CHAPTER 8

Noden, Muir, and Nehir knocked on the door a little earlier than Kaito or Ruto would have liked since they weren't awake yet, but it was morning and both of them knew the three of them were just excited about the fry.

"Hey you guys can come in but the kids are still asleep" Ruto yawned, "Nehir, Muir, why don't you two go talk to the kitchen staff, have them bring breakfast for the five of us up here. I know it may come off as weird to have a meeting here, so try to come up with an excuse that doesn't involve the new hatchlings okay? Not yet."

Muir and Nehir bowed out and left quickly, She overheard them talk about the possibility of changing the decorations in Kaitos room. Weird excuse, but good enough.

"So what happened with the meeting with my parents? I would have figured they would have locked up Zales."

"They did, and he still is, but Kaito and I agreed to help fight off the mermaids attacking the river Zora in exchange for peace. I wouldn't have bothered offering to help but I love turning the tables of mermaids. Have you ever tried mermaid meat? It's exquisite." Ruto said

Kaito had popped up out of the bed pool stretching, as Noden Responded, "I did once, I don't remember anything special about it, but I also heard it's a lot better cooked."

"I personally haven't tried it" Kaito said, "Is that really why you mentioned you had magic?"

"Not the only reason" Ruto shrugged, "I'm pretty sure Zales and Ara already know and if they don't, talk of what happened when they attacked us will catch up to them. I didn't see the point in hiding it. It's not like I would have been able to take out that many soldiers without my sage magic."

Kaito turned his attention to Noden. "When we go and fight the Mermaids, what do you think the odds are that queen Ara would arrange an attack? Is she a threat?"

"Not a threat I couldn't handle." Noden shrugged "She does know magic, but she isn't that great at it exactly, I could take her out easy."

Kaito's face grew concerned, "Noden you are supposed to be our refugee, you aren't supposed to be here to fight."

Noden shrugged again, "I really doubt queen Ara would arrange an attack when you fight the mermaids, I'm just saying, if she did I could take her out. If the river zora were at full force I would be more worried, but Ruto took out most of their forces. I saw it from the window, even without your soldiers being magic users, I doubt there is much of a threat."

"I don't know" Kaito said, "Your dad implied the whole reason he attacked us is because he wanted Ruto dead, a revenge on her dad kind of a thing. Finding out she has direct descendants may change things. With regards to their plans."

Noden shook his head, "Killing the fry would be a poor move on their part, with their army at such poor numbers, what's to stop Ruto from launching a counter attack after she comes back? Especially with Zales locked up? He's their strongest magic user, with him gone she could kill off the whole kingdom. He would be a king of nothing"

Muir and Nehir came back with a coffee cart, "Breakfast is going to be up soon. In the meantime, the kitchen staff agrees, your room needs an upgrade. It's had the same decorations for hundreds of years."

"Muir, you do remember that's just an excuse to not talk about the fry right?" Asked Ruto

"I mean, you say that but, maybe the hatchlings are really an excuse to redecorate this place." Muir said smiling. "The lighting in here is terrible."

Kaito sighed with his hand on his forehead, "We live in caves, caves that flood. Fire and electricity can't be used for lighting so the options are a bit limited."

"I bet I could come up with something," Muir continued as he stared at the walls.

"In any case," Noden continued, "You should send a scroll with a royal seal about not releasing the Zales if they see any activity from them heading your way, you could also let the guards here monitor communication in and out of the kingdom. If you have soldiers deliver the message and confirm it's arrival successfully I see no reason you couldn't announce the birth of the fry but forbid outside communication about their hatching. If guards monitor messages going in and out of the kingdom, then word wouldn't even get to Zales and Ara. If for some reason it did, and they were dumb enough to attack, not only would my parents notice, but between myself and your army, They wouldn't win."

"I know you are worried, but he has a point Kaito" Ruto said, "Write the scroll first and make sure the soldiers come back, if they are successful then I don't want to hide our kids from our people anymore."

At that point they heard a knock and Kaito instructed them to come in. It was the breakfast cart as the kitchen staff was wheeling the breakfast carts in Muir piped up, "You know if we create glass terrariums that can be enclosed during high tide, we could grow glowing mushrooms to light the walls. If we had enough of them they would be a great addition to the luminous stone. We could also create some kind of cover for the bed pool to block the light so you would sleep better.

One of the Kitchen staff approached Ruto with a bow and said, "Your majesty, I'm so glad you convinced the King to redecorate the caves, they've looked the same for thousands of years, and that effeminate guard really has some great ideas. We are really looking forward to the results."

She bowed again and followed the rest out.

Kaito sighed, "Is it really that bad? The furniture is made out of marble and pearls. It's classic."

Ruto leaned on Kaito "I do agree, but I kind of like Muirs mushroom idea. Maybe you could let them do a test run in one of the guest rooms and see if you like it? He really seems to be getting into the idea. Now I'm curious to see what he comes up with."

"Wait if we are really doing this, you should incorporate silver and gems into the rooms since that's what your kingdom's economy thrives on." Nehir said

Muirs eyes lit up, "YAAAASSSS. I just got a great idea for a kids room. We could turn one of the guest rooms into a kids bedroom! For when the tykes are old enough to get out of the tub and into their own bedpool."

Kaito sighed, "It's a couple years away, but I guess there is no harm in that. You can redo the room down the hall, the one Ruto stayed in before we were married, but please wait until we get back from fighting mermaids to get started. I want to be there when you actually start making changes. If I like it, I'll let you do two room for both of them"

"I can make some sketches," Nehir said, "To get a feel for Muir's vision and show you when you get back from the fight."

"Speaking of fighting, Kaito, hurry and finish breakfast, we have training to get started on. You need to learn magic remember" Ruto said in between drinking coffee

"I guess that means we are on babysitting duty again guys." Nehir laughed.