in the cellar, but Falka had offered Tauran full command of both the tower assistants and the recruits so Tauran wouldn’t have to scale the countless stairs twice a day. From the seventh floor and up, everyone had free access to the exterior lifts, and while it was probably more logical to scale two floors and take the lift down than to descend five floors to ground level, there was very little Tauran wouldn’t do to avoid the precarious, creaking wooden lifts. The Tauran who had once tip-toed along the edge of a balcony railing felt like a completely different person. Or a ghost.
The corridor was quiet. The recruits weren’t allowed in the riders’ quarters, and there was no reason for the assistants to linger there during the day. A bell system had been implemented, so Tauran could call one up without having to go searching.
Reaching for the bell handle by the door, he paused. Soft voices filtered from nearby. He left the bell and followed the sound to a half-open doorway. Two people stood inside. Catria’s shock of dark curls was easily recognizable. She had her arms around someone taller with their head bowed against her shoulder. A private moment Tauran wasn’t meant to witness. He stepped back, but his foot bumped the edge of the door. The sound made both figures turn too sharply.
Fear flashed over Catria’s face, but when she recognized Tauran, she relaxed. The person she’d been holding was Emilian. He stared at Tauran with considerably more tension.
“I’m sorry,” Tauran said, holding up a hand. He took another step back and turned away. “I’ll leave you to it.”
Footsteps behind him preceded Catria’s hand around his elbow. “Tauran, wait.” She led him inside the nearest empty room. “Please don’t tell anybody what you saw. You know the rules of the guard, and Emilian is a general, now.”
Tauran blinked slowly. Catria and Emilian? Together? They struck him as such different people; Catria, energetic and headstrong. Emilian, quiet and serious. Tauran took her hand off his elbow and squeezed. “You have my word,” he promised and smiled. “Skies know I’m hardly one to keep my affections to myself. The amount of times you could have ratted me out back in the day...”
Catria smiled back. “Thanks. Emilian is really... nervous about it.”
Tauran nodded. “It’s all right. I get it.” His smile turned mischievous.
“What?” Catria asked.
“You and Emilian...” he said, slowly. He narrowed his eyes. “How did I miss that you two are a thing?”
Catria laughed. “You’ve been a little wrapped up in your own things.”
Tauran hummed. She wasn’t wrong. He’d been so stuck in his bubble of misery that he’d barely paid attention to anything around him. But Kalai was changing that.
“How is he?” Tauran asked. Emilian looked so perpetually miserable that it brought Tauran some ease of mind knowing he had someone who cared for him.
Catria’s brows drew together. She looked at her shoes. “He has it hard. Really hard. I do what I can for him. He’s such a good man, Tauran. The best.” A smile replaced her frown. “And he doesn’t flinch at the thought of a woman who doesn’t come with all the standard parts.”
Tauran hummed. He couldn’t imagine desk work being all that demanding, despite the long hours Emilian often pulled. Tauran had a feeling there was more to it, but it seemed too personal to ask. “Maybe keep the door closed next time. If Falka walks in on you...”
“I know.” Catria groaned and rubbed her brow. “I know. It was stupid. I thought I closed it.”
Tauran’s mischievous grin widened.
“What?” she asked again.
“Wanna see the baby?”
Catria’s eyes lit up. “Do you really have to ask?”
Tauran winked. “Fetch Emilian.”
* * *
“Careful, she’s a biter,” Tauran said. He pulled out a chair by the desk in the corner and took a seat. Catria sat on the bed with Leyra in her lap, the small dragon stretched on her back with all four legs in the air. Emilian stood across from Catria, leaning against the wall, watching the two of them with a quiet fondness.
“She’s adorable,” Catria cooed, rubbing both hands over Leyra’s belly. Leyra bent her neck to snap at Catria’s fingers, but Catria deftly kept them out of her way. “She’ll get huge!”
Tauran huffed out a smile. “I feel like she’s grown already since yesterday.”
Catria wrapped her hands under Leyra’s front legs and lifted her up, Leyra’s tiny wings flapping frantically. Catria smiled at Emilian, holding the baby dragon toward him.