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“For what it’s worth, the rest of us are happy with Twig,” another council member spoke up, surprising him. He’d only spoken to her a few times, and she’d intimidated the hell out of him. Now she smiled at him. He didn’t know if she was speaking up because she genuinely supported him or simply because it meant going against Ilias, but the result was the same either way, so it didn’t matter to him.

He was a council member, and he wasn’t going anywhere.

* * * *

TAYLOR WOULDN’T HAVE been surprised if someone had noticed him practically vibrating during the meeting. He’d felt it first as anger at Ilias’s words, then as pride and happiness at the way things had gone. He’d always known Killian supported his siblings, be it Rune, Twig, or any of the others, but it had been good to hear him say it out loud.

He hadn’t been surprised when Ilias brought up his relationship with Twig. Both of them had been in the room, so there wasn’t a more perfect opportunity for him. Honestly, Taylor had been more surprised that Ilias had even noticed him standing there. He’d been by one of the back doors, doing his best to blend into the wall. He wasn’t sure why Killian had insisted on him guarding this particular meeting, but he suspected it had something to do with exactly that. The king had probably had enough of Ilias’s insinuations and his attempts to destabilize the council with his snide comments. He’d wanted Ilias to finally say what was on his mind out loud, and the dragon had.

And Killian had given him a smackdown for it.

Taylor smiled just thinking about it. It had been glorious, and even now, watching Ilias storm out of the council room, he could still picture the dragon’s face when Killian had basically told him to fuck off.

Well, Killian hadn’t used those exact words. But he might as well have. That was how Ilias had taken it, anyway, and he wouldn’t have been wrong to. Killian clearly had no patience left for him, which shouldn’t surprise anyone, least of all Ilias.

“You don’t have to worry about anything,” Killian was telling Twig, who was still sitting in his seat. Everyone had seemed surprised when Killian hadn’t disappeared straight back to his office once the council was dismissed. Instead, he’d made his way over to his brother, and the two of them had been talking for a few minutes now.

Normally, Twig would’ve been anxious about that. Taylor knew how much he looked up to Killian and how grateful he was that Killian trusted him with a seat on the council. He wanted a better relationship with his brother and the rest of his siblings, and Taylor thought he might just get it. At the very least, it was nice to see Killian wasn’t shying away from their relationship. He clearly trusted Twig, and he wasn’t afraid to show it in front of some of the most important people in the clan.

“I don’t think that’s going to be enough to stop him,” Twig said, glancing back toward the door Ilias had stormed out of.

“Well, whatever he has to say, it’s not going to be enough to change my mind. I trust you, Twig. You wouldn’t be a council member if I didn’t. Besides, your relationship with Taylor has nothing to do with your seat on the council. Ilias should’ve known better than to bring that up, considering I’m dating a human myself.”

“You’re not just dating a human, though. You made him your consort. That’s a different kind of relationship than I could ever have with Taylor.”

Killian glanced sideways at Taylor, who arched a brow at him. He didn’t mind being caught eavesdropping. The two of them clearly weren’t trying to be discreet, anyway—they were having this conversation in the middle of the council room, with several council members still lingering, probably hoping for a word with the king.

Killian grinned at Taylor before turning his attention back to Twig. “Well, you can’t make Taylor your consort, but you can make things official whenever the two of you are ready. Whatever you decide, know you’ll always have my support.” Killian reached out and squeezed Twig’s shoulder. Twig preened at the gesture, probably without even realizing he was doing it. It was sweet.

Twig was sweet. It was one of the reasons Taylor was so drawn to him. He hadn’t had an easy start in life, but he was gentler than most people Taylor had ever met. He wanted love, and he deserved to have it.

Taylor would give him his share of it. Hopefully, at least a few of Twig’s siblings would do the same. Killian certainly looked like he wanted to.

Killian stepped away, and a couple of council members made a beeline for him. Twig took the opportunity to get up, and Taylor moved closer, wanting to make sure he was okay. He looked a little shaky, but he beamed when he saw Taylor coming toward him.

“Did you hear all that?”

“I heard everything,” Taylor said, bumping their shoulders together. “How long do you think it’ll take Ilias to try again?”

“He knows better than to stand up to Killian during a meeting again. He’ll probably try to catch me doing something I shouldn’t or making a mistake he can use against me.”

“Well, if he does, we’ll fight him off, just like we did this time.”

Twig’s smile was small but sweet. “I like that you talk about us like a team.”

“Well, we are a team, aren’t we?”

Twig looked around the room. “Do you have to stay much longer?”

“I’m actually done.” The meeting had run a little longer than planned, and Taylor’s shift had technically ended almost twenty minutes ago. He hadn’t been about to leave, though—not with Twig still here.

Twig looked delighted by that. “So we can get some food and spend time together?”

Taylor offered him his hand. “We can do that.”

He left it up to Twig whether to take it. This was Twig’s home, after all. It wasn’t Taylor’s place to assume. Twig knew the people around here far better than Taylor ever would, and if he wasn’t comfortable holding hands in front of them, that was fine too.

Twig didn’t hesitate. He took Taylor’s hand and pulled him out of the council room, and Taylor followed, laughing.