Ranun sat quietly in an armchair next to Symond, who sat in his own. They decided to wait in the front lobby of the SEA building for the others of Symond’s squad to arrive, as well as the two they’ve picked up. Delta, Slater, and Kylo all arrived around two hours earlier, as they had abandoned their carriage in a makeshift plan by Delta to escape.

And it worked well on a mission that had all but failed in Ranun’s eyes. Ranun had allowed Symond to go through with the plan, but he had not given him the go-ahead to assassinate Aidan. Now, one of Symond’s finest agents was dead, killed by Aidan, two others captured. But that raised the question, how did the scouts get spotted?

All of that, the agents not returning home, seemed to affect Ranun more than their agent-general. Symond sometimes appeared to have no heart at all. Of course, Ranun knew that not to be true. He was hurting, despite his null expression. He and Mason—who he’d personally named Gold Officer—were close, arguably even good friends.

Symond put a lot on Mason’s shoulders, and perhaps that crushed him. Ranun had trained Aidan personally, so he knew just how crafty his old squire was. As for the other two, who knows what happened to them. Delta and the others briefly met with the carriage in Dork, though the young Midhelm Prince was too shaken to describe what went down on the rooftops. Poor boy. Fortunately for him, he didn’t meet the same fate. In all likelihood, Vason and Meek would be tortured for as much information as possible.

“Should we come clean?” Ranun asked Symond. They were uncomfortably quiet for the longest time after they dismissed the early agents. For what felt like hours, they just sat.

“Why?” Symond grunted. “It’s better to be caught doing something wrong than admit to it before the finger points.”

“How long until the two agents break and reveal you? How long until Mason’s sword is recognized, and the consequences for what we’ve done start flooding in?”

“We?” Symond frowned. “Don’t involve yourself in this. This entire operation was my responsibility. If you feel the need to strip me of my position, you are more than free when the time comes. And when it does come, save face. Throw me under the carriage. It’s what’s necessary.”

“Was it worth it?” Ranun asked. “Sending Mason after him?”

Symond looked at him with a hard, cold stare. It said all he needed to say. Of course, it wasn’t worth it. A stupid question about a foolish decision. Symond had enough humility to realize what he had done.

“What happens to your agency from here?” Ranun asked. Three members down, those spots weren’t easy to fill. Ranun spent all of his efforts finally adding to Kinler’s agency, and now he had to worry about Symond’s team. “Do you have anybody in mind?”

“I briefly spoke to Delta after she returned,” Symond mumbled. “She suggests Quin, Dean’s woman. She said she saved his life from the masked man, who had managed to best three of my agents by himself. With this Belch character, that will fill one of the missing spots—”

Ranun shook his head, stopping him.

“What?”

“You remember I said I would punish you for this operation, right? I said I would find something you would hate.”

“Yeah…”

“Well, I already promised Kinler the rights to our new friend,” Ranun said. The word rights felt wrong to say. As far as everybody else knew, she was now under their control, as if she was their new weapon to use. Rescuing her didn’t give them the rights to her. That bothered Ranun deeply to consider, but he shrugged it off for now. That could be settled after she arrived.

“You’re kidding!” Symond fumed.

“No, I am not.”

“Kinler? You’re putting him in charge of one of our most valuable assets? Him?”

“Kinler is a fine man,” Ranun said. “One of the finest in Soucrest, arguably third in line for the crown. He’s solid, and from when I’ve spoken with him, he seems like a fine leader too.”

“We need her to be trained, by the best. That’s me, Ranun, me!”

“It’s safer this way,” Ranun argued. “With your position in our military on thin ice, who will I replace you with? Kinler’s future is more certain, old friend.”

Symond growled, growing red in the skin. He, for a moment, went speechless. “You’re right,” he finally said. “I suppose that bastard is the better option. Right now, anyway.”

“Glad you agree,” Ranun said.

After the war, Kinler turned to training soldiers rather than continuing his position within the army. It took a lot of convincing on Ranun’s end to get him to agree to head an agency of his own, but he finally came around. Now, his team needed only one more agent to fit a full six under him.

They continued to wait. Ranun didn’t have much better to do, finishing his paperwork earlier today. While Central Falcon Hill was still under repairs to the fire recently, Ranun felt like he could pump out work quicker than ever, especially with his newfound motivation. Everything was starting to click again, like when Ranun first took the crown.

As Ranun instructed, the last building to be rebuilt was City Hall. He demanded that initially, out of annoyance that his city put himself over thousands and thousands of others struggling with the sudden loss of their jobs. But now, having a good time working at home, he was more than happy to wait a while longer for the construction crews to make their repairs.

Ranun hoped the carriage arrived on time, as he had a reservation later in the night at one of his favorite restaurants. He felt his stomach rumble, as even grabbing it didn’t manage to sate it. He, however, continued to wait, eager to finally meet the young girl he heard so much about from Delta.

Surprisingly, the elven agent admired the girl; she said her brief conversation with her had been one of her best. The once reserved girl Ranun had offered refuge to had finally started to open up. And she proved herself a good leader too, taking the initiative in the final moments of the operation to find success through a dire situation.

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Seeing so many young men and women grow into fine adults touched Ranun’s heart, but it also made him feel old. Aeryn would soon swear himself into the Colors in only a few days. Gordon would be there, while Ranun would stay here, chained to his duties.

The ceremony would be held at Steepcreek for the first time, as Central would be under repairs. Unfortunately, Ranun couldn’t attend his son’s oaths, as even when he could finish work fast, he couldn’t leave Falcon Hill so easily, even for his son. It seemed that many things held Ranun back from his own family.

You’ve always forgiven me, Ranun thought. Yet, I always manage to miss you growing at every step. Aeryn, we’re going to celebrate when you come home. Count on it.

After what felt like an hour—but only a half an hour—the second and final group arrived, opening the front doors to enter. Dean walked in, assisted by Quin as he struggled to walk, bandages on his knees and a sour look on his face. He looked ten years older, and any sense of youth from him was now gone.

Ranun saw who he believed was Belch and was surprised by just how tall she was, only a foot shorter than Ranun, which put her around five foot four inches? Her long black hair flowed far down her back, but only clumps of strands hung from the side of her pale white cheeks, curving after concealing her forehead. She looked more Gleonish than Dorkish, but her green eyes were there. Strong and vibrant in color, it was a wonder why such a striking feature would draw so much antagonism from the Dorkish. The Gleonish people always had prominent eyes.

She had a purple shirt and white pair of trousers, with wrists pale enough to almost blend into the pants.

Taller than her and everybody else was the swole they brought with them. The insider wrote to Symond, requesting their rescue.

Symond and Ranun stood up immediately, standing straight. It was an honorable greeting for an agent, but only one in the group of four was actually an agent.

As two of the most prominent figures in Soucrest saluted, fists to their chests, they didn’t receive a single one back. Well, Dean looked rocked, Quin wasn’t officially an Agent, and the other two were uninformed about military culture. They both dropped their salutes without making a fuss when usually, Symond would bite their heads off.

Symond understands that Dean went through a lot, Ranun thought. He watched all three of the agents be taken from him right before he had to be saved.

“You two,” Symond directed at Dean and Quin. “You may return to your apartments. Take tomorrow off, rest up. Quin, if you get a chance, search for me.”

She nodded, then escorted Dean out of the building on their way home to the apartments a block away. The question now was how well Dean could recover from this.

Ranun shrugged that thought off, for now, reasserting his eyes on the other two.

“So, you two,” Ranun started. They looked at him. The swole, who Ranun believed his name was Pedr, looked happy to see Ranun, while the girl they called Belch looked at him with a pair of awestruck eyes. “Welcome to Soucrest.”

Pedr nodded while Belch held her stare.

“So,” Ranun said, scratching his head. “You two are probably wondering what you do now, isn’t that right?”

“Yes sir,” Pedr said. “To be honest, sir, I haven’t put much thought into what happens next. I don’t know if I have any talents useful to you or the military.”

“Hmm,” Ranun scratched his chin, thinking about what he could do for the swole. “But you could be useful to our country.”

“How so, Your Majesty?”

“If I read correctly,” Ranun locked eyes with the girl. “You taught her how to read and write, is that correct?”

Pedr nodded.

“Then, how does being a teacher sound?” Ranun suggested. “Normally, you have to go to school for a few years, but I can pull some strings to throw you right in. Just say yes, and I’ll throw you under the wing of an excellent early-grade teacher to get you started. Does that sound fair? Of course, I’ll make sure your housing is taken care of for a season or two to get you properly adjusted to Soucrest society.”

“Sir…” Pedr said.

Ranun lowered a brow.

“I’ll be honored,” Pedr said, teary-eyed. These kinds of emotions kept Ranun going, knowing that he could help his people. “A teacher? I didn’t think I could ever manage such a job.”

“You’ve worked with kids all your life, have you not?”

“Yes sir,” Pedr said, wiping his eyes off of his sleeve. He looked almost guilty for a moment. Of course, when he worked with kids, it wasn’t in a capacity that helped them. He had exploited them for their labor. Of course, acts like those Ranun could forgive so long as he had the context. Dork was an impoverished country with little work, especially for foreigners or other races, so maybe that was the only job available for the swole. Pedr, from first sight, seemed genuinely happy for a chance of redemption. “This means the world to me; I hope you know.”

“Right,” Ranun smiled. “Of course, you can sleep on it, too, if you have anything else you are interested in.”

Pedr sniffed, turning around to Belch, looking happily down at the young girl. “It’s thanks to you that I’m this fortunate. Thank you.”

“What does this mean?” she asked. “You’re saying this like it’s goodbye. It’s not goodbye, is it?”

Pedr looked to Ranun, who felt guilty looking into his eyes. He nodded, confirming that their paths won’t cross naturally anymore. The two had formed quite the bond on their journey to Soucrest. Pedr asserted his eyes back to the girl. “I can’t teach you anything more than I already have. You have a lot to learn, and there are many more teachers stronger than me out there.”

She frowned, looking sad. Perhaps Pedr’s own eyes were influencing hers to start dampening up. “So it is? Goodbye?”

Pedr nodded solemnly, grabbing her by the shoulders. “It is. I’m sorry, but I’m proud of you. You’ve grasped reading like how you’ve grasped fighting.”

Fighting? Oh… Ranun remembered. She hardly looks like the fighting type. Perhaps there is more to this young girl than meets the eye.

A silent moment struck the room.

“Hey,” Pedr said. “Can you spell a word for me?”

She looked at his eyes.

“Gratitude,” Pedr smiled. “Can you spell it? I know we’ve been reading off paper, but I want to know. Can you picture the word in your head, then read it? Gratitude?”

Belch paused for a moment, eying up as if her mind drew on the ceiling. “Gratitude. Grat-i-tude. G-r-a-t-i-t-u-d-e. Gratitude?”

Pedr beamed, delighted. His beard curved up with his cheeks. “That’s right!”

“And?” she asked. “What does that word mean?”

“It’s what I owe you,” Pedr said, patting her head. “Now, just because I can’t be your teacher anymore doesn’t mean I can’t visit you every now and then. Right?” He looked to Ranun.

Ranun confirmed he could. How could he not allow that?

She frowned but reluctantly nodded.

Good for them, Ranun thought. Those two must have been through a lot since they entered Dormoor. There should be even more that Pedr had left out. Her power? Black blood? There was much to be discovered about her.

“Symond,” Ranun looked to his right. “Would you be kind enough to show Pedr to the apartments? Get him a roof to sleep under for the night before I file the necessary paperwork.”

“I’m no errand boy,” Symond protested. “I’m the Supreme Commander.”

Right, for possibly a limited amount of time, Ranun almost jested. Symond didn’t need belittlement right now. “We could find another if you insist. I thought your night was about wrapped up anyway.”

Symond shrugged. He looked to Pedr, who was a whole foot taller than him, but his burly body was about as wide. “Fine, I’ll walk him to the apartments.”

“Very well. Thank you, Symond.”

Symond drew in closer to Ranun. “Get close to her,” he whispered. “We need her on our side. We can’t have her so willing to leave us like she was for Aidan. Do your magic.”

Ranun pretended he didn’t hear, continuing to stare forward to Pedr and Belch. He understood well enough, but that wasn’t his primary concern about her. First and foremost, why should she fight for them? Did she even want to fight or serve? Nobody should be forced into any kind of service without first giving their consent of service.

She never had that choice in the first place, Ranun realized. From the moment she was born, if I’m not mistaken, she was brought into the camps to fight. And in all likelihood, she didn’t choose to serve Aidan either. What makes us any different?

Symond continued ahead, bringing Pedr with him out of the building.

That left Ranun and Belch. They shared an awkward look, as both were without anything to say. So, with his reservation coming up, he had only one thing to ask.

“Are you hungry?”