“Hai!”
The tiny voice caught Rethais off guard. He had been… examining the scene ahead of him, not sure what to make of it. The Allbirther had invited him to visit the “Grand Advisory Hall”, in order to discuss what his new job would consist of, but the location was… off. Despite being on a hill on the outskirts of Thre-Vretania, the whole area had been terraformed and changed to look like some sort of…
Well, Rethais was not sure. There were lots of pink, fluffy clouds, trickling rivers and water fountains, decorated garden paths, all leading up to a huge, pink mansion. A mansion that had seemingly only been erected in the last month, but somehow looked ancient.
With a grunt, Rethais turned to see who was talking to him. The voice belonged to a familiar-looking Skyavok, with dark skin, mostly black armour with occasional glowing red and orange bits and a pair of fiery psionic wings.
“Hello.”
“Did the big snake ask you to be an advisor too?” the Skyavok asked. On a second inspection, Rethais realised who this being was. They were a member of the Army of Four, the team of beings that had saved a huge number of Temthans from enslavement. They were also behind a long list of other heroic acts, many of which were considered top secret due to their links to the deities. In particular, they had been present when Void Lord Kenon had been killed.
“Hello, Kayen. Your guess is correct, Allbirther Yisini invited me here.”
Kayen clapped his hands together. “Oh goodie! Someone else with actual political experience! I was worried it’d just be Kohra! Don’t think she’s found a useful Ksithan yet or anything but her choices so far aren’t bad! And I get a Rethianos of my own!”
The little Skyavok started making his way down the main path towards the mansion, skipping quite happily. Rethais stared blankly, trying to recall what Kayen had just said.
“Hey, little one, what do you mean by that?”
With a flap of his wings, Kayen back-flipped into the air to face Rethais. “What? I was worried that Yisini would pick just a bunch of pretty vok like me. Alright, I’m not that bad, I’m an accountant, but I never did political stuff, my main job was taxes and accounting for low-income individuals, childless partners and the unemployed. But still, you’re a High General, you’re gonna have tons of experience!”
Rethais tutted. “That was not what I meant. What do you mean about having your own Rethianos?”
Kayen smiled, bouncing around as he headed closer towards the mansion. “Retvik Rethianos was best friends with a Skyan called Arkay. Elkay Theanon is totally fucking around with the old K-Class leader Teekay. And now you, Rethais Rethianos, you have got me as your new buddy!”
The former High General snarled, stopping in his tracks. “How in the name of the Light do you know about Elkay?”
Kayen paused. “Was I not supposed to know that he’s your half-brother, he’s not dead, he got hired by Kinisis as part of her personal bodyguard service and he’s fucking a Skyan?”
“You know… more than I do…” Rethais sighed. “How did you know about all of this?”
“What do you mean?”
“How did you discover that… uh, my half-sibling is having an affair with a Skyavok?”
“It’s not an affair!” Kayen beamed. “That would imply that either of them had relationships in the past! Which they didn’t. They’re just this cute happy couple. Or at least, that’s what Tenuk told Kohra and Kohra told me.”
Rethais sighed. “And you do not have a problem with any of that?”
“Why would I?” Kayen blinked in confusion. “Who am I to judge two consenting beings? Both of them are like, way smarter than me anyway…”
“I… guess you are correct…” Rethais frowned, glancing down awkwardly at his wristband. “We should hurry up. We do not want to be late.”
Kayen fluttered around Rethais, smiling some more. “We’re like half an hour early.”
“Yes, but we ought to make a good first impression…”