The noise of Dorian’s voice brought her back to her current reality.
Nyssa blinked, breath coming back to her.
"Nys?" Dorian called again. "You okay?"
Nyssa gripped the banister and turned to find her brother coming up the stairs. "Yeah," she managed. "Yeah. I'm fine. Something wrong?"
"Bala asked for you," he informed her. "You sure you're okay?"
"Yeah," she repeated as she pushed her boots on. She didn't know how to explain what had just happened to her, so she chose to keep it to herself.
Dorian walked her downstairs, but he did not join her to the armory where Bala was. He told her she was talking to Nadir, straightening out details, and that Bala had wanted Nyssa to help them with something. Bala had been vague, and Nyssa knew why.
Bala didn't want Dorian interjecting himself into whatever it was Nadir needed help with.
Raised voices sounded inside as she approached, and she paused on the other side of the door to listen.
“—want me to take her back with me?” Nadir was arguing. “I don’t have time to look after her. I have my own people to look after, or did you forget I’ve strangers on my shores building themselves a village in the west?”
“No one is asking you to look after her,” Bala countered. “And she can help you. She’s versed in negotiations. Aydra was meant to bring her along the next time you all went to meet the strangers.”
“Who’s brilliant idea was that?” he muttered.
“Dorian’s.”
“Yeah, like he’s much of a savior.”
“Draven trusted him.”
Her words stalemated the room, and Nadir stopped moving. His jaw tightened, nostrils flared. Bala crossed her arms over her chest.
“Draven trusted Dorian. So I trust Dorian,” Bala continued. “If that means trusting Nyssari to try and negotiate with these people, then that’s what we must do. You know she will see things that you have not, especially when you go to their camp. We do not have the men or power to continue to push at them. We have to find a middle ground. You know this, Nadir. You've known this for weeks now.” Bala paused a moment to stare at Nadir’s pacing figure. “I thought you liked her.”
“Idolike her—that’s part of the problem,” Nadir said, hands threaded behind his neck. “She’ll be a distraction. I’ll constantly be worrying whether she’s okay or not. I don’t have time for that—”
"If you think for a minute that she’ll be flouncing around you in frilly dresses desperate for your attention, then you don’t know her at all.” Bala pushed off the table and rounded in front of him. “Her sister was just burned alive in front of her. The first thing on her mind is not how pretty you think you are or how charming your smile might be."
"I'm not worried about her being distracted," Nadir snapped. "Once she's settled, I'm sure she'll do the job fine. Probably tell me to go fuck myself in the process. That’s not my concern. I'm worried aboutme," he admitted.
“Then handle your distraction,” Bala snapped. “That is your problem, not hers. Do you think you can keep your dick in your pants long enough for us to take care of our realms? Or should I send a guard of Venari with her to make sure she stays focused?”
Nadir glared at her for a long enough moment that Nyssa had to force breath into her lungs from the still silence.
“Fuck you, Bala.”
A quirk of a smile rose at the corner of Bala’s lips. “You can come in, Nys,” she called out.
Nyssa’s heart skipped. She didn’t realize Bala knew she was there.
Fucking Venari wind.
Bala had heard her footsteps on it.
Nyssa stepped inside. Her stomach knotted at the sight of Nadir’s rapt stare, bewildered and obviously flustered that she had been outside. But his gaze traveled predatorily over her nonetheless, and her breath snagged in her throat.
"Hello, Commander," she said firmly, arms wrapping over her chest, back straightening and chin lifting as if she could make herself taller.
For a long moment, he didn’t speak. And she knew why.
