sitting on the steps, smiling as Lilliana walked out with a small plate and handed it to him. He patted the spot next to him and convinced her to sit with him.
“They’re becoming great friends, aren’t they,” Mave said with a smirk. “How are you handling that?”
“Is that the rumor? Friends?” Alchan snorted, shaking his head. “No, Rain has declared Lilliana part of his family because it’s Rain and a female with no one else to turn to. It’s his favorite thing to do.”
“Are you jealous?” Mave gasped.
“No because I know Rain isn’t going to sleep with her,” Alchan retorted in a snappy, immature, and boyish way. He wasn’t jealous, but it definitely annoyed him. Mave knew why. This rooted Lilliana deeper into his household, and he was dealing with feelings he didn’t want to have—wants he wasn’t comfortable with.
“It’ll be fine,” she promised. “If it gets to be too much, we’ll work something out, and if we can’t, I’ll kill you, and the entire problem goes away.”
Alchan didn’t get angry at her lighthearted promise—he spat his water out in laughter.
“Only you,” he finally said, wiping his face dry. “Only you.”
“There’s a reason I’m your sister,” she teased, grinning.
“That there is,” he said, nodding as he threw an arm over her shoulder. Together, they looked out on their friends and family.
Mave quickly lost the lighthearted feeling.
“There are too many of them missing,” she whispered. “Mat, Zayden, Nevyn, and Varon. Hell, I would take Seanev right about now.”
“I know. I agree.” Alchan squeezed her shoulder. “But this is war.”
“This is war,” she repeated, sighing. For just a moment, she was tired of war.
“What else is on your mind?”
“I want peace. I’ve never had any, you know. Even when we got to Olost, and I was free, Shadra continued to find ways to get in the way of me living a normal life away from her. She still found ways to hurt all of us. I was thinking…I want just a moment of real peace, with no hidden threats looming over our heads or a battle over the horizon. Just peace.” She took a deep breath. “I want to wake up and see everyone here for no other reason than to be around.”
His one arm hold grew tighter. “Have you ever thought about what you would do with that sort of free time? When we freed you, you were fretting about what you would do with it.”
“I have no idea,” she said with a groan. “But I want to find out.”
Her king was silent for a long time as they watched their friends, and the sun disappeared. When he finally spoke, he said something surprising.
“Give me some time. I think I have some ideas about what you might be able to do once you have a well-earned rest from war and violence.”
“You don’t need to—”
“Yes, I do.” There was something underneath those words, emotions neither Mave nor Alchan really liked talking about in such an open setting and definitely not with each other. There was a deep caring between them. It wasn’t like what Mave had with her husbands, Rain, or anyone else in the Company. Ever since that ride to Kerit, when Alchan had claimed her as his sister, there was a deep, unwavering loyalty and love that couldn’t be thrown off. The connection only grew deeper by the day. It felt, in a strange sense, purer than anything she shared with even her husbands, who she loved more than anything in her life. It was almost unsettling. If it had come about a few years before, it would have terrified her.
Now, standing here and watching everyone, she just felt content for a minute, secure in the knowledge she and Alchan could handle anything thrown their way, as long as they worked together. It was fitting. He was a warrior, and she was his sword, a weapon for him to point, an extension of himself. He was a king, and she was his Champion.
Who knew this would be where I ended up after leaving the Empire? I certainly had no clue.
She finally broke the hold and walked to the group. She smiled at Emerian when he saw her walk by and realized she finally had Leshaun cornered for a minute when she was about to pass him and Luykas. She had meant to talk to the elderly male, her uncle through marriage, but he was a hard man to get hold of now.