Looking at these two muscular men in her kitchen doing dishes made Adalia smile. A moment of humility and humbleness never hurt anyone, right? No one was ever too good for housework.
Half an hour later, they’d finished, and the kitchen was clean.
“We should all hangout tomorrow after our patrols,” Nikolas suggested as he stood near his bedroom door.
“Who is ‘we’?” Adalia questioned.
Nikolas nudged his chin towards Matthias. “You, me, Shiloh and him.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Adalia saw Matthias shift his stance. “Sure. What do you want to do?”
Nikolas shrugged his shoulders. “Something fun that also involves food?”
Adalia nodded. “Let’s just hang here and we can have dinner outside in the courtyard?”
The thought of her brother and best friend getting to know Matthias better made her heart swell. She made a mental note to thank Nikolas later for the suggestion. She could see that he was trying to make an effort, and it made Adalia proud.
“Sounds amazing. Let me know if you need me to grab anything. I’m off to bed now, though. Night.”
Nikolas entered his room and shut the door behind him. Matthias pushed off the wall he was leaning on and walked towards his makeshift bed. He gathered some clothes from his bag and turned to Adalia. “Do you mind if I bathe?”
“Not at all. I’m going to head to bed now, anyway. I’ve got some reading to catch up on.” Adalia offered him a smile as she rose from the chair.
“Did you cope okay at the palace today?” she asked softly.
Scuffing a foot lightly on the ground, Matthias pondered for a moment. “I guess so. It’s still an odd concept for me. Being here in Lucius. Sleeping on your lounge . . .”
Nodding, Adalia remained planted on the spot. “Well, I think you’re handling it all really great.”
Matthias nodded, and they both just stared at each other for a moment before he finally broke the silence. “Thank you.”
“Have you decided what you will do yet?”
The prince shook his head. “No, but I know I need to soon. I can’t stay here on your lounge forever.”
Smiling, Adalia raised her brow. “I mean . . . maybe not my lounge, but there are empty homes here in Lucius.”
“As tempting as that seems, I’m not sure I could hide here forever, Adalia,” the prince offered her a small smile, and it tugged on the strings of her heart.
“Think about it . . . goodnight beast.”
“Goodnight, little dove.”
Adalia returned his words with a small dip of her head before heading to her room. As she leant against the door, she let out her breath. Something was stirring inside of her that was foreign, and it made her nervous. He hadn’t dismissed the entire idea of staying here in Lucius. Is that what she wanted? Would he ever feel truly accepted if he did?
“So, how has it been with him at your house? Are you okay with leaving him there while you’re gone?” Shiloh asked as they rode along.
Adalia’s mind wandered back to that morning. Matthias had assured her he was more than fine staying home while she went out on patrol, and joked that he wouldn’t destroy it or steal anything.
“Don’t make a fool out of me by causing trouble in the streets of Lucius,” Adalia warned him with a grin.
“I promise you, General, that I will stay on this side of the veil and I won’t barge through the streets like a bull in a china shop,” he said.
Adalia scrunched her nose and smiled. “Hmm, I see you more as the silent sneaking type . . . like a panther or something.”
Matthias lifted a brow. “I’m not the one known for sneaking up on people.”
Blushing, Adalia had poked her tongue at him, which brought a chuckle from the prince. The glorious sound made Adalia’s wings to twitch in response.
