The King's Gamma (#Wattys2024)

Sixty Six

After much deliberation, at the mere age of seven, I was hired by the school instead as my father's assistant. There was nothing they could teach me as my understanding and control over magic and combat was at a higher level than any of the instructors there. I was given a teacher's quarter of my own with rooms for my partners, much like any other instructor, and because my mother insisted, Ora and Azrael, though part time students, were living in the teacher's quarter with me. Under the strict supervision of my personal guard, an already partnered man, they were not allowed in my personal room at any time.

It has been ten years since then. I was now seventeen, a full fledged faculty member, and my intended partners, under my mother and father's careful guidance, became two very adept young adults working as adventurers to earn money 'for our future'. In truth, my mother was squeezing them dry, hoping that I'd reject them when I was of age and keep the money to myself. I might have also overheard her mentioning to my father that it was to have a better hold over them and keep them in line when my identity as Milicent was finally revealed to them.

I sat in the courtyard, stroking Juno again as I read through the days news. Within a month, I would be eighteen, finally at the age where I would be allowed, without parent approval, to become a hunter myself. It was also recently that I started realising my own true feelings for the two men living with me.

As I was not quite ready yet to divulge my true identity to them, I didn't allow any romantic feelings to blossom. But I had grown rather fond of them the past few months. I placed the newspaper down and closed my eyes, resting against Juno.

There was no question about their loyalty. The men had both remained steadfast in their intent of having me as their partner. Though through the years, I could see that both had gone from being ambitious pursuits to actually seeming to care about me. My parents could no longer hold their spell on me to keep my bodily appearance male, so instead, they taught me how to keep the spell going. It helped that my face had remained androgynous.

It was not long after that I felt the shadow of someone standing over me cast a cold shiver over me. Juno gave a small hiss in warning, but not threatening enough for me to think it was an actual threat.

I opened my eyes to find Ora bending down to watch me with a large smile on his face, as he always had. I swear the man never had an unhappy day. Azrael stood behind him, stoically watching me as well.

"Hey there, little cutie." He said with a bright smile, holding out an intricately simple hairpin. "Thought this may look good with your hair."

I sat up and looked at it for a moment. I never really cut my hair since I actually liked it long, and the two men seemed to like touching it as well.

"Put it in." I said simply, letting him put it in beside the pin he had gotten me a few months ago.

Azrael stepped forward and quickly held out a present of his own. I looked inside and found yet another single earring piece. He often changed his earring in his left ear, and after I expressed interest in them when I was younger, he started bringing me the other piece. I looked at it for a moment and placed it in a new hole in my ear. This was the eighth earring he had given me, and currently, all of them were set in different parts of my own left ear.

I sat back again and stretched lazily. 

"How was your hunt?" I asked curiously, watching as they sat down by the courtyard table and started eating the food that the servants had brought out for them.

"It was good. We brought down an earth dragon." Ora smiled brightly. "Are you proud, my little love?"

I nodded, taking the bowl of soup one of the servants held out for me. Only then did Azrael start eating. He always insisted that I had to eat with them.