“She does,” the shifter agreed.“But what she hasn’t realized is that she wants him just as much.We all see it, right?”Tal and Zane murmured their agreement.Those two seemed inevitable, as long as they didn’t get in their own way.“I only need to nudge them both a little in the right direction.”
Kaz’s gaze caught on Talon’s bare chest and her brow raised as she smirked.Zane took a small step forward to block her view.The shifter smiled broadly at him and winked.“Get dressed and go downstairs.We’ll be along shortly.”
Chapter 14
Emmeric
Apoundingonthedoor woke Emmeric, and he blinked his eyes open.He hadn’t meant to fall asleep—only keep Iyana company while she napped.Now he found himself unwilling to move to answer the summons at the door, because Iyana had shifted and was nestled into his side.His arm was around her back, his hand resting in the dip of her waist.Emmeric’s fingers curled of their own accord, and he tightened his grip on the woman who had sought him out in her sleep.His heart swelled with the knowledge that she felt safe enough around him to be in such a vulnerable position.
He was fully intent on tugging Iyana closer and going back to sleep, but the pounding increased in both volume and tempo until Iyana began to blink awake.
Emmeric sighed and went to answer the door, scrubbing a hand down his face.What he would have given for simply five more minutes in that bed with Iyana wrapped in his arms…
Making sure there was a dagger within arm’s reach, he yanked open the door, then stepped back as Kaz stumbled through the entryway.A smile curled his lips when she glared at him.Iyana walked out of the bedroom, still dressed in her robe, rubbing her eyes.
“What’s going on?”she asked sleepily.
“We need to get ready for dinner,” Kaz said, giving Emmeric a pointed look.“Emmeric is going to get dressed, then meet up with Tal and Zane.”
“What are you going to do?”he asked.
“We’ll meet up with you when we’re done,” she said sweetly, then forcibly turned Iyana around and marched her back into the bedroom.The door slammed behind them, and Em stood there for several seconds staring at it.
He went back into his room and found the armoire was full of clothing of different sizes.They were all luxuriously soft linens, which were breathable and comfortable in the humidity.He was able to find pants that fit, but all the shirts were just slightly too tight.Finally finding one that wouldn’t cut off his circulation, Emmeric pulled it on and slipped on a pair of sandals that passed for footwear in Nyr.It was an odd sensation to have his toes so exposed—he wasn’t sure he liked it.Iyana’s love of being barefoot all the time confused him, as he always left the house with shoes on.But he knew that when you were in a different kingdom, it was only polite to follow their customs.
As he left his room and re-entered the common space, Emmeric noticed Iyana’s door was still firmly shut, and he could hear the distant sound of Kaz chattering away.He grinned, happy the two women had found a friend in each other like he had in Talon.
Emmeric stepped into the hallway to find said best friend, and the emperor, who was turning into a friend as well.Especially since it seemed he and Talon would be together for a long while yet.They were exiting their own room, dressed similarly to Emmeric in lightly colored linens that left their arms bare and toes fully on display in sandals.Emmeric again lamented the lack of proper footwear.
“Any idea of where we’re supposed to go?”he asked the other two.They both shook their heads with a shrug.Then someone from behind him walked past, knocking into his shoulder.
“Let’s go,” Jato said brusquely.Emmeric frowned at the captain but fell into step behind him—he’d rather not get lost within a new palace, one in which the only person he knew was the crown princess he’d slept with multiple times—before knowing she was royalty or that she was fucking betrothed.
Emmeric was still irritated with her over these revelations.Maybe not the secret princess one, but he definitely wouldn’t have fucked her if he had known she was engaged to be married.Which, he was now realizing, was exactly why she’d never said anything.He’d need to have a talk with her at some point about vital information and what needed to be shared between friends and allies.
The three men followed Jato through a maze of hallways and stairs until they reached a quaint dining room, where one wall was comprised solely of windows, showcasing the verdant jungle outside.The table was smaller than Emmeric would have expected for a royal dinner, and the dining room adornments were modest.They stood off to one side, not really sure where they belonged or what the proper etiquette would be in this case.Jato disappeared the second they walked through the doorway.
Two men stood in the corner.Emmeric recognized one of them as Kaz’s brother, Zahar.His expression was stern—eyebrows and lips down-turned in clear displeasure.The other man appeared slightly younger, and, unlike his brother’s close-cropped style, his hair hung down his back in locs contained with a colorful band.His eyes sparkled with mischief, and he seemed like he could have been Kaz’s twin.One of her many other siblings, then.
The man with the longer hair swept a glass off of a bar cart and sauntered towards the three of them, leaving Zahar behind.
“Good evening,” he said with a bow of his head in respect.Emmeric continuously was forgetting Zane was an emperor.“My name is Sekhan.I’m Kaz’s brother and third in line.”He flashed them a bright smile.“I know you already had thepleasureof meeting my brother, Zahar.”Sekhan waved a hand towards his older brother, who simply scowled in response.The younger man laughed.“He’s a bit of a stick in the mud.Stay with me and Kaz…we’ll make sure you have plenty of fun.”
Emmeric found himself grinning.Sekhan was similar to Kaz in more than looks, apparently.
“Will anyone else from your family be joining us?”Zane asked.
“My parents will show up when it’s most convenient for them, and my sibling, Kekari, will join us as well.Only the children over eighteen eat here with us, and Kekari had their birthday a couple of months ago.You should have seen the fit the twins threw.They’re seventeen and think they should be here to receive ‘foreign dignitaries’”—he used his fingers to do air quotes—“but my parents stick to the eighteen-and-up rule fairly strictly.”
“Why is that?”Talon asked.
Sekhan waved his hand dismissively.“They want the kids to be kids.Which I think is great, honestly.Kaz and I would both have dinner in the kid’s room in a heartbeat, but there’s a no alcohol policy in place.”
Zahar finally sidled up to their group.“And tell them why that is, brother.”
“Kaz and Imayhave gotten Kekari drunk when they were only fourteen.”Sekhan laughed deeply.“They ran all around the palace completely naked, saying they were ‘one with nature’ and then stole our mother’s crown and rolled about in mud.It tookagesfor me and Kaz to clean all the nooks and crannies of that crown.Worth it, though.That was hilarious.”
Zahar frowned deeply.
