"Come in."
Ralph didn't need to be told twice. The second he heard Orion's voice, he pushed down on the door handle and waltzed straight into the study. Orion sat behind the desk, Elowyn in his lap, her arms around his neck.
He immediately made a face, watching as the woman shamelessly giggled, hiding a laugh behind her hand, all while Orion gazed at her with honey in his eyes. The scene was so cloyingly sweet that Ralph had to clear his throat to garner the two's attention.
"Why are you here?" Orion asked snappishly when he finally registered Ralph's presence, as though he wasn't the one who gave Ralph permission to enter. "If it's nothing life-threatening, can't it wait until tomorrow?"
Ralph narrowed his eyes― Orion had never treated him with such rudeness in all the years that he had known him, and never had he ever declined a potential meeting report. His impeccable sense of duty was what made him such a good general who was respected by his men.
