He shook his head again. “They may not know what to make of you at first, but give it a little time,” he said. “The queen’s policies weren’t your doing and even the other raiders will know you were just doing your job. We never held it against the foot soldiers, just the people in charge.” He bit back a smile, unable to resist teasing his husband. “It will help that you never actually arrested any of us.”
“Not for lack of trying, brat,” Syrus grumbled, but he took it with a begrudging smile. “That’s good to know.”
“It’s going to take time before they accept you, make no mistake about that, but I think once everyone understands that you and I are on the same side, it will make things easier.”
Syrus turned to face him, so Eiri did the same, tearing his attention away from the dock and over to his husband. Syrus didn’t say anything, though. He just studied Eiri’s face with a strange look in his dark eyes. He’d caught Syrus watching him a few times now in their days on the ship, always with a soft fondness that made Eiri’s stomach flutter and his heart clench. This felt different. More important, somehow.
“Syrus?” he asked when the silence stretched. Around them, the ship was a frenzy of sound and motion, sailors moving around and calling to each other as they readied to dock, but here at the bow they’d created a little corner of peace for themselves.
“It’s still strange to think about sometimes. That we’re onthe same side now,” he clarified when Eiri just gave him a confused look.
“I know what you mean.” Eiri stepped closer, loosely draping his arms over Syrus’ shoulders. Physical affection still felt somewhat strange and new between them, after so many years spent trying to run a blade through each other, but he was quickly growing addicted to it. Syrus seemed to feel the same, because every time Eiri did this, he immediately wrapped his arms around Eiri’s waist, like he did now.
“I don’t know much about your people, but I can imagine that politicians are the same, no matter where they come from,” Syrus murmured. “That means that there will probably be people on the island who will be about as happy as my mother was to see us united.”
Eiri sighed heavily. “You’re probably right. There will also be plenty of people who will have sided with Kien. He didn’t make the decision to kill me on his own and there’s no way to know who was in on the plan.”
“Did your mother ever reply with any word about him?”
“Unfortunately, no.” So long as Kien C’Marlo was in the wind, he posed a very real threat to them, but there was only so much they could do. There was no telling when or even if he’d return, and Eiri refused to spend the rest of his life jumping at shadows in case one of them held the former ambassador.
“We’ll just have to prepare as best we can,” Syrus said, unknowingly echoing Eiri’s thoughts. “The more present danger is going to be Queen Delia, I think. There’s no telling what sort of maneuvering she’ll get up to with us out of the way.”
“Politicians really are the same everywhere.” Eiri leaned his head against Syrus’ shoulder for a moment. “I believe my mother and a few others went into this genuinely hoping forreal peace, but I’m not foolish enough to believe that there weren’t backroom deals being made.”
“Then it already sounds like we have more allies in Canjir than we ever did back in Vaetreas. Not a single one of the queen’s council members had the good of Canjir in mind when they approved the treaty. All they cared about was lining their pockets.”
“My mother and I aren’t as close as I would like, but I’ll be the first to acknowledge her integrity. She cares about our people and puts Canjir above almost everything else.” Including him, in the end. He knew his mother loved him, but not enough to put him ahead of the safety and well-being of Canjir.
“I suppose I should thank her when I see her.”
That halted Eiri’s maudlin thoughts in their tracks. “Thank her? For what?”
“For you.” Syrus smiled and leaned in, brushing a soft kiss across Eiri’s lips. “I know it’s not what you wanted in the beginning, but if she hadn’t forced you into this, we wouldn’t be where we are now.”
“That’s certainly an optimistic way of looking at it,” Eiri said, raising an eyebrow, but he had to admit that Syrus had a point.
“With everything that’s happened, I’m learning to always try to find the good in every situation. Otherwise, I’d lose my mind.”
“I think there are some people who’d argue that you already have.”
Syrus just laughed quietly and leaned in again, resting his head against Eiri’s. “Maybe I have, but if losing my mind means I found you, I’m alright with that.”
“That was so sappy,” Eiri groaned to hide just how much those words affected him. His stomach fluttered, his breath hitching in his chest. It felt almost like the ground haddisappeared under his feet, that moment of breathless anticipation right before the fall, and he remembered the thought he’d had while locked up in a prison cell, believing Syrus to be dead.
I could have loved him.
In the panic and chaos that had followed and the last month of frenzied preparations, he’d pushed his emotions aside so he could focus on what was going on. It all came rushing back with Syrus’ sweet words and soft smile, leaving him dazed.
I could fall in love with this man.
“It’s true, though,” Syrus murmured, breaking through Eiri’s thoughts and giving him something to latch onto as his entire world rearranged within him. “I know we started out badly, but it was worth it to get to where we are now. Though I could have done without the poison. I’d already learned my lesson by then.”
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Only you would think all of that nonsense was worth it.”
“It was. It is. You’re worth it, Eiri.” Syrus paused, and Eiri froze when he saw the look in the other man’s eyes. “I love you.”
Eiri closed his eyes, blinking back the sudden moisture before a tear could fall. He couldn’t seem to draw a steady breath and his heart raced in his chest, leaving him lightheaded. A strange, bubbly feeling welled up inside him, those three words echoing over and over in his mind. He knew he should say something, do something,anything, but it was like he’d completely shut down, everything in him latching onto those words, to the exclusion of all else.
