Chapter 372: Retirement Crisis

Chapter 372: Chapter 372: Retirement Crisis

Mezos had survived a fractured Gate, the fall of an ancient empire, several assassination attempts, and more than a year of serving Arik while Liam discovered increasingly creative ways to endanger himself.

Apparently, none of those experiences had prepared him for his father announcing his retirement.

"This is a disaster."

Liam looked up from the sofa.

Mezos had been pacing the private sitting room for nearly ten minutes, his long red hair tied loosely at the nape and the sleeves of his black shirt rolled to his elbows. His abandoned tablet lay on the coffee table beside a perfectly untouched cup of tea.

Arik occupied the armchair opposite Liam, looking entirely too comfortable for someone whose chief of security was apparently experiencing a personal catastrophe.

"Your father wants to live near you," Liam said.

"Exactly."

Liam blinked.

"I am failing to identify the problem."

"That is because you met him yesterday."

"He seemed nice."

Mezos stopped pacing.

Arik covered his mouth.

Liam frowned at his husband.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You are laughing."

"I am trying not to."

Mezos pointed toward Arik.

"He understands."

"Unfortunately," Arik agreed.

Liam looked between them.

General Theron Aradia had seemed perfectly reasonable during their conversation. Strict, certainly, and perhaps a little too fond of standing at attention inside private rooms, but Liam had known considerably less pleasant fathers.

The general had embraced his son, arranged his retirement, and expressed an entirely understandable desire to remain close to the only family he had left.

Liam could not understand why Mezos was behaving as though Theron had announced his intention to conquer Nuria.

"Your father loves you," Liam said.

Mezos released a long breath.

"I know he does."

"Then?"

"My mother died fighting alongside him and Damian during the coup that brought Damian to the throne. Father has been alone for decades, and I have never doubted that he loves me."

His expression softened briefly before he resumed walking toward the windows.

"That does not mean he knows how to be a father without also being a general."

Arik nodded solemnly.

Liam studied Mezos.

The room overlooked one of the palace’s smaller interior gardens, where late afternoon sunlight fell across pale stone paths and carefully maintained flower beds. Beyond the windows, Agaronian guards moved through their regular patrols beneath the crimson-and-gold imperial banners.

Mezos gestured toward them.

"Those men are allowed to relax more than I was at home."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds exaggerated."

"Father once corrected my posture during a family breakfast."

Arik leaned forward.

"He did."

"You were there?"

"I was seventeen."

Mezos looked at him.

"You were eating pastries you stole from the kitchen while Father explained why I should maintain proper posture even when seated."

Arik smiled.

"I remember the pastries."

"Of course you do."

Liam laughed.

Mezos turned toward him with a wounded expression.

"You think this is funny because you have never been ordered to stand at attention while your father discusses whether you have been sleeping enough."

"That is a very strange way to ask about your health."

"That is General Aradia."

Arik nodded.

"He once informed me that Mezos needed more rest and then assigned him additional morning exercises because his endurance had apparently deteriorated."

Liam stared at him.

"That seems counterproductive."

"Father considered it preventative."

Mezos dropped into the armchair opposite them with enough force to make the cushions shift.

"And now he wants to retire."

Liam tilted his head.

"Perhaps he will become less strict."

Mezos looked at him as though he had suggested Felix might have benefited from a few additional years of good behavior.

"Liam."

"What?"

"He has been following military regulations for sixty-six years."

"Retirement means he no longer has to."

"That is what concerns me. He will have nothing else to do."

Arik began laughing.

Mezos pointed at him.

"Stop."

"I am sorry."

"You are not."

"No."

Liam watched his husband lean back, visibly enjoying the situation.

Then Mezos lowered his voice.

"And there is something else."

Arik’s laughter faded slightly.

"What?"

"My father has never particularly approved of our friendship."

Liam glanced toward Arik.

"Why?"

Mezos gave him a look.

"Because Arik was Crown Prince of Agaron, and I was his assigned guard."

"That does not prevent friendship."

"In a normal family, perhaps."

Arik rested his chin against one hand.

"General Aradia considers personal familiarity with a sovereign a potential compromise of professional judgment."

"He spent my entire childhood ensuring I understood that distinction," Mezos continued. "At home, he was General Aradia. At the academy, he was General Aradia. When I entered the military, he became my superior officer and finally had a legitimate reason to order me around."

Liam considered this.

"But Arik is no longer Agaron’s Crown Prince."

"Exactly."

Mezos looked toward his friend.

"And now I address him casually, argue with him, and occasionally tell him he is being an idiot."

Arik smiled.

"Occasionally?"

"Frequently."

Liam nodded.

"That sounds accurate."

Mezos looked offended by the lack of support.

"My father is going to discover that I have spent more than a year behaving like this around the Emperor of Nuria."

"He already knows we are friends," Arik said.

"Knowing and witnessing are different things."

Liam smiled.

"Perhaps he will get used to it."

Mezos stared at him.

"You do not understand. He will start correcting me."

Arik’s mouth curved.

"Probably."

"He will remind me that you are a sovereign."

"Yes."

"He will expect me to maintain appropriate distance."

"Unfortunately."

"And when I tell him that you are my friend, he will find some regulation explaining why that is professionally unacceptable."

Liam glanced toward Arik.

His husband had gone suspiciously quiet.

Then Arik began laughing.

Not a discreet chuckle.

A full, delighted laugh that made him lean back in his chair and cover his face with one hand.

Mezos narrowed his eyes.

"What?"

Arik tried to answer.

Failed and laughed harder.

Liam stared at him.

"Arik?"

His husband finally lowered his hand, golden eyes bright with amusement.

"Oh, this is going to be wonderful."

Mezos looked alarmed.

"What is?"

"Your father is going to learn Nuria’s rules."

The silence that followed was magnificent.

Mezos slowly straightened.

"No."

Arik smiled.

"Yes."

"Arik."

"You are my chief of security. You swore loyalty to me personally, and Nuria has already recognized your position."

"I know."

"And I am sovereign."

"Unfortunately."

"Which means your father cannot order you to stop calling me your friend simply because he dislikes the lack of formality."

Mezos stared.

Liam started smiling too.

Arik continued with increasing satisfaction.

"And if he attempts to correct your conduct toward me, he will have to explain why he believes he has authority over the Emperor of Nuria’s personal relationships."

Mezos closed his eyes.

"He would never."

Arik raised an eyebrow.

"Wouldn’t he?"

The question was deeply unfair.

General Aradia would absolutely try.

Mezos knew it.

Arik knew it.

Even Liam, who had met the man only recently, was beginning to understand the problem.

Arik leaned forward, resting his forearms against his knees.

"I am looking forward to it."

Mezos stared at him in horror.

"You are going to encourage him."

"No. I am going to encourage you."

"That is worse."

"Consider it professional development."

Mezos stood.

"I am returning to active duty."

"You are on paid leave," Arik reminded him.

"Then I am resigning."

"You told me you would never abandon me."

"That was before you became personally invested in making my retirement-age father question his entire understanding of military hierarchy."

Liam laughed.

Mezos looked toward him.

"You are supposed to be reasonable."

"I am being reasonable."

"You are smiling."

"Because your father sounds very sweet."

Mezos looked toward the ceiling.

Arik laughed again.

For the first time since returning to Agaron, Mezos began seriously considering whether following his friend into an ancient empire had been the second-worst decision of his life.

The first, apparently, had been allowing his father to discover where that empire was.