We ride to the stables and secure our horses before heading to the Hub. Nothing has changed. Dust still kicks up from the dirt streets, caking the wooden buildings and soldiers in a thin grimy layer. Everyone still wears brown leather trousers and cream tunics. The pins on their jackets display their rank, with the officers wearing olive-green and the enlisted soldiers in tan. I stand out like a bright beacon with my crimson jacket embellished with the Lucent crest and a crown over my breast.
We round the corner to the Hub, and a small welcome committee waits on the front steps of the multi-level building. Greer stands front and center, flanked by her two most trusted officers.
“Your Grace,” she says with a stoic tone as she bows, and the rest of the group follows her lead.
I roll my eyes and motion for them to rise. “That won’t be necessary. Let’s not bother with the formalities going forward, shall we?”
Ulric bounds down the steps, his pale bald head and bright red beard gleaming with the sun. A toothy grin takes up most of his slender freckled face, and his blue eyes glint with playful mischief. “It’s good to see ya, nanny goat,” he says in a deep voice with a country brogue.
He spins me around, and I catch the disapproval on Zek’s face. My guard doesn’t take kindly to those he’s unfamiliar with laying hands on me. Ifwe were walking the streets outside the palace, he would have reprimanded a citizen who handled me in such a way. But Ulric is practically family.
I laugh and hug my friend. “I’ve missed you too.”
He sets me down, and Terro takes his place, pulling me into his strong arms. The braids that brush his shoulders tickle my nose as I relax into the comforting embrace. “It feels like ages, Elle.”
I pull back and take in the sight of him. Terro’s bright brown eyes and his round umber cheeks make him look younger than he is. It was his wide smile that put me at ease during my first day at Basecamp.
“I agree. Let’s not wait so long again,” I say, giving him a final squeeze before turning to the rest of the officers. I shake everyone’s hands, offering them a moment of my undivided attention and finishing with Greer.
She has always been a force to be reckoned with, but she’s even more so with the general signet pinned to her jacket. She has stepped into her new powerful position with a grace and strength that only a woman can display. I aspire to be like her one day.
Greer dismisses the other officers and leads the way inside with Terro, Ulric, and Zek at our heels. Those working the communication desks lining the front of the main building rise and bow as we pass. I acknowledge the soldiers with a nod, and we make our way to the hallway in the back that leads to the offices on the level below.
“Your belongings, along with an exceptionally large bed, were delivered yesterday. I had your father’s quarters cleared out and everything set up in there.”
“I’m sure Leif and Wel will enjoy the extra space along with the bed.”
Ulric’s boisterous laughter resounds off the wooden walls of the narrow walkway. “I told you it wasn’t for her. Our future queen likes it dirty and rough. No squishy bed for her.”
“Why is it that everything that comes out of your mouth is vastly inappropriate to say before our future sovereign?” Terro asks.
“Look at me!” Ulric spreads his arms wide, his fingertips brushing either side of the corridor. “Your mind sexualizes everything I say because subconsciously you know I’m a sight to behold. I believe it’s called projecting.”
Terro cocks a dark eyebrow and looks his friend up and down. “Pasty, red-bearded twigs are not my type.”
“You mean sexy isn’t your type.”
I roll my eyes at the two and fight back a laugh. They don’t need my encouragement or they won’t stop.
“There’s only one other empty room in our barracks.” Greer scoffs and shakes her head. “All ofhisstuff is still in there. We’ll move some soldiers around and find room for you.”
She doesn’t need to say his name for me to know whose room it is. I should insist on different quarters, but a part of me wants to be somewhere that wasn’t affected by the choice he made. A place that holds his essence without the memories of the life I once had with him with him.
“I’ll be fine in his old room. It beats sleeping in the stables,” I say, flashing her a grin.
Ulric squeezes my shoulder. “Those were the days, weren’t they? Mucking the stables and feeding the pigs, we got a good laugh out of you until you proved us all wrong.”
“Too bad we can’t say the same for Kyron,” Terro adds.
“Speaking of the Stigian prince, he and his warriors arrived early this morning.” Greer squares her shoulders and lifts her chin. “He thought it best to designate areas around the camp for each army until our troops become acquainted with one another. I agreed, and we moved them into the barracks on the east side of camp.”
The detachment in her voice masks the hurt underneath. It crushed her when she learned that Kyron returned to Stigian. The two started out rivals and their relationship had a rough start. But she let him in, trusted him. He was her confidant and best friend, and he abandoned her for our enemy. Unfortunately, I understand her pain all too well.
We turn down the last hallway, and Greer opens the door at the end. Her office is as I remember it. A desk sits in disarray along one wall and in the back stands the fully stocked bar. Zek shuts the door behind us and takes his place next to it, while Terro, Ulric, and I sit at the round table in the middle of the room. Greer grabs a bottle of amber liquid, pops the cork, and takes a long swig before gathering four glasses from behind the hand-carved bar. She pours each of us a drink and joins us at the table.
“I take it that the meeting with Kyron didn’t go well,” I say, kicking back my whiskey.
She shakes her head as she empties her glass and pours another. “Do you know what it’s like to want to hug someone and throttle them at thesame time?”
