It didn’t make much of a difference to me either way, to be honest. I had kept Lykaon from Kallisto, and Chryseis was no threat to me or my happiness at all. “You exiled them?”
“I asked them politely,” he said defensively.
I supposed it was better for Xander to have Pelias gone. He had been working with Erisa and was supremely untrustworthy. The council needed a better archon than him. “When you asked politely, did you say ‘please’?”
He leaned in and nipped at my neck. “You’re the only person I say ‘please’ to.”
My breathing hitched, which he noticed. “Later,” he promised.
We danced and celebrated until I felt a bit dizzy. I went out onto the patio to get some fresh air and came across Demaratus.
Who was drinking from a wineskin. “Is that Daemonian, or did you have to settle for the vastly superior Ilion wine?” I teased.
“I don’t need to be clearheaded for this,” he said, nodding toward the party. He hated this sort of thing.
“Why did you come?”
He jerked his head toward the hall and I saw Antiope there, talking to Zalira and Ahyana.
“Oh,” I said knowingly.
“I asked her to come to Locris with me and she accepted.” He was trying to hide it, but I could hear how pleased that made him.
“You did?”
He nodded. “I offered to stay here with her in Ilion, but she said there were too many shades, too many bad memories. She wants to start over.”
“Are you going to marry her?”
“I get the feeling that I’m going to have to wait a long time before that happens, but I’m willing to do so. I’ve never met a woman like her before. She doesn’t even care that I’ve been dishonored.”
Because to any rational person, Demaratus had been brave and heroic in protecting his best friend in battle, and Daemonians had strange rules about honor.
Xander found us. “There you are. Come and dance with me, wife.”
And despite the fact that dancing had just made me feel dizzy, I rushed back into his arms. As we danced he pulled me in close and said, “We should go upstairs.”
“We are celebrating our dear friends and family,” I reminded him with a laugh.
“Yes, but we need a redo of our wedding night.”
“It’s not our wedding night.”
“But it isawedding night,” he pointed out.
“Excellent point,” I said. He took me by the hand and we hurried out of the dining hall.
We were both laughing and kissing and stumbling around as we went up the stairs, so focused on one another.
Until Xander accidentally ran into someone on the landing and I turned to see Io and Suri.
Kissing.
Chapter Sixty-Seven
They both blushed when they saw us. I grinned and decided not to tease them, even though I really wanted to.
My husband did not share in my sentiment. “The celibacy vow gets revoked, and what does my little sister do?”
