"Nothing you have said changes my statement," Reverie told her. "Watching you in that room today was the closest thing I've ever seen to an actual leader. Your presence... I've never seen anyone command a room like that."
"You don't have to be the largest in the room to command it," Nadir said as he stepped across the sand to them. He smiled at Nyssa as he reached her. "You just have to make them believe you are."
Nyssa's heart skipped at the sight of him, dirt on his snug shirt, linen pants billowing in the wind. He made a mocking grunt as he pretended to exhaust to the ground, but ended up sitting behind Nyssa, leaning sideways on the log.
"What are we talking about?" Nadir asked.
Nyssa shifted, unable to keep the small smile from her face at him relaxing behind her. So much so that she hardly heard what he said. Entranced by his nonchalance and the way he looked at her.
She wanted to sprint across that fucking beach.
"I was just telling her I need my sword to offer her," Reverie said.
"Join the club," he replied, picking at the string he found on his sleeve. "The only sword she's taken has been Lex's. She won't even take mine."
"Because I am not a Queen," she argued. "You're the Commander and leader of these people. To take your sword would mean to take the loyalty of all the Honest."
"You have their loyalty."
"Maybe, but I will not force anything upon them," she argued. "I want it to be their choice."
Nadir sighed, and she knew that sigh. She knew he was biting back all the things he meant to say to her about how she could take that loyalty if she wanted it.
But instead of saying it, he merely grasped her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Are you feeling better about earlier?" he asked.
A jagged breath left her as she thought back to seeing Gail again at that meeting. "A little," she managed. "Seeing him again... It just brought back that fear from when the Infi appeared in his place."
"Do you want me to kill him?" he asked, and she smiled.
"Unfortunately, it sounds like we need him," she grunted.
"Dammit," he said under his breath.
She eyed him. "You really hate him, don't you?"
"He used to counter Draven's every suggestion and order."
"Perhaps he and Soli should have mated," she muttered.
He huffed. "They are fully aware of each other."
And the way he said it made her eyes narrow. "That's not terrifying at all," she balked.
"It's exactly what you think," he grumbled. "Probably tending to each other right now."
Her heart knotted at the thought of whatever scheme those two could come up with together. But he rubbed her back, and she met his eyes, and she was reminded of the way he'd railed into Gail's face earlier.
"You know, that was pretty sexy today," she dared to tell him.
"What was?" he frowned.
"Your going full Commander on Gail," she said.
Nadir chuckled under his breath. "Princess, if I'd known you liked violence, I'd have started punching people a long time ago instead of spending my time reading your filthy sonnets."
"Here, I thought you liked the sonnets," she mocked.
"I do," he sighed. "I like them a lot more than I should. But I also enjoy fighting, so maybe we can come up with a way to combine the two."
