Silence clung to the room, broken only by the thud of a mug being set down.

A chair creaked, settling as one of the closest patrons turned to stare at Rigby and Killian. Gray stared at them, too, his mouth hanging open.

Rigby waved a hand, nodding an apology at the room that had turned to watch the fight, and then turned back to Killian, his eyes widened in warning.

'Stop being ridiculous,' muttered Rigby, his voice low, and arranging his face into a smile.

Gray chewed the inside of his lip, aware they still had the attention of most of the pub.

'Is this your brother, Killian?' said Gray.

'Gods, no,' said Rigby, settling his huge shoulders, 'I'm Major General Rigby, special forces, dangerous creatures division. If you're looking for the most exciting and meaningful work, if you want to travel all over the world, you tell the king you'd like to join my team-'

'Gray, eat,' said Killian, taking up his knife and fork. 'Good night, Rigby.'

Rigby scoffed, pulled a piece of parchment out of his pocket, and slid it across the table towards Gray with two fingers.

It was an official-looking document with the Auguste's stag emblem on the top.

There was a subtle current of magic running through it.

Gray barely had time to take in the complicated Lismerian wording before Killian said, in an utterly aghast voice, 'That's not a proposal, though, is it? That's a contract. Kid, don't touch it.'

Gray - who'd absolutely had no intention of touching the complicated document that pulsed of magic - leaned back and said, 'Excuse me?'

'It's a Handrun contract,' said Killian, as though this explained everything.

'Er,' said Gray. 'A what?'

'It's been enchanted for you,' Killian said. 'You touch it, it's binding.'

'Is it?' said Rigby. 'So silly of me. Innocent mistake. I must've brought this instead of my proposal.'

'What,' said Gray, 'the actual f-'

'Gray.' Killian turned to Rigby. 'Get that shit out of here. Baldwin will skin you.'

'That's our new General's signature at the bottom there,' said Rigby. 'See?'

'So, Baldwin will skin him, too.' Killian's words were stone.

This brought Rigby up short because he hesitated again, his jaw twitching underneath his dark beard.

'Aren't you a little old to be running off to daddy?' said Rigby. 'Word is that in the last three days you fought three sorcerers; killed one, sent the other running, and survived Conor Griffin completely unscathed - though, I see, you aren't unscathed, so the last one's not true. You don't need Baldwin to fight your battles for you.'

'He's fighting nothing for me,' said Killian, digging into his steak with careful precision. 'I'm giving you fair warning because we need all the competent leaders we can muster right now. It'd be a shame to lose another.'

'Are you calling me competent, Slate?' said Rigby. 'Gods, I'm blushing.'

'Get that contract off the table,' said Killian.

'The bruising on your face looks sore, Slate,' said Rigby. 'And what you got there - fractured leg? Sprained knee? Woof, but that Conor Griffin can do some damage. It was Conor, wasn't it?'

Killian paused cutting up his steak and slid his dark gaze onto Rigby.

'Uh,' said Gray, 'I'm going to go use the bathroom. Excuse me.' He started scrambling out of the booth.

'You stay right there, kid,' said Killian sharply, not removing his gaze from Rigby. 'You stay where I can see you at all times.'

Gray stilled.

'Understood?' said Killian.

'Yes, sir.'

Silence radiated off Killian like a poison from a cursed disaster zone.

'Rumour is,' said Rigby, not shying away from Killian's stare - which, honestly, Gray thought was stupid as heck because Killian looked an inch away from exploding into deadly violence like he hadn't seen since Krydon, 'it wasn't just the mighty Conor Griffin who was at the barracks, but he had a fey working with him. Which would make this special forces, dangerous creatures division business. Yes?'

Rigby broke off the stare and helped himself to a piece of Killian's steak.

'It's all of our business,' said Killian softly.

Rigby paused. 'So, the rumour's true? Conor Griffin and a fey?'

Killian raised his eyebrows. 'Did I say that?'

'Shit, if the fey are mixed up in this, I need the kid, Slate. You have to admit that. See reason.'

Killian yanked his plate away from Rigby. 'I did not say that. You know we don't interfere with the fey.'

'Sounds like the fey are interfering with us,' hissed Rigby. 'How the damn did that happen?'

Gray frowned. 'What fey?' he said, speaking directly to Killian. 'Who was it?'

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Killian shot Gray a warning glance. 'Hush. You eat your dinner, now.'

'Kid,' said Rigby. 'You can go into military training as young as twelve, but you can't start working until you're sixteen and four months, unless you get permission from the crown, of course. You're almost there, right? Or, perhaps, Baldwin already has you working? He's already granted you permission.'

Gray started shaking his head, his mind still stuck on the fact that Killian had left out telling him there'd been a fey at the barracks. 'Uh-'

'Don't even answer him, Gray,' said Killian.

'Can I take this opportunity to say,' said Gray, 'I'm not property.'

'I'm not implying you're property, son,' started Rigby, extending a hand across the table.

'Baldwin'll never allow it, Rigby,' said Killian. 'He will kill you and the new General for trying to go around him to sign any mage, let alone the Griffin mage. You sign him, Baldwin will be pissed. Take that contract off the table.'

'Don't exaggerate,' said Rigby. 'Baldwin's quite pleased with me at the moment. I might not have just killed a sorcerer single-handedly for him - congratulations, by the way - but I did just push back a plague of ogres from our eastern farmland.'

'Wow,' said Killian, his eyes half lidded.

'It's more impressive than it sounds,' said Rigby. 'He won't kill me. He'll be angry, he'll shout, throw things, maybe strip me of some perks-'

'You need to leave,' said Killian.

'-then he'll send me off to work with my new novice who has a base magic stat of 78. We need someone like him in special forces, much more than the treasure league.'

'He's not in the treasure league,' said Killian. He turned to Gray. 'Right?'

'Right,' said Gray.

'Then,' said Rigby, 'Jessica Pruitt's team?'

'It's temporary,' said Killian. 'Special circumstances.'

'She's been very cagey,' said Rigby. 'Refusing to answer my requests. Won't even meet my eye. Something's going on that I should be involved in.'

'The kid's not signed,' said Killian. 'Happy?'

Rigby leant back, some tension leaving his shoulders. 'Then why are you acting like this? What's your problem? Let me sign the kid before Officer McKinly gets in Baldwin's ear and convinces him to some pointless rubbish that wastes the kid's power.'

Rigby pushed the contract closer to Gray.

A muscle twitched in Killian's brow.

'Do you know how Baldwin killed Darcy, Rigby?' said Killian softly.

Rigby let out the smallest breath, tapping his huge fingers on the table.

'In a blink,' said Killian. 'There was no warning. No shouting, no throwing things. It was a split-second decision. It didn't matter that Baldwin once thought highly enough of Darcy to give him his rank.'

Rigby lowered his gaze to the contract on the table. 'We all know Darcy was too ambitious for his own good. He was an idiot.'

'A dead idiot,' said Killian. 'You need to take this up with Baldwin. You need to follow the protocols for this one.'

'Officers Greggs and Sha are on their way behind me,' said Rigby. 'Finola was talking about recruitment tactics, someone's going to recruit him, soon, and none of them have run it by Baldwin.'

Killian's dark eyes narrowed slightly. 'They need to.'

'Griffin,' said Rigby, completely ignoring Killian, and refusing to budge from Killian's brutal shove, 'I heard through the grapevine you have some ambition with alchemy. I have an alchemist on my team, he can give you private lessons-'

'I don't care how the hell you found that out, Rigby,' said Killian, 'but if you offer this kid more lures of alchemy lessons, glory, high pay, whatever, if you slide any other damn binding contracts in front of him, I will personally-'

'Speaking of high pay,' said Rigby, leaning closer to Gray across the table, 'I'll negotiate a twenty percent rise in pay for you. I know it might be tempting to join Slate's treasure league for the commission alone, and I know he's Killian Slate, he's very famous and that's exciting, but I can get you something competitive-'

'Your last two mages exploded in your skirmish against the banshees of Rortown,' said Killian tightly. 'The one before that is still in an unwakeable sleep from overwork. Correct?'

'Yours ran off and is currently hiding in the wild forest,' said Rigby.

'Get away from the damn kid, he needs to be focused.'

'Focused for what?' pressed Rigby. 'Baldwin's got him sequestered away in his office with the cream of the crop instructors, do you know what people are saying?'

Gray'd had quite enough, and absolutely did not want to know what people were saying. He'd heard enough whispers that day to have a fair guess.

'Sir,' said Gray firmly, 'I'm not interested in joining the military.'

As one, Killian and Rigby turned to Gray.

'See?' said Killian. 'He's not interested. Eat your chicken while it's still hot, Gray.'

Rigby raised his eyebrows, shushing Killian. 'What?' he said to Gray.

Gray leaned further away from the contract. 'I'm not interested, sir. It's not personal, I'm not interested, at all, with anyone. My answer is no.'

'Baldwin's going to want you in the military,' said Rigby, 'in some capacity.'

Something twisted in Gray's stomach. He glanced at Killian, but Killian's face was a neutral mask.

'You were made for the military, son,' said Rigby.

'I promise you I'm not,' said Gray.

'The kid's pretty soft,' Killian said.

Gray flexed his hands, shooting Killian another look.

'Pull the other one,' said Rigby. 'Aren't you the mage who weaponised firebreath fire? The mage who had the power to destroy the Silver Axes? A mage like that comes along once in a blue moon. Mages are conflict-avoidant as hell. Passive. They're a lot of work to train and maintain. They don't go picking fights with the army. You had the skill and ability to keep young Slate here on his toes, which is no easy feat-'

'He's not interested, Rigby.'

Rigby elbowed Killian away. 'I'm always looking for the most talented mages, you make sure you tell Baldwin you'd like to be on Rigby's team, all right-'

'Gray, keep eating. Rigby, take your contract. And thank you for the warning that more vultures are coming. We'll be sure to leave quickly.'

—-

There was only so much awkward silence Gray could handle.

Not even two minutes away from Killian's home, and it had felt like walking through molasses with how thickly annoyed Killian's air was, emphasised by how oddly slow he was keeping the pace.

The awkward silence had been there as Rigby had stalked off. It'd been there as they'd hastily finished their meal at the pub, and when they'd called the nervous waiter over for the bill, and as Gray'd shrugged back into his coat and they'd stepped out into the lamplit streets.

Gray cleared his throat, trailing his hand along the rough brick wall of the book bindery next to the pub as he followed Killian.

'Does Rigby really have an alchemist on his team?' said Gray.

Killian paused on the corner, his toes right on the curb of the cobbled street, and slowly glanced back at Gray. A salty breeze shifted his collar.

'You know,' said Gray, 'it's tempting.'

Killian's dark eyes narrowed.

Gray grinned. 'Kidding.'

'Ha,' said Killian flatly. 'Don't agree to anything. Baldwin doesn't want you signed.'

'Why?'

'I don't know, I didn't ask.'

They continued, agonisingly slow, and - somehow - even more awkwardly silent than before.

'He's the second wolf shifter I've ever met,' said Gray.

Killian gestured Gray to put his hood up and follow more closely. He was moving with the subtlest limp.

'I would've thought you'd be … more - bonded,' said Gray. 'Or is that stupid of me?'

Killian let out a loud scoff. 'I'd kill for Rigby. But he's not a good person.'

'That makes sense,' Gray muttered.

'He pushes his team and his mages too hard.' Killian carefully pressed a scabbed hand to his thigh, wincing. 'For me to say that, it's bad. He'd bad. I'd never recommend any mage or soldier who's not already hardened as hell to join his team. But, you know, if shit hit the fan, he's in my top five I'd want around.'

Gray adjusted his hood, thoroughly confused. 'Oh.'

Then, 'You have weird friendships, you know that?' said Gray.

'Comes with the job.'

Reason three hundred why not to join the Augustes' military, Gray thought.

'Don't join his team,' said Killian.

'I won't,' said Gray. 'I meant what I said back there.'

Killian side-eyed Gray.

Then, faster than Gray could track, Killian spun on his heel.

There was a dark silhouette, some way back, just out of the pool of lamplight.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.