Archeus used his magic to fish a large piece of the warehouse roof out of the harbor under the watchful eye of Perrin. The duke had been relieved when he walked into the damaged building and found the High Mage still waiting for him. It made damage control that much simpler for him, and when he could see Archeus he knew the mage wasn't in any sort of trouble.
Perrin often wondered if raising children was anything like being friends with Archeus Volen. But he thought that may be unfair towards his future partner's progeny. Not that children were an immediate concern for him, he hadn't had a lover in a couple years and none of his relations so far had resulted in a child.
"Do you think Miss Kiava is awake?" Archeus asked wistfully as he set the rubble on top of his earlier dredged up pile.
The duke blinked as his friend brought his mind away from children and lovers and to heroic artificers. But it was silas who answered the question as he approached from behind Perrin, "All she's going to be doing for the next couple days is eat, sleep, and sh-," golden eyes darted to the duke and the knight rethought his next words; Perrin wasn't a prude perse, but he wasn't a fan of crude language, "shuffle to the bathroom." lol, nice save
Archeus sighed again, "can we leave now? I feel like this is why we have subordinates, to do the boring bits, why are we here?"
"We can leave once we've confirmed you've gotten the dangerous pieces of rubble out of the harbor," Perrin rebutted calmly, "then we can all get some sleep." His words reminded all three men that they had not slept in over twenty hours.
"There are other mages who can do this," Archeus pointed out, his voice laced with frustration.
"Then the reporters that are already here and monitoring the situation will say that High Mage Archeus left the damage he caused for others to clean up, and they will make it out like you did nothing at all rather than just missed a few pieces. Handling it thoroughly now is less of a headache than dealing with the fallout from bad public opinion," Perrin snapped, irritated that his friend could not understand his motivations.
"Peace, Perrin, we're all tired. Archeus, he's right, you making sure to clean up all the mess will prevent a lot of bad press, you're honestly the least popular of us," Silas mediated with a tired smile.
"Why should I want to be popular with the media? Those who don't like me are just jealous or stupid anyway," Archeus said loftily.
But he stopped complaining and instead turned his attention back to the boats of naval soldiers that were searching for more debris in the water using long poles and their eyes. Using magic to find it would save time, but was also impossible for Archeus, his search magic didn't work in water.
"Do you think Miss Kiava would have some sort of imbuement that could find the rubble?" the mage asked hopefully after a minute of exhausted quiet between them.
Perrin tilted his head and looked at the mage, it wasn't a bad idea, but as Silas had pointed out she was unlikely to be conscious for long intervals. Then again, he did know someone who would likely be very pleased to spend time with the invalid. He checked his inner pockets and took out his designated com-crystal for Kleid.
"I need you to watch over Miss Kiava in the infirmary, if she wakes up before we finish here, see if she has something that could help us expedite this." He commanded, not waiting for a response from his already busy aid.
…
Kleid stared down at the com-crystal and sighed deeply, reminding himself that he at least had been able to nap for an hour but his boss had not such contractual assurance, like him. Kleid's adopted father had been a kind but stern man. He had taught his son the honor of serving his lord loyally and brought him to a noble family that was generally a pleasure to serve.
His father had also made sure he knew to thoroughly lay out the terms of his loyalty; something the Matron at the orphanage had also taught the children: never trust a handshake, always get it in writing, and make sure you aren't being taken advantage of, and don't sign it without confirming everything.
Kleid suspected the Matron had been a lawyer of some kind before she left for the border, but he'd never done a background check to confirm. It was an unspoken rule for the orphans to not look into the adults that raised them. Few of them had happy stories anyway, so it was an easy impulse to fight.
He was at the Knight's office after arranging the aid of the naval services in searching the harbor for debris after ensuring no vessels got caught up in the blast. Jered, who Simon had been helping as their junior aid, looked at him with large amethyst eyes filled with dismay. Kleid could see one of his hands straining towards him despite the stack of crates he was carrying to be taken to the warehouse, full of ink and other writing supplies.
"I'm sorry, Jered, you'll be fine. You're doing great. Just finish up helping to loud up the wagon then ride with it to the warehouse, Simon will be able to help you from there.
When Kleid had arrived to help Jered at Security HQ the younger man had been getting ignored by everyone, he was a good guy, but a bit meek and hesitant to use his authority as an aid to the Duke Levast. Kleid picked up the burden he had set aside to take his boss' call and delivered it the final hundred feet to the waiting wagon. Jered rushed after him and followed a few feet as Kleid set out to leave immediately.
"Is there anything else?" he asked in a panicked voice.
"Don't forget the clerks!" Kleid called over his shoulder cheerfully.
Perhaps he should get Kiava some flowers, she liked silverbells when they were children. He could get those in any florists as a common bloom in the area, though they had a more metallic hue in this capital than the border. He hummed as he walked into the early dawn mists on his way to the Temple to see his only sister, adopted or not.