A quiet chuckle left Dorian as he continued to rub his face. "Was it, though?"
She shoved him, and Dorian openly laughed.
"Don't worry, sister. Your secrets are safe with me."
"You're one to talk. I do wonder how it is you ended up here without him."
"What—you think I would have taken him at the end of this bed with you sound asleep at the top of it?"
"Yes," she said without hesitation. "Wouldn't be the first time."
"Perhaps he wasn't keen on a drunk man fucking him and rather wanted to go sink his cock into one of these beautiful Venari women instead."
Nyssa almost laughed. "Sounds like you're jealous."
Dorian's nostrils flared, and she smirked at her brother when he mumbled, "Not hardly," and covered his face in his hands again.
Nyssa melted onto the mattress and stared at the sky again. It was the first morning since it had happened that she woke up without that initial feeling of dread in her bones—even despite the nightmare she'd jolted out of.
She'd not heard a single utter from the Noctuans the night before with the potion swimming through her, and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to thank Bala for such a luxury.
“What are we supposed to do, Nys?” Dorian asked softly.
"I'm sure whatever it is is not what you did last night," she joked.
He nudged her sideways again and shook his head. “I’m serious,” he said. “What do we do?”
Nyssa exhaled audibly, deliberating their decision in her head as he was. “Probably go to the Umber," she said, though the notion made her stomach flutter. "Make sure Nadir doesn’t hate us.”
“The mountains after,” Dorian suggested. “I can’t imagine they’re in a giving mood now that the High Elder’s best friend has been murdered.”
“Oh, good, you’re smart enough to already know where you’re going,” came Bala’s voice as she greeted them on the roof.
Nyssa and Dorian exchanged a frown, and together they sat up.
“Come again?” Dorian asked.
Bala paused at the end of the bed, arms crossed over her chest as her gaze washed between the pair. “I have something to tell you both.”
Nyssa sat up on her knees, concerned with the look on Bala's face. “Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Not really. No,” Bala admitted.
The way Bala avoided their eyes and sat sideways on the end of the bed made Nyssa’s heart slow. She was hesitating, and Nyssa wasn't sure she liked it.
“Bala?”
“Both of you have to leave,” Bala said.
“Kicking us out so soon?” Dorian mocked. “Here, I thought you enjoyed our company.”
"I do, Prince," Bala said. "That's why this is so hard to say to you both."
“Where are you sending us?” Nyssa asked.
“Nadir will be here in a few hours. I want you—” she nodded at Nyssa “—to accompany him back to the Umber. Stay there. Help him deter the ships and possibly negotiate some sort of ceasefire with Man if it is possible.”
Nyssa's heart skipped at what Bala wanted her to do, but she didn't have time to explore the feeling.
