"We could just ask her. Or get Keith to."

"That… seems like an abuse of his power."

"Yeah, so?"

"So we shouldn't do that. And besides, what about Barret?"

"I want to wait for him, but who knows when he'll be back? What if you had actually died yesterday?"

"Flora…"

"I'm serious Trace! What if you hadn't come back? What if the next time there's an attack, you don't come back?"

"Flora…"

"And what if Barret doesn't come back? What if he needs help and-"

"Flora!" Trace stood up from the bed and hugged her. "He will be back. I know it. He will come back. But… I get it. I've done some pretty risky things recently. The wolves, the Templars, everything down in Edinmire, there's a lot going on. I get it. I really do. There's a lot at risk. The world is changing, and I know I said no more risks, but I can't just sit back and watch the world burn. I want to marry you, I really do, more than anything! But… I still think that trying to convince King Adelaide to marry us is a bad idea."

"Why?"

Trace smiled cheekily. "I've been doing some digging, and found out that Basitin courtship and marriage is not very interesting. Lots of paperwork. In fact, it's only paperwork. No ceremony, no actual wedding, just fill out form 1132-B, sign on the dotted lines, and that's it. Lynn would probably be over the moon with it, but I don't think that there's anyone he would do that paperwork for. Really puts the court in courtship…"

"Why were you looking at Basitin courtship?"

Trace turned away, flush in the face. "Oh, no reason! No reason at all! I just got curious!"

"Right. Sure." Flora was not convinced. "Anyways, if not her, then who? I know Keiren would be willing, but he's had so much to deal with already, worrying about a wedding wouldn't do him any favors."

"I know, but we don't really have anyone else who would do that. The only other person that I would be comfortable with would be people that we would have with us in the actual wedding. Or Nora, but she's still recovering from the tower blowing up. Reni would also be nice, but she's still trying to deal with Clovis and take care of Nora."

"I know, but would it really hurt to ask? An actual king doing our ceremony would be really nice."

There was a soft knock on the open door. "She's not a king in the same way as other kings." Eric said, standing in the doorway. "Just happened to be walking past and overheard you, sorry."

"It's alright." Trace said, walking over. "Do you happen to know anyone who would be willing to do our wedding?"

"Other than Keiren? I don't think so. Human and Keidran weddings aren't something that happens normally."

"We aren't something that happens normally. Nothing that happens nowadays is something that happens normally. There's a war going on, Edinmire is no longer part of the human empire, the Basitin military has landed and is acting as a protectorate of a city-state. Nothing is normal about any of this. It seems like the entire world has gone mad."

"Well, then maybe Flora is right. Maybe, because nothing about this is normal, you could ask King Adelaide to preside over a formal wedding."

"I told you!" Flora was beaming behind him.

"Alright! I'll go with Keith and ask her when I go back down to Edinmire. Maybe you should come too. Karen and Eric can watch Maeve tomorrow, right?"

"Of course! I'd be happy to. A young and brilliant artist, we will make wonderful drawings!" Eric smiled.

"Decent drawings, I hope." Flora glared daggers at him, causing him to back up a step.

"Of course! I may have a… unique taste for art, but she's a visionary with her abstract work."

Trace rolled his eyes. "I'll take your word for it."

"Speaking of, I actually have a wonderful painting I would like to hang up, if you would allow me to." Eric reached over, and held up a painting of Kathrine, in a deep purple over-shirt, leaning on the balcony railing with a coffee cup, looking northeast toward the mountains at sunrise.

"That's… actually a really nice painting. Nothing lewd about it. What are you playing at?" Flora asked suspiciously.

"No games or tricks, I just saw her in the morning, and she looked so nice, I couldn't resist sketching, and then painting!"

"I actually quite like it. Go ahead, hang it up somewhere. Just don't take down any other paintings to do it." Trace smiled. "Especially the ones with Rose, don't touch any of them."

"Thanks, and no worries. No dinner plans tonight. Mike put a whole bunch of food in stasis before going to help clean up, so just summon some food with the runes tables." Eric said as he walked off, carrying his painting.

…

The acrid smell of smoke and death hadn't moved on. Keith walked through Shepherd's Square, looking at the damage, which was thankfully minimal this far in. Some chipped paving stones, a few partially burnt buildings, nothing too bad structurally. But it was the people who he came to see. Three thousand had fallen during combat, and another four thousand had been injured. There was a small army of medics and nurses tending to those who were still wounded. His own wounds were intense, but healed quickly. He didn't like abusing his rank, but it got Natani the treatment she needed right away, and his own wounds were taken care of shortly afterward. Unlike on the Basidian Isle, the doctors here did not wear masks, as it was a strange and new place for them. As they worked, many closed their eyes once they reached a patient, as they relied mostly on touch and hearing anyways.

Off to the side, Richard leaned against a wooden pillar, surveying the wounded. "You've been awfully quiet about this." Keith said as he walked over. "No thoughts about having to fight against your own kind?"

"They aren't my kind anymore." his said curtly. His injuries had been patched up quickly, they weren't severe.

"Explain."

"They aren't my kind anymore, because they aren't acting human. I thought for a long time that it was Keidrans that were the monsters, that they were little more than animals, but I was wrong. The Templars are the monsters. They've flattened everyone in their way, slaughtered innocents, they've done horrible things. There's rumors that they manipulated the wolves into starting this war in the first place, which wouldn't surprise me at all at this point. I'm not like them. They aren't my kind. I'm human. They're monsters."

Keith pondered what he said for a moment. "But they are still humans. Despite their actions, they are human. Put a fresh coat of paint on a house and it's still the same house. How someone acts doesn't change that they are still human."

"I know. But at least this way I feel better about it." Richard said, downcast. "Killing other people… it doesn't make me better than them, but at least I'm defending myself and the people I care about while I do it. If I had stayed in the academy with Trace, I might have been on the other side of the wall today. A lot would be different, actually. I don't think I could do it."

"That's… understandable. Fighting against someone who is just like you is difficult, even if they are acting like monsters."

"You ever fought against another Basitin? In a fight to the death, mind you, not just sparring."

"No. I never have had to. But, for a long time, Basitins were prone to infighting. It was only a few hundred years ago that we finally became organized, long before I was born."

"Really? In the grand scheme of things, that's quite recently, especially compared to when the human territories began to unite. Heck, you could try and compare it to the Keidran clan formations, but the history is rather loose on that…"

Keith chuckled. "Well, when you put it like that, we are a rather young empire, yes, but in quite a few ways, we have been better for it. We have seen the mistakes of human and Keidran governments, and have learned what not to do. We have adapted, overcome, and now we are united under a militant command."

"Sounds rough."

"Only to an outsider. It's efficient, organized. Less likely to have a massive revolt. Everything just works."

"If you say so." The two stood in silence for a while. They watched the doctors work, and the sun began to hang low in the sky. "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?"

"Talking with me. It's nice to get all of that off my chest."

"No problem."

"I'm gonna go find some food. See ya around, general." Richard gave him a salute as he walked off, smiling. Keith smiled and nodded back at him.