people like Trevan and Emerian who helped guide them all to peace.
“When do you want to sit down and discuss business while you’ve been away?” His earnest eyes made her want to run. There was obviously a lot he wanted to tell her, probably things she needed but didn’t care to know about like supplies, rationing, and more. Dave loved numbers and telling her all of them. It was one of the few things she loved about the campaign. Swords were simpler than the complex things her human friend dealt with every day while he helped Alchan and Luykas in her absence.
Mave summoned all of her courage and continued to smile.
“Why don’t we start now?”
3
Alchan
Alchan was smiling as he left Mave’s home. He didn’t stop until he reached his home, kissed his Consort, and sat down at his own table.
The reason he’d run from home was the stack of messages he needed to go through.
“Rain, my love,” he called softly, knowing the mutt was hovering in the kitchen now.
“Yes?”
“Are these the papers I’ve been putting aside for the last three weeks?” he asked, refusing to touch them.
“They are.” Rain appeared at his side and put a mug down, the very same type of coffee Alchan had just made for his Champion. “Seanev will be here any day. You need to read them.”
“I hate that they’re making me do this,” Alchan mumbled, thumbing through the pages and pages of letters for a second.
“No one is making you do anything.” Rain wrapped his arms around him from behind. Wings made everything a little harder, but that didn’t stop anyone from being physical. Rain wedged himself between Alchan’s wings, dodged his horns, and leaned over his shoulder. “Leria and Allaina are only strongly suggesting this. So did Varon before he left on the campaign. So has Luykas, which is probably the most surprising.”
“You haven’t,” he pointed out.
“I was born after the War. I don’t understand most of this, so I’ve been keeping my opinion to myself. It’s not my place to comment on these things,” Rain whispered in his ear, then kissed his cheek before pulling away. He touched the top letter of the smaller stack. “Those are the nobles from before the War ended. Now, they are asking the king to recognize their positions in this new era, after the War and during the rebellion.” He touched the second stack. “These are the priests and priestesses who have come out of hiding or escaped slavery, hoping to return to the temples with your permission, so they can begin to revitalize the temple communities again.”
“It is your place,” Alchan corrected, grabbing Rain’s hand and pulling it to his lips.
“Is it?” Rain smiled indulgently. “Why is that?”
“Because I said so,” he explained, pulling Rain onto his lap and wrapping an arm around his waist so he couldn’t escape. “That’s the nice part about being the king, I guess. I get to make those decisions.”
“You do,” Rain agreed, reaching out to pick up the first letter. “You should get started.”
Alchan realized the trap he’d walked into and growled softly, but there was no heat in it. Rain was getting very adept at working around him, maneuvering him into situations and the work he put off. He should have known it was a trap the moment he saw the damn letters. He took the letter Rain offered him but didn’t let his Consort escape his lap as he read.
“Most ran to Seanev first when they realized you didn’t know what to do with them yet over the winter,” Rain reminded him. “But now, it’s practically summer. You need to address them and give them something or tell them they get nothing. Either way, you have to make a decision. They’re all coming back with him, and there will be no avoiding it.”
Alchan sighed, nodding slowly. He knew it was creeping up on him to make these decisions, but he had never been the one for this. Luykas was better at it, but he couldn’t ask the mutt half-brother to make these sorts of calls. If his decisions were disagreed with, it would cause more problems. Alchan had to take the responsibility himself and somewhat dreaded it. He didn’t dread going into battle. He didn’t avoid sending his warriors, Andinna he considered his family, in battles they might not come back from. But he dreaded this.
“I’ll tell all the priests and priestesses yes on principle,” he decided. “As long as they work as units. I don’t want