I know it’s Brevan without seeing him, but I look anyway. “I thought you weren’t going to leave my door?”
His hair is tousled, and his tunic is untucked. He’s got a sword hanging at his side, which seems out of place given his clothing choices. My eyes widen when I notice his trousers aren’t tied at the waist. Fuming, I turn away from him. I don’t think I want to know who he was with just now. “I’m going to the kitchen.”
“Then I’ll go with you,” he says.
“Then maybe you should tie up your trousers,” I hiss over my shoulder.
“Should I stay or go?” the young legionnaire asks.
“Stay,” I shout at the same time that Brevan says, “Go.”
“Which one is it?” he asks.
“Your orders come from me. Not from her. Go,” Brevan commands.
I’m already several paces away, but Brevan catches me quickly. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“I have no reason to be,” I say. “But maybe I’m angry that you were off with some woman and left an inexperienced legionnaire at my door.”
“If it makes you feel better, I wasn’t with a woman. I took a nap and forgot to tie my trousers after I put them back on.”
The visual of him without his clothes on flashes in my mind, and I scoff, mostly because I’m angry at myself for not pushing him out of my head. “It doesn’t matter. You can do whatever you want. I know they’re going to send you relic hunting soon, anyway.”
“Actually, I’m here a while longer,” he says.
That gets me to stop walking. “Why?”
“Caiden left after dinner tonight. The emperor went with him.”
“When will they return?” I can’t exactly kill the emperor if he’s not here.
“They didn’t say,” he says.
“That’s not helpful. That could be tomorrow or weeks from now,” I say.
“They’re not usually gone more than a couple of days.” He stops walking. “Kitchen’s this way.” Brevan points behind us, to a flight of stairs I’d passed in my hurry to get away from him.
I huff out an annoyed breath, then backtrack. At least I have more time to find the weapon.
The kitchen is lit by a small fire burning in the hearth. It’s only unoccupied for a few hours each day, so I’m counting it as good luck that there’s nobody else here.
“I knew I should have sent up dinner for you,” Brevan says.
“I wasn’t hungry at the time. Besides, I’d still be asleep if not for the nightmare.” I press my lips together before I say anything else. I don’t want him to know what my nightmare was about.
He looks younger tonight. Softer. Maybe it’s the dim firelight, or the clothing. Whatever it is, it’s a side of him I haven’t seen before. “Homesick?”
“Yeah.”
“How about a sandwich?” he asks.
“Are you offering to make me food?”
“I know my way around this kitchen pretty well,” he says.
“Alright.” I sit on one of the stools at the table in the back. It’s probably for staff to eat or prep ingredients at, but I prefer it to any of the fine tables I’ve sat at while here.
Brevan moves around the kitchen, slicing a round loaf of bread, then pulling ingredients from the pantry. He prepares two sandwiches on simple plates and carries them over to the table.
