“Maybe, but it is better to plan for the worst. The last thing I want is a group of rebels messing things up.”

  Mercy says “Oh, ha ha! I didn’t do too bad as a rebel leader, did I? I know we would have been wiped out if not for you, but was I a bad leader?”

  “No, you were a good leader. You did the best you could with what you had and I don’t think you would have been wiped out. You would have taken serious losses, but I think you would have survived to continue fighting.”

  Mercy says “Luckily, we didn’t have to find out. You saved us and everyone knows it. Not only that, you dealt with my father. Don’t underestimate how much my people love you.”

  “I will try not to, but I also can’t depend on it. If it makes things easier, great. If it doesn’t, then we will be ready. Honestly, I don’t expect too much trouble, but it is best to have plans ready, just in case.”

  Bella says “Hope for the best, but plan for the worst?”

  “Yes, exactly. It is a good motto to live by. Even more so in this world.”

  Our conversation is interrupted by the kids waking up and swarming over to get my attention. Them leaving wakes up Sero, who follows them to the table and helps me pet all of them. I finally get them to settle down by feeding them breakfast and the rest of my wives join us as they are eating.

  I tell the girls the plan for the day while we are eating breakfast. Once everyone is done eating, I gather the kids and head to the training room. The kids have a blast testing themselves against me and the enchantments work perfectly. I don’t go easy on the kids, I want them to get real combat experience from this.

  Even when it is eight against one, I don’t have any trouble winning, but it is a good workout. We spar for a few hours, then I take them to the island and we have lunch beside the lagoon. As soon as they are done eating, I let them loose to explore the island.

  When they get bored of exploring, we play hide and seek for a while and then go swimming. Throughout the day, I use the network to get caught up on everything and issue orders. I am leaving the war to Leonarr for the most part, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

  I am trying to make sure everything is taken care of since I don’t know how long my visit with the dragon will take. I have dinner with the kids on the beach and then we return to the castle. I play tag in the playroom with the kids for an hour and then watch anime with them until they fall asleep.

  Then I join the girls for a second dinner and chat with them about their plans for while I am gone. I let Brightfire know that Albion agreed to help with the island and the capital. In fact, he is really excited to have something that only he can do, which makes me feel guilty.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  For him to be that excited means that he has been feeling useless or unwanted. That hurts me deeply and makes me worry that the other kids might feel the same. So as I am eating with the girls, I wrack my brain trying to think of things for the rest of the kids to do.

  Kechara and Asuna should be fine, they already have things that they like to do. Mulan is going with Mercy so she should be fine, but the others are going to need something to do. As beasts, they mature faster, but it is hard for me to stop thinking of them as kids.

  I am not going to be able to find something that matches each of them in just one night. Albion is different, he is basically a born druid, so anything with plants is perfect for him. Learning and playing with crafts helped them, but they need more than that.

  Lin says “What’s got you looking so grumpy?”

  “Trying to figure out something for each of the kids.”

  Myria says “What do you mean?”

  “Seeing how happy Albion was to have a task that suits him made me think that the others need something similar.”

  Brightfire says “So, you are trying to figure out something for each of them to do? Don’t you think that you should let them choose what they want to do?”

  “Yeah, I don’t plan to force them into anything. I just want to give them the chance to experience things so they can find what they like.”

  Lin says “That’s easy.”

  “It is? How?”

  Lin says “We let them take turns following each of us around. They will get to see and experience various things with us, but they won’t be in any danger.”

  Brightfire says “That’s a good idea, but all of them following just one of us would cause chaos. We should split them into groups and just rotate who they go with.”

  Myria says “That sounds like a better plan. Mulan is going with Mercy and Albion is going with Brightfire, right? So Lin and I can take three each for the next few days.”

  “It sounds like it might work. Lin will be focusing on magic, so take Kechara, Ekard, and Mushu with you. Myria, you will be training, so you take Asuna, Nala, and Haku with you. That way they will at least start with something that is close to what they are interested in.”

  Lin says “Alright, but what do we do after this?”

  “Well, we don’t have to limit it to just us. We can have them take turns following others around. Like Stillwater, Sarah, and Leonarr.”

  Myria says “As much as I hate to say it, you should allow Asuna to spend some more time with Muyaun. They are the same race and Asuna can still learn a lot more from her.”

  “Yeah, I can allow that. Muyaun hasn’t done anything to make me doubt her and Asuna is smart enough not to believe everything she is told.”

  Lin says “The kids also have the planer gates and their training areas. We won’t need to keep them with us all the time. It will be good to change things up a bit and let them get some new experiences.”

  Brightfire says “So, we take the kids a day or two each week and let them have the rest of the time free?”

  Lin says “Yeah, that should work. We don’t want to have to force them, we want them to want to be with us.”

  “Thank you, that takes a weight off of my mind.”

  Lin says “Next time, don’t make me ask. We are your wives, if something is bothering you just tell us. We will work together to figure it out.”

  “Yes, ma’am!”

  Kreno says “This will be our last night with all of us together for a while, right?”

  “Yeah, most likely. Why?”

  Kreno says “In that case, I would like to use my special request if that’s alright?”

  “Yeah, it is. What do you want?”

  Kreno says “I want Bella to join all of us, which means you need to change.”