“He didn’t want to walk beside me,” she corrected. “Checking on the caravan is a good idea, though.” She looked at her two males in the back of the cart and sighed. “I understand why you did it, Luykas, but next time, you need to talk to me.”
“I knew you would let personal feelings get involved—”
“And you’re saying yours weren’t?” she snapped before Luykas could finish. “Alchan and I just talked. When we get back to the village, we’ll discuss whether you should do it again—”
“Now, wait a minute. You don’t get to make those decisions—” He sat up, glaring.
“I do unless you want to be the first male to leave my mayara,” she snarled. “Practically, yes, it’s useful, but it puts you and her at risk. If you don’t do anything until we can at least talk about it at home, I’ll probably tell you okay.”
“I don’t understand—”
“I thought I’d lost you,” she snapped, pulling closer to the cart to get in his face. “Do you understand me? The bond faded, and I was terrified. I barged into your brother’s home, ready to do battle.”
He jerked back, obviously not expecting that, then his eyes dropped, and his posture sagged.
“I’m sorry, love,” he said pitifully.
“So, when we’re home.”
“Actually…” He sighed. “I was thinking of staying at my residence for a couple of weeks once we get back to the village. It’s been different living with this sort of family unit and—”
“That’s okay.” In an instant, Mave settled, realizing one of her males had a problem, and he needed her approval. This she could handle without anger or feeling insulted. Luykas wasn’t Matesh or Brynec. He needed moments where he was in control. “You can do that. We’ve talked about this already, and the decision we made about letting you go and have your own space stands. Nothing is going to change that.”
He smiled, and she knew they would be okay, realizing if he was feeling the need to get away from the family since it was new and foreign, that might have had something to do with why he’d done that level of magic without telling any of them. He needed some independence. She just wanted him to tell her before he acted.
“Are you going to ride with us?” Mat asked softly.
“I am,” she promised. “And we’ll set up Luykas in his own tent for the trip again. Does that sound okay?”
“Wonderful,” Luykas agreed. “Don’t expect me to stay in it every night.”
“I don’t.” She grinned wickedly.
15
Brynec
The weeks flew by for Brynec. Before he knew it, they were entering the valley of their village, and everyone was scrambling to get home. Andinna were coming out of their homes, running to help, celebrate, and reunite with loved ones.
“Finally,” Luykas sighed. Bryn chuckled as Luykas dumped the reins in his hands. “You drive,” he ordered, yawning. “Been on this fucking cart for too long.”
“Fine, but yer helping us unload before takin’ whatever ya want to yer home.” Bryn elbowed the bigger male. He had needed some time to adjust to Luykas, but once they had settled, able to relax in Kerit for a little while, working and living together, he felt better. It had been a little hard getting over Luykas’ secret heritage. He never told Mave, but even that became a background thought. Luykas was Andinna, and that’s what Bryn knew was important.
“I’m going to leave a majority of my stuff at our home,” Luykas explained. “Just going to take a few changes of clothes and my armor to my residence. I’m not planning on staying there very long.”
“Just need a break, eh?”
“I need to feel in charge sometimes,” Luykas corrected softly. “It’s why Alchan and I stopped living together. After so many years, it grows tiring to be ordered around all the time. From what I saw in Kerit, she’s really lax. It’s easier, but I still need my own space.”
Bryn didn’t understand it personally, but he could hear the yearning in Luykas’ voice, ready to get home and out from under someone else’s thumb. He understood the difference Luykas pointed out, though. Mave and Alchan were both dominant but in different ways.
“Aye, she is,” he agreed. “She lets whoever is around her just do whatever they need to. She’ll put her foot down on things that are important to her but the little stuff? She lets us do what we want as long as it doesn’t impact her life in a bad way.”
“It’s refreshing. I’m used to brute-force leadership. Everything needs to be exact, and if it’s not, be ready to argue about it. Alchan is a great king, but in the privacy of his own home, he was really particular. It’s in his nature. I’m glad she’s not like that.”
Bryn nodded silently, trying to focus on the crowds. Mat wasn’t on the cart, off helping someone with another one. Mave was on her horse ahead of them, also fighting with the crowd as her mare grew anxious. Alchan was next to her, his stallion huffing hard as people came too close.
“Let us through!” Alchan roared, obviously annoyed the caravan was slowed down to the point where the horses were barely able to move.
Bryn watched as people finally started to back away. It was chaos, but the caravan could move a little better when they started trying to open a path for them.
“Bryn!” Mave called, looking back. “Let’s get home!”
“Already on it!” he yelled back, trying to direct the cart out of the caravan line toward their own home.
It felt like he wasn’t going to get home for another hundred years if this kept up. He struggled to keep the horses on track and got out of the caravan and onto a small dirt road that led to the cliffside where their home was located. The valley wasn’t small, with at least five cliffsides used for housing. When they had left for Kerit, about half were in use. He had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case for long unless Alchan quickly got the other communities up and running over the summer. Not like the king had never done it before. From Bryn’s knowledge, when the Andinna had run to Olost, Alchan was instrumental in finding locations and helping build new homes. This was different. Olost was safer than the Dragon Spine, safer than Anden. The Empire wasn’t breathing down their necks, and there wasn’t an active rebellion going on.
“Have ya talked to Alchan about the new communities he wants to start?” Bryn asked, trying to find something to talk about once they pulled away from the crowd and were able to have a bit of quiet.
“Yeah. It’s going to be his focus for the next few weeks, letting Nevyn and me handle military decisions. Lothen is still a couple weeks from the Dragon Spine, and you already know we’re going to up our scouting presence on the southern edge of the Spine. We need to find out where he’s going to put his forces.”
“Aye. I’ve been workin’ on some hopefuls,” Bryn said, nodding. “Another couple weeks and they’ll be ready.”
“I figured,” Luykas said with a sigh. “This is big. Alchan and I were always close to General Lorren, and that’s not just in a personal sense. He taught us everything—how to see the bigger picture, how to move troops—but this rebellion feels bigger than the War, and it’s barely started.”
“Uh…maybe it’s ‘cause we’re buildin’ from the ground up?” Bryn frowned. “Formin’ new communities, findin’ warriors, managin’ supply chains.”
“Yeah, I already know that’s the problem. General Lorren had the groundwork laid, things we took for granted—knowing the villages would send supply tithes, and our grandmother was funding more supply purchases. We had thousands of experienced warriors. We don’t have any of that anymore.”
They finished the ride home in silence, and Bryn parked the cart at the bottom of their stairs. He felt bad for everyone who had to fly their luggage inside. The stairs were looking really good to him.
Mave showed up after Bryn and Luykas started unloading and took the first load inside.
“Sorry! Senri cornered me and took my horse,” she explained as she landed. Bryn watched her grab a rucksack and throw it over her shoulder. “Do we know where
Matesh is? Or Zayden?”
“Nah. We can handle it without ‘em, though.” Bryn shrugged. “They’re probably caught up in the crowds. I thought Luykas and I would never get out.”
“Yeah, it’s nearly a riot. It’s always going to be like this when a war group comes home, isn’t it?”
“A war group with the King and Champion in it, yes,” Luykas chuckled as he spoke. “Smaller groups, maybe not. Not this extreme, anyway.”
Mave’s sigh was nearly comical as she started up the stairs with the rucksack. Bryn smiled to himself as he grabbed another trunk and hauled it up behind her. They were nearly halfway done when Matesh and Zayden walked up, getting to work fast.
“Sorry, love. I wanted to see Leshaun,” Matesh murmured, kissing her as they passed one another.
“It’s fine. How is he? We should have him over for dinner now that we’re back.”
“He’s been good. The children love him, and there are a few hopeful Blackbloods among them for him to begin training. There are also a few young adults who have never been able to use their innate abilities for it, so he’s going into overdrive. He’s hoping to find an expert in Leria’s community who can come down.”
Bryn walked forward and helped Zayden with a trunk as he listened to Mat and Mave talk about the family uncle. Leshaun was hands-off, but Bryn knew if any of Mave’s family needed an older male’s opinion, he wouldn’t turn them away, even if they weren’t Matesh. It was good to hear Leshaun was doing well in their absence and finding work to keep himself busy, even in his ‘retirement.’ Bryn snorted.
That male is never goin’ to retire. I think he’s worked every day of his life.
The cart was slowly unloaded, and finally, there was only one trunk left.
“Luykas? Ya takin this one home with ya?” he asked loudly.
“Yeah! Leave it in there, and I’ll take the cart with me and turn it into the stables once everything settles down.”
“Make sure ya give the horses a little water.” Bryn started climbing the stairs up to the door for the last time when he frowned at the sudden appearance of another cart. Varon led it, pointed down the cliff at their direct neighbor. Bryn knew nearly the entire Company lived on this cliffside, but none of them were right next to Mave’s home. No one from outside the Company dared to try to claim the empty homes once the Company picked theirs. Maybe it was time for them to have new neighbors. He was going to have to adjust to losing the privacy of the empty area of the valley, but maybe it was for the best.
“Oh, they’re finally here.” Mave walked out, smiling. “Good.” Before Bryn had the chance to ask who, she continued. “Luykas! Are you heading out?”
“Yeah. Can you make me a promise?”
“Sure.” She sounded indulgent, and Bryn shivered. There was something incredibly sexual about the word when it really inferred nothing.
“If you come over, wear all of your jewelry,” Luykas ordered with a wicked grin, then pressed the horses to get moving again.
“Who is here?” Bryn asked, his face heated and cock hard from their exchange. He tried to focus on the new neighbors. She already knew, which meant it was probably going to be fine.
“Dave, Trevan, and Emerian are going to claim the home next to us. They need the stairs—”
“Excuse me?” he asked softly, that new information sinking in. “Yer goin to let an Elvasi live next door to us here?”
“We can protect him.” She shrugged. “We’ve had this discussion already. The reasons are the same as they were in Kerit. Dave is already proving helpful to me. I can have him shadow meetings when I want to get other things done. He’s eager. Emerian and Trevan are his friends, and he should get to live with them. Luykas doesn’t want Emerian running around on his own, anyway. If we throw those two into barracks, they’re going to get killed, understandably and regretfully. We can easily avoid it, so we’re going to.”
“I just thought…”
Bryn had hoped the Elvasi would decide to get on a ship for Olost and still hoped the Elvasi would change his mind and leave, realizing he didn’t belong here. He had hoped, at some point, he would get some space from the purebred, pointed-ear bastard. Bryn didn’t trust him, didn’t want him around, didn’t care about his safety.
“How is he goin’ to help the rebellion?” Bryn asked, crossing his arms. Sure enough, he saw the Elvasi come out of the cart’s covered back, carrying a rucksack. “He can’t fly, can’t fight with us.”
“I thought he would be a good source of information on the Elvasi, and he’s probably going to be Dave’s guard. Emerian is going to get training by Luykas, I think. He’ll stick close to the Company to keep him safe. He looks too Elvasi.”
“Yer saying we’re goin’ to let the Elvasi go into the same meetins’ as Dave? That would make him privy to information—”
“I trust him,” she snapped. He knew he was going to annoy her eventually, but he couldn’t resist the urge to tell her how he felt about this.
“Ya haven’t spoken ten words to him,” Bryn growled, pissed off by her declaration of trust for their enemy. She leaned back from him, her eyes narrowing. “Don’t say I’m wrong. Ya know I’m not. The entire trip here, ya talked to Dave. In Kerit, ya talked to Dave. Ya exchanged pleasantries with Emerian. Ya haven’t spoken a single word to that Elvasi, so ya don’t tell me if ya trust him or not.”
“Go inside,” she ordered softly. “We’ll talk about this later.”
“There’s nothin’ to talk about. He’s here, and I’m goin’ to have to get over it.” When she didn’t respond, he growled softly. “Aye?”
She turned, so her body was parallel to his, her chin going up and their eyes meeting. She was angry with him now.
“You don’t have to ‘get over’ anything, but I don’t see why I’m being treated like I’ve somehow betrayed our people by helping him—”
“He’s Elvasi—”
“He saved my life,” she snarled, and Bryn couldn’t stop the instinctive need to step back to the cliffside to put space between them. “He put his life on the line. He gave himself over to death for my escape. For Matesh and Rain. He did that.” She poked his chest, growling, stepping into the space he had tried to create. Even though she was a female, Mave knew how to take up space and be imposing. Bryn silently prayed he hadn’t pissed her off enough to draw a sword. “She didn’t kill him, though. She put him in my place—alone with Andinna, who were fine throwing aside generations of culture and sanity to ease their own souls by taking out their anger on everyone around them, including me, especially me, the Andinna he helped free.”
“I know,” he said softly, looking down, breaking eye contact before he accidentally challenged her. Not that it was hard to do. Looking down was natural when a female reminded her male who was in charge. He liked that she was in charge, that she was standing her ground with his bad mood without getting violent. It was one of the many reasons he thought she was perfect. “I didn’t mean to get agitated with ya. He makes me uncomfortable.”
A hand caressed his cheek.
“I will never let him or anyone else hurt you again,” she whispered. He felt lips brush against his cheek. They eased him just a little, both her kiss and her words, calming him for now. They didn’t make him less paranoid as his eyes flicked over and saw the little, strange group unload their cart. He would keep watching them. He didn’t know another way of living—watch, wait, be ready to strike in the darkness when he had the advantage.
“Bryn, go inside,” she ordered again, this time, less angry. “I’m going to go talk to them.”
“I was thinkin’ I would find my scouts and get started on more trainin’.” He looked up again, checking the sky. They had come in at midday, and it was already dimming, the sunset lighting their world in an array of reds, oranges, and pinks. “Night trainin’ for the scouts is better, and I want to see if the ones I started before Kerit have been honin’ their skills for my return.”
“Are you sure you do
n’t want a night off?” she asked, frowning. “We just got home…” Her hand dropped from his cheek and went to his chest and began to trail down. He gave a pained and satisfied growl as her fingers hooked into the top of his breeches.
Can’t ever tell mah female no, can I?
“I’ll take one night off,” he promised. “But I think we all need a long dip in our hot spring after the trip.”
“Agreed.” She released him and patted his chest. “Go inside and help them unpack. I’m going to talk to Dave about our new schedule since we’re back in the village.”
“Aye.” He ducked through their front door before any more could be said. As he walked inside, he kicked a trunk and groaned, wondering who decided to leave one there. Zayden came around the corner and sighed.
“Sorry,” the male mumbled, reaching down to pick it up.
“It’s okay,” Bryn said with a shrug. “It happens.” Bryn nearly reached out to help the grouchy male but thought better of it, watching him carefully as he carried it down the entryway and through the main room. Bryn noticed something with a pleasant surprise. “Yer walkin’ better. Seems like yer balance is comin’ back to ya.”
“Thanks,” Zayden grunted before disappearing into his side of their house.
“He does, doesn’t he?” Mat said, walking up beside him. “Mave trains with him every morning, but he won’t talk to me about it.”
“Really?” Bryn frowned. “He’s yer oldest friend.”
“Yeah, but I know he’s had some embarrassing spills while training with her. She doesn’t go easy on people. She pushes training to the limits, and I don’t think she’s slowing down for him.”
“Well, it’s helpin’ him, so…” Bryn shrugged again. “When do we think he’ll be able to fly again? I know it’s killing him.”
“Again, he won’t talk to me. I know this hit him hard, but he’s been silent with me since it happened. I can tell something is bugging him, but who knows what. He’ll open up eventually, but it’s generally better to let him ride these moods out.”
The Enemy's Triumph Page 17