Next morning, Tanlir dressed in a dark blue suit and left his quarters for the council chambers. His brother, Cymric came down the hall followed by Torr and Vito. They smiled at their brother then went on in ahead of him while he waited to be announced. His brothers were not allowed to miss any counsel sessions so he knew they should all be in their seats and waiting for his report.
He waited only another ten minutes before Seneschal Camden opened the door and gestured him in. Tanlir nodded politely then strode into the large chamber. His father had chosen to modernize the old council system where they all sat in tiers on the wall and looked down at a speaker in the middle of the floor. It had been an intimidating method and he'd disliked it. So one of his first acts as King was to have the room completely revamped.
Now there was a beautiful skylight in the ceiling letting in natural light that shone down on the massive wood table with heavy chairs, well padded for long periods of sitting. Each seat had a mike so no one would have to shout. Behind the King's seat was a pull down screen. Modern equipment provided excellent audiovisual graphics. The information branch kept the King up to date with all the business of running the kingdom and what was going on around the world.
It looked like nothing more than a very progressive business meeting room found in any modern city and that was what King Roender had wanted. Tanlir walked in and moved to the small lectern set just behind and to one side of the King's chair. He gestured for the clerk to hand out copies he'd made of the proposal. He waited patiently as this was done and while the council read it.
He remained quiet, standing at ease with his paws clasped behind his back. After twenty minutes the King spoke.
"Has everyone finished?" He asked. After receiving nods from around the table, turned to his son. "Alright Tanlir let's hear it!"
Tanlir nodded and gave his take on the proposal, the discussions that went on, his personal view on its merits and what the general consensus had been.
"So you see, your majesty, the proposal is quite sound and is definitely something we should agree to." Tanlir said in conclusion then waited for the questions.
Not everyone felt the same way and the next few hours were spent discussing and arguing about it. Tanlir was relieved when the vote was taken and a nearly unanimous agreement was reached to join the Coalition for the Protection of the Planet from Alien Attack.
His father had a final word for him as Tanlir went to take his seat for the rest of the session.
"Excellent work, Tanlir. Once we've ironed out all the particulars of our part of the agreement, you will return to Megakat City to present it to Commander Feral. That will be in about a months time. This will give the other countries time to complete their agreements so that when you return it will be with the new Coalition guidelines." His father said warmly.
"Thank you, your majesty, for having such confidence in me and I look forward to the return trip to this fascinating city." Tanlir said politely while inwardly he was both sad and elated. Sad because he had to wait a month but elated he would see his mate again.
He didn't realize just how wearing on his spirit the month long wait would be.
Megakat City...three weeks later...
Feral was grateful he had been extremely busy over the past few weeks. The longer he was parted from Tanlir the more moody he'd become.
Today, he had been plowing through the pile of recent reports from a blitz of omega attacks. It didn't help that he had been feeling a bit under the weather for the past few days either.
Just as he was about to pick up the first of the reports, his phone rang. He snaked his arm out and grabbed it.
"Feral" He said distractedly.
"Commander Feral...Ms. Briggs. Mayor Manx wishes to see you in his office immediately." Ms Briggs said also sounding distracted.
"Now?" He asked in disbelief as he look at his desk in dismay.
"Yes now! And I know what you're thinking, I've a desk full of work too so let's make this quick so we both can get some work done today." She said actually commiserating with him. Her work had increased with all the damage reports she had to address so she could really understand his tone of irritation.
He was mildly taken aback by the mutual understanding in her voice. It deflated some of his anger.
"I'll be right there." He sighed then hung up. He gave his desk one last look of resignation before going to retrieve his coat and locking his door. Moving briskly, he prevented anyone from stopping him as he rushed through the main lobby and out to his sedan.
Only ten minutes later, he arrived at city hall. Lucking out at finding his parking spot not being usurped by some self important council member like last time, he jumped out of his sedan and dashed up the stairs. He quickly caught an elevator and was striding down the hall to the Mayor's office in minutes.
He would have been really aggravated if he saw the Mayor putting with his golf club in his office but fortunately, the Mayor was actually at his desk going over a file. The rest of his desk was pristine.
Feral mentally shook his head, 'Yeah, all the work will be on Ms. Brigg's desk. Don't have to see it to know it probably looks like mine.' He thought in disgust as he stepped into the office and walked up to the portly Kat's desk.
"What was so important you had to interrupt my desk full of work?" He growled, not feeling particularly civil.
Mayor Manx frowned at him but didn't react to the sour tone of his Chief Enforcer.
"I've just received confirmation from King Roender of Asszeria that he is going to place an embassy here in our fair citae. Callie has already picked some likely places that could meet their exacting criteria for a residence. What I want you to do is to go to each of these and using your expertise, determine which of them meets the stringent security needs they require. Give me at least three choices. I need this done immediately. The King intends on sending his son here to deliver their agreement on your Coalition and to check the possible residence in about a week." He said pompously.
Feral groaned inwardly on the amount of time this was going to take but then realized the Mayor had said one of the sons was coming.
"Which son is coming?" He asked, keeping his voice bland.
"Uhm...which one? How many are there?" The Mayor asked in surprise.
"Six!"
"Really? Oh, well...let me see here..." Manx sifted through the papers and finally stopped at one. "Says here Prince Tanlir."
Feral's heart soared, 'Oh yes!' He wanted to jump for joy but kept himself calm and professional as he answered, "He was the one who was here for the conference. No problem. I'll get this done as soon as I can. That is if the omegas will leave us alone for a bit." He said flatly.
"Yes, I truly hope so too. Wouldn't do to have those pesky criminals around when the Prince visits." The Mayor said in concern.
Feral just nodded, took the folder the Mayor gave him and quickly left city hall.
Only when he was safely in his car and driving back to Enforcer Headquarters did he allow himself to smile broadly. 'Tanlir was coming!' He thought joyfully to himself. Gods! It was ridiculous just how much he looked forward to seeing his mate again. 'Maybe he will be assigned to the embassy!' He thought excitedly. 'I know that's wishful thinking but, Gods! I hope so!'
After spending a few hours getting the worst of his paper backlog done, he went off to check the buildings Ms. Briggs had picked out.
The first he wrote off immediately. The location was terrible and in a dangerous neighborhood. The next was too remote. It was located outside the city limits making conducting business more difficult though security would be less of a problem. The third was far too old and too easy to break into. It would be too costly to repair and install the required security systems.
He sighed. It was getting late and night was near. He would have to look at the last four on the list tomorrow. He went home and got some much needed rest. Sleep came easier with the knowledge his mate would be coming back soon.
The next day was a repeat of the one before. A desk load of work and meetings all morning long. It wasn't until after lunch that he could go out and see the last four choices on his list.
The first one he checked looked like a good prospect. The real estate agent let him in and showed him around. The place was huge with lots of rooms, a fairly large back yard with a privacy fence. There was a multiple car garage, a pool, and guard house. It was not far from Megakat Park. It seemed perfect but something about it bothered him but he couldn't put a finger on the reason. He decided to temporarily pass on it and they went to the next one.
The moment he drove through the fancy iron gates he was smitten with it. It looked like something from the Victorian age. Thick grey stone made up the building and out buildings. There was a high wall of stone surrounding a large, lush garden/yard space, a pool, tennis court, and a huge garage. Inside, everything was elegant and well maintained but what really sold him was that a security system was already in place. It was out dated but the fact that it was there meant an easy job of updating it. It was perfect! Privately he didn't understand why he felt this was going to be just right for his mate. He hadn't been with Tanlir that long to really know his tastes and yet here he was knowing somehow that this was the right place.
He was reluctant to go and see the other places on his list but knew he couldn't give a proper report if he didn't check them all out.
The next two were okay and would do if his own personal choice was rejected. He thanked the real estate person and said a decision would be made only after the prospective owners had a chance to see it when they arrived in about a week.
He returned to his office, relieved to finally be done. It was getting late but he couldn't leave this much work so he sat, ordered dinner in and worked for several more hours. He wrote up his report for the Mayor and put it in his secretary's basket for typing in the morning. It was well after nine at night when he called it quits and went home.
The next morning, he threw up again upon getting up. This was getting old. Still feeling a little queasy, he took a hot shower and felt marginally better. He dressed and got into work. He really should stop and see Dr. Mewser about this constant feeling of tiredness and nausea but the moment he walked into his office he was slammed with minor emergencies.
It took past lunch to get everything settled. Back at his desk he attacked his work. He settled for some camomile tea and toast for lunch. He still didn't really feel very good.
His secretary had finished the new embassy choice list but he didn't get it to the Mayor until late afternoon.
The Mayor was gone, of course, no surprise there, so Feral went into Ms. Briggs' office and wasn't a bit surprised to see her buried under paper.
"Ms. Briggs, here is that list of embassy choices. The top one is my strongest choice. It's safe, comfortable, has plenty of rooms, and its security system is in place but needs to be updated. That's not a real problem since there is a system there which will make replacing it much quicker." He reported.
She smiled wanly at him as she accepted the report. "Thanks for getting to that so quickly, Commander. Hope you've managed to dig out from under your paper hill." She said with tired humor.
He gave her a small smile in return. "Well the first pile is gone but there's a new one there. I almost suspect they're breeding."
"Yeah, don't it though." She said with a light chuckle then frowned. "Commander, are you alright? You look awfully pale for a dark furred Kat." She asked in concern.
"Uhm, just a temporary bug. I'll be fine. Thanks for being concerned. I'd better be going or my paper pile will be even bigger." He said side stepping the issue of his health.
"Alright. Take care of yourself. We'll really need you next week when the Prince visits." Callie said seriously.
Feral just nodded and made his escape. He hadn't really looked at himself in a mirror. He must look pretty awful for the ridiculously busy Deputy Mayor to notice though nothing much got past her. She was a pretty sharp she-kat. He sighed and decided perhaps it would be wise to leave early from work and get some rest. There was nothing on his desk that would cause a major upheaval for waiting another day to be dealt with.
Having made his decision, he pulled his cell phone out and told his secretary that he would be going home and that Steele needed to be contacted and put in charge but he told her that his second was not to touch anything on his desk or he'd be walking a patrolKats beat for a week.
She couldn't help but chuckle at that and promised to relay the message. She also told him to get plenty of rest and fluids since she too had noticed he didn't look well. He sighed and thanked her then hung up and made for home.