The Grand Mage looked over at the emperor and then glanced up to where the booth would be before he refocused on the crowd before him, he didn’t care for any of their opinions but anyone that dared to send those children out to war would be faced with him and he hoped that no one was stupid enough to even fathom the thought.

He would never tell this to anyone, especially Rime and Cyra but he considered them his own and he would never let his children go into war not even his own son who had been a Captain for The Armored Vipers he had never been out on a real battle field, he would rather his children die of old age before he did than them being returned to him as nothing but corpse from a battle field.

And Rime and Cyra as he saw it was the future of this great continent why would he risk them being dead just to get rid of a few pesky beast men who from what he witnessed could do nothing to him and his people, he would wipe their filthy kind from the planet before he let them anywhere near his apprentices, they were his and as long as he drew breath no one would hurt them, and he intended to live for a very long time.

He watched on with lost interest as the meeting dragged on only putting in his input when it was requested, like when one of their towns in the west reported a heavy drought, simply build a water reservation, and run pipes along the earth that would keep the land wet and the crops would grow without issue, and insulate the pipes so there’s no chance of the water freezing when the winter came, some humans were dullards.

The meeting was finally drawn to a close and he waited for the Emperor and Empress to leave followed by the council members before he vanished from the spot and re-appeared where his apprentices were , he watched as Rime packed their things and he sighed at the amount of things the child was fetching around with him, he really needed to give him a carrier that could hold all that junk, maybe a chain for him and a ring for the little one, but of course he needed a reason, he can’t let them think he wanted to spoil them, even though he did like he had done his children.

He looked at Cyra and frowned at the redness of her eyes, the little wisp had heard what they said about sending them off to war and was scared enough to cry, he wanted to find that field officer and turn her into a bug or something, he guess he could give the girl some of the Elf chocolate he had been gifted, who knew elves could be good at things.

He got them out of the room and then decided to just vanish to his study; the children had been hard at work doing whatever they were told so a little break would be good. He lead them to a small sitting are and let Rime place the things down, he went and retrieved a few books and games for the children even grabbing the chocolate and placing it on the table in front of them.

“You can rest for a bit, the council meeting was supposed to run for a few hours but was cut short so just enjoy your break and I’ll take you back to the academy in two hours.” He watched as the children nodded and then vanished from the room, he had his own work to take care of and the first task was to go speak with the emperor to cut a certain idea out of his head before it festered and he had to kill someone.

+

It didn’t take long for the Mage to appear in front of the Emperor’s office, he didn’t even bother to knock as he pushed the door open and arched his brow at the sight of the Emperor sitting on a chair on his balcony with the Empress sitting next to him as they spoke quietly. He wasn’t impressed by the new empress and though she was sorely lacking when placed against the late Empress.

The Late Empress Samra was everything an Empress should be, Smart, Powerful, dependable, and as perfect as a woman could be, he might have been a bit one sided because his beautiful Ciara was just like her but that’s just how he was. He was the one that officiate the late Empress marriage to the Emperor and the two of them were made for each other, both strong willed and the perfect leaders.

But the new Empress, Elmira she was but a child, a decade younger than the Emperor, a timid mouse, she wasn’t all that smart even though she loved to read, she was all about fairytales and romances, of course there was nothing wrong with that but it was good to read books about science, magic, war, medicine the history of the goddamn continent you were supposed to rule, she was a child through and through.

And god help him if she were to get pregnant the Continent would be bloody doomed if the child wasn’t raised by the Emperor. He didn’t really blame the child for the way she was, she was raised by a spoilt whiney excuse for a Duchess who couldn’t even run her own house, so it was expected, like mother like daughter and all that, and the child didn’t want to be wed to the Emperor but the Emperor needed an Empress by his side and after Empress Samra sudden death while in child birth the process had been rushed along.

He went up and knocked on the side of the entrance that leads to the balcony, the Emperor looked back at him, the younger man’s gold eyes seemed to pierce into him but after working under three different Emperor’s it had become easy for him to ignore their stares. If he couldn’t resist the look he received from them then how was he going to be able to face them with the facts and tell them when they were going wrong?

The empress also glanced back at him, the nineteen year old smiling at him in a polite greeting and he simply nodded at her, The Emperor was the first to stand taking her hand to help her stand and the sight of her was just pitiful; she was half the man’s size and didn’t share any of his refined looks. Her hair was dark as coal, her eyes a deep swirling pool of chocolate and she had this face that made her look like a child and them Emperor a pervert.

He stepped aside and allowed the Emperor to pass leading her to the door and wishing her good bye before turning to face him. The man gestured for him to take a seat and he did just as the Emperor moved around to take a seat at his desk he looked up at the mage and smiled “okay so what does my teacher have to say that was so important he couldn’t wait for me to finish talking to my wife?”

The Mage arched his brow and shook his head “the poor thing makes you look like a cradle snatcher and I still don’t think you should have married her but that’s a conversation for another day. I came to tell you that you’re not sending my apprentices to war I’ll go and eradicate the Beast men if I have to, but you won’t be sending them out there, especially not Cyra, for god sakes the child is only four.”

The Emperor arched his brow and shook his head “you know teacher I always knew you thought I was stupid but I can’t believe you think I’m that stupid.” The mage huffed and the Emperor rolled his eyes “they are literally two of the most powerful people on our continent and one of them literally has a dark secret that could bring hell upon us if anyone were to find out, do you honestly think I would risk that happening just to shorten a war?”

The mage huffed again “You were always unpredictable Taranis, even as a child, so I never know what to expect from you, your marriage to that child wasn’t the first heart attack you’ve given me and I have a right to believe it won’t be the last. But I will tell you this, you will literally have to get through me before you send those children anywhere, they are mine, got it?”

The Emperor huffed and nodded “Yes I got it.” The mage gave him a quick nod and he smirked “okay so besides you coming to lecture me about your new children what else did you come here for?”

The Grand Mage hummed to himself and stared ahead before shaking his head “nope, nothing comes to mind but be sure that if I think of anything I’ll be back to yell at you, as always.” He smirked and the Emperor shook his head before nodding and in a second the Mage had vanished from his office and appeared in front of his study.

He went back grabbed the handle and slowly pushed the door open smiling at the sight of the two children that sat in the couch in the corner. Their cloaks had been removed and Rime was laid back in the chair reading something while Cyra sat on his lap with her head bracing his chest. He was speaking in a calm voice while she seemed to be dozing off.

The grand mage nodded to himself and pulled in back the door deciding to go to his office and deal with some of his work that had been piling up for a few weeks now and practically covered all surfaces in his study. He quickly made his way there and ditched his own cloak, opting to sit around in his tunic and black slacks with his hair pulled up in a lazy bun, now that he was comfortable it would be easy to focus on his work.