“So, what’s up with the name thing?” Leon said as he and Maia entered their ‘room’. The tent that August’s adjutant had shown them to was quite large, as befitted Leon’s status as one of the champions of August’s army, with separated sound-proofed sections for the resident leader and their knights. But his retinue was so small that Leon barely filled the place, with more than half the tent remaining empty. Still, Alix and Valeria gave the two lovers their privacy, though Valeria seemed a little reluctant to leave Maia alone with Leon.
“What do you mean?” Maia asked, the sound of her heavenly voice sending shivers down Leon’s spine.
“I meant, why did you ask me to introduce you as ‘Naiad’?” Leon asked. When making reintroductions between her and his knightesses, she’d mentally asked him not to share her true name.
“Right now, that name is only for you and my mother to use,” she whispered as she snuggled up to him from behind, pressing her buxom chest into his back as she wrapped her arms around his toned waist. “As happened with us, knowledge of my true name can allow someone hostile to us to attack my soul realm directly. I believe you humans have a similar concept, that of a Mana Glyph.”
Leon nodded, suddenly understanding completely. Someone who had her name could attack her source of power, her soul realm if they wanted. “What about Elise? Will you be sharing with her as well?”
“Of course.”
Leon smiled, twisted in her embrace until they were facing each other, and then began hugging her back.
They stood there in the room just silently enjoying each other’s company for several long seconds, basking in the other’s presence. They’d been too long apart and now just wanted to be as close to the other as possible. Leon wondered just how intense moments like these would be once they reunited with Elise, and his desire to see the war ended quickly redoubled.
After a long moment, Leon and Maia parted from the other just enough to look each other in the eyes, then press their lips together in a prolonged and extremely intimate kiss. Soon after, they began to tug at each other’s clothes. Maia was only wearing a soft ankle-length full-sleeved dress without anything beneath, so she was naked much sooner, with Leon only having to pull her dress up over her head. As soon as she was, Leon pushed her back against the bed that had been set up, and she tumbled onto the mattress with a look of surprise and arousal.
Leon then spent the next few minutes lavishing his river nymph lover with oral attention, reveling in every moan of pleasure. But that only took them so far, and he quickly shed the remainder of his clothes and joined Maia on the bed. They spent at least an hour making love to each other, pushing the other over the edge of ecstasy more than a dozen times, with their extreme power filling them with energy and the drive to continue where they might’ve otherwise been spent.
They might’ve continued for hours more, spending most of the night joined above or below—or some combination thereof—but for a wave of magic senses that subtly washed over them. With the realization that they were being spied upon, Leon and Maia’s moods turned in an instant. They’d been cuddling in between rounds, letting their hands explore each other’s bodies, and then only a second later they were on their feet, adorned instantaneously with fresh clothes summoned from their soul realms.
They knew from what direction that pulse had come from, but they were in the middle of a massive camp, it could’ve been any number of people who projected their magic senses like that. However, that list narrowed significantly when they factored in how warded the tent was. It took someone intimately familiar with its defensive enchantments to slip their magic senses past them like that, someone of high rank.
But still, there were several dozen people who fit that description in range, and none of them appeared to have done so. Leon and Maia scanned each and every person with their magic senses, but all were busy with other tasks.
No second pulse came, but their guard remained up.
“Well, that ruined the mood,” Leon said after they waited for longer than a minute in complete silence.
“Only a little bit,” Maia replied, flashing him a cheeky smile. “Have any idea who might’ve wanted to sneak a peek?”
“None…” Leon replied.
“Maybe it was a vampire looking to kill you,” she suggested. “I killed a few out in the forests before you ran after me that seemed to have been following you…”
“You did?!” Leon asked in alarm. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”
“They were incredibly weak, none stronger than the fourth-tier,” Maia replied with a shrug. “They didn’t seem important at the time.”
Leon scowled. “They might’ve been a part of a larger nest. Let’s keep an eye out for anything unusual. And please tell me if you do something like that again. I don’t want to be caught unprepared…”
Maia nodded, looking suitably chastened.
Leon wasn’t too upset with her, though. At the very least, it was nice to know what had happened to those demonic auras he’d sensed earlier in the campaign, and he knew that Xaphan would likely be tickled pink when he heard the news, assuming he wasn’t currently listening in.
---
Not far away, the Duchess of Vesontio sighed and leaned back in her bed. Prince August may trust Leon Ursus, and by extension, those Ursus vouched for, but Vesontio wouldn’t, especially not when Ursus was accompanied by a river nymph, of all things.
She caught a brief glimpse of her eldest brother in her mind’s eye. He’d drowned forty years ago when they were both children. They’d been playing in a lake near the capital of their home Duchy when a river nymph appeared, ensnared her brother with her monstrous charm, and then pulled him beneath the water.
Vesontio’s brother didn’t appear again for a week, and when he was found, he’d been almost completely eaten. There was little left save for bones and his swimming attire.
No, Vesontio would remain vigilant. That Naiad was going to be a problem, she knew it.
But… that scene she had just witnessed when she’d projected her magic senses into Leon’s tent, a scene of such love and tenderness between a northern barbarian and a monster that had been hunted to near extinction in the Bull Kingdom… That gave Vesontio pause as her heart raced. She hadn’t known the intimate touch of anyone in years and seeing so much naked flesh had her feeling some type of way.
Her thoughts began to turn to Prince August and how well he’d filled out since his blood had awakened. She was curious to see what he looked like without any clothes, with that broad chest, wide shoulders…
‘No! Idiot!’ she silently scolded herself. ‘This isn’t the time for that! We have a war to win and a monster in the camp!’
She’d remain vigilant. If that Naiad so much as breathed at someone improperly, Vesontio would be there to put her down, regardless of power, and with what she knew about the weaknesses of the Bull Kingdom’s warding scheme, she’d be able to check in on the river nymph at her leisure.
Just not so soon, the way those two had immediately leaped up after feeling her attention had been more than a little intimidating.
---
In the morning, Leon and Maia walked out of their room in the tent to find that Valeria and Alix were already awake. Alix was smiling at them knowingly, while Valeria followed Maia with her eyes like a wolf waiting for a single moment of weakness before it challenged its alpha for control of the pack.
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It was a little disconcerting, but given what Leon knew about her, he couldn’t blame her. For Maia’s part, she returned the probing gaze with one of her own. For now, the two ladies seemed content to stare at each other, as if waiting for the other to make the first hostile move, and all while Alix was stuck between them, wondering just what in the hells she missed.
Leon wasn’t looking forward to telling Maia all the sordid details about his current relationship with Valeria. He’d definitely need Elise there with him when he did, just to ensure that the river nymph didn’t immediately fly into a murderous rage at the thought of Valeria being their enemy.
After a few long minutes of tense silence, a messenger from Prince August arrived, inviting Leon to a meeting to discuss their next steps. So, with some work in front of them, Leon and his tiny retinue left their tension behind to focus on that.
Several minutes later, after making sure that Anzu was being well-taken care of by the army’s beastmasters, they arrived at Prince August’s command tent.
Figuring that it might be best to not antagonize anyone with Maia’s presence but also not wanting to alienate anyone, Leon turned to the ladies behind him and said, “I’ll be right back out.”
Alix and Valeria nodded and moved back to wait in the crowded gathering area. Maia hesitated, staring at him until he nodded to her, wordlessly conveying that he wasn’t going to be leaving. She glared at the guard, almost giving the poor man a heart attack, before turning around to join the other two.
Upon pushing open the tent flap, Leon was greeted by the sight of Marcus, Alcander, Roland, and August all hunched over a map. All four looked up as Leon entered.
“Sir Leon,” August said with a smile. “Please, come in. We were just going over some plans.”
Leon did as he was bid, sliding in between Roland and Marcus to take a look at the map, which he found was a regional map of the south-eastern Southern Territories. On it, the army was marked quite prominently, with them being about two hundred miles from the southern coast. About sixty miles to their south was another mark, which Leon took to symbolize Duke Duronius and the rest of the survivors in his army. Even further south was a third mark directly on the coast, which Leon wasn’t too sure about.
“Are we waiting for anyone else?” Leon asked before they got started.
“No, the others are currently coordinating the army’s movements,” Roland said. “We can afford to take some time to get you up to speed, but the rest of the nobles and Legates have to move tens of thousands of people, and that takes time, and time is not something we’re flush with.”
“True,” August said before pointing to the map. “Let’s start with where we’ve found ourselves following the last battle. We lost somewhere on the order of ten thousand soldiers and retainers. Duronius, on the other hand, lost more than forty thousand.”
“Forty thousand dead?!” Leon asked in shock. That was a staggering number, especially considering how many would’ve been wounded or potentially captured.
“Yes,” Roland answered, “however, that isn’t where things end. If they were, I don’t think that arrogant bastard would be running away quite as quickly as he is.”
“Following that battle, our good Duke lost nearly all the support of the remaining nobles in his army,” August said with a smile, obviously relishing his enemy’s situation, even though a moment later his face darkened as he remembered the cost in lives that had been paid to make that happen. “Most of them deserted his army during the fighting or when he fled the battle. At this point, he has an army of maybe forty thousand Legion soldiers, and that’s us painting a bad picture.”
“We, on the other hand,” Marcus proudly added, “picked up quite a few new supporters from those deserting nobles and even some from the Legions that were under Duronius’ command!”
Leon clicked his tongue in distaste. “And they were just welcomed in with open arms?” he asked. “They were our enemies only a few days ago, are they just getting a free pass now?”
“No,” August said. “Right now, it might seem like it, but once we win and I reestablish order in the Kingdom, those nobles will receive their reckoning.”
Leon lightly frowned. It was fine as far as reprisals went, but he was hoping for something a little more… viscerally satisfying… a hope which he immediately regretted when he thought about Valeria. He was well aware that he was more than a little hypocritical when he thought about how he was giving her a chance despite everything her family had taken from him, while at the same time wishing bloody vengeance upon those who had chosen to fight for Octavius, only to defect to August when Duronius looked like he was about to lose the Southern Territories.
“So where does that leave us?” Leon asked, leaving the introspection for later.
“We’re at about two hundred and fifty thousand,” August proudly declared. “Duronius has less than a fifth of our army.”
“Where’s he going, then?”
August’s good mood flagged a little as he turned his attention back to the map.
“He’s trying to link up with the Consul of Discord.”
Leon nodded in understanding. The Consul of Discord, or alternatively, the Consul of the Gulf, was the admiral in charge of the fleets in the Gulf of Discord. One of those fleets had been seized by the forces loyal to Prince August under Constantine, Trajan’s trusted knight who had been left in charge of the Bull’s Horns, but all the rest of the fleets in the Kingdom were in Octavius’ hands.
“How bad is it?” Leon asked.
“We’re not sure, we haven’t gotten eyes on the entire armada, yet,” August admitted. “They’re in a natural harbor that we haven’t been able to fully get access to, but Sir Publius has sent us some missives saying that at the very least we ought to expect five fleets, perhaps as many as seven.”
Leon’s face dropped. The Kingdom had fifteen fleets split between the Gulf of Discord and the Endless Ocean. The Ocean was assigned the greater number, but that didn’t mean the Gulf’s fleets were lacking. In fact, every fleet had hundreds of ships, though most of those ships were relatively small. Still, there were at least half a dozen capital ships with thousands of Legion sailors and marines aboard in every fleet, most of which had Flame Lances installed, as well. Leon remembered those terrifying weapons well—they used fire magic to melt stone, then earth magic to launch the molten mass at terrific speeds. Leon couldn’t even begin to comprehend how magically complex such weapons must be, but from what he’d seen during the war with the Talfar Kingdom, they were not weapons he was eager to face down. If there were even five fleets present, then that was thirty capital ships, possibly more. Each capital ship could have two Flame Lances installed, making it nearly suicidal to attack the fleet even with their swelled numbers without some kind of hefty advantage.
“Is there a plan to deal with that?” Leon asked.
“… We have the makings of one,” August hesitantly said, “though we were waiting to see what you thought about it…”
“Should I take that to mean that I’ll be playing a central role in whatever this is?”
“Yes.”
Leon took a deep breath, but he quickly replied, “Well, then let’s hear it. If it’ll end this war sooner, then I’m all for it.”
“That’s good to hear,” August said. “We’re hoping to sway the Consul of the Gulf to our side. If he defects to me, then not only would we gain access to a massive fleet, but we’d also trap Duronius between us. He’d be forced to surrender.”
“Assuming that the Consul accepts your offer,” Leon said with a cynical tone.
“Assuming that, yes,” August replied.
“Where do I come in on this?”
“You have a griffin, you could fly above Duronius’ head and reach the Consul before he does.”
“I could also drop down atop him and end him right there,” Leon said. “At my current level of power, I don’t think the Duke has anything that could stand in my way. He’s only, what? Sixty miles ahead of us? I could end this before noon.”
August cringed a bit. “That’s always an option, I guess…”
“Sir Leon, we’re hoping to take the Duke hostage. He is Octavius’ grandfather, you know,” Marcus said to Leon with a hint of reproach. “Besides, I don’t think it’s a wise message to send to the nobles to see one of their most respected collaborators killed so unceremoniously. In battle, sure, but assassinated? That might present a problem…”
‘Damn politics…’ Leon bitterly thought.
“It would be better to have the Duke and those who fought with him face the Arbiters and then the headsman,” Marcus continued. “Or killed in battle. It all just looks better that way, and we might be able to persuade more nobles to abandon Octavius if we show that we have a sense of mercy. Likewise, I wouldn’t recommend trying to kidnap him. For all your confidence, he still has plenty of sixth-tier mages around to defend himself with, enough to even fight off a Paladin who can fly…”
Marcus’ words about mercy struck a chord with Leon, again reminding him of his and Valeria’s relationship. He reluctantly set aside his idea.
“If your plan doesn’t work, I’m going to be a tad irate,” he said, saying no more on the subject.
“You won’t be the only one,” August said placatingly. “So, that’s it. I want you to deliver my terms to the Consul of Discord. Will you do that?”
“That’ll be incredibly dangerous,” Leon said. “Anzu might get shot out from under me if I take him that close to such a strong enemy position.” The others looked like they were about to offer some words of protest or comfort, but Leon cut them off when he continued, “But I’ll do it. I have some ideas for getting around their defenses. In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if someone could watch out for my retinue. I’ll be taking Naiad with me, though, so no need to worry about her.”
August nodded, then waved his hand and conjured a sealed envelope from his soul realm.
“This is my offer to the Consul,” he said. “Time is of the essence. Leave as soon as you are able. I will personally see that your other two knights are not left hanging in the wind.”
“Thank you, Your Highness,” Leon said, taking the envelope. He took one last look at the map, then at the other four. “I guess I’ll see all of you later.”
“Good luck, Sir Leon,” Roland said, the others quickly offering the same words.
Given what he had now been tasked to do, Leon would take all the luck that he could get.