This, though... This was new. This was different. She'd seen looks from Lex to Bala during the week Bala had stayed at Magnice for the Gathering, but as it had been Lex, she'd dismissed it. She wished she'd paid a little more attention to them.
“I feel like we should talk about this,” Dorian muttered to Nyssa.
Whispered words were spoken between Bala and Lex, and Lex hugged Bala tightly.
“We definitely missed something,” Dorian added.
“We?” Nyssa repeated, holding onto his arm to steady herself as the forest wavered around her. “You’re the gossip king. How did you not know about this?”
“I can’t keep track of—”
“It’s really none of your business,” Bala said when she faced them again.
A crooked smirk lifted Dorian's lips. “You know what would be my business—Ow!”
Lex smacked the side of his head.
Bala and Nyssa exchanged a quiet laugh, and then Bala’s gaze went to the silent Fire Second standing by the horses. Her gaze narrowed, and she hugged her arms over her chest.
“Who’s this?” she asked Nyssa.
“This is Corbin,” Nyssa told her. “Dorian’s Second. You weren’t introduced at the Gathering?”
Corbin stepped forward, holding out his hand to Bala. Bala eyed him as she hesitantly took it.
“Can’t say that we officially met, no,” she said. “You’re a little quiet to be handling these three.”
“We’re trying to break him in,” Dorian chimed in. “In more ways than one,” he added with a wink at his Second.
Bala’s expression faltered, and she looked back to Corbin. “Oh, you poor thing,” she mocked. “You know there is room for another in my company if you’d like to join my ranks instead of trying to handle this little shit.”
“S’not what you said last you were at the castle,” Dorian muttered in a breath. “And where’s my kiss? I believe I earned one after that night.”
Her head tilted playfully in his direction. “Keep it up. I have a lot more violent things I can use to tie you up with here.”
“The first promises from our Venari King,” Dorian grinned, nudging Nyssa's side. “You know, Corbin might enjoy that.”
And Nyssa didn't miss the lift of Corbin's chin at Dorian's suggestion.
She swore she even saw his lip twitch.
Bala turned to Corbin again. “I actually have a spot open for a new Second if you’d like that. I’m in need of one. Bael is trying to earn the position, but if you want it—”
“Don’t try to take my guard,” Dorian interjected.
“Scared he’ll leave you, Prince?” Bala teased.
Dorian’s weight shifted, and he hugged his arms over his chest, smile fading into a glare. “Yes, actually,” he admitted.
The first genuine smile Nyssa had ever seen on Corbin spread across his face, stretching over his dark skin, full lips curling at the corners. The short twists of thick black hair on his head bounced when he let out a soft chuckle.
“Now we’re having fun,” he mused in a deep raspy voice she was sure he saved for later times.
Nyssa bit her lips together to stifle the bemusement of her brother’s Second now with power over him.
Dorian shifted on his feet again, eyes cutting crudely at Corbin before looking to Bala once more. “Tell me, Bala, do you have somewhere we can all go to scream at the winds?”
“What—you don’t like this clearing?”
