His newly adopted daughter hadn’t let Connor out of her sight for more than an hour at a time the entire day.It was bound to be rough for a few more days until Opal trusted that he was really home.
As such, he was standing in the fireplace room nearest where the children were playing, watching the flames as he tried to collect his thoughts.It was no small task.
Elsewhere in the keep, the kitchen staff were bustling to prepare a feast to celebrate a long list of things, including his official homecoming.Thanks to the all the paperwork they’d filled out that first night at Rosewood, he was on leave for the next few weeks due to the adoption.He wished he could spend it entirely with Opal, but the time would be split with their investigation.
Laughter sounded a few rooms away, making Connor’s heart swell.He’d make the lost time up to Opal once she was safe.Once they all were.
“I always thought that was an unusual choice of painting.Your father’s choice, no doubt.”
Connor’s spine stiffened at Alison’s voice coming up behind him.He flicked a glance at her and then back to the painting that she assumed he’d been staring at.
“You’re probably right,” he said in as normal a voice as he could muster.“Father did always like this room.”
It was true that it was different from the majority of art in the keep.The piece hanging above the fireplace was a northern landscape that could have passed for Calderre, if not for the pink kostana trees that only grew in Greylon.His father’s homeland.
Alison shook her head.“Odd to have an idyllic picture of our enemy’s countryside in a royal estate.Family preferences notwithstanding.”
“We have a truce with Greylon.Unless things have changed drastically while my head was recovering.”
“Not as such.But it’s a tentative peace.”
That much was true.The mountainous realm that shared their eastern border was one they had a very tumultuous relationship with.Though they weren’t at war, they weren’t allies either.Calderre kept their eastern border heavily protected for good reason.
The fact that Connor’s father, Treyvon, had left his home and ended up mated to a woman from Calderre’s royal bloodline hadn’t sat well with either realm.Including his mother’s best friend, Alison.She and his father had decidedly not been friends, socializing only out of their respective love for Davina.
Even at a young age, he’d recognized that the pair disliked each other.The one time he’d asked his father about it, he’d given him an answer Connor now recognized as being a mere shred of what was likely true.It’sdifficult to share the people we love, Connor.And your soul-guardian and your mother love each other very much.They have a strong bond as friends and warrior sisters.Your mother offered me a big piece of her soul when we became mates, and Alison never quite forgave me for taking it.She loves you, though.Never doubt that.
Shaking off the memory, Connor cleared his throat.“Here I was, thinking the southern realms were our biggest threat.It’s why most of our teams operate in those realms.In our division, anyway.”
Alison tipped her head in admittance that he wasn’t wrong.
“I guess you’ll be rebuilding our team, what with only the three of us left,” Connor said to shift the conversation.
“Yes.I’ll need a new captain.”She gave him a speculative look.“Maybe you’re finally ready to take that step.Lead your own team.”
No was on the tip of his tongue.It wouldn’t be the first time they had had this conversation.Before Drew had been appointed, she’d asked him the same question.I need someone I can trust, Connor.I’d like it to be you.Would his team still be alive if he’d made a different choice then?Or would they have been killed sooner?
“I don’t know,” he said.“Making the decisions does have some appeal.But then again… Drew and Samir were both excellent captains of our reconnaissance teams, and both teams were killed in action.I doubt I would do better than they did, so how could I keep a team under my command safe when they couldn’t?”
“You never know.Perhaps you have a way of thinking about things… of solving problems… that they didn’t.I trained you, after all.”
No one could argue with that.His mother’s warrior team, and Alison in particular, were still hailed as some of the best warriors of their time.Being personally trained by her had given him an edge on the battlefield.Had kept him alive.He had no doubts about that.Yet his mind couldn’t help but wonder if she’d also been carefully molding him all these years.
“You did.”Connor nearly choked on the words as emotion swelled his throat.“So perhaps I’ll see things your way, is that it?”
The dangerous question slipped out.She couldn’t possibly think to recruit him for whatever she was involved in.Should know him better than that.But the same could be said of him, and he’d been shocked at what he was discovering about her.
“It would be interesting,” she said, still studying him with her calculating gaze.“To work together in such a capacity.New for us.”
“Very different,” he managed.
“Hmm.Well, I suppose time will tell, won’t it?”
Their conversation dissolved as Opal came into the room.
“Hey, little mite,” Connor held out a hand to let her know it was okay to interrupt.
She came over quickly, her wary gaze focused on Alison as she passed her.
