Chapter 382: Boundaries

Chapter 382: Chapter 382: Boundaries

"You resigned?"

Arik stood just inside Severin’s office with his coffee still in one hand, staring at Mezos across the broad black desk.

Morning light entered through the narrow windows overlooking the eastern courtyard, cutting pale stripes across tactical maps, stacked reports, and the resignation Severin had placed directly in the center of his desk as though it were evidence in a criminal investigation.

Mezos folded his arms.

"I attempted to."

Severin leaned back in his chair.

"He is being dramatic."

Mezos turned toward him.

"No. You think I am being dramatic because you have spent two days treating my father like entertainment."

The amusement vanished from Severin’s face.

Liam, who had settled into one of the chairs near the wall with an infrastructure report abandoned across his knees, looked between them.

Mezos rarely sounded genuinely angry.

Irritated, certainly.

Exhausted, frequently.

Sarcastic whenever Arik deserved it.

This was different.

Arik set his coffee down.

"What happened?"

Mezos looked at him.

"Nothing happened. That is the problem. Nothing has to happen because apparently my father is now permitted to wander around my workplace observing everything I do, and Severin finds that amusing enough to keep encouraging him."

Severin’s brows drew together.

"I gave him access only to unrestricted areas."

"You gave him access to my workplace."

"He is your father."

"He is retired."

The words landed sharply.

Mezos uncrossed his arms and paced once toward the window before turning back.

"I love my father. I know he loves me. I also know why he came here, and I am grateful that after decades of putting duty before everything else, he decided he wants to live close to me."

His jaw tightened.

"That does not mean I need him supervising me."

Liam shifted slightly in his chair.

Mezos looked toward Arik again.

"Have you had complaints about my work?"

"No."

"Liam?"

Liam shook his head.

"Never."

Mezos turned toward Severin.

"You?"

Severin was quiet for a moment.

"No."

"Then I do not need to hear that my shoulder is too low, that I answered a priority notification three minutes later than Father considers appropriate, that I looked impatient with a junior officer, or that my third kilometer is slower than it was when I was twenty."

Arik pressed his lips together.

Mezos dragged one hand through his red hair, loosening several strands from the tie at his nape.

"I spent my entire life working under expectations that belonged to him. Military academy, command assignments, your guard, every promotion. Even when he was not physically present, I knew exactly what General Aradia would consider acceptable."

His voice lowered.

"I am nearly forty years old, Arik. I crossed a fractured Gate with you. I helped rebuild imperial security in a country none of us could leave. I have protected you through assassination attempts, political crises, and whatever the hell Liam decides constitutes acceptable personal risk on any given week."

Liam raised a hand.

"That last part feels unfair."

"It is extremely fair."

Liam lowered his hand.

Mezos continued.

"I do not need babysitting."

The office fell quiet.

Severin looked down at the resignation.

For the first time since Theron arrived, he did not appear entertained.

"I should not have encouraged him," he said.

Mezos looked at him.

"No."

Severin nodded once.

"No. You are right."

That seemed to surprise everyone slightly.

Severin picked up the resignation, folded it once, then tore it neatly in half.

Mezos stared.

"I may still want that."

"No, you do not."

"You cannot decide that."

"I can decide that I am not accepting it while the problem is something I helped create."

Arik retrieved his coffee.

"That was almost responsible."

Severin gave him a flat look.

"Do not ruin it."

A knock sounded at the door.

Mezos closed his eyes.

"Of course."

Theron entered.

He wore a dark gray civilian coat over black trousers, but everything from his posture to the precise arrangement of his silvering hair still announced general long before anyone remembered he had retired.

His attention moved over the room and settled on his son.

"You asked to see me."

Mezos exhaled slowly.

"Yes."

Theron glanced toward Arik and Liam.

"Should this be private?"

"No."

That answer came immediately.

Mezos stepped away from the window.

"If I say this privately, you will turn it into a family conversation. This is partly about work."

Theron’s expression sharpened.

Mezos continued before he could interrupt.

"You cannot keep coming into the security wing to monitor me."

"I was not monitoring you."

"You timed my run."

"You were exercising."

"You commented on my work messages."

"One was marked priority."

"You corrected how I spoke to an officer."

"You were unnecessarily severe."

Severin looked down at his desk.

Mezos noticed.

"You stay out of this."

"I fully intend to."

Theron’s mouth tightened.

"I was attempting to help."

"I know."

That took some of the tension from his father’s face.

Mezos moved closer.

"I know what you are doing. You spent more than a year thinking I might be dead, and now I am here, close enough that you can see exactly what I am doing every day."

Theron did not deny it.

"But you cannot make up for that year by watching every hour of the next one."

Silence settled between them.

Mezos’s voice softened.

"I want you here."

Theron looked at him.

"I want you in Nuria. I want to have dinner with you, visit your house, and listen to you complain about whatever you eventually decide to grow in that garden."

"I have not selected a property yet."

"Father."

Theron stopped.

"I want a relationship with you that is not another command structure."

Something shifted in the older man’s expression.

Mezos held his gaze.

"If Arik, Liam, or Severin tells me I am failing at my job, I will listen. If my officers raise a problem, I will address it. But I will not spend every day wondering whether you are around the next corner evaluating me."

Theron was silent for several seconds.

Then he glanced toward Severin.

"You have no complaints?"

"None professionally."

Theron looked toward Arik.

"No."

Liam answered before being asked.

"He is annoyingly competent."

Mezos glanced at him.

"Thank you. I think."

Theron’s gaze returned to his son.

"You should have told me sooner."

"I tried to resign after two days."

"That is not the same thing."

Arik laughed into his coffee.

Mezos looked at him.

"Sorry."

Theron released a long breath.

"I may have overstepped."

"Considerably."

"I said may."

"Retirement is going to be difficult for you."

Theron’s mouth moved faintly.

"Apparently."

Mezos relaxed for the first time that morning.

Then Severin spoke.

"There is an excellent botanical district west of Deira."

Mezos slowly turned.

Severin raised both hands.

"For the garden."

Theron looked interested.

Mezos stared at the ceiling.

Arik finally laughed.

At least this time, Mezos joined him.