Second Genesis

Grey shrugged like the fate of the capital being tied to some bullshit arena beneath the Church was somebody else’s problem and walked over toward Mauve and Elowen. The Virtueless was slung over his back again, Brad still hanging from his shoulder, and somehow he looked more relaxed now than he had ever been before.

The world could have been collapsing and he would be just fine.

Elowen stared at him for several seconds before finally speaking. "What you just did was incredibly dangerous."

Grey laughed. "Your hair looks a little brighter when you’re angry."

Elowen’s eyes narrowed. "How am I supposed to get more mech blueprints if you get yourself killed?"

"Oh, don’t worry about that." Grey waved a hand. "We’re married now. What’s mine is yours."

Elowen froze. Then her eyes widened.

"When the hell did that happen?"

Grey grinned. "Recently."

Mauve slowly turned away.

Elowen opened her mouth to snap at him when her head suddenly turned to the side. A small group of disciples and nobles were looking toward them, whispering behind raised hands, and once she noticed one group, she noticed another, then another after that.

She had seen them doing it before, it simply hadn’t clicked why.

Her head snapped back toward Grey. "What did you do?"

Grey started laughing. "Nothing, relax. I made a joke."

"You—" Elowen put a palm against her forehead. "Grey, not everything can be a joke."

"That’s quitter talk."

"I’m serious."

"Unfortunately, so am I most of the time. That’s what happens when you tell the truth."

Elowen looked like she wanted to strangle him, but she forced herself to take a breath. "My mother is very lax when it comes to who my sisters and I choose. She doesn’t care about noble blood nearly as much as most of the old families do, so long as the man is decent and has enough talent to justify the match."

Grey nodded slowly.

"There is no Emperor," Elowen continued. "My mother has also never made it clear who any of our fathers are."

Grey’s lips began to curl.

Elowen’s glare sharpened instantly. It was an incredibly specific kind of glare, the sort that didn’t need any words at all.

’I fucking dare you.’ He could practically hear her saying it.

Grey remembered that he had already basically called the Empress a whore before. Granted, it hadn’t technically been directed at Elowen, but unfortunately the Holy City’s Empress also happened to be her mother, which meant there was probably some overlap in the insult department.

Grey held up both hands in mock surrender. "I didn’t say anything."

Elowen stared at him another moment before speaking. "My mother is lax about our choices, but she will not tolerate anyone impugning the honor of one of her daughters. Ever. A duke’s son was banished from the capital recently because of something like that."

Grey blinked. "What did I do?"

"You publicly claimed I was your wife."

"Technically, I said wife without giving a name."

"It’s obvious!"

"Mauve here is a princess too? Can’t you see how pretty she is?"

Mauve’s head whipped around. "Leave me out of this."

Grey pointed at her. "See? Reasonable doubt."

Elowen looked like her soul wanted to leave her body. "If I return to my mother and explicitly tell her that there is nothing between us, then you publicly humiliated an Imperial Princess and lied about taking her as your wife. You will be punished severely."

Grey’s smile faded a little.

"And if I say nothing," Elowen continued, "my mother will interpret my silence as acceptance. She won’t necessarily announce anything immediately, but politically, you and I will be tied together from that point onward."

Grey stared at her.

Elowen stared back.

Then her eyes narrowed. "Which also means you cannot go around flirting with every woman who has breasts."

Grey’s lip twitched.

’Ah.’

He might have dropped a rock on his own foot.

For about three seconds.

Then Grey thought about it properly and almost laughed.

He was planning on killing the Empress soon anyway, so who the fuck cared?

Plus, Terran had literally killed one of her daughters and the worst the bastard got was banishment. Grey was going to become a duke soon enough if everything involving his master’s inheritance played out properly, and if a duke’s son could get away with murder, surely Grey could get away with a little sexual harassment.

Probably. But that was good enough for him.

Grey’s grin returned.

Elowen’s expression changed immediately. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"No reason."

"Grey."

He had already turned away.

Apollo and his brothers were standing a distance off, watching the entire exchange with expressions that ranged from confusion to barely restrained disgust. Grey met their gazes, raised one hand high, and gave all three of them a resounding middle finger.

Apollo’s face darkened.

Grey felt better immediately.

"Alright," he said, turning back toward Mauve and Elowen. "Let’s go."

The two women blinked.

"Go where?" Mauve asked.

Grey looked toward the Instance entrance.

Elowen’s eyes widened. "Wait, she’s still explaining—"

Too late.

Grey shifted Brad more securely over one shoulder, wrapped his other arm around Mauve and Elowen both, then scooped them against his side before either could react properly.

"What the fuck?!" Mauve shouted.

"GREY!"

"Old people talk too much."

Grey bent his knees.

Behind him, The Immovable was still calmly explaining the rules of the Instance when Grey launched himself forward like a cannonball.

"WE’LL FIGURE IT OUT! KEEP GOING IF YOU WANT, OLD HAG"

He dove straight into the Instance carrying three people.

Petri watched him disappear. Then he slowly covered his face with both hands.

Grey was really going to be the end of him. He had wanted chaos, sure. But when people said be careful what you wish for, he didn’t actually think he’d end up with the incarnation of a tornado whipping through everything he even remotely cared about.

Petri shook his head and looked at his younger disciple brother.

"Just follow after Grey, Pandro. Don’t bump heads with him and you’ll be fine. Go on."

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