Chapter 578: Home after the coronation.

The days after Amaru’s coronation passed without catastrophe, which Dean began to regard as suspiciously generous.

Draxil had apparently decided that crowning a new king and queen was insufficient celebration on its own, so the remaining schedule expanded into diplomatic receptions, ceremonial lunches, military presentations, charity appearances, formal photographs, and dinners that began late enough to make everyone involved question whether royal protocol had ever encountered the concept of sleep.

Dean and Arion attended what duty required.

Theo attended considerably less.

That decision proved wise by the first afternoon.

While Dean stood beside Arion beneath the glass roof of the royal conservatory listening to a trade minister explain Draxil’s revised northern transport strategy, their son was somewhere in the private wing with Matthias, two nannies, a box of building blocks, and the wooden dragon he now carried almost everywhere.

Dean occasionally received photographs.

Theo eating fruit with the dragon sitting beside his plate.

Theo asleep on a sofa with its tail trapped beneath his arm.

Theo showing it a picture book.

One particularly insulting photograph showed Matthias holding the dragon while tying Theo’s shoes.

Dean showed it to Arion during a break between meetings.

"We’ve lost control."

Arion studied the image.

"I think that happened several years ago."

The dragon returned to their suite every evening with their child... fortunately, nobody stole him for a sleepover.

The child handled the trip remarkably well once the relentless official schedule was kept away from him. He joined them for family meals, appeared briefly at a children’s charity reception, survived one formal photograph with the newly crowned Draxilian royal family, and spent an afternoon in Amaru’s gardens where somebody made the mistake of showing him the koi pond.

After that, Theo wanted fish.

Dean refused.

Arion supported him.

Amaru offered to send fish anyway.

Dean threatened him.

The evenings were better.

Once cameras disappeared and protocol loosened, the royal dining rooms became loud enough that servants stopped pretending any of them were conducting formal state business.

Heather and Eryx remained until the final evening with Sylvia and Thomas. Nero and Sebastian stayed as well, which meant Sebastian spent at least one dinner defending himself from increasingly elaborate suggestions for the tiger’s name while Nero contributed exclusively terrible options to prolong the argument.

Sylvia’s pregnancy continued normally.

Thomas continued treating every chair, staircase, carpet edge, and serving trolley as a potential enemy.

Amelie eventually assigned him the seat closest to Sylvia at every meal so he would stop rearranging the table himself.

Dean considered that marvelous governance.

Amaru settled visibly as the days passed.

The tension Dean had noticed before the coronation gradually disappeared now that the crown was physically on someone else’s schedule instead of waiting ahead of him. He still carried the weight of a country with enormous rebuilding left to do, but he carried it beside Amelie, with Eryx wandering into his office without knocking and enough people around him to ensure the palace never returned to the silence it had once known.

Dean understood why Amelie had chosen that.

On their final evening, they ate privately in a smaller dining room overlooking the western gardens.

There were no ceremonial mantles, no crowns, and almost no jewels.

Amaru wore a plain dark shirt.

Eryx complained that this proved his brother lacked commitment to aesthetics.

Heather told him his opinion had been invalidated by the restrained charcoal suit he wore on arrival.

The argument lasted through dessert.

Theo fell asleep against Arion before anyone finished coffee.

The wooden dragon remained clutched in one hand.

Dean watched his son’s head settle beneath Arion’s chin and knew they were ready to go home.

Five days was enough.

They left Draxil the following morning.

Amelie officially gave Theo the dragon before departure, although Dean suspected everyone understood possession had already been established several days earlier.

Theo thanked her properly.

Then he asked whether the dragon could come back to visit.

Amelie assured him it could.

Dean chose not to explain that wooden objects generally required assistance with international travel.

The flight to Alamina was quiet.

Theo spent the first hour watching the clouds, the second coloring beside Matthias, and most of the remaining journey asleep beneath a blanket with the dragon tucked under his arm.

Arion worked through several reports.

Dean read half of one before deciding the kingdom had survived five days without him and could survive another hour.

He rested against Arion instead.

Roslew appeared beneath them in the late afternoon.

The familiar palace roofs, broad gardens, and surrounding city were washed in cold autumn sunlight, home in a way Dean had stopped noticing until he had been gone long enough to miss it.

Theo noticed immediately.

"Boreas."

"He’s probably waiting," Arion said.

"And Ducky."

"Probably also waiting."

Theo looked down at the dragon.

"He can meet them."

Dean closed his eyes.

Arion wisely said nothing.

The imperial cars collected them directly from the private airfield.

By the time they reached the palace, Theo had become increasingly animated, pointing out familiar streets through the window while Matthias answered questions Dean was reasonably sure their son already knew the answers to.

The main doors opened before the first vehicle fully stopped.

Otto was waiting on the front steps.

Dean glanced toward Arion.

"He missed Theo."

"He saw him six days ago."

"That has never stopped him."

Theo barely waited for Hunter to open the door properly before climbing out.

"Grandpa!"

Otto abandoned every remaining trace of imperial dignity.

He came down the steps, caught Theo beneath the arms, and lifted him high enough to make the child laugh before settling him against his chest.

"You came back."

"I brought Dragon."

Otto looked toward the black wooden creature.

Dean immediately pointed at him.

"Do not buy another one."

Otto’s expression suggested the thought had already occurred.

Arion stepped from the car behind Dean.

"Father."

Otto kissed Theo’s hair, but his attention shifted toward Arion.

Something about his face changed.

Small enough that Dean might have missed it if he had not spent years watching this family communicate bad news with suspiciously neutral expressions.

Arion noticed too.

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened."

Otto adjusted Theo more securely against one arm.

"That sentence has never reassured anyone," Dean said.

Otto looked toward the palace doors, then back at his son.

"I wanted to tell you before the council begins discussing it."

Arion went still.

Theo continued examining the clasp on Otto’s collar, completely unconcerned.

Otto exhaled.

"I’m planning to retire."

Arion stared at him, golden eyes narrowing.

"What did you say?"