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“About that,” I said, keeping my voice level. The key with dear old Duke Graham was to never let him feel like he’d gotten the upper hand. “If you really want me to return home, I’d be amenable to doing so…”
“Finally! It’s about time you’ve come to rea—”
“But!I have some conditions of my own first.”
“Conditions? What the hell do you mean, conditions?”
“I mean a few things need to be in place before I’d be comfortable abandoning my post.”
“That’s ridiculous. If the king says it, then youreturn.I know you’ve been gone from court for quite a while, but surely even a rebellious spirit such as yourself knows not to push your luck too far.”
I simply affixed him with the most neutral stare I could, channeling Ayla whenever she shut down. “Did he?”
That seemed to surprise my uncle in the middle of his rant. “Pardon?”
“Did my father issue a direct order for me to return?” I’d put money on my mother being more insistent while my father went along because it suited his desire to have more information and make sure I was still under his thumb.
“Well, uh, not exactly…”
“That’s what I thought.” I could see poor ol’ Graham’s face flushing as he realized I’d outmaneuvered him. “So, if you’d likeme to make you look good by returning to the capital, I have certain conditions.”
“What are they, exactly?”
“First, if I return, it will be with a trusted party of my closest confidants, and they will be in my charge, meaning their birth status will not be questioned, nor will they be restricted in the way the staff are.”
“Sure. Whatever.”
“Secondly, I need reinforcements sent here to Fort Canid, including two other healers, a competent captain with relevant experience, and a second for the captain.”
“Are you kidding me? You want us to send a whole platoon down?”
“It’s what’s necessary, yes. You see, Uncle, we protect all of the nearby citizens, as well as hold down the fort. When Vekas came knocking at our nation’s door, we were the line pushing them back. So, as much as you look down on our humble little fort here, we’re the reason we still have a county where you can have your daily milk baths and sleep in silken sheets.”
“... I will see what we can do.”
“Thank you, I knew I could rely on your diplomatic know-how to make sure Fort Canid won’t suffer in my absence. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to attend to my duties in the interim.”
I heard Graham grumble about me being far too concerned with inconsequential commoners, but I left him to it. I was quite pleased with how the whole conversation went, and I didn’t want to press my luck. I still clearly had some of my court ways, but I was rusty, and the longer we kept talking, the more likely I’d bungle everything.
At least the ball was now in my parents’ court. I didn’t have to worry about anything until they agreed. I could just concentrate on gathering intel about our enemies, rebuilding the fort, taking care of my men, and discussing how to better defend the borderterritory all around us with the local towns. It was a tall order, but at least I cared about these issues.
Goodness knew, once I was in the capital, it would be much harder to give a damn
Chapter 3
Ayla
After peeling my gloves off and setting them by the apothecary sink in the corner of the infirmary, I headed toward the door. It was a long shift, if a productive one, and I was ready for a breath of fresh air to boost myself for some necessary overtime.
We had a good handle on the worst of the wounded. Nobody was going to die from bleeding out or any grievous injuries. Most of the shifters were already healed enough to be released to our secondary quarters for patients who still needed tending, but only once or twice a day, and could feed and bathe themselves.
This didn’t mean we were in the clear. There were plenty of wounded cryptids who didn’t have the blessing of fast healing and were at risk of infection, or would need secondary surgeries. We had a particular large minotaur who’d had one of his lower legs blown off and was a good candidate for regrowth, but there was still so much prep to do if we wanted to ensure risky medical and magical procedure was a success.
“Are you going to get food?”
I paused at the weary question, glancing over to Mikhailov, who was stretching a bit away from the patients. Belatedly, I thought I’d be a bit less sore and stiff after a long shift if I did thesame. After all, there was a reason the non-shifting healer was still at it despite his advanced age.
“No, was just gonna feel the breeze on my face before finishing curing this batch of salve. Why, you want something from the caf?”
