"It took fifteen years from the beginning of the plague that arguably caused the downfall of the second Elmaiya Empire until the Civil war ended and the third empire was consolidated.

While the first empire had only humans placed at the top of the hierarchy, therian nobility started becoming common by the second, and the third empire onwards were dominated by therians, with other races left by the wayside.

To be honest, this does not come as a surprise, as the western regions of Ur-Teros had long been known to be therian territory. The first human-led empire survived because the many tribes of therians had not united, but by the third empire they were sick of others placing themselves over them." - Delvin Amble, Jötunbergian Historian, Circa 359 FP.

Palace of Bones

Tohrmutgent

Lichdom of Ptolodecca

2nd day, 4th week, 1st month, year 95 VA.

"Any idea why his holiness summoned us all of a sudden?" Artair asked as he walked beside Aideen, hand in hand, through the corridors of the Palace of Bones. The past four years since they had been a couple had been a blissful time for both of them, and a peaceful time to boot for Ptolodecca.

With Aideen as an intermediary, Artair found that other unliving people suddenly opened up to him far more easily, which naturally helped tremendously with his work, even if some of his coworkers looked at him a bit oddly.

He had also had the honor to meet the Bone Lord himself, an experience that left him not just a little intimidated, as the ancient being that ruled the land seemed to be quite interested in him. He did end up being a couple with the Bone Lord's favorite "grandchild" after all, and the Bone Lord had almost interrogated him much like how a doting grandparent would have done.

Other than that, he rarely saw the Bone Lord, other than times when Aideen visited her "grandpa" or times they accidentally ran into each other when they were in the Palace of Bones, and the Bone Lord had also let them be, leaving them undisturbed.

Aideen herself still occasionally went out for missions with the Death's Hand, but rarely, and even the longest ones had her leave for a month or so at most. Apparently the Bone Lord had arranged things so she no longer gets included in longer missions, allowing them more time together.

"I'm not sure myself," she replied as she walked alongside him, striding faster to match his longer steps. Over the past four years grandpa Aarin hadn't summoned for her at all, which means whatever they were called for this time was likely something more serious, or related to them. "Maybe it has something to do with how the civil war at the empire was over?"

The civil war that followed the plague and caused the second Elmaiya Empire to splinter had ended the previous year. At first they had just heard rumors of it in Ptolodecca, but late last year Artair received a letter from his father in Elmaiya that confirmed the end of the civil war, even if minor hostilities continued.

Aideen had read the letter along with him, sitting on his lap as he read the contents of the letter to her - it was written in therian script mostly used in the western isles, something she was unfamiliar with - and how it mentioned that the family was doing fine.

Artair's father had backed the faction that had ended up victorious in the civil war, and his rank - equivalent to a duke - was raised to one equivalent to an archduke by the newly enthroned emperor for his support. He was also appointed as the minister of war for the rebuilt third empire.

In his letter, Artair's father had said to him that it was now safe to return to Elmaiya, but should he be happy with his new life abroad, his father wouldn't insist on his return. Artair did regularly send letters to his father during his stay in Ptolodecca, but he did not know whether they had reached their destination.

Apparently at least his latest letters had, as his father had congratulated him on finding someone he could spend his life with. He had written about himself and Aideen in those letters, so they must have reached his father.

"Either way, we'll know when we asked grandpa," assured Aideen as they strode together into the throne room. There she saw that a group similar to the ones that gathered during the arrival of the elven delegation over a decade ago, though with less elves, just Drietven and his aging mother, as well as Mimia and Éirynn.

Aideen walked ahead of Artair to give the Bone Lord a warm hug, while Artair remained a bit behind and offered a bow of respect to the ancient being instead. Together they took their place - there was a spot consipicously left empty to the Bone Lord's left side - and stood at attention.

"Why did you gather us all, grandpa?" asked Aideen quietly to the Bone Lord when it was clear that everyone who should be in the room was there. The lineup was very similar to the one that received the elven delegation back then, but with more therians present instead of elves.

"The new emperor of Elmaiya just arrived on a discreet state visit," said the Bone Lord to her in reply. "And one member of his retinue in particular… is quite related to you now. So of course I'd have you called over," added the Bone Lord with a mischievous smile on his face. By now Aideen was used to interpreting her grandpa's mood from the minor fluctuations on his aura, since his skeletal face tend to betray very little.

It was not long before Yvgenia and a few other servants of the palace opened the door and held it open for their guests. The Elmaiyan delegation walked in with assured steps, most of them therians, though three figures amongst them immediately caught Aideen's attention.

As the delegation approached, they stopped midway with most of them bowing in respect, except for an old looking therian who resembled a feathered lizard in the lead who gave a much shallower bow instead. "We greet the Bone Lord of Ptolodecca," said the old lizard therian.

Another figure that caught Aideen's attention was the small youngling that followed close behind the lizard therian, who looked like a much younger miniature of the elder therian, except for the brilliant while plumage they had.

While the third made her immediately realize why she had been summoned and told to bring Artair along, for the bulky therian man standing at the front of the delegation group behind the old lizard looked almost identical to her partner, other than his fur and mane being a tawny color instead of the glossy jet black Artair inherited from his mother's side.