one of them she loved him more than the others, only differently.
When Mave and Mat entered the clearing, she saw her odd friends lying in the grass, laughing about something, a few wineskins around them, a couple of them empty.
“Well, we’re dealing with potentially ruining problems for the rebellion, and you three are drunk on wine,” she teased as she walked closer. “I’m going to assume training is off the schedule today.”
“We trained all morning,” Emerian said with a grin. “We decided to have a good afternoon.”
“Of course,” she said softly, looking at his pretty, angular face. Luykas had been heavily influenced by his Andinna side, but Emerian was so very Elvasi. His dark skin hailed from one subset of the Elvasi people. His angular face, with high cheekbones and the pointed ears…if someone removed the Andinna parts of him, he would almost blend in with the race they were at war with.
But his black eyes, holding blood-red irises, gave him away. Even if the horns, tail, and wings were stripped away, those black eyes made sure the world knew he was Andinna, even if he was only half Andinna.
He’s damn pretty. I don’t blame all the females for wanting him.
“What happened?” Dave asked, looking up from his notebook. Mat sat down next to him and sighed, giving her a look that begged for her to explain.
“It’s complicated and not really my business,” she said pragmatically. She had just gotten out of the war room. She didn’t particularly want to rehash the drama. She wanted to tell Emerian what she needed to tell him and move on with her day.
“Emerian, a few friends of mine have mentioned some of the females are really interested in you. You know you’re allowed to interact with the other Andinna now, right?”
“Yeah. Luykas told me to keep my weapon on me like everyone else, but other than that, I’m free to do whatever.” Emerian shrugged. “Why?”
“Well, I’m…” Mave huffed, looking at her husband, who only chuckled at her expense and offered no help.
When she turned back on the pretty mutt, he was looking at her with his head tilted, confusion and innocence on his face. That was why she didn’t act on her attraction. Emerian had gone through so much in his life, but there was something beautifully innocent about him. She felt like she was too dark and could harm that innocence.
“You’re allowed to sleep with the females if they invite you to,” she finally said, rushing it out. “No one is against having a good time in this village.”
“I didn’t even know there were females looking,” he said, turning to look at the sky. “Don’t really pay attention to everyone else. I just do my thing and let them do theirs.”
“Just go up to them when you see them watching you and introduce yourself. If there’s one you’re particularly interested in, let her know. She’ll tell you if it’s a possibility, and you can go from there.” Mave reached out for a wineskin that wasn’t empty and took a sip. They had the good stuff reserved for the upper ranks of the rebellion. It made sense. “We don’t want you accidentally losing a chance for something because you don’t know the way of things. You should have a full Andinna life.”
“That’s it? Just…tell her?” Emerian narrowed his eyes, but he didn’t look at her. His eyes were still on the sky, where large, white fluffy clouds passed by.
“Yup.” Mave put the wineskin back down, smiling as Trevan grabbed it and took a long swallow. With that out of the way, she could talk to her Elvasi. “How are you?” she asked her friend with a smile.
“Good. Good.” He smiled in return. “Really like having an afternoon off. Sorry for not getting Dave to the village. Can’t fly like this. We got drunk before they even showed up.”
“No worries,” she said, deciding to sit next to him.
They spent the rest of the afternoon finishing off the wine, Mave taking solace in the people she liked and staying far away from her blood brother.
7
Emerian
Emerian blocked Trevan’s swing, grinning. He shoved the Elvasi back and was fast enough to get his scythe to the man’s neck before Trevan could bring his sword up. He was able to stop the swing before accidentally beheading his friend, something Luykas had trained into him hard when they trained with less lethal versions of their weapons. No contact in training at all. Training injuries were too common in the