Kaen watched as Bosgreth slumped into his padded chair and waved away the only attendant in the room.

In those moments since he descended from the throne to this new chair behind closed doors, the dwarf had significantly aged.

Bosgreth looked up and saw Kaen studying him and let out a sigh. “I’ll assume your watchful eye has noticed what I try to hide from the others. You two come and sit next to me. We need to talk.”

Kaen nodded and moved to the chair Bosgreth motioned to next to him. After helping Ava sit, he turned and saw those watchful eyes studying him.

“You’ve changed Kaen since the last we talked. Something is different. Tell me.”

Unable to resist a smile and a chuckle, Kaen shared with Bosgreth everything that had happened since the last they talked.

Stroking his white beard, which had become thinner since the last time, Bosgreth still wore the frown he had acquired once Kaen shared the news of Stioks's new dragon.

“Yet you managed to slay the black dragon and one of his mates. That must be a feat indeed.”

“I’d like to say I played a role in that, but everything is due to Pammon. He won that fight for us. I was far outclassed and matched.”

Nodding, the king leaned over, grabbed his cup, and took a drink slowly. He watched Ava and Kaen and chuckled after a moment. “Twins… that is a fortunate thing indeed. I will pray that the spirits watch over you and them both. May they enjoy the success you will bring for all of us.”

Ava smiled and slightly bowed her head. “I am grateful for your kindness to Kaen all these years. I know he has shared many stories about how you always try to send him away under the effects of a certain drink.”

Bosgreth choked on his drink and started coughing. Pounding his chest a few times, the king smirked at Kaen. “I’m surprised you told her about those moments. I remember you always commenting about wanting to keep those a secret.”

“A secret with my wife is not something I want to keep. I don’t hold anything back from her.”

“As it should be… I miss the companionship and friendship of my wife, but soon I will see her again, as you can tell.” Having spoken, Bosgreth shifted in his chair and winced. “I may only have a year more at best. Those who have spent years helping me stay strong are certain there is little more they can do to help me anymore and… I’m tired. Tired of how this has all taken place. Daily, I fight against my own people and an enemy that seems bent on destroying us.”

Bosgreth snapped a finger, and his attendant came and bent his ear to the king. After they had exchanged a private whisper, the dwarf moved to a side room and shut the door.

“I have already set things in motion. Dagan will be the next king. It will draw some ire, but he is the only one I can trust with this task. Are you willing to support him?”

Kaen could feel those eyes reading him again. Even without strength in his body, the king had no lack of willpower and mental fortitude. “I know that Dagan is committed to the dwarves and their safety. While he is a bit young… I can see how, in time, he will be a great king.”

Laughing, Bosgreth nodded and smiled. “Young would be a nice way to put it. That dwarf is barely a hundred years old. Meanwhile, I am pushing three hundred and have outlived what most considered I was capable of. If you can help guide him… I know that we can once again enjoy a time of prosperity with men and dragons that the legends tell of.”

Ava had let her normally composed face show the shock when she heard how old Bosgreth and the king smiled at her. “Do not worry about how old I am. If what I hear about dragon riders is true, your husband will live longer than most dwarves.”

Nodding, Ava winced a little, and Bosgreth realized what his words had done. “Forgive me… I had forgotten what that would mean.”

“No apologies are needed, King Bosgreth. It is a truth everyone who loves a dragon rider must endure. Hopefully, things will change in the coming years, and we can solve that issue.”

Bobbing his head, Bosgreth looked at Kaen and gave him a forced smile.

“So, what do you need from me?” Bosgreth asked. “We both know you aren’t here for a friendly visit.”

“I need armor crafted from those scales and quickly. My current armor is damaged and…”

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“You still haven’t found a way to open the case which houses the one in Ebonmount?”

“Not yet,” Kaen replied. “I have tried everything I can think of, and nothing has worked. Not even using my blood like some of the boxes I thought it might be like.”

Grunting, Bosgreth turned when he heard the door open and saw his attendant come in with a small box. He motioned to Ava and smiled when his dwarven helper stopped before her.

“Mrs. Marshell, I would like to offer you a gift. I had hoped to give one to my child one day, but as life sometimes happens, that never worked out.”

Her blue eyes gazed at the golden box the size of a small pack and looked at Kaen and then back at Bosgreth. “I’m not sure I–”

“Nonsense, you wouldn’t deny a dying king's request, would you?”

Kaen smirked as he watched Ava look at him. “Don’t ruin your perfect record as an emissary,” he teased.

Sighing, Ava reached for the golden box, her hands trembling slightly as she lifted the lid and leaned forward to look inside.

“Oh!”

Her voice and pitch made Kaen lean forward in his chair. He tried to see what was inside, but he couldn’t due to the angle and depth of the box.

“I can’t,” Ava gasped as she looked at Bosgreth. Her face flushed as she glanced at the item inside the golden box. “It’s too much.”

“Please,” Bosgreth replied, his voice low and pleading. “That has sat by my bed for so long. Seeing you and Kaen together and hearing what you both have been through, I cannot think of a better person to wear that now. It was made for a queen, so why not the wife of our only hope in the coming days?”

Unable to take it any longer, Kaen stood up and moved to where he could see inside the box. Inside, there was a single necklace. The metal was pure gold, crafted in a technique he had never seen. In the middle of it was a massive ruby, so red and bright it almost looked like there was a light inside it.

“Bosgreth… that is–”

“This is a gift for your wife. Now help me here and put it on her,” the king said, interrupting Kaen, who had started to protest.

Kaen turned and looked at his dwarven friend, seeing how his eyes pleaded with him. Giving a nod, Kaen moved and reached inside, running his fingers along the edge of the chain until he felt the clasp. It came apart so quickly when he pushed a small piece, yet he knew it wouldn’t just open on its own.

Lifting it slowly from the box, he moved toward Ava, who was struggling to accept the gift. As he got behind her, he leaned forward and draped it around her neck. Using her hands, she lifted her hair, and Kaen joined the chains together and let it rest against her chest.

“Just how I remember it,” Bosgreth sighed, smiling and nodding. “I know my love would be okay with this decision.”

“Thank you,” Ava gushed as she stood up and moved to where Bosgreth was. Hesitating a moment, she ignored any potential decorum and bent over, kissing the king on the forehead.

Bosgreth blushed and smiled, wiping a tear from his eye.

“What about me?” Kaen asked jokingly. “Surely, there has to be something sparkly for me.”

Ava and Bosgreth laughed, and Kaen kissed his wife on the cheek as she moved past him, getting an eye roll for his comment.

“I’ll give you armor instead,” Bosgreth replied. “The books and helmet are done, but I wasn’t sure when we could get them to you. Not something one just sends off in a cart across this world during this time.”

Kaen nodded and sat back down in his chair. “How long will it take to make what I asked from the scales I dropped off yesterday?”

Sensing the change in mood, Bosgreth shifted and winced again from the pain of the movement. “We understand the processes and have made a few chest pieces for some of our dwarves from the leftover ones you first gave. Sadly, we cannot modify those to fit you, but we can now make them much faster. Do you still want four suits?”

Kaen nodded and saw Ava’s face.

“Four?”

Snorting, Bosgreth looked at Kaen and saw the smirk the young man wore. “You haven’t told her?”

“I was planning on after they were done.”

“You’re making me a suit?” Ava asked. Her face looked confused at his decision to have that done. “Why?”

“Well…” Kaen started, turning to face her. “I was thinking that when the time came to fight, you and Amaranth could fly together and use your spells to help. You’re one of the stronger mages I know, and your knowledge and power would be useful on the battlefield.”

Touching her stomach, Ava moved her hand softly. “What about the babies?”

“That is a choice for you, but if you decide to join us, then I can think of no better protection than the armor Bosgreth would make for you.”

“I would be honored to do so,” Bosgreth chimed in. “It has been a long time since I have overseen the process, but I might find some joy in going down to the forge and checking on the process for your suit.”

Ava looked at both men, shocked that they might consider such a thing acceptable. “A pregnant woman on the battlefield? That seems…”

“Dwarven women do it all the time. Some say it makes them the fiercest warriors. Knowing they fight not only for those who are alive and next to them but also for the life inside them.” Chuckling, Bosgreth shook his head as he looked up at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. “It’s been a hundred years at least, but we had a group of dwarven women, seven of them pregnant, leading a charge against orcs… they tore through those beasts as if they were nothing, spurring on every man near them. One of their children is the one I have suggested to be king.”

“Dagan?” Kaen asked.

“Yes. His mother was a powerful woman. I remember her and my wife, Gradnulla, spending many nights laughing together.”

Bosgreth turned and looked at Ava, who was still gently rubbing her belly. “Perhaps your children will be just as great, not just because of the blood that they come from but because of the commitment of the mother they have.

“You think too highly of me,” Ava replied. “We have barely met!”

“Yet I see how your husband looks at you and has grown because of you. There is something to be said about a man with a wife like you.”