Leon smiled as he awoke. He hadn’t been sleeping long, perhaps only an hour or two, but the exertions he’d gone through had warranted the rest. As he returned to awareness, he heard the breathing of his bedmate quicken, and she began to stir. Smooth naked skin cuddled about him began to slide over his own rougher features, and when he looked down at the head resting on his chest, he found two thin slits of red peering back at him set in one of the most beautiful faces he’d ever seen.
Cassandra groaned, her ruby eyes barely open wide enough to be seen through her eyelashes. After a moment of bleariness, however, her eyes slammed open and she pushed herself up until she was on all fours, staring down at Leon beneath her.
As a familiar look that he’d seen many times in his other ladies began spreading across her face, Leon asked, “How was your night, wife?”
“It was… satisfactory,” she playfully answered with a coy smile. “I’d like to sample your morning services, to see how they compare.”
“My ‘morning services’ will leave you just as satisfied as you were just a few hours ago,” Leon said, his tone hungry as he rose to the Princess’ challenge. Without another word, he grabbed her toned waist and tossed her down next to him. In an instant, he was upon her, lavishing her body with all the attention that he’d had to hold himself back from during their ceremony.
They’d just married the day before, but with so many guests of such tremendous standing, they had to hold another party afterward to allow everyone their chance to network as they pleased. With the Director helping him to keep the Empires from making too big of a fuss if he were to disappear for a while—which was to say, head to the Sky Devil’s Hell—Leon was more than happy to play host for as long as needed.
The reception was done in the Evergolden fashion with a couple small religious ceremonies conducted, such as the Empress planting a palace-tree in Leon’s fields that would never grow—leaving it as an unspoken threat to the family her daughter was joining that Cassandra was not under their power and would have a sanctuary even if their relationship fell apart. The spirits of the land were venerated and appeased, and then the party itself could begin. Several hours of dancing and feasting followed, with Leon and Cassandra themselves expected to take full part.
That wasn’t even close to his favorite part of the ceremony—even the wedding ceremony itself, where Leon and Cassandra had stood in front of all their guests for a few minutes and spoke words of love, devotion, and commitment, and when Leon’s other ladies spoke words of welcome to Cassandra—had embarrassed him less than having to be the first on a dance floor.
Fortunately, both Elise and Emilie had, over the course of a couple decades, made Leon a reasonably competent dancer, so while he felt he’d made a fool of himself, Cassandra had seemed joyous enough, and Elise had done nothing but beam at him the entire time, he assumed he hadn’t performed too poorly.
The performance, however, that he’d most looked forward to came at the end of the night when the party finally ended and their guests—and even his retainers—took their turns saying their goodbyes. Immediately after that, once Leon was left alone with only his ladies, Leon waited for hardly a second. Elise, Maia, and Valeria had all shared a few meaningful looks before Leon grabbed Cassandra and took her to bed.
Their joining, while starting a little slower than Leon was used to thanks to Cassandra’s nervousness—despite her insistence to the contrary—had lasted hours. Both of them were flush with magic power and physical energy, and they used it as any couple would on their wedding night.
Now that it was the morning, as Leon went in for round he’d-lost-count-after-twenty, he was quietly surprised that all of his furniture was still intact, despite how adventurous Cassandra had proven herself to be, demanding that he take her on just about every available surface in his room.
Thankfully, while he mostly slept with one of his ladies whenever he did sleep, he did have his own private room as well, and that’s where he’d taken Cassandra, so he didn’t have to worry about answering to his ladies after trashing the room.
Of course, that didn’t stop them from gathering outside of the door and rather blatantly listening in, as Leon discovered as he finally pulled away from Cassandra, the gorgeous blond left panting, her skin flushed, her body quivering, once they’d both finally sated their morning desires.
Without bothering to dress, Leon got out of bed, a moan of disappointment the only protest from Cassandra as he disentangled his body from hers and covered her with the bed’s horribly wrinkled and rather damp sheets. After a moment of searching, he found the comforter, too, crumpled up behind his desk where it had been thrown in a fit of passion the night before—by whom, he couldn’t remember—and threw that back over his new wife, too.
Only then did he go to the door and open it, revealing both Elise and Valeria. Elise almost fell into the room since she’d been leaning against the door, and Valeria had only been a step behind her. Leon caught his first wife and pulled her into the room, then took Valeria’s hand and did likewise for her.
“No Maia?” he asked as he glanced back into the hallway.
“She’s waiting for you to come to her,” Elise replied, almost talking into his chest from how tightly he was holding her.
Leon frowned lightly, but closed the door, leaving the four in the room alone.
“Wha… are you doin…?” Cassandra slurred as she turned to face upward, the noise Leon and the other two had made pulling her out of the fugue state Leon had left her in.
Once she saw Elise and Valeria, she jumped a bit, but then relaxed, even sitting up and not caring at all when the blanket dropped, revealing all of herself above the waist.
Leon heard Elise’s breath hitch at the sight, and a quick laugh from Cassandra in response.
“Do you two need something?” Cassandra asked, now fully awake and articulate. “I am a newlywed, and I’d like to spend as much time with my husband as possible.”
“And what are you going to be doing with your husband, hm?” Valeria pointedly wondered, a teasing smile playing at her lips.
Without hesitation, Cassandra rose to Valeria’s challenge. “We’re going to be fucking, Val. I would have his penis inside of my vagina for as long as we can make it last. Would you like any more obvious questions answered?”
Valeria laughed and didn’t say another word, but Leon noted that she glanced in his direction, a little color in her fair cheeks and heat in her sapphire eyes.
“There are other things that require attention, Princess,” Valeria countered. “It’s unfortunate, for sure, that you won’t have the time to get as stuffed as you’d like.”
“Hmm?” Leon asked, interjecting before Cassandra and Valeria could continue their sniping. “What requires attention?”
“We have a visitor, husband,” Elise told him. “He made it clear that he’s willing to wait, but given who he is…”
“It’s Ambrose,” Valeria quickly stated, and Leon’s eyebrows about shot up into his hair from his surprise, and a moment later, deep concern and a little bit of fear entered his heart.
‘What does he want? Does he know about my plans? Does he not want me to treat with the Ten Tribes? Or is this about that request he almost made during my birthday?’
With a look of sorrow, Leon said, “I have to deal with this. Whatever he wants can’t be good.”
“Who is this ‘Ambrose’ that he could pry you away from me so easily?” Cassandra asked in a huff.
“That’s the name the Grave Warden introduced himself as to Leon,” Valeria explained.
Leon had told Cassandra essentially all of his life story, with very few exceptions, and the Grave Warden was not one of them. She paled slightly when he was brought up, and any argument within her died.
“I’ll get cleaned up and dressed. Where is he?” Leon asked.
“He asked for one of our smaller courtyards,” Elise replied. “He’s being seen to as befits his station, but keep an eye out for the Lord Protector or the Grand Druid, I think both of them were looking to spend some time with you, as well, but neither seemed like they had any real business. I’m sure they just want to chat about your marriage.”
Leon scowled and hurriedly began getting ready.
‘Not even one day,’ he silently bemoaned. ‘Just one day to enjoy my time with Cassie, damnit. One fucking day.’
---
When Leon walked into the courtyard where Ambrose was waiting for him, his irritation left him almost immediately. He knew Ambrose as a fairly lackadaisical man, not taking too many things seriously, speaking slowly, repeating himself often, and generally giving off the impression that he was so far above everything and everyone around him that life itself was little more than a game.
Which, Leon supposed, wasn’t too far from the truth. Even Jason Keraunos challenged him, and the Storm King lost. If anyone could treat the universe like their own personal stage play, then Ambrose could.
However, when Leon first laid his eyes upon the man, he found not a man patiently waiting with a pleasant smile upon his lips, but someone more akin to a caged tiger, pacing about the peristyle with an expression of complete stoic seriousness.
“Leon,” he whispered as Leon shut the door behind him.
“Ambrose,” he replied. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“I’ve had a busy few months,” he answered. “First of all, my friend, I ought to apologize to you. When last we spoke, I told you that you were in my debt. Upon further reflection, this was improper of me. I will not do so again unless I have done something that does incur a debt.”
“Mighty generous of you,” Leon sarcastically responded, though he was surprised and grateful for the admission, at least.
“The people of the universe might take a different tack,” the Grave Warden continued. “When I told you that I had something I wanted you to do, a service that you could ‘repay’ the debt with, I was serious. There is a matter of universal importance that requires attention, and I am not at liberty to take care of it myself. That is why I require your assistance.”
Leon grimly smiled and took a seat in one of the sofas in the center of the courtyard and silently gestured to the one opposite him. The Grave Warden frowned slightly but took the invitation to sit.
“It seems that everyone wants something from me,” he stated, “there’s no harm in me at least hearing you out, is there?”
Ambrose’s frown deepened for a moment. “I am… confused as to the implication behind your words. But I will again apologize if this is an imposition. I simply have few avenues left open to me at the moment. I do have some time, though, perhaps a few decades, or even a century, before matters grow dire, so if you wish to air some grievance with me…”
“No, no,” Leon responded with a wave. “It’s just that the Ilian and Sacred Golden Empires have been doing their best to wring every bit of old Thunderbird Clan juice out of me that they possibly can before I leave the plane. It buys me security, so I’m happy enough to play along, but it can feel like it’s all take and no give with them, which can be frustrating.”
Ambrose nodded in agreement. “Such arrangements are known to me. Known to me. But good security is invisible. It is always better to have unneeded security than to have need of it and not have it.”
It was Leon’s turn to tip his head in agreement, and he took it. “So, what’s this thing you need of?”
“As a bit of background, you understand what the Divine Graveyard is and why it exists, yes?”
“It’s a series of planes that are used as the graves for the Primal Gods and Devils, and as prisons for few that yet live. Like Krith’is.”
“Yes,” the Grave Warden replied before he got a look of great intrigue in his eye. He leaned forward and added, “Had you ever actually taken me up on my invitation to visit my home in Ilion, then I would’ve had you explain to me exactly what happened to cause Krith’is’ death.”
Leon smiled and shrugged, not answering the indirect question.
“As it is,” the Grave Warden said as he leaned back, “that Krith’is is dead at all is enough. I’ll allow you to keep your secret. This time. This time.
“Moving on, it’s good that you have this understanding. Allow me to explain a few more things. Each of the planes of the Divine Graveyard has its own Warden. My counterparts ensure that their wards are never released. Our duty was entrusted to us by Khosrow himself, the greatest of all mankind’s heroes, and is one that will never end, for our charges are those Primal beings that could not, for one reason or another, die. Or given Krith’is’ death, they were not beings we were capable of killing.”
There was a sparkle in the Grave Warden’s eye as he said that, and Leon felt that Krith’is’ demise was not one he was going to just get away with not explaining at some point, but that the Grave Warden had some request to make of him was the only reason he wasn’t pressing Leon right now.
“We have done our duty for a very long time,” the Grave Warden continued. “So much time that I can hardly even say myself how long it’s been. Early in the performance of our duties, my fellows were close. We were all friends, our friendship forged in the fires of the war that ended the Primal Age. But it’s been so very long, and none of us have ever had the freedom to leave our planes—our duties were too important to leave, after all. We have kept in touch, making sure that all of us know that we’re still all right, that we’re still performing our duty and ensuring that the most dangerous beings to human civilization that exist in the universe remain locked away.”
“Has something changed?” Leon asked.
The Grave Warden was silent for a long moment, his eyes turned away from Leon to stare at the wall of the courtyard, his eyes unfocused. When his mind returned nearly ten whole seconds later, he said, “When the incident with that pirate showed just how… lax I had been in the performance of my duty, I reached out to my old friends. While we have kept in touch, that communication has grown more and more infrequent over the millennia. Where once we spoke with each other every year, we began speaking only every other year, and then only once a decade, then only once a century.
“These days, we hold one conversation with each other every cycle of the Nexus. It has been more than thirty thousand years since I last spoke with my counterparts in the other planes of the Divine Graveyard. A lot can happen in that time, even to immortals such as us.
“I have managed to get back in contact with ten of my comrades. I have not been able to contact the last of our number. I am stuck on this plane, and I am running out of options for investigating my friend’s apparent disappearance.”
“That is where I come in, then?” Leon asked with a sigh.
“That is where you come in,” Ambrose confirmed. After a moment, he added, “I am not asking you to drop everything and head to my friend’s plane; I still have a few options left to me, but at this point, I’m not hopeful. What I am saying is that someone will need to venture over there and see what’s going on. Deliver a message for me if my friend can be contacted.”
“Why me?” Leon asked. “You’re a Grave Warden with power I can’t even yet comprehend. Why are you asking this favor of me?”
The Grave Warden’s countenance soured. “I do not relish this,” he admitted. “I am even more averse to it given your obvious reticence. I sympathize with your feelings regarding the heritage of your Clan, but your blood is not why I’m speaking to you now. It is your relative strength and combat experience compared to others of your tier, and your experience in dealing with Krith’is that has brought me to your home today. I need someone I can trust, and right now, that someone is you.”
Leon had to fight the urge to smile. It was a small thing, but he greatly appreciated what Ambrose just said. It felt good to be wanted for reasons other than the benefits his blood could bring someone.
“Surely you have others, though?” Leon asked. “Others who are stronger and more capable?”
“I do, but this is not a job for them,” Ambrose replied. “Sending a resident of our plane to another in the Divine Graveyard is a delicate matter. It can be seen as a provocation, the start of a feud. Such arguments have happened between us before, despite our friendship. Since those uglier days, my fellow Wardens and I decided that if we had to, for any reason, send someone to another’s plane, we first had to ask permission, or exhaust all other reasonable options to make contact. Since I’m nearing exhaustion with those options, I am now speaking with you. There are others—post-Apotheosis mages I have at my disposal—but in this one task, they cannot help me. I cannot send them. I cannot send them.”
Leon sighed again. “What is it, specifically, that would want me to do, should I accept?”
“As I said, there is time, so take what you need. But I need you to give me an answer before you attempt Apotheosis. Then, if you were to accept, I would send you to my friend’s plane and investigate matters. If everything is all right, then I will bring you back. If you encounter difficulties, I would ask that you make all reasonable efforts to make contact with my friend. If there is something that imperils his duty, I and the rest of the Wardens must know.”
Leon thought of the invasion Krith’is made into his soul realm. The power and strength of a Primal being was a terrifying thing and not one that he would unleash upon the universe. While he would take his time to contemplate the problem, he supposed he was inclined to agree, at least right now.
“I’ll make my ask sweeter,” the Grave Warden stated. “I would not ask such a favor of you without promising reward. So, I offer you this: should you accept my task, I would arrange for you and any you decide upon to move to the Nexus.”
Leon’s eyes widened in surprise. “You… might have to temper that offer, I can think of quite a few people.”
“I can move every resident of my plane just about anywhere in the universe I wish,” Ambrose said with a somewhat smug look. “Think not of any limitation, for there is none. If you perform this task for me, I would aid you in moving an entire Empire to the Nexus, should you wish me to, whether by magical means or by supplying you with a fleet of transportation arks.”
“That’s… quite the offer,” Leon whispered. “I will give it all due consideration.”
“That is all I ask. Now, I will take my leave.”
The Grave Warden stood, and as Leon jumped to his own feet, Ambrose simply smiled and nodded to him before vanishing into thin air.
“Huh,” Leon grunted.
‘Well, looks like I have something new to think over…’
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