from Leria to Kerit, then here, then back to Leria, so people new from Olost come here first to be evaluated for the army or to find old friends.” Kian scanned the crowd. Mave couldn’t, too short compared to all the males around. “There’s one of them. Willem!”
A moment later, Willem was in front of them, grinning.
“You came at the perfect time. There’s a friendly face from Olost!”
“Really?” Kian looked at Willem, then Mave, who shrugged. Obviously, she didn’t know anything about this.
“Yeah, it’s Learen!”
“Really?” Mave knew the name. She had met the male once, though it felt like it was ages ago. She tried to think of the time that had passed since she had seen the former Company warrior. It was nearly three years ago. Learen had visited shortly before Shadra had attacked their village in Olost, forcing them to retaliate and go to the Empire to take back their loved ones.
“Where’s Gentrin? He was talking to him,” Willem said, looking over the crowd like Kian.
They wandered through the crowd, trying to stay out of the way of Andinna, who were unloading supplies for the stores. They found Gentrin and Learen hanging out near the back of the caravan, laughing about something. As they drew closer, Mave caught the conversation.
“It’s so good to see you! You should have found someone last night. We would have found you a place to sleep away from the caravan.”
“It’s fine. I figured if I didn’t see anyone during the unload, I would look for one of you.” Learen smiled. He turned at the right time, seeing Kian, Mave, and Willem. Mave lifted a hand and waved.
“Ah, we’re just missing Senri!” Gentrin grinned as Willem stopped next to him while Mave and Kian finished a semi-circle around the warrior with only one hand.
“Heard you got a promotion,” Learen said to her, smiling. “King’s Champion.”
“It’s not the only change. She did us the honor of being formally adopted into our family.” Kian couldn’t have sounded prouder. “Senri asked her, and she said yes.” He reached out and grabbed her horn, holding her so he could kiss her temple. “Now, we have a daughter to dote on.”
“And I have parents who refuse to let me forget it,” she said, trying to push him away.
There was laughter, so much of it, as they led Learen into the village. Senri found them in the small market, getting skewers of meat to snack on as they listened to Learen’s journey from Olost. The entire family being together wasn’t as common as any of them wanted, but that was the cost of the rebellion. There weren’t enough hours in the day.
“When I heard about what happened to Alchan’s village…” Learen sighed. “I wished I had stayed. My wife disagreed.”
“Of course,” Senri said with a smile. “She sounds like a smart female, wanting to keep her husband alive. Where is she now?”
“We’ve been in Kerit. We were some of the first to arrive from Olost, but with my…problem, no one forced me to come here. I wasn’t ready, either.” He lifted up the stump where one of his hands used to be. “She’s still in Kerit, setting up a household for us. She’s always wanted to come home, and Kerit is near her home village. After a couple of seasons, I grew tired of being so far out of the fighting. She gave me her blessing to come here and find my own way to be useful for the rebellion.”
“Alchan is busy for the rest of the day, but maybe we can steal Luykas from him and find you work,” Mave said. “I’m sure they’ll be glad to see you.”
“I know Dave has been managing much of the trade routes and numbers. If you show any aptitude for it, they’ll be happy to have an Andinna who once was Company to join that team,” Kian mentioned.
“Dave?” Learen frowned, looking between them.
“A human, the one that helped me, Matesh, and Rainev, escape the Empire. A dear friend,” Mave explained. “That’s not a bad idea. You all keep talking. I won’t get in trouble for interrupting whatever meetings they might be in.” She was up and moving before any of them could stop her. She went straight for the war room, catching her husband walking out.
“Luykas!” she exclaimed, smiling. “Good news for you.” She wrapped her arms around him as he smiled just at the sight of her.
“Good news, like you’re willing to take the rest of the day off?” He leaned