"I am not heartbroken," Hreti marched behind Astrid, their whole pack in full armor sans helmets, saluting the King's Guard as they passed them at the entrance of the keep. They were in their wolf/dragon forms; mostly because they preferred them, and that's how the King knew them.

At Hreti's side, Liv stopped with the rest of the pack as they handed their weapons over to the guards. "Sure you're not."

"He has a more reasonable target now," Njal said. "That woman who runs the new bar in Northridge."

"The witch?" Liv hadn't heard this rumor and was all ears for more gossip on her friend.

"Bewitched him, all right. He even goes there in human form."

Done with handing over the one sword she'd brought with her, Astrid twitched her head around and gave her pack a droll look. "Smarten up. We're meeting the King. Penelope is with him now, and I don't want you to mess anything up for her."

Laurence had thought Penelope's mention of wolf-kin was a joke. The five huge warriors that marched in bore some lupine traits, but he could see far more dragon warrior in their bearing—particularly their tails and wings. Standing as he was, against the wall and behind the King, he had a good view of them as they walked in and halted beside Penelope.

When the group all took one knee before him, Stewart said, "Rise, please. You've spilled blood and spent lives for my kingdom. I understand you're all Northerners?"

The question made Astrid's palm itch. She trusted Travis, Penelope, and her pack. She'd even learned to trust Fife and many other people from Northridge. But, when she'd volunteered to help Stewart, she hadn't exactly trusted him—until he made good on his promise to back her pack up on their assault. "We are, though we now swear oath to Travis."

Nodding, Stewart was unsurprised that Astrid had brought up Travis as her primary master. "Then you are already protected as citizens of my kingdom. Now, I realize it will be hard for me to find something to offer you as thanks for your work, but I need to anyway."

Astrid could have groaned. Travis had ensured they only had to ask and they would have anything they needed. They had a smith at their beck and call, and now even had access to guns should they want them. Adamantine flowed like a river, as did gold if they'd desired it. There was a matter that Frida's arrival brought to the fore. "I would ask that any other Northerners who wish to leave behind the cold North be offered that same protection."

Elanor wanted to speak out, but Stewart had warned her about "appearing to guide him". But when he turned to her, she raised an eyebrow.

"What are your thoughts on how to handle such a request?" Stewart asked.

Thinking for a few moments, Elanor ran her ideas around each other. While she liked the idea of freeing more people who felt trapped by the Northern culture, she also didn't want a wave of people who would be just as happy to turncoat back if pushed. "Astrid, Hreti, Njal, Liv, and Trygve have proved repeatedly they prefer the freedom your kingdom provides. I understand there are more Northerners living in Northridge, advising the leadership there about the impending attack from the North. So long as they have someone who has lived a year in the kingdom to vouch for them, they are welcome."

"I believe you are on the right track with that, though It would be best to limit those who can vouch for others to Astrid, Travis, Penelope, and the leaders of Northridge. They will, of course, be taking responsibility for those they approve, though if our guests here today are any indication, it shouldn't cause a problem." Stewart looked at Astrid. "Does this satisfy you, Lady Astrid." He could appreciate the attempt by her fellows to keep a straight face, but the two immediately beside her had to break ranks and cover their mouths.

"Sire, that—" Astrid made a small growl in her throat. "Your language is still new to me. It is as good a deal as we're going to get. If it matters, I vouch for Hilda and the people she brought south with her." Astrid considered punching Hreti and Liv, but thought better than to do it while the King was offering her exactly what she wanted.

"Perfect," Stewart said. "I'll include it as a proclamation at the ceremony today. I understand that you don't wish the title of lady. Is there one that would better suit? Perhaps a knighthood?"

It was an offer, Astrid knew, roughly equivalent to the Northern rank of captain. Train in combat, carry out the leader's will, and have a duty of care toward those she leads. She nodded.

Stewart had other plans beyond just a knighthood, but he was perfectly happy keeping it as a surprise. "Please, sit. There's plenty for everyone—" Stewart stopped as he remembered Penelope was present. He looked up at her face. They'd spent enough time together for him to read her expression as finding humor. "Sorry, I am sure we can accommodate your diet of…"

Grinning like a fiend, Penelope let out a laugh. "You can't remember seeing me eat, can you? I didn't. It's not what I'd prefer, but Trav can use his mana to sustain us. I have had a big breakfast already, though." She stepped up to the table, carefully moved aside some chairs, and folded herself down to lay in place.

Stolen story; please report.

Taking her own seat, along with her pack, Astrid was relieved when discussion faltered in favor of eating. The meal was tasty, but she still preferred to hunt her own meals and field dress them. The rich sausages combined with a small pile of fluffy eggs still went down well, and she could appreciate that if not for something she caught herself, they would be a close second.

Waiting for everyone to finish, Stewart finally nodded to Honor. "Cousin, shall we get the festivities started?"

"If we must. While I'm sure we could all relax and go do something else, you had to go off and become the king." Honor leaned sideways a little and cupped her hand over her mouth conspiratorially. "He's a morning person, you know?"

Stewart laughed, the notes of mirth rolling up from his chest. The relief that ending his father's murderer had granted allowed him to fully enjoy the joke at his own expense. "I am that. Everyone in the city is waiting, though. Apparently they think they need my permission to have a good time."

"You're their king," Elanor said as she rose to her feet after Stewart. "You might not be able to order them to have a good time, but you can definitely ensure they have a bad one."

One glance at the woman who'd chosen him to be her husband, and Stewart felt reaffirmed in his acquiescence. "You're right about that. It's a tightrope I'll need help with, though." He reached his hand out to her and guided Elanor to his side.

"I think I can do that." Elanor had cast all her worries to the wind now, and lived for the moment and, throwing any and all caution to the wind, she leaned closer and kissed Stewart on the cheek.

Astrid walked from the room behind Stewart in somewhat of a daze. The man, the King, had retaken and solidified his country through strength of arms and wit, where all her life she'd been taught that the Southern kings were weaklings and unfit for such a rich land. She was so distracted that she'd only stopped on instinct when he had. He was standing there, holding out a naked blade to her—hilt first.

"A warrior should not be seen in public without her weapon," Stewart said, offering Astrid her sword back.

Yet another blow to the ridiculous image her culture had built of the South. She dipped her head and took the hilt in her hand, careful to let Stewart release the blade safely before sliding the weapon back into its sheath at her side. "Thank you."

Feeling more herself now, Astrid followed Stewart through the castle and out onto the steps of the courtyard. The area was wall-to-wall with brightly dressed men and women. Some sported uniforms with rows of medals, others were the exact image of what she'd been told Southern nobles would look like.

Aiming for the gap down the middle of the arrayed peers, Stewart nodded, shook hands, and delivered quick words to his most trusted supporters. It wasn't until Earl Judith Sanderson offered him a firm handshake and a few of her own words that some coy looks he'd received made sense.

"Your suitor wears blush on her lips almost as well as you do on your cheek," Judith said, offering Stewart a wink. "Your Majesty."

Caught, unable to come up with a reason to dab at his own cheek, Stewart was saved by Judith again.

"Of course you'll excuse me, sir, but I remember cleaning up after a certain young prince on several occasions too." Carefully removing the slight hint of red lips on Stewart's cheek, Judith bowed to him and withdrew back to the edge of the line.

"I will never know peace from that woman." Stewart schooled his features and turned to the next noble, offering the man his hand and returning to the stream of supporters and backstabbers.

When he reached the main gates, he stood before a sea of people. With a dragon, a pack of dragon warriors, and the collective nobles of the kingdom and several "nearby" cities, he faced the crowd and called on the kingdom to help his voice be heard. "People of The Greater Trade Kingdom"—he had to pause while the people screamed their approval—"I regret that I had to begin my rule by fighting a civil war, but I will not refuse the hand dealt to me. Not when you all depend on the stability you knew under my father's leadership to continue.

"You have already seen I do things a little different from my father," Stewart said, tilting his head to the side to mock a glance back at Penelope. "I have made peace with two dungeons, and the barons of Northridge are entreating with a third to join the kingdom as vassals. Food, goods, gold, adamantine, and more are pouring from Baron Travis and Baroness Breeze. Their support has gone beyond economic, however, which is why I include Travis' most potent warriors in today's ceremony. Lady Penelope, please step forward so the kingdom's people can see you."

Snorting, Penelope dipped her head toward Stewart nonetheless and followed his directions to stand beside him. She felt the magic Stewart had summoned settle onto her as well, and when she opened her mouth, the first hint of a sound became amplified. "It's about time you got to know me. I was born human, like many of you, and followed my mother's footsteps to become a delver. Delvers have bad days, and I had the worst in a barely day-old dungeon. I died without a talisman, but rather than using my death to fuel itself, the dungeon brought me back and made me strong again. Travis, the dungeon, has supported and strengthened myself and the kingdom since. It allowed me to serve our King in the West."

Stewart could practically breathe in the enraptured crowd's energy. Penelope's story surprised them and stirred them to a roar of support that reassured him they'd gotten the message she was trustworthy. "And," he continued, "this is why I honor her. She stood up and fought; she bore me safely through battles and to victory." Reaching to the side, he took an offered mithril and gold blade of a size scaled up to suit a dragon, and held it out hilt first to Penelope. "Lady Penelope Bogblood, I have already granted you the rights and honors of a knight of the kingdom, which is why I now grant you a life-peerage title of baroness, though unlanded. Please take this sword as a gift, symbolic of the honor your title carries, as you gave to me your service. Rise, Baroness Penelope Bogblood, knight of the realm."

Hooking a wing-claw around the hilt of the giant sword, Penelope lifted her head and the blade high, withholding her deadly breath as she roared out her emotions to the kingdom.

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