Cal drops me with a grin, his light brown eyes looking down at me curiously. “All is well, then?”
“All is well, Cal” I smile.
All is more than well.
Cal nods and steps aside to let me greet the rest of the table. Barnes is here tonight and gives me a small smile in greeting. Mana does the same, as does Holis, their green-blue eyes shining in welcoming affection. But it’s the greeting from Lord Daniel that catches me by surprise as he steps forward and reaches for my hand.
“Lady Alexis,” his lips brush gently against my fingers.
I hold my breath as Daniel quickly releases the gesture, surprising me when he chooses not to deviate from the correct length of properness.
Does he know? Or does hesuspect, as Alanna mentioned earlier.
“I’ve missed you, Lord Daniel,” I tell him genuinely, willing him to hear the truth behind my words.
“You have been missed as well, Lady Alexis,” he replies, giving me a polite smile before taking a step back.
He knows.
He didn’t sayhemissed me, but instead spoke for the collective of the group.
I nod quietly, hoping beyond anything I didn’t lose him as a friend.
“And Stormfall’s missed you, Holis,” I turn to the Discerni, letting my eyes flick to Storm still on his arm.
“He’s grown since the last time we saw him,” Holis shakes his head in wonder, holding out his other arm to me for a side embrace. I smile in agreement and bring my arm around his back.
“Sera?” I turn to Mana in question.
“Back in the kitchens. I should go help,” he replies, taking a step towards the café.
“Let me,” I grin and walk back into the café.
“Sera?” I call out, heading behind the shop counter and through the door leading to the back of her building.
“I’m here,” she replies in answer.
I walk into the kitchen, spotting Sera grinning as she pulls off her gold apron.
“This is beautiful, Sera,” I wave a hand to the café behind me, “you didn’t have to do all this.”
“We were all kind of waiting,” she chuckles and shrugs her shoulders, “we missed you, and no one wants to be in the commotion of the castle right now. It only seemed appropriate to pull you out of there.”
“It’s perfect,” I smile at her gratefully, “thank you.”
Sera grins again and turns back to her large prepping able. It’s littered with empty mugs and a few decanters of whiskey and water, even a small barrel of ale.
“That kind of night, huh?” I raise my brows, heading to the table to pick up the mugs.
“That kind of night,” Sera chuckles.
She grabs the filled decanters before we both make our way out of the kitchen and through the café, greeting the perfect spring night around us.
“There’s a barrel of ale back there that needs to be brought out by stronger hands than mine,” Sera grins.
Mana promptly stands at his wife’s words and gives her a quiet nod, stopping in his walk to give her a small kiss on the forehead before disappearing behind us.
“You aim to get us properly drunk then, Sera?” Cal chuckles from his seat at the table. He casually wraps an arm around the back of Alanna’s chair next to him, a gesture that has me hiding my smile.
