After our raid, things began to die down pretty quickly. As much as any area that could be considered an active war front can die down, that is.

  The raids still continued, but the number of the barbarians that would throw themselves at the Ironclaw clan began to dwindle, and rapidly at that.

  Word came back with the same messengers that Valda sent carrying her report, telling of how the sieges at the other two passes were dissolving into infighting. Valda was rather glad to hear this, theorizing that our sabotage during the raid had resulted in the tribes turning on each other. We couldn’t relax just yet, but it was a good sign.

  My girls were soon back on the wall, rejoining the guard rotation with the other student-mages after only two days of rest. Kassandra joked that the first day of rest didn’t really count, since all four of them spent most of it sleeping. The second was mostly spent sorting out their supplies and making repairs to equipment before they requested to be put back into the rotation on the third.

  Valda hadn’t said anything, but I’d seen the approval in her eyes when all four of them requested to be returned to active duty. I also caught the lizard-folk woman watching me curiously on more than one occasion. I was reminded of the careful questions she’d asked during our mission, as well as the sparring matches that we’d had before and filed all that away to talk to my girls later on.

  When I brought it up to Rieka, my wolfish princess admitted she’d seen Valda watching me too, and suggested that the other woman might be considering asking me to bond with her, considering the utility that I’d shown her with my Shape-Shifting abilities.

  Taking that into account, it made sense really. But I was in no rush to take on another summoner at this point, since I had my four girls to look after right now. I figured that it could wait until I had more time to address it, or until Valda approached me herself. For now, I focused on protecting my four bonded to the best of my ability.

  Jane spent most of the next two weeks studying the different weapons we had brought back from the ruins. I’d made sure to keep aside a sample of each type of weapon we found for her to examine—an action that earned me a sound kissing from the excitable mousy scholar. Shayla stuck close to the smaller woman, offering her artistic skills in accurately recording everything about the equipment while Jane studied the runes and enchantments on the weapons.

  Kassandra was her normal irrepressible self, getting into anything and everything that could cause trouble—which usually included my pants. The dwarf lamia teased all three of her fellow summoners to no end about me, but the three girls had learned to take Kassandra’s lewd jokes and roll with them. The only serious times came when we discussed the division of the rare items found in the ruins, and how she planned to make use of both her own and her parents merchant contacts to sell them if Rieka’s mother didn’t want to buy what the girls claimed as their ‘share’ for arranging the whole raid.

  Rieka, my ever-practical princess, was actually the one who pushed for all four of them to have distinct shares. She insisted that, since they all shared the burden of summoning me for the mission, they all would receive a claim for a cut through me. She insisted that her mother, Queen Gemma, would want to buy the artifacts but admitted that having Kassandra’s contacts would ensure that if anything fell through, each of the girls would get their worth out of it.

  Secretly, my princess confided to me that she already expected Gemma to shower the other three with gifts in order to ensure not only loyalty, but also that they would continue to serve the queendom loyally.

  “Cheating any of us right now would be tantamount to political suicide,” Rieka had said quietly. “Mother has in us four mages intimately knowledgeable in human-era ruins, who seem to produce wealth with every expedition out of thin air. I still haven’t told mother about the copper map, or even removed it from my dimensional bag in a while. I know there are more facilities to investigate, but I personally would like some time to rest after this war is over.”

  The fact that she’d said all of this while snuggled up to my side in nothing but her skin meant that I wasn’t going to argue with her, even if I had a reason to.

  Which I most certainly did not.

  So time trickled by. The student-mages who had come with us and survived rejoined the ranks, but with more confidence and respect for both the soldiers and their classmates. I ran into several of them while moving about with the girls, and every single one of them was respectful and polite not only to me, but to all four of my girls. There was a quiet camaraderie shared with those of us who had gone beyond the wall in that raid and faced earnest combat without the protection of the fortifications. I also noticed more than a few looks of fear from those who stayed behind, especially those who pestered the returning student-mages for stories, which I ignored.

  Things only changed when the calm routine was interrupted, but not in a negative fashion.

  I was sitting on the lip of the curtain wall, studying the scorched and ruined field outside the walls, while Rieka sat nearby. My princess was humming to herself quietly—her pointed wolf ears wiggling in time with her tune—while she was drafting a report to send back to her mother regarding the last few weeks at the rough table and stool that sat by the hatch leading to the roof we were on.

  The sudden cessation of my princess’ humming immediately caught my attention and I twisted to check on her. I caught a flash of motion as she immediately looked back at her parchment. The faint blush on her cheeks and the slow wiggle of her fluffy tail behind her gave me an idea of what I’d just caught her doing, but the shy peek through her bangs before looking back at her parchment confirmed that she’d been staring.

  Probably at my butt. A new experience for me, but not one I was upset about, given it was Rieka doing it.

  “Everything okay, love?” I asked, pitching my voice so it carried over the rooftop to where Rieka sat at the watch desk, but not down to the wall below where the soldiers patrolled.

  “It’s fine,” Rieka was quick to reply. When I didn’t turn away she sighed and set down the fountain pen she was using. I’d brought more of the nice ones that could be filled with ink for my girls, something they were quite happy to adopt rather than fighting with quills and ink-pots.

  Not wanting to make her shout whatever was on her mind across the roof of the tower, I turned and swung my legs over the edge before dropping onto the roof once more before I walked over to her. Rieka watched me approach, nibbling on her bottom lip while smiling faintly. The blush that had colored her cheeks at being caught staring faded away to just a dash of light pink on her pale skin.

  “If there is an issue, Rieka, you can tell me,” I said gently, leaning into her side and draping an arm over her shoulders. “I know that you have a lot weighing on you with this posting, but I’m here to help. We are partners, after all.”

  Rieka let out a small sigh and leaned into me, tilting her head to nuzzle into my hip while her ears flicked twice.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Rieka said quietly. “Really,” she continued when I made a disagreeing noise, “everything is fine. That’s part of what the issue is. With the front calming down, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get recalled soon. The only reason we were dispatched up here to support the Ironclaw Clan was how heavily the tribes were pushing this year. If things are cooling off on all fronts, then there is no reason to have the students away from Juneau.”

  “And you aren’t looking forward to going back to the academy?” I asked, running the fingers of my left hand through Rieka’s hair. Her platinum-blonde locks were in their regular loose braid, so I was able to get my fingertips through the hair around her ears to gently rub their bases in between finger-combing the top of her head.

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  The wolf kin woman made a quiet, happy noise and leaned into me more for several seconds before she responded.

  “I am looking forward to being back on campus, to having my own room and more privacy. I love the girls, but it’s just more comfortable to have my own space,” Rieka murmured.

  I considered her words for a long moment, continuing to rub the base of her left ear gently and listening to the faint slapping of her wagging tail against the back of my thighs. Before I could formulate a response, Rieka continued to speak.

  “I’m also torn on whether I want to return to Juneau at all…”

  “Why is that?” I asked, switching over to her right ear. Rieka let out a happy groan and shifted to give me better access. A few moments later, she answered.

  “Just a thought that I’ve had…” Rieka said, trailing off with a sigh. “I’m not really getting much from the classes, and while having my mastery in my field would be useful, I don’t need it. This posting has opened my eyes to how capable I actually am, and I don’t really need the approval of the academy to know that. I have everything I need to be successful already, even without my family connections.”

  I couldn’t really argue with her about that. Being a princess would already open a lot of doors for her, even if Rieka wasn’t the kind of woman to throw that sort of thing around to earn her way in life. She was a very capable mage too, and savvy on her investments

  Honestly, it feels like the main reason she is attending Juneau is to network and meet people, maybe make friends, I thought silently before a small smile curved my lips. To be honest, that sounds exactly like Rieka. Attending the academy to further her personal social circle, since she doesn’t expect to take a position with the royal family due to her position in the ranking.

  That reminded me of the conversation that I’d had with Gemma weeks ago. About how Rieka was climbing up the rankings with everything she’d accomplished lately and how Gemma was watching her fourth daughter even more intensely.

  I bet the news about the raid will also push Gemma’s decision timeline up, too, I thought smugly, tickling the tips of Rieka’s ears and making them flap in response.

  I’d personally carried the report to Queen Gemma the day after we got back from the raid. Months ago, I’d bonded with Rieka’s mother simply because I could hop from location to location at need. It had occurred to both the queen and Rieka how useful it would be to have a courier that was impossible to intercept for important reports, and so I’d been playing postman for them with important messages.

  Gemma had been interested in the report, and praised our group for doing it, but at the time said that we had to keep watch and wait to see the results. With the front slowing down, I had a good feeling that Rieka’s assumptions would be right.

  “Something you should talk about with the others, maybe?” I suggested, going back to gently rubbing the base of Rieka’s wolf ears when she let out a quiet, annoyed growl at the teasing.

  “Maybe, I just don’t know…” Rieka mumbled.

  We stood there for another few moments before Rieka spoke up, changing the subject abruptly.

  “What about you, Liam?” Rieka asked while I was tracing the outer edge of her left ear.

  “Hmm?” I asked intelligently, my mind having wandered off to the last time Rieka and I had gotten a bit of private time.

  “What’s your goals, Liam? Your business sounds profitable back on Earth, and your home sounds wonderfully comfortable, too. What are your goals? It’s been a while since we talked about your powers and how they’ve grown. How is my Traveler doing, and how can I help him?”

  Rieka tilted her head to look up at me out of one sky-blue eye, affection and devotion warring for supremacy in her gaze.

  “I…” I began, before letting the sentence trail off almost immediately. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve been mostly focused on taking care of you girls that I think I slipped back into my old habits of getting by day-to-day…”

  “You should be more careful,” Rieka gently chastised me. “Don’t fall into old bad habits. You are better than that.”

  “I know, love,” I replied. Rieka hummed happily, turning to nuzzle into my hip affectionately. “For my training… well things are slowing down because of the upper tiers of power I’ve reached. It’s a lot harder to train Shape-Shifting because of its level now.”

  “You still have those unaspected mana crystals, though. Right?” Rieka asked thoughtfully and I nodded.

  “Yeah, I just don’t want to waste them. You mentioned how hard it is to find them, and I like having the flexibility of my natural mana well being unaspected.”

  “I can’t argue with how nice that would be,” Rieka grumbled cutely. “My lightning magic is powerful, and thankfully most of the general spells have been adapted to fit the different types of mana. But it would be nice to be able to use some of the more utility spells like healing…”

  “That was my other thought,” I said, smoothing her hair back down. “Spreading out some more to allow for more utility. I’ve got a good chunk of SP on hand right now, and I could boost my stats again, but I don’t know. My strength and the like are all solid for what I can and want to do, and my Shape-Shifting allows me to apply what I have with devastating effect.”

  “Also, you’d have to go through another adjustment period if you change your physical stats,” Rieka reminded me. “I happen to enjoy getting to cuddle you as much as I want, Liam. I’d rather not have to stay distant because you are worried about hurting me on accident.”

  “It’d kill me if I hurt any of you,” I replied automatically, and Rieka wrapped her right arm around my leg, pulling me in closer to her with a sigh.

  “So you want to fill out your abilities some more then. Why not use some of those crystals then?” Rieka asked a moment later.

  I thought about it. I had a small stash of the unaspected mana crystals on hand, and I could use them one of two ways. They could be exchanged directly with the System for more SP, or I could have the System use the mana contained in them to boost my mastery on a random skill. While the SP amount was fixed, I’d never been able to figure out just how much mastery each stone would give, and there was no way to target it.

  “I guess the question is: do I feel lucky?” I mumbled thoughtfully. “If they can boost my mastery the last little bit for either Shape-Shifting or Grant Power, then it would be worth it. I’d like to be able to give you girls more power.”

  Rieka didn’t respond verbally, instead she pinched the inside of my thigh with one hand, making me yelp in surprise.

  “Liam, you should be focusing on your own growth, not just how you can help us,” Rieka growled in reprimand, the hand that pinched me switching to rubbing the affected area soothingly.

  “I am! I just figured that if I can help you girls, then I should,” I replied and Rieka huffed cutely through her nose.

  “Fine. But my point stands. You are very strong for one person, but you have an opportunity to reach higher,” Rieka saw me opening my mouth to protest and she pinched me again, but lighter this time. “I understand you want to save some of the stones for emergencies, but if you keep saving things for rainy days, then you might not survive to reach them.”

  I couldn’t really argue with her on that statement. I’d been working to learn how to properly apply my increased intellect properly, after realizing that part of why I wasn’t seeing much from that boosted stat was because I just didn’t know how to use it properly. And that improved intelligence was yelling at me that the unaspected mana crystals were a wasted opportunity.

  “Might as well do it now then,” I sighed and Rieka perked up, peeking through her bangs at me. “I’ve stalled on it long enough, and you are right.”

  “Well don’t let me distract you, Liam,” Rieka insisted, turning to press a kiss to my hip once more before giving me a gentle push. “Get that done and I’m sure I and the girls can come up with an appropriate reward for you.”

  The smirk that Rieka shot me then was enough to make my pants tighten and I cleared my throat meaningfully.

  “You are learning bad habits from Kass,” I grumbled playfully, eliciting a giggle from Rieka.

  “Or good ones, depending on who you ask,” Rieka replied sweetly before waving me off with one delicate hand. “Now shoo and let me focus on this report. We can decide if you’ve earned that reward later.”

  The meaningful wiggle of Rieka’s eyebrows was purely Kassandra’s influence on my previously shy and sweet princess. It was gratifying to see Rieka had built up the kind of confidence needed to flirt like that so openly and to tease with a straight face. Her growing confidence was a blessing as well.

  As I watched Rieka shift on her stool, the motion pulling her blouse tight to her full chest and silhouetting her lush figure against the thin cloth, I couldn’t help but grin even wider as I walked back to the edge of the building and focused inwards.

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