“Coming!” came Peytor’s muffled call that grew louder as he came back out through the front door. “I’m coming,” he said again, cheeks red from his frantic search.
How I longed to see that blush for a different reason entirely.
“Don’t give me that look,” he grumbled, ears pinking as brightly as his cheeks.
“What look?” I questioned with faux innocence, falling into step with Peytor as we approached the carriage.
“You know.Thatlook,” Peytor said again, throwing a pointed glare in my direction.
I blinked owlishly with a shrug. “I’m not entirely sure what you are referring to, Peytor. Perhaps you should be a bit more specific with yourwords.”
The carriage door flew open abruptly, nearly knocking Peytor in the face and cutting off our conversation.
“Would you two get inside?” Folami griped, scooting back from the door and toward the opposite window. “You can flirt when we’re moving.”
Peytor sheepishly grabbed the back of his neck, mumbling some sort of apology, as he climbed inside the carriage and took the seat next to Folami. Ilyas pushed me out of the way in jest, the carriage rocking precariously as he sat heavily on the padded bench across from Folami. I climbed in last, shutting the door with a small click and encasing the carriage in charged silence.
“Well, this is cozy,” I said, a grin spreading across my face. Ilyas chuckled while Folami rolled her eyes, a smile pulling at her lips despite her best efforts. Peytor avoided my gaze entirely, his fingers drumming a constant cadence on his knee.
The carriage jolted suddenly, sending the four of us sprawling on our respective benches as we finally—finally—started rolling toward our destination. While we’d sprung for a carriage for our move from Hestin to the outskirts of Vespera, we decided not to pay the extra fee for an Earth Mage to smooth or shorten the trip. With every bump and jostle, I was beginning to regret my decision for frugality.
“My ass is going to be just as sore as it would have been if we rode,” Ilyas said with a wince as his head hit the ceiling on the next bump.
“Yes, but this is warmer,” I said, pulling off my traveling cloak and fanning my face.
Ilyas grunted as I elbowed him in the process.
“What are we supposed to do for the next four days?” Folami asked. “Look at each other?”
She was an absolute bear to deal with when confined to small spaces. We’d had dozens of conversations about it and even some minor exposure therapy leading up to our trip, but she was still grumpy about the whole thing.
I couldn’t say I blamed her.
“I have another idea,” I said lowly as I reached across the carriage to gently trace patterns on her knee with my hand.
Peytor audibly swallowed, already understanding my intentions after our verbal sparring outside.
“Already? We’re going to have an orgy in the carriage, not even ten minutes into our trip?” Folami asked, incredulous.
Ilyas shrugged, a grin eating his face and lust sparking in his eyes despite the occasional head knock. “You have a better way to pass the time? Besides, it’s been an age since we’ve all been in the same place together.”
His words rang with uncomfortable truth. It was part of the reason Folami had finally agreed to move to Vespera, or at least the outskirts of it.
At Rohak’s behest, I’d taken over the training and recruitment for the Academy. That meant that, nearly year-round, I was at the Academy planning and overseeing training for the new recruits as well as broadening our curriculum. We’d started educating unAwakened children in long-dead subjects that Faylinn unearthed in the catacombs beneath the Valley. It was amazing what she’d discovered, and I knew it would not only help to strengthen our army but also improve our society.
But the job took up much of my days, pulling me away from my family.
Peytor became an ambassador for the new Council of Eight—the elected officials who ran Elyria. As such, he was away from home nearly as much as me. Sometimes our schedules overlapped if he was staying in Vespera for a night or two before leaving for another diplomatic mission, but for the most part, we were like ships passing in the night.
Ilyas and Folami spent the most time together in our cottage in Hestin, but even he had to leave her often to join me in Vespera as my Pleasure Bonded.
I’d been missing the other half of my soul for quite some time now with her forced exile.
After Itanya left and we were able to have a conversation about the support each of us needed, she relented, deciding that moving closer to our central hub of work was best for our quad.
We’d agreed on a little country manor on the ever-expanding outskirts of Vespera; close enough to the city that Ilyas, Peytor, and I could commute, but far enough away that Folami felt comfortable.
Eventually, I was hoping she would take a position in the Academy as our physical arms instructor—there was no one better suited for the position, but I understood her reluctance both to enter Vespera again and the decision to hang up her spear.
