The Mercenary's Bounty

by Kristen Banet

  “I’m…not worried,” she said finally. “About it not working - that’s not what I worried about. I was worried he would say no.”

  He didn’t say anything in return, just taking her hand. When they reached the front of her home, they climbed the thirty feet of stairs to the door and she unlocked it.

  Together, they walked in. She kicked off her boots, realizing she could do that since it was hers. This was the place where she could be whatever she wanted, do whatever she wanted.

  Home.

  And she had the immense treasure of being able to share with others. Not just Mat and Bryn, but all of the Company. She could have friends over. She could have them all in her living room like she had seen them at Alchan’s. Relaxed, talking about things.

  She took off her armor and went into the bedroom, dropping it carelessly on the floor. The bedroom was huge, the same size as the ‘main’ room. On the floor was a pile of things, much like she’d seen on the ship in her cabin with Mat. Their bed. Furs mostly, with pillows and quilts added.

  “Senri must have added some things for us. The furs are all mine, everything I’ve used over the years. They’re yours now, forever, since you’re never getting rid of me.” Mat came up behind her, his arms wrapping around her waist. “We can enjoy it before Bryn gets here. He’ll probably have stuff to add as well, but that should wait until tomorrow.”

  Her stomach growled. “No, I think I’ll wait for food,” she decided, chuckling. “Why does his stuff wait until tomorrow?”

  “Because I bet he doesn’t want to haul it around tonight along with getting dinner here.” Mat chuckled, kissing her neck.

  44

  Zayden

  Zayden sat slowly down at the long table, holding his mead close to him.

  “I hurt. Everything hurts. I’m so done with traveling around.” He was bitching, but there was no heat to it. He was tired and glad to be home. He was glad that the one person sitting next to him was his son, who seemed lighter than he had in the time before they left. There were still shadows in his boy’s eyes, which worried him, but his son was beside him again. That meant the world to him.

  “I wanted to be back out there the moment you all left,” Rain said, chuckling. “Seriously, patrolling was awful. And everyone kept wanting to ask me about Mave and Elliar, which I really didn’t want to talk about. Nothing was normal like it used to be. I like being with the Company.”

  He listened patiently, understanding his son’s point. “Next time, you’ll come back out with us. And we’re back now. Hang out with the family. Forget the kids.” Zayden said kids, meaning the young males his son normally spent time with before he joined the Ivory Shadows. He hoped his words were heard. He meant them. He had hated when Rain joined, going to Luykas to make it happen instead of talking to him. He’d agreed in the end, knowing he couldn’t really say no. He had no power over Rain, not really. His boy was an adult, as much as that sucked.

  But being on the mission without his son had been as bad, probably worse, than having Rain with them. He could also see his son was growing up, which was something he was fighting.

  “Thanks, bodra. I’m glad to hear that.” Rain leaned into him, elbowing lightly. The most affection he was going to get now that the hugs were out of the way. He would have to deal.

  “What were you doing out on patrol today and how did you end up on our road home?” He was curious. He wanted his son to keep talking to him. He would talk about why the moon was red or the stars were white if he had to. Anything.

  “Well, Senri put me in charge of them since they’re the biggest slackers of the patrols. She knew I was going to talk to Alchan when you all got back and wanted to show she was willing to let the Company make changes, as long as she agreed with them.” Rain gave him a sheepish smile. “So, to get them into shape, we patrolled that road every other day and night.”

  “Looking out for us?”

  “Yeah.” Rain looked down, using his spoon to push his food around, a habit Zayden knew he gave his son. Summer had hated when they played around with the food. “Speaking of Alchan…” Rain sighed. “I need to talk to him.”

  “You do. Go now, then come back to me.” Zayden wanted to catch Alchan later as well, to make sure his boy wasn’t going to get a punishment too hard. He knew he should trust their leaders, especially their King, but it was his son. He would take the punishment for Rain if he needed to, if he was allowed to.

  Rain jumped up and walked across the rowdy building. He watched his son’s every move as he went to Luykas and Alchan, sitting with Jesvena. Alchan said something quickly and shook hands with Rain. Luykas hugged him. Zayden smiled a little at how Jesvena looked insulted to suddenly be ignored in favor of his son. Company, no matter who, was more important than the rest.

  It looked like it went well, as Rain was casually dismissed and came back.

  “I have to see him tomorrow at dawn. For both my report on the patrols and my punishment.”

  “He didn’t seem too mad, but just remember to be respectful of him while in his home. It’s the one place he won’t tolerate a challenge. He’s possessive over his space.” He’d only ever seen two people challenge Alchan in his home and not get put into the stone floor for it. Luykas, because he was family, and Mave, who probably didn’t know any different. Her getting away with it meant the Company dynamics were going to keep changing more than they already had. It meant he respected her, even while they disliked each other.

  It meant Mave was above him or Mat in the eyes of the King. Above Rain. It made sense, considering she was such a dominant female.

  “Hey Bryn!” Rain called out suddenly. “Come sit with us!”

  Zayden followed his son’s gaze and saw the rogue holding a large basket with a piece of fabric over it.

  “Ah, I can’t.” Bryn walked over, turning red and Zayden frowned. “I’m going to have dinner with Mave and Matesh.”

  “Oohhh.” Zayden waved him on. “Good luck with that.”

  “Wait. Are you…” Rain’s jaw dropped. “Good for you! And her. Be nice to my sister, Bryn.”

  “Ah, we haven’t talked yet, but um…” Bryn put the basket down and held out a hand to his son. “If all goes well, I’ll be honored to join the mayara.”

  “I’m not official, and you know it,” Rain replied, chuckling. “I am her brother. I’m honored to have you. Be happy and be blessed by the Skies.”

  Zayden felt a wave of pride. Brothers weren’t official, but they were treated like they were. If a female had no one, she probably had a father and brothers. Mave didn’t even have those, really. But she had Rain, and he quickly realized just how big of a male his son had to be to offer that familial relationship to a female who had no one and nothing when they met.

  His son truly was growing up before his eyes, even keeping dark secrets. Ones he knew would come back up. He had no hope that the ease of tonight would last. Rain was probably just too happy to see the Company home.

  When Bryn walked off, to cheers from Nevyn and Kian across the building, Rain sat back down.

  “That was good of you.” Zayden wanted to make sure his son knew how proud he was. “She’s blessed to have you, Rain.”

  “I just wish you and her would start getting along,” Rain admitted softly, a smile still on his face. “How’s that going?”

  He winced. “I was an ass to her on the road and ignored everyone. I was carving.”

  “Bodra…” Rain groaned. “Please. I’m sure you two can find common ground. Try for me. I know you’ll never see her as a daughter, but…like just family would work? Just a friend, even?”

  “I’ll try for friends. I’ve been a bad one recently to Mat, actually. I’m going to spend the winter trying to fix things.” He knew he needed to. He should have seen Mat before this, talked about his new coming life as a taken man. That was something he was supposed to share with his best friend, something they could relate about now. He once had Summer, and his friend now had Mave.
r />   And yet, he’d blown his friend off again, even when he promised he would try to fix himself back in Namur.

  “It’s okay, bodra. We all know you have issues. Mat will welcome you back with open arms.” Rain began to laugh as Zayden tried to smack him for that.

  They laughed and talked for most of the evening, until his son was barely on his feet.

  “Go. You have to be up early.”

  “It’s good to have you home,” his son said one more time, a little drunk and leaning on him. Most of the Company was drunk at this point. Nevyn and Kian were singing at the top of their lungs down the table, Varon clapping politely whenever they finished a bawdy song. Alchan and Luykas were even laughing.

  “Go, Rain.” Zayden pushed him. His son was a lightweight, and nothing would ever change that.

  Rain stumbled out, but he had faith his kid would get home just fine. They weren’t too high up and Rain wasn’t drunk enough to be grounded. Nevyn and Kian were getting there, but Senri would walk in at any moment and help Varon bring those two to heel.

  Zayden wanted to do one more thing before heading after his son.

  He approached Alchan slowly, waiting for permission to interrupt. It wasn’t something they did normally, but he wanted his bosses to know it was professional.

  Alchan looked up and sighed. “Come here, Zayden. Let’s hear it.”

  “Rain.” He didn’t need to say much else.

  “Don’t worry.” Alchan gave him a somewhat drunk, lopsided smile. “He’s a good young male who got wrapped up in protecting his adopted sister. Since he’s a bedin, he’ll never have another female, unless something extraordinary happens. I know how important that is. He’s also a first-time offender. No need to worry. Have a drink with us. You’ve been a piece of shit recently.”

  Zayden laughed now, sitting down with them.

  “You know, I’m actually glad you came here instead of moping more,” Luykas added. “Now let’s drink and forget work for the rest of the fucking night.”

  Zayden lifted his glass to that. Nevyn, Kian, and Varon joined with them after a few moments. Then Leshaun came, had a drink and relaxed, listening to the tale of their mission.

  It felt good. It felt like they were going to make it through whatever strange changes their family was going through. Like he was going to survive them and still have a family.

  45

  Mave

  Time ticked by and her nerves were making her worse. She paced around the main room while Mat set up their dining area for company.

  “Please sit down, ilanra.” He was losing patience with her.

  “I’ve never felt this.” She didn’t know how to sit still. It was reminiscent of the first time she took Rain and Mat to her private room in the pits but worse.

  “You hate dealing with others, and it’s your biggest weakness. I know it. You know it. Bryn knows it, and I promise, he’s nervous too. There’s nothing you can do to stop what’s about to happen. Just accept it’s going to. We’ll have dinner. We’ll talk. We need to set some family rules, small things like chores. Easy stuff will help tackle the bigger things.”

  “Does this ever get easier?”

  “No idea. It was never a problem for me. You should ask Zayden or Alchan, maybe even Luykas. They all need to work a bit harder than most to fit in and handle other Andinna.” Mat put the last spoon down and walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her and held her for a moment. “You and he have feelings for each other. It’s probably not love, but something is there. You’re attracted to each other. There’s no reason for this not to work, not to try. There’s no reason to be nervous. If he was going to say no, he would have. He would have never kissed you. This is all set. You have no reason to be nervous.”

  “Why does he need to be nervous?” The intent of Mat’s words was clear.

  “He might have things he needs in a relationship you don’t agree to. You can always turn him away.”

  “He can always turn me down too, though.”

  “That’s not how this works. If he turns back now, he’ll never get another chance.”

  “Why not?” She had a feeling she would give him a hundred chances to come back. It would hurt if Bryn turned away now, but she wasn’t sure she could reject him in the future if he did.

  “Because I would never let him,” he whispered in her ear. “See, there’s things we males do. We protect our female behind her back. If he turns you away now, I have no reason to ever trust him with you. While you aren’t watching, I would make his life hell if he came sniffing around again. I would be well within my rights to, because he hurt you. I don’t need to let him try again. It’s Bryn, though. I don’t think we need to worry about any of that.”

  They stood there for a moment and she let that sink in. There was protective and there was overprotective. She wasn’t used to being protected at all.

  “We might need to talk about toning that down,” she said, realizing he was dead serious. “I mean, something could be my fault-”

  “We’ll deal with things like that as they come.” He pulled away, smirking as if he knew in the long run, he would be right. She narrowed her eyes at his back as he walked back into the dining area.

  “Fine.” She wasn’t going to get into it tonight, not after that.

  There was a knock on the door and her mouth went dry.

  “Go,” he urged softly, nodding towards the door.

  She took a deep breath and went, opening the door before she could chicken out. Bryn stood there in the dark holding a large basket, the food covered with a small blanket.

  “Hey,” she said, leaning on the wall.

  “Hey. May I come in?”

  She pulled the door open further and held it for him. She felt awkward, but the moment she had the door closed, Bryn turned on her, holding the basket out of the way.

  Her back hit the wall as he pushed into her, their mouths clashing together. She ran her hands over his chest, up to his shoulders, and around his neck. His free hand grabbed her hip and she moaned as he broke away, kissing her jawline and leaning to kiss down her neck.

  “Let me have that,” Mat’s voice cut in softly. Her head was turned the wrong way to see him. Suddenly, she had both of Bryn’s hands on her.

  “Bryn…” She hadn’t realized this was how it was going to go.

  “I gave ya the coin and I was wrong,” he murmured, peppering kisses back up to her neck between the words until he was back at her lips. “Not one. Worth more. So much more.”

  She melted, her nerves gone.

  “Let’s have dinner,” she said against his lips. He gave her that roguish smile and pulled away, grabbing her hand.

  She led him to their dining area. Mat was already putting food on plates, that fucking arrogant smile on his lips.

  “Welcome, Brynec.” He reached out after putting a bowl down. He and Bryn clasped each other’s arms by the elbow. Then they pulled into each other, their free arms allowing them to hug. “Welcome.”

  “Ya could have turned me away,” Bryn whispered. She could only hear because of how close she was. Could Mat have sent him back? Told him no behind her back? She really needed to catch up on what was and what wasn’t acceptable for all of them, all of this. She didn’t think Mat was lying to her, but maybe stretching the truth.

  “I can’t do that to you.” Mat pulled away. “Thanks for bringing home dinner. Now, let’s eat and get some damned sleep.”

  Mave smiled as the two males finished setting out the food. She just watched them, as they worked around each other like they had in the warehouse. Had they been talking behind her back? The thought crossed her mind.

  It was Bryn who grabbed her and forced her to sit down at the head of the table. They each took a side. She felt Bryn kick off his boots under the table.

  “Tell me those will go by the door later,” Mat said casually, grinning. He put a bowl of soup in front of her.

  “Aye. Just got distracted coming in.” Bryn added
a small plate with a sandwich to what Mat had given her. “Is that her rule or yours?”

  She was quickly realizing they didn’t find anything weird about this.

  “Mine. Leshaun and my parents were sticklers about it.”

  “Aye. Male rule. Okay. I’m guessing none of the rules are really set though, right?”

  “Since we just got here, you’re right. I figured we could do it together.”

  She was never going to get a word in if this kept up. Leaning back in her seat, she began to eat, knowing she didn’t really care to. Male rules. So there would be things just between her mayara, private rules they kept.

  “How about we put it off for the night?” she finally said as they went off about chores, who would do what and when. “Tomorrow, we can worry about it.”

  Bryn smiled. “I was wondering when ya would get tired of it.”

  She chuckled, but didn’t voice her mind. I’m not tired of it. I just want to have a quiet night. They’ve made it so easy for this to be normal.

  In mostly silence, they ate together. She remembered something from earlier and decided to ask.

  “What’s your last name, Bryn?”

  “Lorren.”

  She nearly dropped her spoon and looked up. “What?”

  “I’m in yer mayara, right? My last name is Lorren. I’ll take yers. Mat, you hadn’t…”

  “I hadn’t yet told her that,” Mat said, sighing. He looked at her, guilty. “So much to tell you…Sorry, ilanra. We males tend to take your last name while we’re with you. It’s a not-so-subtle claim. If this ever ends, we just go back to using our birth names.”

  “Ah. But Bryn…what was your last name then?” Of course she wanted him in her mayara. She wanted to see where it went, to try this new thing. To have this family. That wasn’t even a question.

  “Doesn’t matter,” he countered, grinning. “Right now, it’s Lorren.”

  She smiled. That was a gesture she hadn’t realized would touch her.