"Welcome back," Keith said, dryly. "Now get back to work."

Chloe Watercress and Rufus Triever had been Keith's best friends since he could understand what friendship meant.

While Rufus was the second son of the Gren's Keep Clan Leader and was all but given to Keith as a suitably aged playmate, Chloe was a literal stray brought home from one of Feliwyn's flits about the Dark Enchanted Forest.

A flight of fancy as it were.

"Truly?" Chloe sauntered over and leaned against the desk. "You're going to war with Drendil after capturing their most-desirable-in-all-the-land to be your queen…. And then you can’t even be bothered to introduce your most trusted advisor?"

Said princess coughed and reached for her waterskin. Keith smirked. "We both know Rufus is my most trusted advisor. You are just the most powerful."

"Damn straight, I am." Chloe agreed. Then she winked at Ria. "Powerful, that is, not straight. Is Keith treating you all right, darling, or should I show you the dark delights a real black magician is capable of?"

"Oh, my..." Ria had actually pulled out a traveling pack of nuts from her belt pouch and was happily snacking on them while looking back and forth between Chloe and Keith.

Keith rolled his eyes, "Leave my 'captured' princess alone Chloe, she's too busy to play with you."

"With what?" The woman tossed her golden hair over her shoulder and shifted her attention back to Keith.

"Me."

Henrietta put up her hand to get their attention. "Hello, Chloe? The Necromancer I assume? Keith is correct and we are… Um, courting? Is that the right word?"

Keith nodded, "I think that works nicely."

"So I'm sorry that I can't return your interest." Henrietta finished. "But it's still nice to meet you."

Chloe stared at Henrietta very hard for a second, and then she burst into laughter. "It's nice to meet you too, Princess Henri."

"Henrietta, please." The princess requested.

"It's nice to meet you, Henrietta."

Keith felt the small worry he had secretly ignored up until this point fade away. It would have been a disaster if Chloe didn't like Henrietta… though he was sure Ria would have won the woman over eventually by sheer volume of delicious snacks. It was better to have everyone on the same page before the invasion.

Speaking of the invasion.

"Chloe," Keith tapped his index finger on the table in front of him for attention, "just to bring you up to date, the invasion is set for two weeks from now. It'll take about four days to get from the forest entrance to our castle, and I've sent out instructions to the Generals for troop placement and supplies."

He stood up and walked behind where Henrietta was seated, placing one hand on her shoulder. "The princess and I were just discussing Drendil war tactics and I'm sure there is a lot to discuss. But first, how many undead soldiers do you have ready for battle?"

Chloe pushed off from the desk and reached up to scratch her neck sheepishly. "Actually? Almost none."

"What?" Keith wasn't even angry, just surprised.

"It's your stupid employment contract." Chloe huffed.

Henrietta cut in, "The one that says you'll Revive, Resurrect, or Reanimate?"

"That's exactly the one," Chloe nodded, "It also says that after death, we promise those zombies we [Raise] job security and a standard of living for a natural life span - and then eternal rest. I just got some ghouls I've hired to do things.

"I am the most powerful person in the Dark Enchanted Forest next to our [Arcane Sage] golem-happy King here," she pointed rudely at Keith, "But I've spent most of my resources over the last decade managing the population and resurrecting our minions. Which means…"

"Yes?" Keith asked.

"I have a binding magical influence over at least half your minions through my [Life Boon] Perk and I could overthrow you easily if I had a mind." Chloe declared. "But I don't have a legion of mindless undead. Who wants a legion of undead anyway? They smell funny."

"So what I'm hearing," Keith said, "Is that you'll be useful on the front lines resurrecting people."

"Technically, I'd say the mouse trap is our first line of defense," Henrietta added, helpfully. "So the second line would be a better fit - since that's where the mortal army begins."

"Quite right." Keith offered Henrietta a hand, "now should we head in to dinner?"

Henrietta accepted his escort and Keith tucked her arm in his comfortably.

Chloe scoffed, "You're no fun. I'm not joking you know, I could totally overthrow you! The ruler of the Dark Enchanted Forest is determined by strength, and that doesn't just mean level."

At this, Keith pushed up his glasses and looked Chloe over. Unlike Rufus, Keith actually needed glasses to see, and what he saw reassured him. He slowly smiled at his friend.

"Alright. If you want to be the king then you'll be a great fit." Keith waved his free hand at his desk. "That means you'll be taking over the paperwork - something we both know won't faze you." Chloe had been the child prodigy of their group and even impressed Her Eminence Feliwyn. "Of course, that also means no long vacations away from Nilheim, no month visits with friends, no more private budget," Keith continued, "And you'll have to deal with the clan complaints, recruiting and inter-kingdom politics–"

"Alright alright, you've made your point." Chloe laughed it off as a joke, but she was actually flinching at his list by the time she cut him off. "Army babysitter it is."

"If it helps," Henrietta tried to console the beautiful woman, "You'll be leading your own group."

That made Chloe shake her head sadly, "None of my ghouls would–"

"Not undead, sorry." Henrietta apologized for cutting her off. "You'll have three Healers."

"Titled [Healers]? You don't mean Old Dame Juli– no wait, three?" This got the Necromancer’s attention. "Since when did we have any Healers in the Dark Lord's Army?"

"Things change. You were gone for a month." Keith reminded her, walking Henrietta towards the office door. "We'll talk about this more tomorrow. Goodnight."

He heard Chloe grumble, "Don't you mean you changed."

She wasn't wrong.