Felix was riding towards Heliantis as fast as possible. For the last several weeks he had been traveling between the different outposts and checkpoints to investigate, and sabotage as much as possible. He actually had a bit of fun with this mission, as he was required to be quite creative.
There was even one time that he managed to convince the entire force of a certain outpost it was haunted, when he dressed as ghost and used his blessing to walk through walls. His fun came to an end however, when he intercepted a letter stating they had caught a criminal in the palace, and were on the lookout for his accomplice and wife, a woman with bright red hair and golden eyes. He then spent the last two days rushing to get to Heliantis as fast as he could, to help Leo, and possibly find Iris before they did.
As he crested the last hill before Heliantis, Felix was unprepared for the sight that treated him. He expected to find a fortified city that was full of tens, or hundreds of thousands of people, soldiers, and nobles. Instead there were several plumes of smoke, as if large parts of the city was recently set to fire, and there was a distinct lack of people. As he continued to watch the city, he saw there were people, but they didn't match the numbers such a city should have, not even close. He wore the look and armor of one of the guards, if there was an emergency in the city then it would make him more than welcome, is what he thought.
"SEIZE HIM!"
Before he knew it Felix was surrounded by at least a dozen men, none wearing any kind of insignia or uniform. Not knowing what was going on, Felix simply put his hands up. He decided that he needed to know what was happening, and that as long as they didn't try to execute him or something, to just go along with them until he found Leo or Iris. He didn't dare use their name, as if they weren't the ones behind this, it would create even more problems.
***
Leo was in a tent that had been set up for him the day after he started preparing to leave, and he was listening to all of the reports of those present. Each of the different groups had chosen a representative to talk and act on their behalf, a older man for the humans, A tiger beastman for the beastmen, a noble looking elf, and a gruff looking dwarf. Theos was obviously present, as he was in charge of most of the search groups, and travel preparations. Iris stood to the side, equally attentive.
After reuniting with Leo, he had refused to let her out of his sight. While most would consider this annoying, she didn't mind it because the last week was extremely stressful to both of them, and she knew he was mostly acting this way due to her condition. However she did feel sorry for Alice, who was standing right next to her, because he had been focused only on her. This confused Iris, as Leo was aware of how Alice felt about him, so she expected he would make her his second wife, or concubine. She already made her peace with it after they were married, and knew he wasn't the type to look at other women, so she didn't mind if there would be a couple others as she was first. She was brought back to the current situation, as the reports continued.
"Your grace, there are several of the beastmen, and elves that intend to return to their respective homes, and the dwarves seem to be undecided due to the information you mentioned about them moving from Tirdaral. There are however several that would like to join you majesty to the north." Leo nodded, he expected that they'd want to return, and was pleasantly surprised at how many wished to go north with him. He then said to them,
"Get me the numbers and specifics of where they intend to go. If they're returning to their homelands, then I can use this to reach out to the other two races by sending messages with them." They all nodded, as if Leo wanted to get in touch with the elves and beastmen then this was the best immediate way at the moment short of going himself. At that moment a guard arrived,
"Your grace, we just apprehended what we suspect is another scout, but as soon as he heard your name he started asking to see you." Leo was curious who would request to see him, and told them to send him in. Soon a guard he never saw before wearing the Helian kingdom armor walked in, but the moment he did Leo smelled a familiar scent.
"Do you ever just make a normal appearance Felix?" He asked through narrow eyes. Except for Iris everyone was confused, before the guard shed his armor, and his form started shimmering before there stood a fox beastman. He smirked at Leo, and said ,
"What about you, I raced here to free you from imprisonment, and here I find the city destroyed and under new management?" Leo chuckled lightly with a rueful smile at the last week, and dismissed everyone so he could talk to Felix. Soon it was just him, Felix, Iris and Alice left in the tent. He then started with introductions,
"Felix, this is Alice, the former? princess of the Heliantis kingdom. Alice, this is Felix, champion of Loki, and one of my companions." Leo hesitated at Alice's title, as he destroyed Heliantis, so he wasn't sure if it was appropriate to refer to her as princess anymore. She nodded in acknowledgement at his words, and Felix looked dumbfounded, as he never expected that Leo would take the princess of the kingdom prisoner, or maybe he intended to make her his woman?
Leo noticed Felix's misunderstanding, but he wasn't sure how to correct it. He truthfully wasn't sure what to do with Alice, he mostly helped her because he felt sorry and wanted a better life for her, but there was also the love she seemed to feel for him. From the time he had spent with her since the city fell, he had seen she was not only very beautiful, but more intelligent than she initially let on. If he met her first, he didn't doubt he might've fallen for and married her instead.
He knew that people accepted polygamy in this world, but all the examples he's seen of it so far were merely men in power acting on their own lust, and drunk on their influence. He didn't want to feel the same as them, and he especially didn't want to feel the same as Arthur, who simply collected women as if they were trading cards. He also felt as if accepting her as well was the same as betraying Iris, especially since she was pregnant. He didn't delude himself into thinking he could peacefully have both of them, but he didn't want to hurt her more than he already did. He destroyed her home, her family, and completely uprooted her way of life, and she happily thanked him for it.
He sighed as he thought about it, but turned to Felix and started explaining the last couple months since he and Iris arrived at the city. As he did so he also started writing up a letter to send to Natalie, Jack, and the dwarves, to rendezvous with them as they leave the city. He planned to leave after the next full moon, in less than a week.