After the hunt, Eishi prayed over the deer he had killed, and butchered it himself before handing it over to the kitchens at his estate. He then soaked in the bathhouse, admiring the dragon mosaic on the ceiling and missing the gold Rindou had spent on its installation less and less. He had never expected to live the life of a lord, but he'd be lying if he ever said it didn't agree with him.

After the bath, he walked the grounds of the estate, checking in with the farmers and taking stock of the ripening crops. The lemon trees were coming along nicely; Rindou would like that. She always managed to acquire new tastes and cravings whenever they traveled to make a new conquest.

Eishi had just been discussing the possible addition of a fountain to the gardens with the landscaper when the messenger arrived. He could tell just by looking that it was one of Azami's men.

"Just me, or both of us?" he asked with a sigh.

"Our lord requires you and the lady both, sir."

He ran a hand down the length of his face. "Head to the manor house and our servants will see you fed. I'll go tell her."

He found Rindou in her menagerie, heating dragon eggs in a kiln while she fed tiny strips of meat to the fledgling griffin perched on her left shoulder. A gaggle of the manor's children stood around her, listening with rapt attention to her stories of collecting kraken ink on the Eastern Sea and pixie pollen in the Vale. Eishi stood in the doorway for a moment, memorizing her wolf grin and open posture. The news he brought would sour her mood, and he needed a smile to remember before they entered the fire of battle again.

The grin broadened when she spotted him, and she kindly sent the children back to home and field. "There you are. How was the hunt?" she asked, bouncing over to him. "Will there be something yummy for dinner tonight?"

"I think I heard one of the cooks mention venison stew."

She licked her lips at the thought. "Wonderful! I hope they make a cake as well. Or maybe a pie. They had lemon pies in that town we captured last year and maybe when the trees are ready—"

"Rindou," he said, filled with regret for having to tell her and wanting very badly to be over and done with it. "Lord Azami has called on us again."

At once her mouth became a hard line. She rolled her eyes. "What does he want from us now?"

"The citadel, and the free mage city."

"The mages have done nothing," she said, crossing her arms. "They have not brought arms against him. They're not even a kingdom. Why should we interfere with them?"

"Because the Lord Azami asks it," Eishi replied with a sigh.

Rindou scoffed. "The Lord Azami can hang. I will not do it."

"Rindou, the life we're living now comes with a price, and we both know it. Before Azami found us, we had nothing. We were nothing."

"And now he is nothing without us," she said. "How long are we supposed to serve him? Do you not wish to be your own man?"

Eishi took her hand in his, and rubbed at the center of her palm with his thumb. "With luck, soon he will retake Totsuki Kingdom and be satisfied, and if not, we will break our ties with him when the time is right."

Rindou raised an incredulous eyebrow. "I hear the talk at his court. If Azami retakes Totsuki, he will have you married off to his daughter and rule through you both."

"He may try," Eishi leveled. His lord had alluded to it once or twice before, and always tried to dissuade him from formalizing things with Rindou. "But I will refuse him."

"You'll need a backbone to do that." Her tone was still sharp, but her eyes had softened to him. She wouldn't stay angry for long.

He smiled at her then. "Good, then, that you have enough for both of us."

"When are we to leave?" she asked, conceding.

"He wants us there in a week, and it's six days' ride to the citadel. We'll feast tonight and leave at daybreak."

Rindou shook her head at him. "Six days' ride is an afternoon on dragonback. We'll fly."

"Rindou," he groaned. Each time he made her get near that infernal beast, he swore he'd have an apoplexy and keel over once and for all.

"We fly or I'm not going." Her voice had taken on the tone of a stubborn child and he knew there'd be no dissuading her this time.

"Fine," he conceded. "But we will take horses on the way back."

Author's Notes: Thanks for reading, everyone! Have a good weekend!