Caspianwalkedinthedoor of his parents’ home, and his heart swelled in relief. He was finally back home. Training to be a guard in Riyel for the past two years had been a good experience, but there was nothing like being home with family.
He stepped into his mother’s sitting room, and there was a cry of delight when his little sister Liliana saw him. She rushed at him and jumped as she threw her arms around his neck, holding on for dear life as he swung her around.
“Caspian,” she shrieked, her long golden hair brushing against his skin. “You’re here!” She giggled as he tickled her in an effort to loosen her arms from around his neck. “I thought you’d never come home.”
“Of course I was going to come home,” he told her.
“You missed my birthday,” she informed him, pouting.
“That’s right, I did. Happy birthday. How old are you now, five?”
Liliana gasped. “I’m eight years old. Five is a baby.”
She would always be a baby to him, but he refrained from saying that.
His mother had hurried over to give him a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming back so early,” she said. “I would have gotten everything ready for you.”
“I don’t need everything ready for me, Mother,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been roughing it for two years. Anything you have is more than enough for me right now.”
Lady Rendon laughed. “I can imagine. Truthfully, it’s far harder to imagine you, of all my children, roughing it.”
Caspian grimaced. “To be fair, I have gotten better, but you’re right. My dislike of dirt does mean I got good marks for keeping my armor and sword clean, though.”
“I should hope you get good marks for more than that,” his mother teased before turning to his sister. “Liliana, go get your father and tell him that your brother has come home.”
Liliana slid down Caspian’s side and ran off to their father’s study, and Lady Rendon gave Caspian another fierce hug. “We’ve missed you so much around here,” his mother said, squeezing him tightly.
Caspian took in his mother’s floral scent and the bright and warm decor of her sitting room and felt peace run through his soul. Being home was good for him. It would give him the right frame of mind to make the decision that he had to make.
His sister came running back, his father and oldest brother following her, and emotion welled up in him at the sight of them. He shoved it down, though. Being emotional was a weakness in the Guard. He’d had plenty of practice in avoiding emotions the past two years.
“Caspian, my boy,” his father said, sweeping him into a hug.
Though Caspian was the youngest of the three boys, he was the tallest, and dwarfed even his father. But there was nothing like a hug from his father to make him feel like he was a child again.
Even two years of experience in the Royal Guard couldn’t change that.
“I thought you weren’t getting home until next week,” his brother said when it was his turn for a hug, clapping Caspian on the back.
“Let us out early,” Caspian said. “We’re not sure why, but nobody waited long enough to ask.”
“I can imagine. Eager to get home to your families, I bet.”
“Exactly,” Caspian said. “Even to the annoying brothers who got to stay home instead of being shipped off to learn how to be a guard.”
Kellan laughed again. “Hey, it’s not my fault I’m the oldest. I would have switched with you, you know that.”
Caspian did know that, which is why he didn’t resent his brother.
It would have been easier had the tables been turned. Kellan had little interest in being a lord, though he always would be, and Caspian had always leaned toward the business of running an estate. But he had an aversion to the idea of finding a wealthy woman to marry simply to gain an estate of his own, so he’d gone off to the Guard.
“Are you ready for dinner?” his mother asked from where she stood next to his father, his arm wrapped around her waist. They’d always been in love, one of the reasons that marrying for wealth and status seemed rather distasteful. It was hard to imagine marriage for political reasons when he’d seen what a true marriage could be.
“Have I ever not been ready for food?” Caspian said with an easy grin as Liliana raced forward and captured his hand with hers. “Of course I’m ready for dinner. What do you think we’re having tonight?”
“I’m sure it will be something you love,” Lady Rendon said.
“That’s because I love all the food we eat here,” he said with a grin. “It’s much better than the grub in the barracks.”
