Nearly a dozen feet clacked down the hall, the rustling of robes and slight clank of well-oiled armor flowing behind. Try as I might I couldn't help but be bothered as I returned to my current residence. Other than my personal guards and a number of very trusted servants few were allowed in this most protected of spaces.

the followers didn't speak a word a we moved, sensing my mood. Instead they fell into step, watching as I moved through halls and corridors, heading to my personal rooms, those that I shared with the only one I could truly trust.

Why could I trust her? Because I understood her, at least to an extent. My wonderful wife had been trapped, a caged bird, unable to choose her own fate. I too had been trapped, not so restricted as her perhaps, nor was my cage as gilded, but my fate had been declared to me from a young age. Had either of us accepted it? No, of course not, we'd turned on our captors and broken the cages, cutting away all the chains that had tried to bind us to forge a new future together.

I mused on my childhood briefly. My older brothers had stood between me and ever inheriting my father's position. From nearly the moment of my birth therefore, it had been declared that I would be a servant, either in the army, the orders, or at someone's table side, depending on my temperament. They'd thought that I would live and die, nothing but another lesser to order around.

It had certainly come as a surprise when I'd taken my first unit in the now fallen kingdom's army. That first gathering of men, all discarded as I had been may not have been anything special, but I had formed them into a blade nonetheless. A few still served me, though with their advanced age they were now in cushy positions I'd arranged for their retirement.

From that place I began my recruitment, gathering up my real team. Foolish ideas of nobility and privilege had blinded so many to the gems buried in the mud around them. No, I'd scoured every village, every town, every unit I came across, looking for the truly skilled, the steel blades that needed only a good sharpening to cut deeply into my enemies.

Wizards, warriors, bards, it mattered not. I never managed to secure the loyalty of any priests, but with their necessary loyalty to their orders that was no issue to me. My chosen men had joined, one after another as my former team retired or found places off the front line. I'd formed them into heroes and great men. Oh how proud they'd all made me.

As I reached my rooms I turned to my followers. "That is all for today. We've much to do on the morrow so rest well my friends."

I entered, knowing that a few guards would stand by while the others rested. Here I could finally strip off some of the heavy gear that I wore daily, leaving on only a few trinkets that I had in case of emergencies. I looked at one of the little pendants and frowned, a slight headache forming.

Before long I was joined. Someone might have informed her, or she might have simply come of her own accord, either way my very pregnant wife soon made her way into our suite. She had a bit of the glow so many talked of, but mostly looked pleased beyond belief. Upon seeing me thinking in one of my favorite chairs she came to join.

"You look troubled husband. Care to share your issues with me?" She moved behind me and hummed as she rubbed along my shoulders. A light wave of healing magic flowed out from her hands, relaxing and reinforcing my tired muscles.

"A troubling problem," I answered. She was patient though and after making sure I was fully relaxed found her own seat and waited. "One of my more useful servants is a headache," I finally said.

"How so?" Sophia inquired.

"She is... hiding things,"

"That is troubling. You suspect betrayal? My brother is still out there, and there are other powers who we know oppose our current expansion." Her concerns were valid, but I could only frown.

"I do not believe so. All the things she's tried to keep quiet seem to have been for safety, hers or ours. As well, if someone had wanted to harm us they could have simply taken her. The frustrating problem is how to deal with it without causing more issues," I explained.

"There are a number of things you could do, depending on severity. What issues could she cause?" My wife may be one of the few I trusted, but her contemplative look told me she was thinking of rather unkind ways to correct behavior.

"It's Verren's daughter." Her grimace told me my concerns on how to punish there were valid.

"Troublesome indeed. She's the one who provided the material for your crown no?" The instrument in question was sitting nearby, the sky-metal shining brightly.

"The material, no small number of the rune sequences. She's also the one who helped Mystien advance his water magic, and looks to be coming out as one key members of the team trying to make new gates." The pressure in my temples began to build again as I listed out some of her achievements. "Oh, and not let us forget that she did the sequences on these, or at least provided them." I held up the pendant I'd looked at earlier, one that matched a piece of her own protections.

That had been a useful little trick she'd pulled. They were simple enough to make, but protected well against kinetic attacks and falls. I'd seen similar, and superior versions, but they were often full of complications that made them difficult to use. In one, the wrong casual touch from someone could set off a series of expensive and dangerous barriers, and many had such problems.

"Troublesome indeed. You're right though, if she'd betrayed us keeping a few secrets would be the least of our problems. Similarly, if you try to keep her locked up her father will be a real thorn. How severe are her transgressions?" I could see the wheels turning in her mind. There were few who I could share my thoughts with fully, who had all of my access to state secrets. Another to help was something I'd needed for so long even without knowing.

"Her brother too, as he's gaining power much like his sire. As for the daughter, I'm worried that the elves might have gotten to her. Though why they would care I don't know, they don't seem to care about what we do, so long as we don't try to attack them."

"Are you planning to attack one of the elven nations?" The largest was Atal, but there were a few others that had broken from it over the years.

"No, decidedly not. While they don't have the numbers to take us, we don't have the mages to fight them, not without crippling losses. They know this as well as we do."

"So what do you plan to do?" My wife looked concerned at what option I would take.

"For now I've restricted her movement under the guise of security. There's another, a potential agent of the Atali, until I'm done with wringing him for the truth I'll need to keep her under a tight leash." That was another interrogation I was having commenced with care. An elven agent was something I seldom got the chance to gain, and a loyal one would be a boon.

"Care husband, caging someone can often backfire," she cautioned.

"I think she understood that it was both for security and a punishment. Regardless it shall be temporary, either she'll prove loyal and be released when her discipline is complete or... It will have to appear an accident, so I might keep her kin. Though I'll hate the loss." My wife nodded to me in understanding. Sometimes one had to dispose of people quietly like that, there'd been a few since I'd taken over who'd gone such. No need to cause the enmity from their loved ones, or the public concern over executions.

"You seem to have it well in hand then."

"Enough about such things though. How went your appointment with the Lovers?" My Sophia had been going for that only this very morning, and I was eager to hear the results.

"All is well," she said, holding her belly. "The priestess said everything was in the proper position and looking just as it should. It should be only another month before our child comes though."

Sophia could, in theory, do the magic needed to check on the health or our child. She was not practiced in it though, and such a situation was not the time to learn, so we'd been of one mind that she should consult with the best experts we could find.

The reports had all shown well. She'd not told me if I would be father to a son or daughter yet though, perhaps she thought I'd ask at some point. There was no point to that though, let her have her secret. A son would be needed to continue my nation, but either would be the best gift I'd ever received.

For an hour or two more she told me of her day. She was constantly looking into the work of the many officials who reported to her. There were so many, as she had taken charge of several districts in our shared homeland. I checked in every now and then, providing help if asked for, but she kept them well in hand and the direct subordinates she'd chosen to aid her were quite skilled. Some even poached from my own administrative teams.

That had been some day. I'd laughed for nearly half of it as I learned that my own wife had sniped out several of my most promising lower level scribes and accountants to fill her own ranks. Their superiors had been less than pleased as one after the other they reported the 'theft' of their aides to me. Finding good replacements had been time consuming, but worth it to know that my queen had the best help she could in her work.

When she finally finished we made our way to bed, curling up beside one another as we drifted off to sleep.