Whatever Soren might have said was interrupted by the door to Vanya’s office banging open and Raiah shrieking her excitement. “Soren!”
Soren hastily dropped his leg so Vanya could step out of the way as his daughter launched herself at the warden. Soren laughed, getting his hands beneath her arms so he could lift her up. Raiah wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to shout his name, clearly excited he’d returned.
“She missed you,” Taisiya said with a welcoming smile as she entered the office.
“I missed her, too. All of you,” Soren said.
“Well, you’re just in time for the start of the weeklong new year celebration.”
“There’s going to be fireworksevery night!” Raiah said, leaning back a little so she could look Soren in the face. “You’ll watch them with us, won’t you?”
Soren laughed, the sound soothing Vanya in a way little else outside his daughter could. “Of course. I’m not going anywhere now.”
“I’ll have the servants find you a set of robes to wear when we get back to the estate,” Taisiya said.
Vanya thought Soren would protest that, but at Vanya’s raised eyebrow, Soren merely shrugged. “I can’t wear a warden’s uniform anymore, and I’ve always liked your robes.”
The idea of Soren dressed in Solarian garb, no longer easily standing out from the crowd as a warden or other, pleased him.
“If you wear our robes, will you wear a crown like Papa?” Raiah asked.
“Yes,” Vanya said before Soren could answer in the negative. “He will.”
It was Soren’s turn to arch an eyebrow, staring at Vanya. “Will I, now?”
Vanya stepped close, wrapping his arms around Soren and his daughter, holding on to the entirety of his world and refusing to let go. “You’ll be my consort. You already said yes, and a consort wears a crown.”
“And if I don’t want it?”
“For me, you will.”
For a moment, Vanya thought Soren would deny him this want—this partnership, this marriage he would see written into the royal genealogies held by the Star Order in Solaria. Soren had declined the name and the throne and the crown of Ashion, refusing even to remain as Caris’ heir. Vanya should have known the answer would be different for him.
“I’ll wear it for you, the same way I wear your vow,” Soren finally promised.
“Mine will be prettier,” Raiah said, pouting only a little.
Soren threw back his head and laughed, the sound mingling with Taisiya’s. Vanya smiled at his daughter and took her into his arms. “Of course it will be. Only the prettiest of crowns for my princess.”
Soren stepped back, but Vanya didn’t let him get far. He took Soren’s hand in his, giving it a squeeze, and led them all out of the office. They walked through the Senate building, and Vanya didn’t hide the way he held on to Soren, how the other man walked beside him as his equal, and let everyone draw their own conclusions.
They ate the midday meal together as a family and ended it with a handheld flaky berry pie, of which Raiah ate two. The sugar rush when they returned to the estate afterward was predictable.
That night, they took to the rooftop of his House’s ancestral estate, all of them wearing warm robes against the cold breeze, the dark sky clear of clouds overhead. The moon was a crescent against deep black, the Viper Constellation ascending above it, the season of the Twilight Star beginning.
The first explosion of color against the starry night sky made Raiah gasp and clap gleefully where she stood by the railing next to Taisiya’s seat. The estate’s gas lamp lights had all been muted to better enjoy the fireworks, but Vanya could still make out Soren’s face in the glow. He looked beautiful in a set of white-and-crimson robes Taisiya had insisted she’d had lying around just in case. They matched Vanya’s in style, the golden vow hanging from his throat.
Vanya couldn’t help but reach for it, fingers wrapping around the cool metal, the edges of the roaring lion pressing against his palm. Soren turned his head, a soft smile quirking at the corner of his mouth.
“Do you regret it?” Soren asked, tapping his finger against the back of Vanya’s hand that held the vow.
“No,” Vanya said, simple and easy, a truth he didn’t have to think about. “Regretting it would mean I regret you, and there is no road I walk where that would be true.”
Vanya tugged on the chain, drawing Soren into a kiss as fireworks burst overhead, the sound of his people celebrating in the streets beyond the security of the estate ringing through the air. Raiah’s happy laughter overrode it all, his daughter safe and alive. Vanya knew he’d get to raise her with Soren, raise her into an empress that would make the House of Sa’Liandel proud, one who would be capable of holding the Imperial throne long after his and Soren’s ashes danced in the stars.
“Papa, look!” Raiah cried out.
He broke the kiss and let the vow go but held Soren close because he could now. He smiled at where Raiah stood, pointing at the sky, feeling Soren lean in close, his head resting against Vanya’s shoulder, a warm and coveted dream made real.
