Leon leaned back in his chair, enjoying the quiet ambience of his villa at noon. There were a few workers out in the adjacent field, but they were only doing their daily checks on the medicinal herbs that filled the field and removing any weeds that showed themselves. Anastasios was still around, and he had a few retainers staying with Leon, but they were being surprisingly good guests, not making much noise or unreasonable demands. In fact, for the most part, Leon only saw Anastasios and his people at dinner, when the Lord Protector shared a meal with Leon and his family.

But as he leaned back, his opponent launched an aggressive sortie. Gaius quickly moved an infantry piece forward, eliminating one of Leon’s cavalry pieces, who’d charged ahead in an attempt to create an opening for Leon’s infantry to exploit. With a frown, Leon realized that that plan was no longer viable as the gap in Gaius’ line was closed.

Gaius smiled as he, in turn, leaned back, their game of keeps having been going on for more than an hour already, though both of them still had more than forty pieces remaining. As of yet, neither had achieved much of an advantage, but Gaius had just taken a cavalry piece without leaving his infantry open for retaliation.

“Nicely done,” Leon said. “I didn’t think you were going to charge like that.”

“I think it’s about time for me to stop playing so defensively,” Gaius replied. “How long have we been playing these games? My wins are too damn infrequent, my strategy has to change sometime. Besides, you play too aggressively.”

“Really?” Leon asked as he moved his infantry on the other side of the board forward. “It’s worked out so far.”

“And what if your opponent doesn’t break?” Gaius asked as he quickly reinforced his infantry line with his archer pieces, losing two less pieces than Leon did in their quick exchange.

Leon didn’t immediately respond to Gaius’ question, choosing instead to refocus on the game. It was clear that his retainer was playing to win. Their games were usually more sedate and slow-paced, and Leon was caught a little off-guard. He hadn’t been planning any serious strategies, had only been paying attention to the smaller-level tactics on their board. But as the game progressed, Leon quickly realized that he’d fallen into Gaius’ trap, and soon found himself down to just half a dozen pieces to Gaius’ eighteen.

“Want to give up?” Gaius teasingly asked. “I’m more than willing to accept your defeated soldiers into my ranks, you know…”

“They’ll die first,” Leon replied with a vicious, but still good-natured smile. “Can’t force my people to live with the indignity of serving those who defeated me.”

“And what about what they might want?” Gaius asked as he aggressively pushed forward. “Are they willing to stand and fight to the death? Do they believe in their cause that much? Are you so confident that they won’t surrender of their own accord?”

Leon’s eyes narrowed as he picked up on the fact that Gaius probably wasn’t talking about their game.

“They wouldn’t be here otherwise,” Leon said as he did his best to counter Gaius’ charge, killing off two of his pieces at the cost of one of his. “I try not to run off those I trust. I try to make sure that those I trust have reason to stick with me.”

“But how loyal are they?” Gaius asked. “Willing to lay down their lives for you? To die for you? To kill for you?”

Leon smiled a little bitterly as Gaius took another of his pieces. “Is there something you’d rather be talking about?” he asked.

With a sigh, Gaius reduced him to three pieces, two infantry and a single archer. “I’ve just been thinking recently,” he explained. “I don’t… I’m…”

Gaius paused on his turn, and Leon waited patiently for the man to find his voice. “I think I’ve been rather bored recently,” he finally said. “I haven’t done much other than train. It’s seemed like you haven’t really had much use for me, and I don’t quite know what to do with myself. Were I stronger, I could… well, I don’t know. I don’t know what you need, or what I want to do. Now you’re in charge of Magical Research and Development, not a Hand of the Director, and I can’t help but imagine that you’re going to be doing a lot more admin work and a lot less running around the plane on the Director’s orders. What is there for me to do? And if you don’t have any need for me, then why am I still here?”

“Are you saying you want to leave my retinue?” Leon asked, his heart skipping a beat. Anshu was hard enough to let go, and even then, the Indradian was still part of Leon’s retinue, just possessing a lot more autonomy than the others.

“No,” Gaius quickly replied. “I’m just looking for something to do that’s a little more substantial than training and twiddling my thumbs.”

Leon nodded, but he couldn’t immediately think of anything. “Have any ideas?” he asked.

Gaius scowled, then sighed. “I don’t,” he admitted.

Leon nodded. “Well, you’ve had my back for years, now, and I’m comfortable saying that I have yours, too. I want to retain you around here. So, if you ever do figure out what you want, then just let me know, and we’ll work something out.”

“Thanks, Leon,” Gaius responded as he took the last of Leon’s pieces. “These wins don’t come often enough. Feels damn good every time.”

Leon chuckled, but within, his competitive side had been stoked. The next time he and Gaius sat down for a game of keeps, he wasn’t going to allow himself to be distracted.

But for now, he was content with their game, grateful that his distraction hadn’t cost him anything more than a little bit of pride.

---

Gaius’ request, Leon figured, would be easy to grant. The next retainer he encountered with an issue, however, was a little harder for him to deal with.

He was approached by Alcander, and in the state his retainer was in, Leon immediately mentally prepared himself to go out and fight someone, or something else of that nature. Alcander, however, had something else that he needed help with.

“I need a wingman,” Alcander said to him.

“A wingman?” Leon asked incredulously. “Surely someone like Marcus or Alix would be better for this sort of thing? Charisma’s not exactly pouring out me, you know…”

“No, I need someone more powerful,” Alcander replied.

“All right, I’ll bite: what do you need?”

Alcander took a deep breath, then launched into his explanation.

He’d been going to a very high-end club over the past few months regularly, though rather infrequently, and while there, had his heart stolen by another regular: a woman who was so far out of his league, financially and socially, that he’d never been able to work up the nerve to even speak with her.

“She’s smart, and strong, and hot, and just perfect…” Alcander had described.

“So, then what do you need me for?” Leon asked. “Even if I have the power to, I’m not going to force anyone to be with you…”

“Nor would I ever ask you to, but she’s connected, and I need some high-ranking backup,” Alcander replied. “Look, I heard that she’d turning twenty-five soon, and is going to be throwing a party to celebrate. Since her family’s in Heaven’s Eye, I figured that you might be able to get me in there? Maybe catch her eye that way?”

Leon stared at his retainer with great skepticism. “I can’t help but doubt that the way to this woman’s heart is by just showing up to her birthday party…”

“It’s fine,” Alcander assured him. “We’ve already been flirting pretty heavily for a while, I’m certain she’s into me. If she’s not, then I’ll leave her alone, I don’t want to force anyone either. It’s just that she’s rich and connected and I can’t show up looking like a bum. If I’ve got you backing me up, then I won’t embarrass myself, and make a better show. Besides, this is just a public party, something her family’s doing to help her get acquainted with local men of high station, it’s not like I want us to crash a private party attended only by her actual friends. Plus, there’s apparently going to be some kind of fighting ring there or something, and I can show off that way…”

Leon really didn’t want to say no to Alcander—the man’s eyes were shining like stars, and he could feel Alcander’s passion rolling off of him in great waves. However, he also really didn’t want to agree to this, either. It had the potential to blow up in their faces, or worse: turn into a terribly awkward social situation. Leon cringed enough in his own social dealings, and he wasn’t sure if he was up to adding some more from Alcander.

However, he simply couldn’t say no to Alcander when the man was so obviously smitten and earnest, and he eventually agreed to at least do what he could to get Alcander into the party. After that, the man was on his own—so long as he didn’t do anything so foolish that it would embarrass him, and Leon by proxy.

And then Leon learned exactly who Alcander had been crushing on: a woman named Sofie, one of Narses the White’s nieces.

---

“Leon!” Narses shouted exuberantly as Leon, Elise, Valeria, and Alcander disembarked from their carriage. The enormous man grinned with cheer that Leon hadn’t seen in him since before the expedition to the Prota Forest. He quickly rushed forward and pulled Leon into a tight bear hug, practically lifting him off his feet. When he put Leon back down, he said, “Thank you for coming, I’m so glad you could attend!” His eyes glittered with understanding, Leon having gotten in touch with him beforehand to explain the situation. He’d admitted that he’d been looking for an excuse to invite Leon over, but hadn’t had the time yet given the rapid increase in military action down in the south in the couple weeks since Argos had been attacked.

“Thank you for the invitation,” Leon replied with a wide smile. Thanks to the party that Leon had held that Narses had attended, Narses was already quite familiar with Alcander, and it didn’t take much for Leon to convince Narses to extend him an invitation to his niece’s ‘public’ birthday party.

He wasn’t going to be making any recommendations on Alcander’s behalf, though; if the man wanted to court her, then he’d have to do so himself. Nares just facilitated the opportunity.

“Please, come right on in,” Narses said a sly wink to Leon and Alcander. “Eat! Drink! Celebrate!”

“We fully intend to do so,” Leon replied, trying to match Narses’ cheer and being at least partially successful. “Where might we drop off gifts?”

“Gifts aren’t necessary,” Narses half-heartedly stated in a clearly token response, “… but, if you’ve brought any, then they can be personally presented at the appropriate moment. Just hold onto them for about two hours.”

Leon smiled and glanced at Alcander, making sure his retainer got the message.

Following that, Narses escorted his party inside, exchanging pleasantries with Elise and Valeria along the way. He led them to a large courtyard in the back of his opulent villa where about two hundred people had already gathered. As far as Leon could tell, most of them were either young women friendly with the birthday girl, young men attempting to court her, or those escorting the former two. There were a few older people around the edges of the courtyard, but they seemed to be friendlier with Narses and were simply present as a courtesy, to lend the party an air of dignity and prestige that it might otherwise lack if attended only by younger and less established people.

Leon didn’t have much need to speak with Narses’ niece, but as Narses escorted them inside, he called out, “Sofie! Come over here, dear girl!”

“Coming!” replied a clear, sonorous voice, and following it, a young, gorgeous third-tier woman appeared from the crowd of other young women in the courtyard. She was dressed to the nines, wearing a long silver dress, simple in design if extravagant in material. She had long, silky black hair, and a pair of piercing blue eyes that Leon thought surpassed in brilliance only by Valeria’s and Maia’s. She was fairly tanned, and seemed naturally so, while her demeanor was elegant and refined, and Leon could hardly believe that Alcander was acquainted with her from a nightclub, of all places.

“Sofie,” Narses said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, “this is my good friend, Leon Raime!”

Sofie’s eyes widened in shock, then in muted joy. However, it wasn’t until her eyes slid across Leon and reached Alcander beside him that she looked truly surprised. Leon watched her reaction closely, almost ignoring the rest of the introductions and exchanged pleasantries, and judging by her reaction at seeing Alcander, he didn’t think his retainer had much to worry about in trying to court her.

Introductions didn’t last long, and soon enough, Sofie returned to her friends, and Leon ‘ordered’ Alcander to mingle, leaving Leon and his ladies alone with Narses.

“Now,” Narses said while Alcander practically skipped with glee as he joined the rest of Sofie’s apparent suitors, “what say we get a few drinks in us? There have been quite a few things happening of late that I would love to speak with you about, given your personal involvement.”

“Sure,” Leon acquiesced, and barely a moment later, he, Elise, and Valeria were having cups of spiced wine served to them.

“I don’t have any gifts of the quality that you gave me,” Narses regretfully stated, “but I did prepare a little something for you…”

As he finished, another servant brought out a large bottle of wine, and though it was utterly lost on Leon, Elise practically purred with delight.

“You shouldn’t have, Narses,” she whispered as she accepted the bottle.

“Gifts should always be reciprocated, shouldn’t they?” Narses responded with a pointed look sent Leon’s way.

“Indeed,” Leon responded. “What sort of business did you have to discuss?”

Narses momentarily scowled. “This whole mess with the Sky Devils. Not even a month has passed and already we’re having to seriously staff up our security departments in the southern theaters. The Imperial fleets have been tossed about like toys in a bathtub, the Empires themselves are scrambling to deal with their losses on the Sword, and all-in-all, it seems doubtful that the situation is going to improve that much for years to come. That’s going to greatly complicate matters of international trade, the Pegasi States are going to be enormous targets for Sky Devil piracy, and trade routes are going to have to be redirected along land routes.”

Leon winced in sympathy. This was going to be an enormous logistical challenge not just for Narses, but for Emilie as well. His mother-in-law was the Chief of Acquisitions, which meant she essentially controlled the entire logistics branch of Heaven’s Eye. She was going to have to get her hands on a large number of mages fifth-tier and stronger in order to safely and reliably transport the amount of cargo that used to go through the straits between the coast of the Pegasi States and the Sword. Narses, as the Chief of Security, would have his hands full assisting her in that, but he wasn’t going to be the only one doing quite a bit of work down in the south—even Leon had interests down there, as there were several research labs in the south, along with dedicated logistics chains serving his branch of the guild.

Thankfully, he had Talal working hard on that, but he knew that he was going to have to get his hands dirty in that organizational paperwork sooner or later. For now, though, he was relishing his time spent not buried up to his eyes in bureaucracy.

“Sounds terrible,” Leon said. “There are some things in the pipeline that ought to make your job a little easier, though. Advances in weapons and transportation magic.”

“Any aid would be appreciated,” Narses said, looking exhausted for just a moment before he tossed back a cup of something highly alcoholic.

“By the way,” Leon hesitantly began, “how are things going with you? Has there been any fallout from working with me to get rid of Rufus?”

“Thankfully, no,” Narses replied. “No signs of vampires, either. I’m thinking they’ve gone to ground, and as far as I can tell, there haven’t been any mysterious disappearances that might indicate the presence of vampires, either. I think that if we haven’t gotten rid of them all, then we’ve at least taken care of all the low-hanging fruit. Any more vampires that might be around Heaven’s Eye or in Occulara will need to be smoked out.”

“Smoking out is something I can do,” Leon said as he let a little bit of orange flame burn at his fingertips for a moment.

“As a professional courtesy, then, I’ll keep you informed.”

Leon smiled in thanks.

As the lull in their conversation settled in, Elise squeezed Leon’s arm and said, “Looks like Alcander might be having some trouble…”

Leon glanced over and saw his retainer looking a little flabbergasted with another young man invading his personal space, growling threats and insults under his breath as he got in Alcander’s face.

“… out of here, barbarian scum,” the man whispered, his voice still perfectly audible to Leon’s eighth-tier ears.

“That’s not for you to decide, fuck boy,” Alcander responded, not giving the other man an inch.

Leon sighed and prepared himself for some kind of violence, though he didn’t actually move anywhere.

“What are the rules governing violence at occasions like these?” he asked those around him. “I heard there were going to be some kind of fighting ring?”

“Duels aren’t unheard of,” Elise replied with a pointed look to Narses. “Given how multicultural Heaven’s Eye can be, there aren’t any hard and fast rules for decorum.”

“A good fight will liven things up, I say,” Valeria responded with a look of anticipation. She was madly grinning as Alcander and the man he’d apparently offended somehow continued their exchange of words.

“Yes,” Narses practically moaned, drawing the word out and clearly relishing every vibration of his vocal cords. “The only things better than a good drink is a good woman or a good fight!”

Without waiting another moment, Narses surged forth into the center of the courtyard.

“Alcander!” he roared, getting everyone’s attention. “Daniel! It seems you two have volunteered yourselves!”

Leon immediately realized that just about all of the ‘old people’ had been expecting this. Everyone who was clearly attending the party for Narses’ sake and not Sofia’s walked forward, excitedly whispering as they formed something that resembled a ring around the courtyard.

“What party is complete without a contest of strength!” Narses continued, his voice growing ever louder as Sofia and the two Leon could only assume were her parents joined Narses in the center of the courtyard, all wearing enormous smiles. “What celebration can even be called such without the spilling of a little blood! Alcander! Daniel! Get over here and ready yourselves for battle!”