"Okay, I'll catch up with you there after the morning meeting."

  "Huh, maybe you should take her to bed," Taeria mused after Cinnamon and Cynthia had left the room.

  "What, my sister?" Mihalis said, giving a fake look of outrage.

  Taeria threw a breakfast roll at his face, and he caught it in his mouth.

  "I'd say to wait and give it some time," Talin said with a thoughtful look on her face. "Cinn might not want to share, and honestly? Right now, I'm not so sure I want to share you outside the pride, either."

  Mihalis looked at her and smiled. "Oh, you don't, now?"

  Talin smiled back. "Senior wife. I make the rules."

  "Uh-huh. I'll keep that in mind."

  Kerrie of all people leaned over and poked him in the side. "Don't make me break out the big words in languages you won't understand."

  "Oh? And what language would that be?"

  "English," she said with a wink.

  "Defeated by my own native tongue!" He sighed dramatically.

  "Oh, don't feel too bad, there are lots of things your tongue is good at!" Rika quipped, and everyone laughed.

  "I think I'll defer to our cunning little linguist," Mihalis said with a smile as he finished his breakfast. "Right now, I'm going to inspect the premises, as well as our djevel staff members before we go out."

  "I'll go with," Talin said. "I can fill you in on what Biggs told me yesterday."

  Mihalis nodded, checked his sword, and they left the living quarters, going out to the rotunda, then into the now separate living area that had been set aside for the two råge who guarded the front door, and the ten bonde who dealt with the 'food' stocks.

  "Lord!" the two råge said, bowing, as they entered the small djevel living area.

  "How are the bonde, R-1?" he asked. To make things simple, he'd renamed the råge R-1 and R-2. The Bonde were B-1 through 10. For some reason, renaming them had pleased them. He'd meant to ask Mom Estrella about that, but he kept forgetting.

  "I think B-5 and B-7 are going to evolve to råge soon, milord."

  Mihalis frowned. "Have we been feeding them too much?"

  R-1 shook his head. "I don't think so, milord. Not that it would matter at this point. They've taken the lead in dealing with the other bonde when we're guarding the gates."

  "If they're already leading the others, once they evolve, they can continue doing so."

  "Do you think the others will evolve in time?" Talin asked.

  "Not unless B-5 and B-7 allow them to," R-1 said.

  Nodding, Talin followed Mihalis into the back, where all the bonde immediately got to their feet and bowed.

  "B-5 and B-7, step forward," he commanded. They were easy to pick out of the group now, as they were obviously larger than the other eight. Looking at him nervously, they stepped forward.

  "You two are now in charge of the other bonde. From this moment forward, you're on the same rations as R-1 and R-2, as it's clear you'll be becoming råge soon. B-5, you're now R-3, and B-7, you're now R-4."

  Both djevels looked at him proudly, and Mihalis couldn't help but smile, though he remembered to show a lot of teeth while doing so.

  "Please make sure the remaining bonde stay bonde. I have no need for further råge at this time. R-1 is in charge, as always. Continue to manage the food pens as you have been."

  "Yes, milord!" they both said.

  "Now, let's go inspect the building," he said, and with R-1 and R-2 following, Mihalis did just that. The east wing was where the gnashers and diamondbacks—what the djevels he kept, as well as the ones living inside Bartertown usually ate. The first cage was the ones for his råge and bonde. The cages after that were the ones sold to the rest of the town. Those cages were empty now, but tomorrow they'd start filling up, as the djevel food merchants, which were typically ridders with their own råge servants, got ready for the auction. Their 'rent' was to keep the cage full for his djevels.

  Further east down the wing was where the merchants selling other types of livestock typically set up. After that, it was just regular merchant booths. All were on a lease, as they had regular vendors who always used the booths down here.

  "Once R-3 and R-4 have evolved and settled in to their new roles, assign R-3 to help with overseeing this wing, and R-4 with overseeing the other one, after their duties of filling the food pens are complete," Mihalis told R-1. "Make sure they understand that they're to listen to the goblins who run the wings now."

  "Why, milord?"

  "I think some of the people who come here will be a little quicker to show respect to a råge than a goblin, don't you?"

  R-one nodded quickly. "Yes, milord. I understand."

  "Good. Now, let's see the west end."

  The only permanent stalls on the west end were the ones where the food for the humans, dwarves, Earth demons, and other supernatural creatures was sold. Beyond that, it was mostly first come, first serve. While a lot of the merchants at this end were regulars, they didn't want to spend the extra money for a more permanent relationship. Also, some merchants only came once a month, or maybe only a few times a year.

  There were always a few who'd only come once, and possibly never again. Traveling into the DEZ was neither safe nor cheap. Mihalis had learned that most of those who came to Bartertown went to one of the other small outlaw towns first before coming here. The ones that weren't run by djevels, that was.

  Once he was satisfied that nothing else needed his attention, he bid R-1 and 2 to be about their daily chores, and he and Talin went back to the living quarters to get the others.

  "Why'd you give those two new jobs?" Talin asked.

  "Råge are a lot smarter than bonde. If I didn't give them something more to do, they'd probably get into some sort of trouble."

  "Good point. Biggs told me Sawyer has his end of the pipeline ready to go. He's got the bottles, the girls, the station, everything. Oluf's got the pipeline extended and is finishing up with the gas turbine generator. Once that's done, he should have the station at this end done within a week. It's going to be set up so they exit via Biggs' shop using a different tunnel than the one we use to go there."

  "Smart. When does Beri get her stove?"

  Talin laughed. "Next time we're in the kitchen, try looking at something other than dark elf ass."

  "But I like looking at dark elf ass!" Mihalis protested. "And tits, and legs, and I've even been known to stare at Fey tits and ass from time to time as well!"

  "Uh-huh," she said, leaning into him.

  "One of these days, we're going to need some more guards in here," he told her as he put an arm around her.

  "Why?"

  "So when we're out visiting your parents or mine, we have someone here to make sure Beri and Tamerin are safe."

  "What about the guards you hired? They're already there, even if they have a separate dining room, and usually stay out of our family area."

  "For just that, they'd be fine. But pretty soon, there's going to be children here. Our children. I'd rather have someone guarding them who's personally answerable to you and me whenever we need to go somewhere."

  "Any ideas?"

  Mihalis shook his head. "Not yet, but I'm thinking on it."

  "So I guess that means Taeria is going to be getting her wish soon?"

  Mihalis all but purred. "Oh, yes, she most definitely will be."

  The walk to HoJo's was… interesting . They got noticed. By everyone.

  People were also quick to get out of the way.

  There was some whispering and some pointing, but it was obvious that a lot of people recognized him, and several of his wives.

  "So who do you think they recognize more, Mike, or Black and White?" Kerrie asked.

  "Mike," Jade replied. "They wouldn't be moving out of the way so quickly if it was just Az and Rik."

  "As long as no one is causing problems, I'm happy," Talin said.

  "Me, too," Azure and several of the others agreed.

  "Is it me, or do people seem a little more… I don't know, relaxed?" Caitin asked.

  "Haven't been here long enough to really know," Taeria said.

  "Maybe," Talin said. "Of course, we are in one of the 'law and order' areas."

  "Think it'll get worse down by the east wall?" Caitin asked.

  "Probably. They've got nowhere else to go."

  "Well, if things are getting safer, for relative versions of safe, that means Mike and Sawyer will be able to start business up," Rika pointed out.

  "There is that."

  Going inside HoJo's, they spent the next minute hugging, and getting hugged by, Talin and Caitin's sisters, Shaylee, Louise, and Sampson. The three dark elf girls were still working there, and they each came up and shyly greeted Mihalis and his wives.

  "Now, let's find a place to sit, and you can catch us all up on the last few weeks," Louise said, smiling happily. "Are any of your sisters coming?" she asked, looking at Mihalis.

  "Cinnamon will be by. Noje and Harmony are working for Dr. Ruxton today, so I don't think they'll be here. As for Natalie, I don't think she's out of bed yet."

  "Lazy girl," Louise said with a sigh.

  "No, I'm pretty sure she was up late. I think she's been helping some of the night patrols."

  "In or out of bed?" she asked with a smirk.

  "Mom!" Mihalis said laughing, " Really ?"

  "I'd say your father was so much easier to raise, but he did eventually decide to change the world, so I'm not so sure that'd be the truth."

  Mihalis was still snickering when they sat around the large table in the back.

  "So, what's it like being in a political campaign?" Shaylee asked next, and Talin and Caitin told her what they'd been doing. Over the next few hours, Rika, Azure, then Jade, Taeria, and Kerrie joined in. Mihalis did occasionally put in a few words, but mostly he was visiting with Bree, Brianna, Erin, and Raelyn.

  Seeing as they were carrying his children, nobody begrudged him some time with them.

  When lunchtime came, Sampson excused himself to go cook, while Bree, Brianna, Erin, and Raelyn alternated between waiting tables and sitting in the back.

  Smiling at everyone, Mihalis was very much in a happy place. The room was full of positive emotions from everyone, and it reminded him very much of the big family dinners they used to have when he was a lot younger. He suddenly realized that one day, he'd be the one hosting such get-togethers for his wives, all of the children he'd no doubt have, and it'd be his mother and father, and hopefully the rest of the 'moms' sitting around, ooing and ahhing over his kids and laughing at the stories of what they tried to do 'just the other day'.

  If he'd been in his hybrid or lion form, they would have been able to hear the purring outside in the square. This was the kind of thing lions lived for, and he was suddenly getting it.

  " How the hell did I earn this ?" he thought to himself.

  " By picking an awesome pride, of course !" his lion said smugly.

  " We sure did, didn't we ?"

  Cinnamon came in then, thankfully without Cynthia. He didn't want to deal with her right now, for all that she'd seemed a lot more bearable that morning.

  He watched as she navigated saying hello, getting hugged and kissed, and parceling out the same. She even took the time to hug each of the three dark elf girls he'd captured. He really needed to find out what their names were at some point.

  " Finally ," she said, coming over to him.

  "Busy day?"

  "Yup. Cynthia went over her plans for the bordello—turns out she's run one before, and we had to figure out a good spot to put it that wasn't too far from the coffeehouse, but where we wouldn't be pushing out anyone worth keeping down there. As a bordello really doesn't need a lot of main street space, we found a good spot off the main alleyway."

  "Great, have a seat."

  "In a minute. We gotta talk."

  "So talk."

  "In private."

  Nodding, he got up and led her back to the room he still had here. Showing her in, he closed the door.

  "Is this place warded?"

  "Yup. Now, what's the big secret?"

  Cinnamon laughed. "You are not going to believe this one!"

  "Try me."

  "Ennakoida believes that you are a djevel prince!"

  "WHAT?" Mihalis said, eyes wide with shock. "How in the hell…"

  "You know we're descended from demons as well as elves, right?"

  "Well, yeah. That's how we can do this," he said, shaking his wings.

  "Those demons were apparently from the Onderwereld, where all the djevels around us came from."

  Mihalis nodded slowly. "Yeah, I think I knew that. Dad or the First, I think, mentioned it at some point. But still… that doesn't explain this ."

  "The last time someone came through here to do a recon—actually, several of the last times—they saw that all the 'cubi were gone, so they figured the lions had killed them all. Then suddenly you show up. And let's face it, Mike, you've been pretending to be a demon the entire time! You killed a lioness! You came back from the dead! You even did that whole 'Nega-lion' shtick, and they not only took the bait, they're running with it!"

  Mihalis dropped down on to the bed, sitting on it and shaking his head slowly.

  "How'd you learn about this?"

  "Hengity spilled the beans. He found out from Arsy, who I guess he threatened or something."

  "Why'd he do that?"

  "He saw how you and Cynthia seemed to have 'hooked up', and he was wondering if you'd take his oath."

  "He what?"

  "Well, you are a prince, Michael!" Cinnamon said giggling.

  "The hell I am!"

  "Dad's a king, so according to Nadinc, yeah, you are."

  "So Hengity wants to swear himself to me? Like he was sworn to Prince Talt?"

  "Looks like."

  "Can I even… oh, FUCK !" Mihalis swore loudly, looking up at Cinnamon. "Don't tell me, Ennakoida is looking to swear to me as well?"

  "That's why he's not trying to take the place. He's trying to grab as many of Prince Talt's as he can. He's wants to build himself up nice and strong, and once that's done, he's gonna come here, show you what he can do for you, and bend the knee."

  "Shit! What am I… Dammit! It was supposed to be a joke !" Mihalis said, and getting up, he paced back and forth, an unending stream of profanity and other curses coming out of his mouth for several minutes.

  When he finally stopped, he looked at Cinnamon. "I don't know what to do," he admitted.

  Cinnamon sighed and shook her head slowly. "I don't have a clue, either, Mike."

  "Does Cynthia know about this?"

  "Not yet, but I wouldn't worry about her, especially not once you bed her."

  "Talin isn't sure she wants me doing that just yet, and honestly? Right now, I'm kinda enjoying narrowing my focus to Beri and my wives."

  Shaking his head again, he looked around the room, thinking.

  "I wonder if I actually can take their oaths?"

  "You can always experiment on Hengity."

  "I'd rather try it on someone else first. I don't want him seeing me trying to figure out how to do it, because if I can do it, I'd have to kill him."

  "Well, there's that biskop in Ruxton's lab…"

  "Hmm, and they're going to kill him anyways… but…"

  "But?"

  "If it turns out I can, there's still the question of whether I should ."

  Cinnamon just shrugged.

  Turning to the door, Mihalis opened it and led the way back to the dining room.

  "Who else knows about this?"

  "Just Reagjin, whom I've sworn to secrecy."

  "Good. I need to think about this… man is this going to mess up my plans…"

  Going back to the table, he sat down and tried to put it out of his mind for now. Tomorrow would be their last day here, then they'd be off for a week or two. Still, though, he kept coming back to it. Because, yeah, if he could take their oaths? What would that do to him? Would it be smart to even do it…?

  "You look a little distracted," Talin said to him when they finally walked back home. It was getting near dinnertime, and he and the others knew that was the busiest time of the day for Shaylee and the girls.

  "Yeah, Cinnamon told me something I need to think about before I share it with anybody."

  "Why?"

  "Because it's something completely unexpected," he said with a sigh. "Once we get home, I'm gonna go fly for a while. I need to clear my head and think about this."

  "We're all here if you need us, Michael."

  He nodded. "Yeah, I know. But I can't even begin to talk about it until I've wrapped my head around it. This really is something I would never have expected."

  "Well, just don't forget tomorrow is going to be a busy day."

  "I know," he said and kissed her.

  When they got back to the Auction House, he gave each of them a hug and a kiss.

  "I'm going to go flying for a while. I need to think about a few things," he told them. Going up to the roof, he took off and flew to the old safe house he'd first stayed at. He hadn't been there in months, so he might as well check on it.

  The sun had set, and he was sitting on the edge of the roof in his hybrid form, watching the stars come out. He still didn't have a clue about what to do.

  " Ask Dad ."

  He nodded. And maybe even the First, he thought to himself.

  Standing up, he invoked his wings using the charm he'd made. It was getting cold out, and flying with a fur coat sounded a lot more comfortable than flying with just a shirt and pants.

  It took him over an hour to fly all the way back to his parents'. He wasn't sure exactly, as he wasn't wearing a watch, and never thought to look at his phone. When he back-winged to a landing on one of the helipads, he got a lot of looks until he dismissed the wings.

  "You can do them in your hybrid form?" one of the wolves asked.

  "Yup," he said and immediately walked over to the main house, which he should have just landed in front of. But… but he still wasn't sure what to say.

  Going inside, he did a quick search of the house. It was then he noticed it was after midnight. Stopping a moment, he pulled out his phone and sent a text to the girls, telling them he was going to talk to his dad; he'd be home in a few hours, and not to worry. He stuck the phone back in his pants, went over to his parents' bedroom door, took a deep breath, and knocked.