"It won't take me long to make a trump of this place," Marco countered, then gave Julian a quick glance but did not ask for permission. He had spent here enough time that he could make one with or without Julian's permission. "I have duties that you do not care for back in the Courts. If we're clever about it, you'll be able to spend your time roaming about in the forest while I handle the courtly duties and then the rest of the time we can spend together."

It wasn't that Marco didn't want Felix close and that it wouldn't be effortless given the time fluctuation and different forces pulling Amber and Chaos apart, but he could see how happy Felix was in Arden, how he actually enjoyed spending time with Julian and Marco knew already that he would make it work just to keep that smile on Felix's unfairly attractive lips.

Then he added, aiming for levity and perhaps to bring the mood up with a chuckle or two, "And I wouldn't mind seeing you in a uniform."