“I would offer you congratulations, but I’m sure you must be sick of hearing them by now,” Kiyanu said.

“I don’t know, a little praise is always nice. Or almost always.” I grinned.

It felt a little weird to be sitting in his office in the Imperial palace again and notice that nothing had changed. Not that I’d been gone that long, especially from the viewpoint of an old cultivator like the regent, but we’d conquered the Dominion and I’d finally neutralized the threat Sparky posed to me in the meantime.

“Is that why you finally moved on to the palace?” He raised an eyebrow, and if I didn’t know him better, I might have missed the spark of humor in his eyes. “Quite a few people here were a little miffed that you didn’t return to the capital immediately, especially since you also won’t have a triumphant ceremony.”

“Ugh. Maybe I’ll have a triumph when the war is completely over.”

It almost was. The army had moved into the southern tip of the Storm Continent, which I’d consider to be completely conquered by now. But there was still fighting in a few other continents, where the Dominion had had colonies. A lot of that was borne by our Terbekteri allies, who, not coincidentally, were also sweeping up some of those former colonies, but I wouldn’t complain about them contributing.

“If you’re sure,” Kiyanu chuckled. “It’s nice to have you back, in any case.”

I’d stayed at the estate with Al and the others for a bit over a week. In truth, I still felt the toll the war had taken, and I would have liked a few months of time away. But even so, I already felt a lot better. I wasn’t haunted by nightmares or other symptoms of PTSD, but some time spent with loved ones and not under constant subtle threat was great.

“I think Tenira is getting impatient about the wedding,” I said with a small grin. “Not that I could blame her, we’ve already waited for a while. I hope there are no problems with it?”

Kiyanu snorted lightly. “Actually, it might be best to strike while the ingot is fresh from the forge. At the moment, you could probably marry a random female street beggar and no one would complain. That doesn’t mean they’ll like it any more, of course, but that’s their problem. And it’s not like something like this is completely unknown everywhere.” He gazed out of the window. “I actually had an aunt who was living with another woman. Spirits, I haven’t thought about them in decades.”

I nodded and filed that information away as interesting trivia but probably useless.

“By the way, I’m not sure if asking this is rude, but is Ki Niyani actually related to you?”

Kiyanu smiled slightly. “Yes. She’s my great-great-great-granddaughter, as a matter of fact, although she’s never been my direct disciple.”

Interesting. I hadn’t found any note of a relation to the clan claiming descent from Kiyanu on the Forest Continent, so she or her ancestor had probably been born as a bastard or something. It definitely explained why she’d been acting in his interests on the war front. And probably kept an eye on me for him, but I’d taken it as a given that the eighth-stagers would be watching me for their own reasons. Also, it’s really weird just how old Kiyanu really is.

“Is there anything else we need to talk about?” I asked.

Kiyanu chuckled. “Oh, quite a few things, I’d say. But there’s no need to go into everything right now. I can give you some time to get settled in. We should probably schedule a meeting with Gen, too.”

I grimaced a little, but nodded. I hadn’t forgotten my promise to start learning more about governance and such from him, either. “Alright. Then, can you just give me an overview? How’s the economic situation?”

Kiyanu tapped his fingers on the desk briefly. “Complicated,” he answered. “How could it not be? But in brief, we’re shifting production away from war-related needs. We’ll still need quite a bit of it going forward, especially with the need to keep the Dominion under occupation, but this is still freeing up some material and labor. We’ve started establishing or reactivating some factories to build certain other things. A lot of new companies are springing up in response to this, and Gen and his people are hard at work drafting new regulations.”

I nodded. “We should finally be able to complete the telephone lines.”

Kiyanu returned my smile. “Yes, hopefully that will continue to go smoothly. The noble clans are also in a bit of a tizzy, but that hasn’t stopped since the coup attempt. I don’t anticipate any real problems from them.” He pursed his lips. “The greatest challenge will be integrating the newly gained territories. I’m hopeful for our prospects, though. None of the areas were damaged too terribly in the war, and the Zarian at least ensured they had a halfway decent level of development. There will be some problems, but more of our soldiers should be able to return to domestic duties soon.”

“That sounds good. We’ll need to make sure to integrate all of the people of these lands, and not have any group feeling left out. At least the Empire should have experience with that, right?”

Kiyanu smiled slightly and shook his head. “It does. Not for a while, of course, but there are protocols we can build on. Don’t worry, I have no intention of seeing this be mismanaged.”

“Good.”

“And we will have some time to focus on it, too. The way things went down between you, the Moon, and the Storm has probably caught people’s attention. I suspect that powerful enough spirits would have told the leadership of most nations something, at least. So far, no one seems intent on testing us.”

I frowned a little. That was probably a good thing. I didn’t think Rijoko would support me in a random, run-of-the-mill war, especially if we were the aggressors. But not all of the benefits I could bring to bear because of his bloodline needed him. With Rijoko’s major opposition defeated and on the retreat, at least for a while, I could understand why people wouldn’t want to test it.

“That’s good,” I finally said. “I wouldn’t rely on something this fickle. But if we have some time, we’ll probably develop so far that they pose less threat to us, anyway.”

Kiyanu cocked an eyebrow. “Your intentions for the future haven’t changed, I see.”

I shrugged. “I’m not going to go looking for trouble, Kiyanu. To some extent, this is inevitable, a consequence of our technological progress and what comes with it. I know the way technological superiority informs global power. And if there are certain things I’d rather not have continue on Aran — or certain things I would like to see widespread — well, I promise I’ll try to be careful.”

“If you say so.”

From there, our conversation turned to slightly lighter subjects, and we recapped the end of the war and where we stood, respectively. After a few more minutes, I bid Kiyanu goodbye and left his office, still mulling these things over in my head.

I stepped onto a balcony and jumped down onto the courtyard below. A few people gave me startled looks, but it was pretty empty. I glanced around, then started walking towards the areas higher up. The upper terraces usually saw less people compared to the lower regions of the palace complex.

I breathed in deeply, tasting the hint of spring in the air. There was still a thin covering of snow on the grounds, but most of it was in the process of melting. It made the side paths slippery, but I didn’t have to worry about that. With the robe I currently wore, growing my wings might be expensive, but I hardly needed them.

I ended up at a secluded garden on one of the uppermost terraces of the palace, slowly ambling through the beds of flowers and bushes. I felt the familiar presence growing nearer and didn’t give any signs of surprise when Elis called out to me.

“Inaris! You look more like a princess every time I see you.”

I smiled as I stepped closer to him. “I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be a compliment or not.” Then I ran my eyes over his own body, pointedly taking in the well-tailored dark green clothes. “And you’re looking quite posh yourself.”

“Like it?” He smiled and leaned against the fountain in the middle of the garden. Formations kept the water flowing even in winter.

I tilted my head. “Not bad,” I acknowledged. “But I think I prefer you with windswept hair and slightly rumpled or torn clothes. You know, the ‘dashing rogue’ look.”

Elis laughed. “I’ll endeavor to look as dashing as I can even in formal clothing, then. You’re welcome to tousle my hair yourself.”

I grinned and leaned against the stone beside him. Eying his thick, brown hair, I was tempted for a moment to run my fingers through it. He’d let it grow out a little since I first saw him, so it reached down to about his ears. Of course, being a shapeshifter, he could easily change that if he wanted to.

“Maybe later. Now that I’ve seen you again, there’s something else I should take care of before I forget.”

I reached into my storage ring and produced a document in an envelope, which I held out to Elis. He raised an eyebrow and took it. Then he carefully opened it and started reading through the paper.

I heard him suck in a surprised breath. “Inaris, is that …?”

“Our forces on the Earth Continent have all but pushed the Zarian out,” I said. “That includes all the land they had previously occupied. I thought it was about time to give you back your family’s land, so I had that drawn up. There’s the legal proof of ownership and deed, with all the legalities taken care of.”

He lowered the document and looked at me. “This is a little more than just that.”

I shrugged. “Some of the surrounding land was left without owners, so we decided to just tack it on.” I grinned at him. “This is actually for you and Elia both, of course, but I thought I’d give it to you. As the eldest son, I assume you would have inherited it anyway, right?”

He nodded. “Regardless of my gender, but yes. Still.” He frowned a little. “That’s my mother’s family’s estate. It’s technically hers.”

Huh. I’d assumed the land and title were originally their father’s. Teaches me to make assumptions, I guess. “I suppose,” I said. “You’re free to hand the deed to her when you meet her again, though honestly, I don’t think it makes much of a difference.”

“I suppose you’re right. I don’t know when I’ll see the rest of my family again, anyway.” His gaze turned darker.

I took his arm and gave it a small squeeze. “With the war over, I suspect that Elia will want to return to the Earth Continent and find them. It shouldn’t be too hard for either of you, but you’ll have the Empire’s help if there are any issues.”

Elis smiled softly and turned to take my other hand. “Thank you, Nari.”

I remained quiet for a few seconds. Then I gave in to temptation and ran a hand through Elis’ hair. “You know,” I said, “I never asked you what you see when you look at me.”

“Do you mean what I see in you?” He frowned.

“No, not that,” I said. “Although feel free to compliment me later. No, I meant your bloodline abilities.”

“Ah!” He chuckled. “Well, mine aren’t quite as well suited to that as Elia’s, to tell the truth. We both know when someone is lying, but when it comes to the rest, I’m not as good. Alright, let me see.” He tilted his head and squinted slightly. “Well, I see that I’d rather not be your enemy, to be honest.”

I snorted and lightly punched his arm. “Elis! Come on, tell me more.”

“Alright.” His expression turned serious. “I suspect that even Elia would see you as less, uh, righteous now, Inaris. After everything that’s happened, that’s not a surprise. But you’re still generally just. I can tell that much. You’re also setting new standards for your people, and while I approve of that, it muddles things a little.”

I nodded. I probably should have expected something like that.

“I can also see that you’re generally an honest person,” he continued. “Not that I would have needed a spirit’s bloodline to know that; I don’t think I’ve ever caught you lying in your personal life. You’re quite self-aware and true to yourself, at least in most respects. And your emotional processing and moral judgment are unlike most people I’ve seen. That’s all I’ve got.”

I leaned against him and stayed silent for a while, thinking about what he’d said. None of that was really much of a surprise. The bit about ‘righteousness’ bothered me a little, although I could see why it would be like that. I didn’t know how much his perception of me was influenced by his personal opinion and experience, either.

“Do you want the compliments now?” he askedin a playful tone. “Or maybe you can tell me what you see in me, instead?”

“Maybe later.” I pulled him closer to me. “For now, I’d rather take advantage of this moment to ourselves we’ve suddenly got.”

He smiled. “We can always talk more later,” he agreed.

Then he pulled my head to his and I captured his lips with mine, starting a passionate kiss. The wait had been worth it.