” Mari stated as she slowly grew more relaxed, though not quite to the degree that she’d been only a few seconds before. “Learnin’ somethin’ new every fuckin’ day, I guess,” she whispered. “Didn’t think this was even possible.”

[It wouldn’t be without the unwilling aid of a Primal God, but that’s a story I can tell another time. For now, are you good to fly?]

“Another time, huh? Just gonna brush that off, Lele? Now I’m curious. But I’ll stow my curiosity and say that yes, I am ready for flight. Or I will be in a moment.”

With a wave of her hand, Mari conjured her Ulta suit, still curled up in the same pose that Leon and Mari had stowed it in back when they were still fixing the ark to escape Arkhnavi. With swift feet, Mari bounded over and jumped in. In but a moment, the Ulta suit was hovering above the ground, and Mari’s voice from within said in Aeternan common, “Ready now!”

Leon nodded again, then with a single wingbeat, took flight. Mari, followed by the score of guards watching them, followed him into the sky. Leon didn’t set that quick a pace, but even then, his palace was close enough that they were on their final approach in only a few minutes.

As had become almost a tradition for him, Leon circled the forecourt ten times before coming in for a landing. Mari and the guards followed him during his laps before landing just behind him. The whole time he was circling, more than a thousand people below who’d assembled in the forecourt shouted, stamped their feet, applauded, and did all they could to welcome their King back to Stormhollow.

Leon, though he was happy to be back home, spared a moment as he transformed back into his human form to take a good look at the massive column of porphyry still standing in the center of the forecourt. The beautiful purple stone was to be his Clan’s totem, and in the time he’d been gone, work had begun on carving it. The Thunderbird would be at the top, as was proper, while an image representing him would be on the bottom, in the most important place. Others that were important to his lineage would also be added, including his father, grandfather, and Demetrius, the son of Jason Keraunos who was the progenitor of House Raime.

Notably, Jason Keraunos himself was not going to be added to the totem. Leon was rather critical of the man’s decision to invade Aeterna and didn’t feel like honoring him on the Clan totem.

His attention, however, was snatched away from the column when he noticed a certain beautiful blond hurtling toward him like a speeding ark supercarrier. Given her power, Leon was barely able to open his arms and take a single step back to brace himself before she flung herself at him.

Elise’s expression was the most complex, being a mix of joy and unease. There was a hesitance in her expression, as if she was afraid of something now that he’d returned. Leon had to once more fight his urge to make assumptions, but he could practically feel the ember of hope in his chest die.

As he smiled at her, Elise’s hesitance vanished, and she took a few steps forward, took his face into her hands, and pressed her lips against his. The crowd thundered its approval, and Leon and Elise lingered like that for a long moment, simply reveling in having each other back. Once they parted, Elise whispered, “Welcome back, my love.”

“How could I stay away?” Leon whispered back. “The thought of getting home and seeing you—all of you—again kept me going. But we can talk about that later.”

[Yes!] Maia insisted as she practically pulled Elise and Leon apart so that she could take Elise’s place. [Later!]

Leon and Maia gave the crowd a repeat performance of passion, to similar results, and when they parted, Leon gave Valeria a questioning smile. She subtly shook her head, and he was both disappointed and relieved. They’d get their passionate reunion, but that was for them alone and wasn’t going to be shared with the Kingdom.

“I see you’ve brought company, husband,” Elise said as she turned her emerald eyes to Mari, who was standing about as awkwardly as she could in her Ulta suit behind Leon at the top of the stairs.

“Ah! Yes!” Leon responded. “Everyone, we can do more personal introductions later, so we can make this brief. This is Mari’Kha, an exceptionally talented magical engineer I met on Arkhnavi. I offered her a chance to come and join this Kingdom, and she accepted. For now, she’ll be staying here with us, so be sure to give her a warm welcome.”

“I’ll speak with the seneschal to arrange proper quarters and storage options for that... golem?” Gaius said.

“Ulta suit,” Mari replied.

“Yes, that,” Gaius said with an apologetic grin.

“Speaking of golems,” Leon said as he glanced around the forecourt, noting a few more absences. “Nestor and the giants. Where are they?”

“They moved north to be closer to the Ravens’ mountains,” Elise explained. “It’s made getting them thunder wood amber more of a pain, but it’s still sped up the process for getting the giants into their new bodies considerably. At this point, we’ve almost gotten a thousand of the giants out of Rakos and into their new frames.”

“Already?” Leon said, amazed. “They’re certainly working fast.”

“Nestor has been complaining about needing to get them working on other things,” Valeria stated. “He’s impatient and wants to focus on other research.”

“I’ll go knock a bit of sense and caution into him later,” Leon said. “Until then, how about we all head inside? No need to have everyone out here burning up in the sun all day.”

“Before we do that,” Elise said, “I need to warn you that we have some guests inside from the mainland. Dignitaries from the Empires.”

“That’s not surprising,” Leon said. “I half-expected the Lord Protector and Grand Druid to be here.”

“They sent full ambassadorial delegations,” Elise responded, “but they’re not the ones I wanted to warn you about.”

Leon cocked an eyebrow in interest. “Oh? Who, then?”

“The Sunlit Empire sent an ambassador seeking your permission to set up an embassy,” Elise stated, “and the Sentinels have also sent an ambassador, though they haven’t quite so far as to say that they want an embassy, just yet.”

“The Keeper sent someone here?” Leon whispered, almost amazed at that turn of events. “I was rather expecting him to find some excuse to continue being surly and hostile. This is fantastic!”

[Yes, yes, fantastic,] Maia interjected. [Sex now, other stuff later!] She grabbed Leon’s arm and began steering him toward the doors.

“Just got home and already putting me to work, are you?” Leon teased as the rest of his family fell in behind him, while with a jerk of his head, Leon ordered Gaius to follow through on seeing to Mari.

“You consider laying with us to be work now?!” Cassandra responded in faux outrage.

Leon shrugged noncommittally, then said, “I’ll show you my real thoughts on the matter soon, Princess.”

“Promises, promises,” Cassandra replied.

Though he made something of a show out of complaining, Leon didn’t once try and fight Maia leading him to their private residential wing of the palace, and in fact, was enthusiastic enough to almost lead her instead.

He supposed he should’ve seen this coming, though; a simple glance to his ladies was all he needed to see that as tired and happy to be home as he was, he wasn’t going to get any rest anytime soon...