Monqilcolnen met my gaze. “I’ve known since I was a child I would never join the Ranks. I was never meant to be a priest. I simply knew it.”
“Why the navy?”
“I’m not sure. At first I couldn’t explain why I wanted to join so badly, but I did. In part, I believe it’s because I love traveling. I love seeing different cultures and interacting with them. Also, I simply love being on ships.”
I grinned, and he smiled in return. My soul stuttered. It wasn’t a small smile, or the barest quirk. It was a full smile, and it transformed his face, shattering the serene mask. I swallowed. I liked it. A lot. I wouldn’t be opposed to him doing it again and again and again.
“Do you enjoy being in the navy now?” he asked.
“I do. I love it.”
“I’m glad.”
I stared at Wyn, my soul beating in happiness. This was the first real alone time we’d had together, barring the few minutes in my quarters, and it wasn’t as awkward as I’d feared. Whycouldn’t it be like this all the time? I didn’t know, but I hoped slowly but surely Wyn would become more comfortable with me.
“May I ask another question?” Wyn asked, his perfect blue eyes meeting my gaze. He didn’t have the slightest discomfort in his posture, which made my soul soar.
“I told you that you may ask me whatever you please.”
“Do you have an endearment like your royal cousins?”
Each of my cousins had endearments, and they often referred to each other by them. “I do not,” I replied. It was a rather sore point for me, but I didn’t show any of the hurt in my expression. “My cousins simply call me ‘cousin.’”
“That’s too bad.”
“Why? Would you have called me by such an endearment?”
His tail wiggled and thrashed with what I assumed was either discomfort or embarrassment. Wyn said, “Perhaps.”
I very much doubted that. “Then you may come up with such an endearment for me.”
His mouth fell open, and I fought to swallow a laugh but failed. With my head bowed, I chuckled at his aghast expression. What I’d suggested was preposterous; we didn’t have a close enough relationship to warrant him giving me an endearment, and yet, I wished that he would.
Wyn’s eyes widened even further. “You laughed.”
“I do laugh at times,” I replied, my voice light and full of humor.
“I have never heard you laugh before.”
“We are not often in each other’s company.”
“True,” he said.
That, of course, was something I was hoping to change in time.
“I will make an endearment for you,” Wyn declared, and it was my turn to gape at him. He grinned, and my soul stumbled before racing—I had never seen a more beautiful sight in all my life.
“Will you?” I asked.
“Yes. I’m determined.”
“Determined,” I repeated, my thoughts not organizing.
“Yes, Monqilcolnen.”
If I thought my pulse was fast before, I clearly hadn’t understood what speed was. If my soul beat any harder, it would rip through my ribs and land on the floor at our feet.
“I am determined to become less… less how I am with you.”
