I couldnt believe it I was back in the fields of maltier, the battle was over. We had lost. I just barely managed to hold the line long enough for Grom to escape with a few others via teleportation. Then my eyes shot open. I had a pounding headache and my visions blurred. I sat up and coughed into my hand. I blinked a few times to regain my focus and stared at the blood in my palm. I wiped my hand on the blood stained rag I kept next to my bed. I tried to banish the dream from thought.

Just then right on que, the door to my room burst open. There Grom stood with his big goofy grin and a plate full of eggs, sausage and toast. He was dressed in formal clothing, gray slacks polished shoes and his favorite dark blue overcoat adorned with war medals. He even shaved his face and did his hair, which was highly unusual for him. He looked good, the colors mixed well with his brown skin complexion. It had been awhile since I seen him dress in anything other than shorts, moccasins and sleeveless shirts.

"Wakey wakey," he said trotting over and setting the plate on my lap.

"Come on Grom, you know I don't eat breakfast. And whats up with the suit?"

"Two bites," he said holding up his fingers.

"Really, I'm not-"

"Two bites" he said cutting me off."

I sighed, took two of the sausages and quickly ate them.

"Happy?" I said unenthusiastically.

He smiled once again with that big grin of his.

"Come on, you know what time it is." He said dragging one of the chairs from the desk and spinning it around. I let out a long grunt and leaned back on my bed.

"You know I can still take you right," I said.

"Hurry up fool, we got some important stuff to do today." He said pointing at the chair.

I let out a an exasperated sigh and sluggishly complied. As soon as I plopped down in the chair he immedietly drapped me with a barber cape and whipped out some scissors and a straight razor. In a matter of moments, he had my hair cut into a fancy comb over that suited my rugged face. Once finished, he pulled my head back and went to work on my face with the straight razor. He paused for a second to wipe a little bit of blood that I missed from the corner of my mouth.

"Is it getting worse?" He asked concerningly.

Looking up, I could see the worry creeping into his always happy expression.

"About the same" I said, but I could tell he knew I was lying.

afterwards he had me get dressed in my formal wear. Tight fitting black slacks, black silk long-sleeve and polished black shoes. To top it off, he tossed my heavy black cape over my shoulders. These types of capes were worn by leaders of territories and royalty. My cape was embroidered in gold with our territories emblem, a mountain with the sun behind it. Then it dawned on me.

I forgot we had a council meeting with the kingdom representative today. Grom just smirked at me as I came to my realization. I hated going to these things, and he knew it. He gave me one more once over to make sure I was up to his standards, then we set out.

As usual, Grom was picking up my slack. The other three council members and their entourages had already been gathered in the meeting hall. As soon as me and grom walked in, all talking stopped and their eyes diverted to us. The other three council members pushed their way through to us, and we all exchanged hugs.

"About time, lazy ***." Said Dova stepping back to take a look at me.

"you look paler than normal, and skinnier." He said eyeing me and down.

Tribius and Sariel the other two council members both nodded in agreement. I opened my cape and slapped my stomach.

"I'm still over two hundred pounds, I'm just tall so it makes me look skinny."

They weren't buying it though. They began scolding Grom about not taking care of me, which sent him on a rant about how stubborn I am. We got a couple solid laughs in before the two guards stationed outside the conference room at the far end of the hall summoned us over.