"What would be enough?"
"I want it said. At Northwatch." Mab's voice stayed even, though her hands didn't. "Not just that they're under your protection because of me. I want their names spoken. I want them claimed separately. So that if you—" She stopped. Made herself finish. "So that if you tire of me, they don't lose their place."
"You think I'll tire of you?"
"I think I've watched men my whole life." Mab kept her chin up even though every instinct told her to drop her gaze. "I know what happens when the new thing stops being new."
"I'm not a man."
"No. You're an orc who's known me for less than a day." Her voice cracked on the last word, but she pushed through it. "Forgive me if I want something more solid than your word in a bedroom."
Varek was quiet for a long moment. His eyes stayed on her, and Mab made herself hold still under the weight of that gaze. She'd asked for something. She wasn't going to flinch away from it.
"You want their names spoken," he said finally. "Claimed as their own, not as extensions of you."
"Yes."
"And you want my word that their place holds even if yours doesn't."
Mab's throat tightened. Hearing it said back to her made it sound both reasonable and impossible. "Yes."
Varek pushed off from the mantel. He crossed the room in three strides, and Mab forced herself not to step back, not to retreat toward the bed where the children were watching with wide eyes. He stopped close enough that she had to tilt her head back to see his face.
"Done."
Mab blinked. "What?"
"Is there more?"
More? Mab's mind went blank.
"I—" She stopped. Started again. "You're just agreeing?"
Varek's head tilted, that slight movement she was beginning to recognize as curiosity. "Why would I refuse?"
"Because—" Mab's hands clenched in her apron. "Because that's not how it works. You're supposed to argue. Tell me I'm asking too much. Make me settle for less."
"Is that what you want? To settle for less?"
"No."
"Then why are we discussing it?" His hand came up and brushed her jaw almost thoughtlessly. "This is how it works with me."
Behind her, Mab heard Tibbs shift on the bed.
"The children are watching," she said quietly.
"Let them watch." His thumb traced the line of her jaw, unhurried. "Let them see that you're safe with me. Let them see what it looks like when someone touches you without hurting you."
Mab's breath caught. She didn't have an answer for that.
"Now." Varek's hand dropped away, and he turned to face the bed. "You've heard what she asked for. You've heard me agree. What I need to know is what you want."
Tibbs sat up straighter, his shoulders squaring in a way that made him look older than thirteen. Annie pressed closer to his side, her fingers twisted in the coverlet.
"You're asking us?" Tibbs's voice was careful. "Actually asking?"
"I'm asking."
