what she wants to learn. She hasn’t mentioned it to me or Bryn…or anyone else, I don’t think. Emerian isn’t a Blackblood, so it’s not for his benefit as her nemari, either.” Luykas could feel his wife, every moment of every day, but he couldn’t read her thoughts, which he was grateful for. They were bonded by blood, and they did it right. While the beginning had been his only way to help her, and neither of them had wanted it, now they respected the bond and each other. It was a useful tool, a needed connection for them, but they never imposed on the other. They each deserved their secrets.
“Ah, well, this makes lessons with her much more interesting, then.” Leshaun smiled. “I’ve been somewhat cruel to her, I think.”
“You’re lucky Mave never got angry with you,” Luykas said softly. “Because you have. You’ll see me, you’ll see Mat, you’ll see Alchan, but you avoid all of those females, and they’re noticing, Mave especially.”
Leshaun sighed. “I’ve been alone for a long time—”
“Bullshit,” Luykas snapped.
“My wife died over a thousand years ago. My siblings and extended family, gone. My own children, gone.” Leshaun glared across the table, but it softened after a moment. “Mat is the only one of them I have left. I adore his choice, and I’m glad he and Mave found each other. I’m glad he was her choice, but…they remind me of me and my wife. They remind me of things I’m beyond. I’m tired, Luykas, and my nephew has grown up and taken his place in the very same family that you have.”
“He’s practically our leader,” Luykas said, rolling his eyes in good humor before returning to the topic that needed to be discussed. “I know what you meant, but that doesn’t explain—”
“I can’t keep up anymore, and I don’t want to be reminded of it every day,” Leshaun snapped. “I was supposed to retire in Olost and live a comfortable life, but then we came back here to Anden, and I couldn’t stay retired. I couldn’t disappear and let younger Andinna take over. I had to step up again, and my body is failing me. This has less to do with Mave and more to do with me. I do my official duties, I indulge my nephew, and that’s all. I don’t have the energy after that.” Leshaun smiled sadly. “I’m hoping after I retire from official duties, I’ll have more energy for the entire Company, our large, informal family. I would like that, but I can’t do it all anymore. Training new Blackbloods is hard enough. I should have sent Mave to Sorken, that Blackblood Leria sent down here to help me, but she’s our Mave, and I don’t want her in anyone else’s hands, so I will teach her what she wants to know.”
“An official duty,” Luykas said softly, understanding. He knew Leshaun was tired and right. When they shoved him fully into retirement, it would be easier on him to have the relationships everyone craved. He wouldn’t have been swamped. He could breathe again. Even in Olost, Leshaun’s retirement was going to be simple. The plan had been for him to stay in the village and manage the administrative tasks of the Company, which were very light, considering there were so few of them. He would have managed the spies until he thought Luykas was ready to take over, but at the time, their spies weren’t as time-consuming to deal with.
War changes everything, and Leshaun is much too old for it.
“Yes,” Leshaun whispered. “Now, why don’t you leave me alone. I know children are on their way.”
“How you manage children but none of us is beyond me,” Luykas teased.
“Children don’t backtalk the way you all can, and the trouble they get into doesn’t lead to steel swords being drawn,” Leshaun quipped. “And they think I’m a very interesting old man who tells them wondrous tales from times they’ll never know and places they will never see. I impress them, and they do as I ask.”
Luykas laughed as he stood. “Are you saying the Company is more unruly than a pack of younglings?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Shoo.”
Luykas chuckled as he left, seeing the younglings walking up. Most of them stopped and gave Luykas a wide-eyed stare, knowing who he was and what he did. Luykas waved at the children, seeing only a couple brave enough to wave back. Young children didn’t have to follow the dominance ranking structure, so he allowed