2422 Lingering Conflict (Part 2)
"Dying alone?" Lith echoed. "Thanks for your vote of confidence, Dad."
"I swear to the gods, I said that only once years ago!" Raaz raised his palms out in surrender.
Aran wanted to point out that it had happened more than once over the years and list the various occasions on his fingers but no one seemed interested.
His father was begging him to shut up and despite his young age, Aran wasn't that slow on the uptake.
"So what can you do? Are you an Awakened?" He asked.
"Yep." Nyka nodded.
"Are you a Divine Beast? Are you a Griffon? I've never ridden a Griffon!"
"No, I'm a human."
"Ah." Aran's tone fell flat, without even trying to hide his disappointment. An Awakened human who wasn't even pretty was bound to be weak and uncool.
"Not any Awakened. I'm a Vampire." Nyka started to feel offended and decided to regain a bit of dignity by showing off her long fangs.
"Do you drink blood like a mosquito?" Aran was unimpressed. Onyx's fangs were longer and she was way bigger.
"Yes, but I can also do this." Being compared to pests was the last straw. "You don't want any more cookies."
"Yeah, I feel full already." Aran said, his eyes empty as Nyka caressed his head and used Mesmerism on him.
"The poor Leria must be hungry. As her uncle, you should share the cookies with her."
"Poor Leria." Aran nodded, full of compassion for his niece. "Do you- Hey, I'm not full at all and I don't want to share my biscuits! I'm not getting more until lunch."
"I'm sorry, Leria. We almost got him." Nyka shrugged apologetically.
"Don't worry, Auntie. There's always next time." Leria would have loved a double serving, but she took defeat with dignity.
"Wait was that one of your Vampire powers?" Aran asked, obtaining a nod in reply. "Cool! Can you use it on our Moms and make them give us ice cream whenever we want?"
"No, I'm sorry. Moms are naturally immune to all kinds of powers." Nyka's words made Aran and Leria groan and saved the Vampire from their parents' glare.
"Too bad. What else you can do?"
After that, it didn't take Nyka much to gain the kids' trust and admiration. As soon as breakfast was over, they dragged her and Solus outside to play with them.
Lith left the dining room as well and went to the magical laboratories that the Royals were building for him. It was the only part of the mansion that he didn't mind furnishing since he needed a place to work during Solus' absence and it was paid by the Royals like everything else.
Raaz tried to leave for a digesting walk in the park but discovered that Elina still gripped his wrist.
"We need to talk." She said with a frown matched by the stern expression on Rena's and Kamila's faces.
Raaz whimpered and silently prayed to the gods for a swift death.
Alas, the Guardians of Garlen unanimously wanted Elysia to meet her grandfather and dismissed his request as frivolous.
***
Griffon Kingdom, City of Valeron, Constables Headquarters.
While Solus remained at the Mansion to help Elina to take care of Tista and spend time with her and the kids, Kamila Warped to Valeron for her first day on the job without Jirni.
She was very tense due to the hazing she had suffered ever since she had married Lith and the cruel words with which people now also addressed her unborn daughter, like it had happened during the gala.
"I swear that this is really my briefcase, not a Doppelganger ready to eat me the moment you turn your head." Lith following her like an overprotective shadow didn't help her relax either.
"It looks heavy and you can't use dimensional amulets in Valeron. Are you sure you don't want me to carry it for you?"
"Lith, I can literally lift a couch with one hand!" Normal Awakened would gain only a slight increase in strength with each breakthrough until the cyan core and Kamila had yet to reach the yellow.
Yet pregnancy and the Divine Beast's blood flowing through her veins increased her magical and physical prowess as Elysia grew.
"You lifted a couch?" Lith said in horror. "What if you strained your- Never mind."
They had established a secret code between them. When Kamila glared at him like she wanted to kill him, Lith had to shut up.
The Constable Headquarters was located in a wing of Valeron's High Tribunal. Like any civic building that wasn't the Royal Palace, it was built to be functional with no luxury items of sorts.
Its corridors were painted with a light blue that covered the ceiling and the walls. At every corner, there were white road signs that helped visitors and newcomers to find their way in the maze of the administrative building.
There were soldiers constantly patrolling in search of intruders and anyone with at least a medium level of clearance had their own security detail.
The only furniture was flower vases to make the place look less like a prison and trash bins made of a transparent substance that magically arranged the trash in distinct layers, making it impossible to hide explosive devices.
The average person found it claustrophobic and oppressive, needing several weeks to get used to the frequent security checks and mandatory pat-downs.
Lith instead, found it reassuring and moved like a shark in the ocean.
Normally a Constable would draw no interest and the many clerks running up and down the corridors with documents and important updates wouldn't give Kamila a second glance.
Having Lith by her side wearing his Supreme Magus golden and white Robe, however, caused the clerks to stop abruptly. They often bumped into each other and dropped their papers, turning the light green of the floor white.
'At least we are skipping all those annoying first-day security checks.' Kamila inwardly sighed as even the guards of her new office let them go with a deep bow as soon as the scan confirmed Lith's identity.
They reached the office of Archon Jenma Griffon early since no one had stopped them to search her briefcase and had asked any questions about their presence in that wing.
The soldiers patrolling the corridors were unrelenting with new faces but Lith's was well known. The guards needed just to check his white and golden robe to let both him and Kamila go without any further inspection.
The images of the award ceremony of the gala had been broadcasted throughout the Kingdom to honor the heroes who had restored peace and showcase to the citizens that the famine was about to be over.
Celebrations had already been scheduled in all the regions of the Kingdom to follow up the Royal Gala. The food was still scarce, but Meron needed to prove with more than words that the harshness of war was over and that there were no winners nor losers.
Only the Griffon Kingdom.
Hence all the regions, no matter along which side they had fought, were going to be treated equally and celebrate the end of the conflict. The re-unification of the Kingdom wouldn't come true until its people had a reason to rejoice for it instead of missing the Mad Queen.
