Dharma rubbed her hands together. “Everything looks so good!”
Keyton pulled out the seat at the head of the table. “For our queen-to-be.” He smiled, and it reached his eyes, lighting them up a little.
I returned his smile but shook my head. “I’m not a queen. Not here. Not with all of you. Here I’m just Leela, and we’re all equal.”
Keyton’s eyes lit up even more at that. He pushed the seat back in. “Equals,” he said softly.
“Okay, then.” Joe clapped his hands. “Let’s eat.”
Everyone chose seats, avoiding the two at the head of the table.
Keyton made me up a plate, then sat beside me as I piled food onto a plate for him. Across the table from me, Dharma did the same for Chaya, earning herself a sweet smile. Bina stood and grabbed a plate and began loading up for Thanil. Joe pressed a kiss to Mahira’s cheek and fixed her a plate.
Keeping things the same didn’t mean we couldn’t add some new rituals.
For a few minutes, there was nothing but the clink of cutlery. When the noise died a little, I sat back and lifted my glass of water in a toast. “To taking care of each other.”
Everyone picked up their glasses and echoed my words.
“To taking care of each other.”
I caught movement across the room and looked over to see Chandra standing in the doorway, hands loose at his side. For a moment, I thought he looked wistful, but then a smile tugged at his lips and the pensive expression melted away, leaving me wondering if I’d read it right.
He crossed to the table. “Mind if I join you?” he asked me.
“Not at all. Grab a seat.”
He walked toward the head of the table, toward the seat we’d all avoided, and my heart sank. But he stopped before he reached it and took the seat opposite me instead.
He arched a brow my way, his smile blooming wider, and I couldn’t help but match it.
Yeah, Chandra got it, and that…that gave me hope.
The conversation flowed easily, even with Chandra present. And it wasn’t until the meal was winding down, plates empty, bellies full, that Chandra fixed his piercing gaze on me and said, “I have some news.”
My stomach dipped at his somber tone. “What is it?”
Conversation ground to a halt as everyone tuned in.
Chandra laced his fingers above his empty plate. “I met with the Authority earlier today, and it’s been decided that you’ll face the throne tomorrow.”
I exhaled. “Is that it? I thought it was something bad. I’m ready.”
He studied me for several beats, his expression probing as if looking for cracks in my armor, but I wasn’t wearing armor. This was me. Unadorned. Unfiltered. Unafraid.
He sat back with a smile. “In that case, I strongly recommend we get some dessert brought in.”
Sleep didn’t come easily,but not because I was due to face the Authority again tomorrow. I wasn’t bothered about that. Sleep hadn’t come easily since I’d lost Araz. I’d become accustomed to simply lying in bed and staring at the ceiling until my eyelids got too heavy to stay open.
Tonight, when sleep finally crept over me, my dreams were a jumble of disconnected images and fragmented thoughts that deposited me onto a moonlit balcony. Even though I faced the sea and the stars, I was aware of the gauzy curtains billowing behind me and sensed him standing between them…the man who had my heart. The one that I’d been waiting for. It was finally time for us to be together. After everything. The bloodshed. The war. Tonight was a night of union. I took a deep breath and turned to face him.
Araz walked toward me, eyes like flame, warming me to my toes. The slight smile teasing his lips evoked a flutter in my belly. “You came,” he said. “I knew you would.”
It was his voice. But it wasn’t him…
Him…
Araz? No, who had I been waiting for?
