Chương 943: 973 - Settling In

It wasn't long after Leon met with Keeper and the tau that the final documents solidifying Leon's peace with the Sunlit Empire came through. With the peace agreement in writing, Leon wasted no time leaving Thunderhaven as quickly as his arks could go while maintaining efficient use of magic power.

His welcome in the Empire was already quite shaky and he wasn't going to press it, no matter how much he wanted to immediately start looking for the Titanstone foundry that may or may not still be undiscovered within the Empire's borders. He paused their departure only just long enough for his retainers to send any messages home that they might want to, which those from the Bull Kingdom happily took advantage of.

They made for Argos, moving at a slower pace than they set coming in since they also had a somewhat damaged Thunderbird heavy cruiser in tow. Since that ark still had three of its original wisps that had withstood the test of time and the Sunlit Empire's many bypasses just to get the thing to fly without a member of the Thunderbird Clan, Leon was quite excited to get the ark back to Kataigida and into the hands of Nestor and the Ravens.

More than that, as the second Thunderbird destroyer was being repaired, the Ravens were also learning more about the old Clan's destroyers, and could possibly unlock the destroyer's main weapons given enough time. There was much to look forward to, so after the ark fleet made it back to Argos, Leon gave them only as much time as they needed to get their storm crystals charged and supplies loaded before he gave the order for his people to get ready to pull out of the city.

There were enough Sunlit soldiers remaining in Argos to keep the relatively depopulated city—many of its citizens having fled even before Leon's initial landing in the city—in order, so Leon wasn't too worried about removing the city's current peacekeepers. Leon's only real cause for hesitation was the tau, who didn't return that quickly despite the fact that dropping off the Keeper shouldn't have taken more than a couple days at least.

However, Leon didn't mind the tau's possible tardiness and resolved to stay in Argos as long as was necessary. Thankfully, 'as long as was necessary' turned out to only be three days, with the tau formally presenting himself to Leon while Leon sat in the central courtyard of the citadel. He would've held the meeting in the citadel's main hall, but he'd already given the order to completely demolish all of Argos' fortifications, so the citadel had even in just those few days been nearly brought down completely.

The tau hardly batted an eye, and soon enough, he was pledging to advise Leon to the best of his ability, in whatever capacity Leon desired. The tau offered no qualifications on that pledge, and Leon didn't see fit to question him there in front of all his present advisors. Instead, he simply accepted the tau into his service, and the next day, he and his armada began their long departure. Leon and his ark fleet left first, being the fastest and most mobile.

The rest of the central and Tribal armies would have to load up onto the Jaguar and Tiger Tribes' ships and return home the slower way, though this at least gave them time to finish the demolition of the city's outer and sea walls. As they left, Leon was assured that the demolition would only take a couple more days and that the last of the Sky Devils' dread ships would leave Argos in four days, with the rest of the fleets leaving in a near-constant stream between now and then.

And that, he hoped, would be the last time that anyone would have cause to refer to his Kingdom's ships in that manner. So, Leon returned to his quarters aboard Silver Spear and retired for the rest of the journey. The return to Kataigida was rather subdued since they arrived first in Raven lands in the north, and the Ravens were too busy studying Leon's latest ark acquisition and evaluating how the rest of the arks performed to bother too much with celebrating victory.

The most Leon got out of Asger when he informed the eccentric man of the peace deal was a 'Oh, that's good.' Leon didn't see any real excitement until the Director came forward and revealed the five arks that he'd been storing in his soul realm. Leon could understand their distraction, though, as Storm Herald alone was the most magnificent ark he'd ever seen, and its sheer size demanded not just attention but reverence.

He was almost tempted to take the massive ark back to Stormhollow, but he decided to leave it in Raiginn for the moment, as the Ravens' capital had far more advanced arkyards to study the new arks with than Stormhollow did. Once Leon's fleet reached Raithellion, the Ancestral Harts gave him a much warmer reception, with a night-long celebration that had essentially the entire forest aglow as the Tribesmen used their magic with abandon.

Leon wasn't quite sure, but he even thought he glimpsed the human form of the Ancestral Hart itself participating in the celebrations, though he never caught more than a glimpse of him and couldn't be sure. The Harts themselves certainly didn't give him an answer when he asked Sar and the rest of the Hart elders. From there, his fleet continued down to Raichaiti, word of his victory and arrival reaching the Lions long before he did.

As a result, he was greeted by those Lion elders who hadn't accompanied him across the Argonaut Sea, and the Lions threw a party wilder than the Harts had. The main source of entertainment in the Hart party was music and dancing, but the Lions had a different idea of fun; instead of the usual kinds of celebration that Leon was more used to, the Lions instead drank copiously and fought duels amongst themselves, the fights growing more and more disorganized as the day dragged on.

By the time Leon and his family retired for the night, they'd witnessed more than a hundred serious maimings and even a few deaths.

"Let the young work out some steam," Menander had told him when he'd politely asked how far the Lions were allowed to go in their revels.

"You've just made peace, so when else are they going to be able to spill some blood?" Leon had only smiled back and hoped that the Lions would find some better way to work out their aggression. So long as their leadership considered this acceptable, though, then Leon wasn't going to interfere in their Tribal culture, as much as he found it wasteful and distasteful. From Raichaiti, it was a short trip back to Stormhollow, and once there, Leon was greeted by the most jubilant and enthusiastic crowd yet.

Stormhollow had always been the Ten Tribes' largest city almost from its founding, and it had only grown since Leon's ascension. Thousands of migrants had come to the city from their Tribal lands, all wanting to live in the same city as their Thunderbird monarch, and if Leon was to be told that every single one of them turned out to welcome him back to the city, he would've believed it given the size of the crowds. What followed his return were two weeks of celebrations and merry-making.

Leon toured the city during the day and hosted large parties in some of the largest forums and gathering places in the city during the night. Despite this, he was mostly doing his duty instead of cutting loose and relaxing, as he used these gatherings more as a way to get closer to the city's people than to actually celebrate.

His celebrations were mostly reserved for his friends and family—especially the latter since now that they were home and no longer had a war to worry about, Leon's ladies unanimously decided that he ought to get back to trying for children, even if Valeria personally wanted to wait for kids of her own. Aside from the celebrations, Leon also had some business to attend to. He'd barely had time to get settled back into his newly-completed Royal Palace before a knock came at his office door…

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"Enter!" Leon called out, his magic senses already projected so he knew who was at his door. In walked Iron-Striker, one of the Chancellor's secretaries walking in just behind him, and just ahead of Gaius. Leon's Chief Secretary and Iron-Striker's secretary each took up respectful positions by the door as Iron-Striker strode further into the beautiful office. And it truly was gorgeous, as befitting of Leon's station as the Ten Tribes could build.

White marble floors; balls of silver and blue light hovering in the air; a dome above Leon's desk ringed with silver and lapis lazuli featuring half a dozen murals showing the Thunderbird victorious in battle and receiving the submission of all ten Ancestors of the Ten Tribes. To the right and left were wide windows giving expansive views of the gardens, though the windows could also be sealed completely, not allowing even light to pass through them, should Leon find a need for more privacy.

For the moment, he allowed the natural light to filter through. The Ten Tribes truly spared no expense in building his palace, and especially his office, though for all that, it was his desk that Leon found most compelling. When he first walked into the Elder Council's chambers not too far away nearly a year ago at this point, he'd been struck by the resemblance that the trees ringing the chamber had to those that filled the Forest of Black and White.

Those trees, he'd learned were fairly rare on Kataigida, but were still produced in tightly guarded copses by the Ancestral Harts. One of the lighter-wooded trees had been used to create Leon's almost monstrously large desk, and it even had a few blue-leafed branches sticking out for decoration. More than anything, though, was the smell. Leon only had to inhale the scent of the wood and he was almost instantly transported back to a simpler time when he'd lived in the Forest of Black and White with his father.

His first time sitting behind the desk had almost been enough to bring a tear to his eye. But by the time Iron-Striker arrived, Leon had not only regained his composure, he'd also started examining the few papers that had been waiting for him on the desk, though not finding any to relate to pressing business.

"Your Majesty," Iron-Striker said as he fully genuflected in greeting, his eyes bright and watery as his smile threatened to break his face in half.

"My deepest and most heartfelt congratulations on accomplishing what I never truly thought possible. You, my King, have brought us peace!" Iron-Striker's words were heartfelt and shook with emotion, and Leon was quick to respond, "Please, I only did my duty and killed some people. Besides, we won't know if this peace will last for a while yet, so don't go thanking me for anything until it's been set in stone."

Iron-Striker chuckled at Leon's attempts to downplay their victory and said, "Even if it proves fleeting, I don't think I could've led the Ten Tribes to this victory—especially not so quickly. Your first coronation anniversary is approaching, too… In just one year, you've brought us unity and peace. I…" His voice broke and he took a moment to recover.

"I… can scarcely believe it. Everything I've ever dreamed of has manifested. I'm left speechless. Just know, Leon, that I will follow you to the end for this. Everything that I believed about your return was wrong." Feeling a bit awkward, Leon, a smile plastered across his face, came out from behind his desk to pull Iron-Striker back to his feet, saying, "I appreciate it. Thank you. Maybe… uh… maybe we can… and I don't want this to come off as too rude… but let's just… You know what?

I'll just say, 'thank you' again." Leon somewhat forcefully dragged Iron-Striker over to one of the white sofas in front of one of four large hearths in his office and sat him down.

"Now," he said as he sat in an armchair, "how're things going? How's Kataigida been since I left? Is there any business you think I ought to take care of?" Iron-Striker, now that Leon was asking pointed questions, straightened up and said, "Yes, though most business is bureaucratic. I have several reports for you detailing the continued expansion of the central bureaucracy as well as some legal discrepancies between the Tribes that may need your arbitration in the coming years.

In addition, I wanted to speak with you about the fact that the Director of Heaven's Eye accompanied you back to the island, as well as get your thoughts on a few ceremonial matters that are of some importance." Leon waved Gaius over to take possession of the reports and had them taken to his desk. He'd look them over later, but he trusted Iron-Striker to have done good work on that front.

The laws would be a little harder to muddle through—though he reserved the option to simply allow the Tribes to dictate many of their laws within their territories. Once those short matters were handled, he asked a question he thought far more important, "So what was this about the Director?" Picking up on Leon's tone, Iron-Striker replied, "I have no problems with the man himself being on this island.

I was more concerned with how Heaven's Eye might be integrated into the Kingdom, or if that should even be done, and what benefits might be gained either way."

"I'll introduce you two later and you can work out some of the finer details then," Leon said.

"He won't be staying long before he heads back to Occulara, so be sure to bring up anything important until then, because after he leaves, he'll only be reachable by comm lotus.

"Still, even before that meeting, I can already say that I'm not planning on directly integrating Heaven's Eye into the Kingdom—but allowing them to operate within the Kingdom will be of great benefit to us. We'll be able to make use of resources outside of Kataigida, possibly even bringing in outside talent to add to our own skilled workers. I'm most interested in seeing how the Ravens play with Heaven's Eye's Magical Research and Development branch.

I was the Chief of that branch, you know, and even just the few researchers I brought back to this island last year have already done wonders."

"That they have," Iron-Striker agreed with a neutral smile.

"So, yeah," Leon continued.

"You, the Director, and I can work out the details of how this is going to work between us. Now, what are these 'ceremonial matters'?"

"The most important," Iron-Striker said, "is obviously a celebration for the peace that has been won. After that, there is the matter of how to celebrate your first anniversary as our King. Finally, it has not escaped notice that this Kingdom has yet to have an 'official' name given to it, and this has made some people I've spoken with curious as to your thoughts on the matter. It might be… worth giving your Kingdom a name, Your Majesty." Leon scowled. He hated naming things.

With a sigh, he said, "First things first, then. I'll declare the next week or two to be a holiday to celebrate our hard-won peace. In future years, this holiday will only last for… let's say two or three days. A week straight every year seems a bit much." Iron-Striker nodded in agreement.

"As for celebrations… I was considering a tour. Visiting each of the Tribal capitals, maybe the Common Lands in the far east to see the Titanstone quarries… that sort of thing."

"The Tribes will be overjoyed to hear your decision," Iron-Striker said. Leon gave him a doubtful look.

"Really? All of them?" The Chancellor's eyes narrowed slightly as his smile turned a little craftier.

"Most of them will without question," he admitted.

"My Tribe will welcome you always. Due to recent… unfortunate events … the voices calling for resistance against your rule have quieted down." Leon nodded, silently identifying the 'unfortunate events' as the death of the Beast Lord and his immediate followers at the hands of the Sunlit Emperor on the Sword.

"As for the Ji Spiders," Iron-Striker continued, "I believe they'll be, if not happy with your presence, at least ready and willing to prove themselves loyal and dutiful. After giving us unity and victory, they have no grounds to resist your rule anymore." Leon slowly nodded, though he reserved judgment.

He wasn't going to punish the Spiders for being cold and aloof should they choose to be, but he didn't want their opposition to his ascension as King to become a festering sore that might keep them from fully supporting him in the future. A visit to Raichni might be just what he needed to cement the unity that Iron-Striker was speaking about.

"We'll see when I get there," Leon said.

"Now… the name for my Kingdom. Honestly, I hadn't given it much thought.

'The Ten Tribes' or 'My Kingdom' I've found has been good enough so far."

"With respect," Iron-Striker said, "the name of a Kingdom is important. It can help to give people identity, serve as something for them to rally behind. I urge you to consider naming this Kingdom something unique. I believe that as trivial as it may seem, it will be important in the decades and centuries to come." Leon frowned lightly.

"Fine, I'll give it some thought. I'll even take some suggestions if you have any…"

"I apologize, I don't yet have any." Leon nodded in acknowledgment, and with that, their brief meeting was over. Leon and his Chancellor parted ways with Iron-Striker going to see to the festivities while Leon decided that he needed to properly explore the palace now that it was finally finished. He also figured he owed Nestor a visit. The man needed to know that the Clan's arks were finally here, not to mention Leon was eager to see if any progress had been made regarding Nestor's golem research…