“Where’s Xan?” Ares asked.

“Xan had left in the night,” the Roaring Trident responded. She stared up at Ares, staring intensely into his eyes. “He wished to remain alone. He asked me to give you a message when you awoke.”

Ares nodded.

“He wishes to speak with you about certain matters, alone, and after you meet with the Reptai.”

Ares sighed. “Right, well…” Ares shook his head. Why exactly after the Reptai? It worked well for him, but the request itself was a little suspect. ‘Well, no point dwelling on it. Whatever the reason, I’ll figure it out one day.’

The Roaring Trident then left, returning back to her post.

Ares yawned and stretched. He decided to go for a walk through Rivea, and after three steps, felt so awkward he decided to instead bathe quickly and then go to meet with the Reptai.

Once he was done with his bath, noting that Lana was on her way to extend it, he swiftly got up and changed. He smiled towards her and then exchanged a quick kiss.

“I’m off to speak with the Reptai,” he said.

The disappointment on her face was evident but she relented. Ares got the feeling she was increasing the debt he owed her. Ares had a sneaking suspicion that there was something else, but he decided against trying to remember. He didn’t need to deal with that today, he had so many other things to deal with.

Ares, chewing on some viper doner meat, made his way followed by six Roaring Tridents. They were still in the process of restructuring under Ares’ advice, but since they were one of the the most elite force at their disposal they could take their time, for more Roaring Tridents was better than less.

Ares rocked up to his fort, seeing that most of the Reptai remained outside of it. Zaka, the Princess he fought first, approached him.

“Good morning to you all,” Ares said, “I see you’re all doing well.”

“We have been blessed with safety,” she said. “We thank you for such a blessing.”

Ares chuckled nervously and nodded. “Yeah, no worries.”

There was an awkward silence.

“So…” Ares began, “I would like to speak with you about the deal that we have made and what we can expect from one another.”

Zika nodded. “My mother has allowed me to speak with you on the matter.”

“Oh…” Ares wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, if that was a positive or negative sign. Was this a custom of some kind? “Should we do it over lunch?”

Zika nodded. “We have hunted some from the nearby land.”

“Great!” Ares smiled. “The meat around here is delicious.”

Zika bowed her head, a little more relaxed as they then began to eat and speak with one another.

Ares and Zika hashed out general rules. Ares would pay the Reptai as mercenaries, he would offer shelter, food, the ability to hunt, as well as arms and armour and the costs for maintaining such items, as well as some pay through items. The Reptai would remain until they were needed to assault an area or to defend Rivea, but policing duties would be left to the Riveans. They would be unable to move into the fort or Rivea, except for a few of those that would work as mediators and officers that would report to Ares.

The structure of the army had come into question, as well as those that would lead the Reptai.

“I will be the highest ranking officer,” Ares said. “The structure will be similar, if not the same, as my own army. We work in groups of ten, and the officers will be worked in the same manner. I will allow you to pick your own officers and such in a manner of your own choosing, but if I ever feel that another Reptai would work better for the way that we fight, I will change them as I please.”

“We ask to only be led by our own, though we do trust you to lead,” Zika said.

Ares crossed his arms. He thought for a few moments. “There may be cases where I will need to reinforce my own army with a handful of warriors from the Reptai, in which case they will need to work under those that I have assigned as leaders.”

Zika growled low, though not in a threatening manner and almost instantly she stopped, looked at Ares, who merely cocked his head to one side with a smile on his face.

“Very well, we can understand such a sentiment.”

“I assure you that the Reptai, at least at the bottom scale, will have their own leaders. Currently my thoughts are to move the Reptai in hundred warrior increments, meaning there will be one leader and nine sub-leaders. However, if they are to reinforce a unit of much more, then it will be a Rivean commander who will take control of the matter at hand.”

Zika nodded.

“The most important matter, I suppose, is that I promise to not waste away the Reptai’s lives as though they are expendable. I will treat them in a similar respect of any Rivean, though perhaps a little worse in some respects due to the nature of you being hired help rather than those fighting for the heart of home.”

Zika bowed her head.

“Are these acceptable matters for now?”

“For now.”

“Good. If there is an issue, please bring it up to myself or Rori-kin. He is my Counsel, and I trust him well enough to make decisions on my behalf if I am predisposed. “

“We accept such words.” Zika bowed her head.

Ares bowed his own and stood up. It was a fruitful conversation, and he had basically just confirmed what they had already spoken about previously. It seemed as though they didn’t have their own demands, other than hunting rights about the area, which Ares allowed as long as they had some access to the food and materials.

Ares sighed. He was done for the da-

“Oh right,” he said as he saw Xan. “You wanted a chat?”