Conan’s young wife was currently preoccupied with dodging her rambunctious children while simultaneously cooking their evening meal. Kaia picked up Remy from under her mother’s feet and sat her on the kitchen counter. She tasked the child with stirring the cooking broth while she sliced ingredients and added it to the pot. Jak sat himself in a corner and began playing very enthusiastically with a few small wooden figurines, talking boisterously in both Genti and Pershus. Rose watched on, standing awkwardly by the door.

After a few minutes, Hana noticed Rose standing uneasily on the other side of the room.

“Rose?” she said casually. “Could you cut these potatoes for me?” She offered the nervous Ianterran a knife. Rose’s first instinct was to refuse; she’d never cooked before. She opened her mouth to decline but stopped when she caught Kaia’s eye. Rose thought back to the conversation they’d had on Gideon’s ship and hesitated.

By now, Hana had been holding the knife out to Rose for an awkwardly long amount of time. Ignoring her apprehension, Rose took the knife.

Kaia smiled into her pot.

“I am not longer a fighter,” Conan told Navihm. “That was the younger, foolhardy me.”

“I’m not here to ask you to join our army.” Navihm leaned forward. “I’m asking you to lead it.”

Rose presented Hana with the cut vegetables nervously. They were uneven and had taken her a long time to dice but Hana beamed at Rose.

“Perfect. Thank you.”

Rose grinned, delighted with her small accomplishment.

“Lead it?”

“Yes.” Navihm refused to be disheartened by Conan’s tone of disbelief. “You are the only Genti on the continent with any sort of military experience. You were a high commander in a civil war in Pershus, correct?”

“Yes. Twenty years ago!” The baby stirred at her father’s sharp words. “Surely there is someone on the continent with more recent experience.” He said, quieter, so as not to disturb Lian. “I haven’t so much as thrown a punch in almost fifteen years.”

“You know as well as I do that Gentis do not go to war.” It was true. Genticus hadn't been involved in a significant conflict in over six generations. “You were responsible for the most crucial victory at the battle of Silverwater Straits. You were a great warrior, with a brilliant mind for tactics and experience fighting an enemy on water. You are our best and only option.”

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I have a family now.” Conan looked at Lian, who’d fallen asleep in Navihm’s arms. “I need to be here for them. I can't get myself killed in some war.”

“This war is for them. You would be protecting their lives and your home. Besides, it isn't as if you will be in the front lines. You are much too valuable as a commander to be sent into battle. We need you to command the entire army. You will be responsible for choosing field commanders and directing them from a base of operations.

“I’m not just asking you to be a commander, I’m asking you to be the commander. You will not even be answerable to the Rei.”

Conan leant back in his chair, running his hands through his hair. He could not believe the responsibilities he was being handed.

The women finished with the meal a short time after that, interrupting the men’s conversation. Conan had yet to give an answer to Navihm request and was reluctant to continue the topic in front of his children.

The meal was a good one. A blend of Genti and Pershus foods were crammed onto the table. Navihm doubted that they would finish all the food, but, in typical Pershus fashion, Hana preoccupied herself with making sure everyone’s plates were full to the brim.

Navihm sung her praises, thoroughly impressed with the delicious meal.

“I couldn't have done it without Kaia preoccupying the little ones or Rose’s help in the kitchen. It was Rose who made that rice you’ve had three helpings of, Enfeitar.” Hana was exaggerating, but Rose was delighted with the praise none the less. Navihm raised his glass just slightly towards Rose, smiling.

He met Conan’s eyes across the table.

“I will talk with my wife,” he said. “If she agrees, I will accept this responsibility.”

Navihm let Kaia walk ahead of them as they left the cottage.

“Thank you for your help in there,” he said to Rose. “You were right to suggest you come along.”

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Conan proposed to Hana THREE TIMES before she accepted =)

This was totally understandable, Conan was drunk the first time he asked her to marry him.