Page 19 of A Courage of the Chosen

“Tomorrow,” I tell her as we draw near. “He’s with the armies and they’re a bit behind these two.”

There’s no hiding the disappointment in her face, but she masks it quickly. “I think I’ll have dinner with my family tonight then, since you four will be . . . occupied.” She winks at us. “Glad to see you on your feet,” she murmurs to Callahan when she passes him.

“It’s good to see you as well,” he replies quietly, earning a grin from Reyne.

A tangle of olive limbs and hair the same shade as Callahan’s tackles him as his twin sister smothers him in a hug so fierce the air whooshes out of his lungs.

“Don’t you scare me like that again. Do you hear me?” Her voice is thick with the tears she fights back.

She’d spent more time than any of us sat by Callahan’s side on that first day, holding onto him with a pale expression as she stared down at him. Their mother lost her twin—Ailsa, Tavish’s mom—and when Freya told us the story, the look that passed between Rach and Callahan was one of hope that they’d never have to face that. Seeing her brother in that state would have undoubtedly been too close to that horror.

Callahan reluctantly releases me, saying nothing as he pulls his sister into his embrace.

Brodie and I share a soft smile as he moves to stand next to me, slipping an arm over my shoulder. I give him a one-armed hug while we wait, and I feel privileged to witness Cal and Rach’s bond. It’s special, and one I’ll never fully understand, being an only child. It fills me with warmth to see them this way when they spent so long arguing with each other.

“Alright, you can let me go now,” Callahan says after another few minutes of Rach clinging to him.

“One more minute,” she grumbles, and Callahan chuckles, indulging her request. Brodie’s body vibrates with a silent chuckle too, and I lean into him. I’ve always thought of Brodie as the brother I never had, and having him here at the palace brings me more relief than I thought it would.

Yes I’ve had Rach and Reyne with me, and they’ve been there for me when I’ve returned from those meetings with my spirit almost broken, but the loneliness that’s edged in when they haven’t been around has taken up more room than it should have, even with Hector on my side.

Tomorrow will be a different story, though.

“You doing okay?” Brodie asks while he watches Callahan and Rach hold onto each other.

I look up at him, those deep eyes of his filled with nothing but warmth and genuine concern. It wasn’t long, but I’ve missed him, and the comfort I feel in his presence. He’s the Seelie equivalent of a warm blanket, but one with wicked edges that will do anything to protect the people he cares about.

“I’m better now,” I reply, more emotion than I expected thickening in my throat.

He squeezes the top of my arm and I smile.

When they pull apart, Callahan looks down at Rach with a softness he shows very few people. Something unspoken passes between them and I have to look away from the tenderness.

Brodie steps forward, holding out his hand, and Rach immediately goes to him as Callahan clasps mine again.

“See you two in the morning then,” Brodie says and turns his attention to the woman next to him. “Now, baby, where are your rooms?” His voice drops a few octaves and color streaks across Rach’s cheeks while Callahan makes a noise of disgust.

Brodie shoos him away and I stifle a laugh.

I pull Callahan toward my room, it doesn’t take much persuasion, since he’s more than happy to get away from whatever is about to go down between his sister and his best friend.

He takes in the blank space, brows pinching. “This the royal wing?”

“Mmhmm. Apparently Raghnall had everything removed when he became king, preferred it this way,” I reply, relaying the information shared with me when I first arrived. It’s painfully obvious now that he did it to rid these halls of anything that might have belonged to my great-grandfather.

“I was thinking I could have some stuff brought in from wherever it was placed, make it feel less abandoned?” I say, unsure as we round the bend and the setting sun filters through the windows that frame the doors to my new rooms.

“You’re queen, you can do whatever you like.” When Callahan calls me queen, it doesn’t make me squirm like it does when others do. In fact, it makes me feel a whole bunch of things that aren’t appropriate for company.

Callahan pauses for a beat when he sees the emblem on the doors, and I urge him forward with a small curl to my lips. “Wait until you see inside.”

One of the doors stands ajar, the lock left open by me, and staff are bustling inside with dinner, judging from the smell of food and the clinking of cutlery drifting in our direction.

The large living area is bathed in a soft orange glow through the massive window. Beyond it is a tapestry of vivid color. Greens, reds, browns, and yellows, as the forests of Elfayne succumb to fall’s embrace. I wondered what it would be like to look at this view during my favorite season, and it’s everything I hoped it would be, and more.

I’ve taken time to myself each morning to watch the way the rising sun reflects off the smooth surface of Ederline, the lake that borders the city, and how the tops of the Jura mountains gather more snow with each passing day.

The staff laying food on the table pause as we enter. “Dinner is ready for you, my lady,” one of them says. “Will Lady Reyne and Lady Rachel be joining you this evening?” The dark-haired woman asks.