I stood at the front of the Olimpian delegation, the back of my neck prickling from the concentrated hostility focused on me. I could feel sweat running down my spine, partially from the heat, but mostly because I was fucking uncomfortable with everything that was happening.

The Kin's, or more accurately, I would guess Kanieta's, desire for me to be present in the negotiations led to my being here. It would be one thing if I showed up at the last second, after being hustled through the fortress by Reaper Keeper, to appear just before the arrival of the Kin's delegation at the Northern Fort… Which was my original plan. Needless to say, that was not what happened.

Overall, everything was relatively quiet after the 14th's arrival a few days ago. Some messages were sent back and forth from the Triad to the Kin, and the 14th settled down outside the walls of the Western Fort, guarding the refugees from Southtown. As the days passed, I had nothing to do as I never received an assignment, so I loitered about. With nothing better to do, I attempted to rest while shadowed by the most dangerous, or at least most feared, man within the Triad…

Needless to say, with the demon slinking around in my shadow, actually relaxing was out of the question as I was constantly on edge. I tried tentatively practicing some mental exercises, but again, there was a monster who was constantly watching my every move. There was a good chance that he could notice something was off about my powers, and that would… I didn't know what would happen. But I couldn't think of how it would be good for me.

So, when I finally received an order to report to Panta one morning, I was glad that my suffering would come to an end. With nothing better to wear, I put on all my scout equipment without my weapons — as that would send the wrong message — and I marched across the fort with the Inquisitor at my side. When we arrived at a bustling command building, we were immediately ignored.

It took most of half an hour before I was escorted into the heart of the building, where I was promptly shoved to the side with the reaper. An hour or two and seven individuals who took the time to tell me to stand to the side and not say anything later, I was walking next to Legatus Panta, Legatus Hellieous, Legatus Kellaport, and Tribune Latic Shree as we walked through the fortress at the head of a procession.

Of course, the reaper and I were also included in that front rank, with those behind being of a still relatively high status compared to me but lower than the rest of those beside me. In short, I, the only one wearing armor while everyone else was decked out in their robes and fineries, was the obvious blemish of the group, being an elf and a scout.

A blemish that inherently attracted all of the attention of everyone we passed, denying it to those behind me. A real tragedy for them, as they needed the attention to live, or so I assumed, as that could be the only reason for their ire. Whatever we were going, as no one bothered to tell me, I suspected it would be a historic moment, and no one appreciated me attracting all of the focus.

I would be surprised if everyone behind me wasn't glaring into my back as we marched. Because that was what it felt like the whole way. Even now, as I stood in front of the thirty or so people inside a rough ten-foot wall with knights standing guard on one side and large warrior kins lining the walls on the other, I could still feel their attention.

Ignoring the stairs, I studied the simple wall and couldn't help but think this reeked of a hasty, thrown-together plan. The square was just compacted dirt, the walls were compressed dirt, and so were the two roads stretching away from the two entrances on opposite sides. Roads that led to the Joltan Bridge and the refugee camp.

The quarter-mile enclosed square was halfway between the two locations and a stone's throw from the Rush's bank. And I still had no idea what it was supposed to be, as there was an awkward silence hanging in the air since we arrived.

Shuffling my feet, I glanced around uncomfortably to my sides while trying to move my head as little as possible. Eyes snapping forward, I felt a wave of relief as all the judging eyes on me vanished with the appearance of a group of Kin along the far road. They were still some way off, but it was clear that everyone around me, except the reaper, saw their appearance as the start of a battle.

It was such a shocking change that I overcame my trepidation to do nothing but look straight ahead and actually glanced around at everyone who now had straight backs and blank faces. If I were going to describe the change, it would be like we were suddenly in a shield wall waiting for the beastkin to crash against us. An overreaction if I ever saw one, but no one had spoken to or asked me anything, so it was clear they didn't care about my opinion.

When the other procession drew close enough for me to study them individually, I couldn't help but notice that Kanieta wasn't leading the group. And she wasn't in the first row either, as those spots were taken up by a blue birdkin that looked familiar, a stately rabbitkin, and a large bullkin that were following behind the foxkin messenger at their head.

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With more than two dozen people from where I expected, I spotted Kanieta strolling with Franklin, almost by themselves, at the group's rear. As I caught her eye, she smiled, and it was like her face lit up like a new dawn. She was beautiful; that was a given, but it was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, and she could finally move freely.

Then Franklin jumped in between us, waving his arms over his head, and shouted, "Green! Green, I'm here! Green! I'm right here, don't ya see me!"

Suddenly, all the attention that had shifted away from me was right back onto my shoulders, and I hunched down in response, trying to sink into myself like a turtle. Immediately, I knew it was the worst thing that I could have done, not because no matter how hard I tried, I would not be able to vanish.

No, it was because I was ignoring Franklin. Whether he was being intentionally oblivious or he really was that idiotic, the badgerkin stopped waving his arms over his head and started pushing his way through the crowd gathered between us… Also known as the Kin delegation. "Don't worry, Green, I am back and able to protect you again! I know it must have been hard without me, but Kanieta and the damn elders wouldn't allow me to come find you!"

Unable to not act on my own no matter how much I didn't want to, I smiled and stepped forward. As I did so, I heard a snort of disgust from Kellaport's direction when he recognized Franklin. But I ignored the pompous idiot and moved to intercept and calm badgerkin down before he could cause any more problems. "Franklin, this isn't the time. Can we talk later?" I hissed in exasperation to the badger under the combined attention of everyone in the square.

Actually, the situation wasn't as bad as I thought. The Kin, other than the explanations of annoyance and stumbling about from Franklin's shoving, took the whole situation in stride. The worst reactions from the Kin were exasperated rolls of the eyes while most looked at Franklin and then us Olimpians with anticipatory amusement. It was a sentiment I could relate to when I thought about a clan of badgers visiting an Olimpian city.

A thought that distracted me for a fraction of a second, which was all Franklin needed to slip around my outstretched hand and wrap his arms around me in a bone-creaking hug. "It's so good to see ya Green!"

Slapping my hands onto the badger's back, I gasped out, "Nice to see you again, too… Can you put me down now?"

"Sure thing, Green!" With that, he dropped me, stepped to my side, and scratched his stomach with one hand while digging into a pouch with his other. Pulling out some jerky, he started gnawing on it, seemingly the most contented person in the world now that he was next to my side again.

Leaving me to deal with the entire situation he had caused. Slowly, I turned my head from the entirely understanding Kin all the way around to the Olimpians, who were watching me with a wide range of emotions. A few were looking at me like I was some circus freak performing before them for their entertainment. Another group had broken out into a sweat as their eyes darted between me and the Kins like they were afraid I had ruined everything. But by far, most people were looking at me with some level of hostility, like I was intentionally causing a scene.

"Scout Green," Panta said, his voice level and controlled like we were in the middle of any other day, not the beginning of an important meeting I had disrupted. "If you are so inclined, would you be willing to introduce us… Ehem, to your friend?"

Looking at Franklin to see why the Legatus's eyes had widened in the greatest show of emotion I had seen from him, I noticed that Franklin was showing off as he crafted an earthen thrown to sit on. Sighing, I straightened up, turning to my legatus, "This is Chieftain Franklin of the Yellow Striped Clan in the Blood Claw Faction. He was in charge of watching over me while I was in the care of the Kin and accompanied me on my journey to the north."

From the corner of my eye, I noticed that Franklin had puffed out his chest at my words. "Yes!" the Badgerkin declared, "It was the perfect opportunity to watch and judge you, Cousin! Which is why I am here to inform you that the elders have agreed to perform the ceremony officially welcoming you into the Blood Claw Faction as my blood brother!"

I blinked at the Kin in confusion as this came flying out of nowhere. It didn't help that Franklin suddenly jumped up with his head held high like he was making some grand proclamation. Except I had no idea what he was talking about, as the last I had known, we were already blood brothers… Whatever that meant. It was a confusion that I wasn't alone in as the other Olimpians looked to each other for an answer no one on this side of the square had.

Except it apparently was a big deal, as gasps of shock filled the square from the Kin representatives. As I turned, I looked for and found Kanieta, whose eyes were wide in surprise, apparently not knowing the announcement was coming.

Raising my eyes in question and tilting my head toward Franklin, I silently asked what was going on. Eyes flashing black, Kaneita mouthed a few words before giving me a conciliatory look. A shadow flashed from the Kin to me, and I saw a small lizard climbing up to my chest and her voice coming out of the shadow creature, saying, "It's a badger celebration that you can't refuse to go to."

Before I could process my exasperation with the badgers forcing me into another situation, the foxkin leading the procession stepped forward and clapped his hands loudly, a broad smile on his face. "Wonderful! Just wonderful news! We must have a celebration here to commemorate the historic occasion as another link between our two peoples is formed! But I believe it is time we talk about what we came here for, a place where our merchants and citizens can come to and interact while we sell our wares."

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