Hele patted her knee. “Don’t worry about looking silly for not knowing. Myemasays the only way to do that is to not ask for help when you need it.”
“Your…emasounds smart.”
The rustle of paper announced the presence of someone else a second before a new voice sing-songed, “Are we talking about our mama? Because if so, you’re damn right.”
Alashiya twisted to look at the doorway, where a purple dragon stood. Her arms, shimmering with gold flecks, were laden with bags and her short black hair curled stylishly around her horns. Alashiya vaguely recalled her face from the hospital but her name escaped her.
As if she could read her mind, the dragon lifted her chin and offered, “Alex.”
Clearing her throat, she replied, “Hi, Alex.”
“She hasn’t eaten breakfast,” Hele announced. “Did you bring a feast?”
Alex grinned a huge, toothy grin and lifted the bags. Sauntering across the room, she nearly gave Alashiya a heart attack when she vaulted over the low back of the couch to land in the sunken pit. “I did,” she crowed. Turning to present the heavy bags to Alashiya with a flourish — one that utilized both tailandwings — she declared, “A feast for our new Emand, long may she reign!”
“Oh,” Alashiya breathed, shrinking back against the cushions.Oh no.
Chapter Fifty
It’d been a very,very long time since Alashiya hung out with… well, anyone besides Taevas. And she’d never known people like Hele or Alex.
It was one thing to hear about them from her husband’s stories, but it was something else entirely to sit with them and be treated like she’d been part of the clan for forever rather than a handful of days. Alex’s dry humor and sharp tongue were a perfect contrast to Hele’s brusque sweetness. Neither of them expected her to talk much, but they never treated her like she wasn’t there, either.
She wasn’t sure when or how it happened, exactly, but at some point after half a dozen decadent pastries had been consumed, Alex cajoled Alashiya into slathering something cool and jelly-like onto her face while Hele meticulously buffed her nails. She’d been instructed not to panic when it dried to a hard, rubbery mask. A show of some sort had been put on the television, but neither of the women appeared to pay any attention to what was happening on the screen, so Alashiya didn’t either. It took all her focus to keep up with the two of them, anyway.
Trying to keep her head back so the mask didn’t tuguncomfortably on her face, she asked, “What exactly is this supposed to do?”
“It’s got collagen and seaweed extract,” Alex explained. “What dress size are you?”
Alashiya tried to look out of the corner of her eye at the dragon, but all she could make out was pale green goo. “Why?”
“Taevas gave me his cards and told me to help you get anything you wanted. I’m getting a headstart.” She shrugged. “I already did, actually. Some basics have been delivered if you want to change out of that robe and put on some skivvies.”
Alashiya pictured the sash and trendy, high-waisted short-shorts Alex seemed to favor. She’d done a fine job getting her something to wear in the hospital, but she wasn’t entirely sure she trusted Alex to fill out her entire wardrobe. Having new clothes was a big enough change. She didn’t think she could handle trying to figure out how to strap her much heavier chest into one of those barely-there tops Alex wore so well.
Might be worth a try, though,she thought. What was a little more change on top of everything else, anyway?
“I don’t know my size,” she admitted. “I make all my own clothes. I can give you my measurements, if that helps?”
The feeling of something cool being brushed on her nails preceded Hele asking, “You make your own clothing?”
“I do. I’m a professional embroiderer, actually.”
“That’s lucky,” Alex said, her claws tapping on the glass face of her tablet. “I don’t know anyone who likes embroidery more than my cousin. Have youseenhis wardrobe? The man’s obsessed.”
Warmth filled her chest. Feeling a little shy, Alashiya admitted, “I’ve seen it, yes. I… I’m actually the one who did most of the work.”
Alex popped into her line of sight. “What? You’re kidding, right?”
“Um, no,” she answered.
Alashiya had expected a lot of questions about whathappened with Taevas, but up until then, both women had carefully avoided anything related to what had brought her there. She got the impression that they had come to some sort of agreement prior to arriving to act as normal as possible, which she appreciated. There really wasn’t any way to avoid it forever, though, so she took a deep breath before telling the story.
A trimmed down version that didn’t include her fixation on Adon, anyway.
“Good gods,” Alex muttered. “What are the odds of that?”
“Not very high.” Hele blew on Alashiya’s nails. “Thank you for saving our cousin, Emand. I didn’t think he was dead, but we were all starting to worry. And sorry again for my mate’s mistake. He’s hard-headed.”
