As long as I'm here none can hurt you

Chapter 1

The heels of Ajax's boots echoed across the throne room, the sound reflecting off the grand icy interior of the walls, amplifying his own nervousness with each step. He stopped short in front of the throne and immediately dropped to a knee, hand flying to his chest in a salute as he bowed his head to meet the reflection of the Tsaritsa on the deep blue ice floor.

"Yes, my queen? I heard that you summoned me." An uneasy feeling pooled in his stomach. What did the Tsaritsa want from him?

Ajax had never really agreed with her decision to wage war across Tevyet. As much as he loved the adrenaline of a good fight and the thought of constant battle, something didn't sit right with him at the thought of destroying the lives of innocent people who were only trying to defend themselves upon something that they had least expected. The war took everyone by surprise, to say the least. Tsaritsa broke her contract with the archons and had used their Gnosis against them. And the power of seven Gnosis proved to be no match for any of the countries.

(Even the land with the strongest archon-) No, Ajax shook his head. He scowled and pushed the bitter feeling away. Zhongli- no, Morax was probably cowering somewhere. Even though he was still loyal to the Tsaritsa, Ajax had sent him letter after letter to check on how he was doing in the war, yet received no response.

Afterall, the war was his country's fault, and even with the unfavorable terms that they had parted on, Ajax still loved- no, was concerned for the god's safety. Ajax himself didn't learn about the war much in advance too so he couldn't warn Zhongli, but he tried to do the next best thing he could while being an enemy to Liyue with the ongoing war.

Through the reflection on the floor, Ajax saw an unreadable expression grace Tsaritsa's face. He gulped unconsciously. He never was good at reading her emotions, even after all these years.

"Rise, Eleventh." Her slender index finger curled upwards from its resting position on the arm rest, indicating for him to stand. "At ease. I requested for you today not for anything of grave matter, really. The hard part of this war is already over. I heard from Dottore that you haven't had time to rest yet. Go take a break, perhaps you could request for a tour from him on the various artifacts that we have managed to get from this war. One should always take a rest and enjoy the finer things, afterall."

Ajax bit back a retort. Oh he knew how to relax alright, and his definition of relaxation definitely did not involve Dottore. "Yes my lady."

"Good. I hope you'll be impressed with the items that we have acquired. Some with your help too."

"Most certainly. My lady's taste is nothing short of impeccable."

A hint of a smirk crossed Tsaritsa's face. "Flattery does not work on me, as you should know by now my boy. You may take your leave now. Go find Dottore and take the rest of the day off. "

—

"Heresay that the Musou no Hinotachi is able to freeze time itself briefly and release multiple lightning bolts to surround the target. Getting this from the Shogun was no easy feat, mind you, in fact ..." Ajax tuned out whatever nonsense was spewing from Dottore's mouth.

Dottore was actually taking his job as tour guide seriously, much to the displeasure of Ajax. He launched into the intricacies of each and every treasure obtained from the nations, all while bringing Ajax from room to room, each labelled with the name of the nation who owned said treasures. Ajax had hoped to get this done and over with quickly so as to return to his chambers and be left in peace.