“Ah, that’s the best word for her,” Bala mused. “Charming.Actually doesn’t surprise me that she’s been enslaved but a few weeks, and already she’s basically the Noble’s hand.”
“Aydra didn’t know her sister as well as she thought,” Lex said. “It wasn’t her fault. Nyssa was always scared of disappointing her. Sometimes she would shut her out, let Aydra believe she was a shy little teenager. But the reality is, Nyssa is—”
“Fucking wild,” Bala interjected, taking a long inhale of her pipe.
Lex chuckled fondly under her breath, and Bala passed the pipe to her. “So, what are you going to do about it when she’s back in your arms?” Lex asked Nadir.
“Give her time to find herself again.”
Lex and Bala met each other’s awed pout, and then Lex smacked him on the back of the head.
“Ow!”
“That’s not the right answer.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“Be bold, Nadir. Take your Queen with style and ferocity,” Lex said with a wink.
He huffed under his breath at her remark, and he sighed into the darkness. “She’s just been enslaved and on her own for weeks. You want me to push her to the ground and fuck her senseless her first day home?”
Lex and Bala looked at each other again.
“Yes,” Bala said.
“Oh, please do,” Lex begged.
Nadir chuckled at them. “You two are horrible influences.”
“We’re the best,” Lex affirmed in a breath, leaning her chair back on two legs.
“Venari King and Second Sun,” Bala mused. "Do you think there will be songs written of us one day?"
"Valiant and preposterous ones, for sure," Lex grinned.
Bala huffed amusedly with the exhale of her herb. Nadir caught her eye and shook his head.
"I expect you to sing them considering you'll be here much longer than the rest of us, Mr. Immortality," she mocked at him.
Nadir smiled between the pair. "I'll write them myself," he promised. "Lex can help me sing them," he added.
"That’s right," Bala said, glancing to Lex. "Sometimes I forget you're a Belwark. Ageless and made of fire."
Lex's gaze darkened and a crooked smile slipped onto her lips. "Do you need me to remind you?"
Bala met her gaze. Lex extended the pipe to her just as Nadir cleared his throat and stood.
"Yeah, I'll just—“ he pointed behind him, clearing his throat again, “—I’ll be going," he winked at Bala. "You two have fun."
Bala hardly lost her gaze with Lex, eyes pouring over the attire Lex wore once more. Lex ran her long fingers through her now shaggy blonde hair and wisps of it fell over her eyes.
"I think I like this look on you," Bala finally said.
"What look?"
"RelaxedLex," Bala said. "As much as I loved that winged shoulder armor, this look is..." Her gaze traveled over Lex again, noting the way the pants hugged her muscular thighs and gripped at her backside.
"More casual?" Lex suggested.
