Page 89 of Honorable Convictions
“That’s fantastic, congratulations again,” Conley responded. “Is it here in Vegas?”
“No, we decided on DC. We met there, and it’s also where we fell in love,” Pierson confided with a smile for Mitchell. “And we hope to have it tomorrow.”
“We’ll find an officiant, Blondie. If anything, we know a million judges. Someone has to have a few minutes tomorrow to hopefully help us out.”
“Well, I hope you don’t think I’m being too forward, but what if Con and I officiated for you?” Drystan asked.
Pierson gripped his hand tighter, and Mitchell went with impulse. Despite being at work, he kissed him. It was unnecessary to ask what his mate thought of Drystan’s offer. “We’d be absolutely honored if you two were willing to do that for us, Reverent Knight.”
“Now we’ll have someone we trust there to snap a few photos too.”
“I have a photographer friend who could help out there if you wanted,” Drystan suggested. “When is your ceremony?”
“Ten. We should’ve gone to you guys to plan this thing,” Mitchell teased.
“He can totally do it,” Conley crowed, glancing at Drystan’s phone after the fallen knight tapped his screen with enthusiasm. “Have you heard of Teverild?”
“The Emperors’ photographer?” Mitchell asked.
“Yeah, he’s amazing. He has thirty minutes—that should be plenty of time to get some awesome photos of you two,” Drystan said while Conley beamed. It was wonderful to have the Reverent Knights so happy for them, and it was going to make their day even more special.
“We’ll have a press release ready to go the minute your bond is sealed. That gives your peers the opportunity to digest it over the weekend. Monday morning, we’ll have a little cake thing out in the lobby area. We’ll expect you in here with Roman afterward, working on office planning and the other things you need to get started as MJKs. There will be a formal ceremony that afternoon if the Council okays the amendment, which is nearly a given. Drys and I will give you your new titles in front of everyone then. You’ll wear the same uniforms as the Venerables, but we’ll add a silver braided loop around one sleeve to differentiate you from them. That way people don’t have to be close enough to read the MJK to know your rank. The JKs already have their own version of the shield symbol we use to represent us, but we’ll add an ‘M’ on yours. Sound good?”
“It’s perfect, thank you,” Mitchell stated.
“There’s going to be a lot of things that need to be coordinated, so don’t dole out a million to each other your first week. Monday, Roman will assign for the last time since we don’t want you spending this weekend going through the current caseloads for your JKs,” Conley added.
“We spoke to the Arch Lich with the hope that you would take the job. You’re going to need an assistant. Kyle has too much on his plate to handle the MJKs. So, we’re going to resurrect another special fallen knight for this purpose. He’ll have an abbreviated training set up for him at the Ascension Center. It should take about four weeks, so you’ll have to manage during that period on your own. Harley Griffinis has already promised to bring in his construction crew to redesign the JK cluster, so you two can have a large office to share as well as giving your new assistant a desk outside it. How exactly you want everything to look is up to you. We’ll arrange for you to meet with Harley on Monday to lay out plans with you. One thing to consider is whether you like how the JKs are distributed around North America or if you want to shuffle things around. If you want to bring more to Vegas, you should plan on that with Harley to make sure there are enough spaces to go around. We’re not going to be able to pull too much space away from the FKs, but everything is negotiable,” Drystan said.
Mitchell hadn’t expected someone would be resurrected just for them but understood the necessity of it. “Is the Order of the Fallen Knights going to be able to handle another Kyle? I assume the JKs will operate from a budget. How much will be eaten up by broken machinery?”
Conley laughed. “We love Kyle, but we can’t afford two of him. The Arch Lich has promised to modify the spell slightly that he used to keep us from getting another machine-wrecker.”
“We should ask Sorcery D’Vaire if they can find a cure or potion to keep Kyle from breaking shit so often,” Drystan muttered.
“I already asked, and my request was denied,” Conley told his mate.
“Speaking of Kyle, I got a rude text that we’re running behind and have a meeting to get to,” Drystan revealed. “Are there any more questions we can help you with now?”
Pierson glanced at Mitchell and shook his head. “I think we’re good.”
“Text us the address for the ceremony tomorrow. We’ll be there early and bring Teverild to take incredible photos. Is there anything you’d like us to know or requests you have for us?” Conley asked. “We’re thrilled to officiate for you. I’m so excited.”
“We are too, and I think we’ve covered everything important. Um…we’re doing rings and mating marks, which aren’t necessarily tradition for magickind, but it feels right for us,” Mitchell remarked.
Drystan’s attention went to his ring, which he’d famously received from his mother for his first matebond with Conley as a teenager, and flexed his fist. “Good, I think that’s perfect.”
“Another day to fake it through this whole enemies thing,” Conley teased, getting to his feet. Mitchell rose too and had to drop Pierson’s hand. That was a bummer, but soon he wouldn’t have to hide his affection anymore.
“Didn’t you hear, Reverent Knight? Murphy and I are friends now. We buried the hatchet to make for a less toxic work environment.”
Conley laughed. “Hey, are you guys keeping your last names the same?”
“We’re going to hyphenate them,” Pierson said, shocking the hell out of Mitchell.
“We are?”
“I’m probably still going to call you Brooks when you annoy me.”
