“We’re going to become world travelers in no time, at this rate.” Unlike Ellis, Xan appeared to be at his ease, leaning back on one hand while he ate. Sometimes Syrus envied his cousin’s ability to hide his emotions.
“I think you’d need to travel a bit more than just visiting Canjir, no matter how much the nobility here likes to pretend that Vaetreasisthe entire world,” Eiri teased.
“I can add Caranyvik to that list,” Ellis said, and all three of them paused to look at him.
“This is the first I’ve heard about this. You’re going to Caranyvik? When? Why?”
Ellis gave him a faint smile at the interrogation. “The queen is sending me as a representative of Vaetreas for the state funeral of Princess Alori. I leave in a week.”
Syrus ran through what he knew of Caranyvik, which didn’t amount to much. That name was one of the few he did know, though. “Princess Alori? Isn’t she married to Prince Kivenari? The king’s heir?”
“She was,” Ellis nodded. “She passed away recently, and the heir is now a widower. I’m sure the queen already has plans in the works to marry one of us off to him the second the mourning period has passed, but for now, I’m simply her representative.”
“Who is going with you? Have guards been assigned?”
“Do you still have the authority to assign duties? Maybe you can put together a group before you leave?” Xan suggested. Hedidn’t seem to like this anymore than Syrus did, his relaxed demeanor slipping away.
“I wish I could, but active military personnel can’t be ambassadors. By assigning me this role, the queen forcibly retired me from the military.”
Eiri’s hand settled on top of his, a quiet comfort. That particular truth hadn’t struck home until recently, when he’d tried to go to his office to plan for his extended absence. His lieutenant, a woman named Sonia, had quietly informed him of his new status and her new promotion. While he was happy for her and knew she’d do well, it still hurt.a
“I’ll be fine,” Ellis assured them with a shake of his head. “It’s a long trip, but I’m looking forward to the time away, honestly. Prince Kivenari is quite a bit older than me, but I’ve heard he’s a good man. It would be nice to make some more friends.”
Syrus exchanged a quick glance with Xan, who nodded once in understanding. One way or another, he knew Xan would find a way to be included on this trip. Caranyvik lay to the east, across the Barenden Sea. His brother would sail past the southern tip of Kargha, one of the largest trading ports in the world. The island nation sat directly between the two continents, making it a hub for everyone traveling the ocean. Their council maintained a heavy police presence to ensure safety, mostly to keep the flow of commerce moving, but the further away from the capital city one traveled, the rougher the ports tended to be. He couldn’t help but worry, especially given his brother’s tense relationship with the queen. After what had happened, he knew she was being watched closely by her council, but realistically, there was little they could do to check her power.
Without him here in Vaetreas, he’d have to trust Xan with this. He’d look out for Ellis, no matter what. That didn’t meanSyrus wouldn’t be sending a message to Sonia the moment he was back in his room, but he couldn’t let his concern cloud these last few hours with his brother and cousin.
“Once you return from Caranyvik, then, we’ll arrange for you to come to Canjir,” Eiri said. “I’d love for you both to meet my sister, Akari. Though the idea of you two being within five miles of my friend Laire does concern me. I’m not sure the island could survive all three of you.”
Ellis and Xan both laughed, and Syrus shuffled his worry to the back of his mind. He’d have time tonight and during the trip to Canjir to worry about what came next. For now, he just wanted to enjoy this time, sitting on the beach in the soft summer rain with the three people he loved most in the world.
Chapter 31
Eiri
Never in hiswildest imaginings could Eiri have ever dreamed the day would come that he would sail into the harbor at Maizar on a Vaetrean ship, with a Vaetrean husband, wearing Vaetrean clothes.
More precisely, he’d dressed in the outfit he’d worn to the princess’s birthday party, as had Syrus. While Vaetrean in cut, the Canjiri details were clearly visible. The short time frame of their departure from Lodie meant communications had been brief and to the point. His family only knew that he was returning home with his Vaetrean husband to oversee the new mines. Any letter he sent would be read before leaving the palace, so he hadn’t included anything personal.
Which meant that, as far as his family knew, Eiri still hated Syrus and was bringing an enemy into their midst.
He didn’t want to start this off on the wrong footing, so he’d purposely chosen this outfit, knowing the statement it would make when his people saw him.
“Is it strange that I’m nervous?” he murmured to Syrus. They stood together above deck at the bow of the ship, watching the port grow closer and closer. A crowd of peopleawaited them and while they were still too far away for him to make out any details, he knew the figure standing alone at the very end of the dock had to be Akari.
“Do you think it’s going to go badly?”
Eiri shook his head. “My mother will have a lot of questions for us, but she’ll be easier to reason with than your mother. As for Akari… well, she’ll probably have you wrapped around her finger by the end of the day.” He glanced up, giving Syrus a wry smile. “She’s good at that.”
“And the rest of the Canjiri?” Syrus hid his own nerves well, but he was likely just as anxious as Eiri. He still hadn’t fully regained his strength, not that his stubborn husband would ever admit it.“Should I expect something similar to the welcome you received in Vaetreas?”
Eiri looked back out over the water toward the waiting crowd, considering the question. Relations between Canjir and the rest of the world, in general, tended to be fraught, but nowhere was it as bad as Vaetreas. His people had settled more easily into Nevarre, with their progressive attitudes. It helped that the monarchy of Nevarre had never passed the heavy taxes and tariffs on Canjir that Vaetreas had, which was the main reason they only raided Nevarrean towns if they were desperate.
Gavarria had spent twenty years locked in a civil war, leaving them too busy to bother the islanders. Both sides welcomed Canjiri mercenaries, though, and some of the older Canjiri had brought back quite a bit of money from fighting back then. Now, though, the country was a mess as it attempted to recover and those few Canjiri that remained had enmeshed themselves into the new regime.
To the far north, the kingdom of Sarkhyr stood alone and had since they closed their borders a hundred years ago. He’d heard rumors of rumblings up there, but no one seemed toknow the details, and he’d been far too focused on his own troubles to worry about their strange northern neighbors.
Truly, Vaetreas was the only kingdom on the continent that seemed to harbor such deep-seated prejudice against his people. Many Canjir, himself included, vehemently disliked Vaetreas, but he couldn’t imagine any of his own doing or saying some of the more reprehensible things he’d encountered in Lodie.
