Chapter 17

For some reason, Cleo always loved watching her cousin interacting with her children. In Cleo's opinion, Lyv was one of the best mothers there could ever be, which was somewhat surprising given she was raised by a human mother who absolutely despised her and tried to ruin every single thing she ever had in life. Lyv didn't even know Bridget was her real mother and Alberich her real father until she was twenty. She always said it wasn't just the absolute love she'd gotten from her parents once she knew them, but also a promise she'd made to herself long ago.

"When I thought it was Guinevere," she'd told Cleo one early morning just a few months after Dessa was born. Cleo was spending a few weeks with them in Ayveri, needing a break from her duties in Arloerin. "I promised myself I would never be the kind of mother she was to my own children as she was to me."

Cleo smiled, glancing down at the sleeping baby Dessa curled up in her arms, wrapped snuggly in a pink and gold blanket. "Well, so far, you're doing an absolutely perfect job. Not only with her, but with Elys, too."

Lyv smiled, brushing her fingers along the top of Dessa's head, across her soft dark hair, her silver streak at her temple.

And she was still doing a perfect job now as Cleo watched from the from doors of the palace as Lyv fussed over Dessa and three-year-old Lenora. The princesses were going out for another day of flying with Milena, though they weren't taking the males with them this time. By the mischievous looks Dessa and Len were giving each other, then their smiles to Milena just a short distance away, Cleo immediately knew they were going to cause trouble. Even the dragons, Eria and Arsais, seemed to be in on it, too.

Just like she taught them.

The thought had her grinning.

It had been eight days since Cleo's arrival, and she had yet to see Dessa and Elys in conversation. They were looking, though, and trying to make it seem like they weren't.

Yet everyone still saw it, were still waiting for them to have some kind of interaction.

Cleo supposed that discord between them was her fault. She shouldn't have brought up Elys's past in Laria, though those two relationships only lasted a mere few weeks. And Dessa herself had been in a few relationships herself from what Cleo knew. She still didn't know the one she was searching for was right there in front of her with Elys, though he'd always said he would never push her into anything she didn't want.

But by the looks she and everyone else saw between them...well, it wouldn't be too long.

"You be safe, all right?" Lyv said to Dessa and Len as she kissed them both. "Don't stay out too long, though. We've got dinner planned..."

"Just like every night?" Dessa questioned, rolling her eyes.

"No, this time we're going out. And don't get sassy with me, young lady."

"I get it from you, don't I?"

"Still...don't do it."

Dessa smiled, lifting Len up into her arms just as she looked up at Cleo, still standing in the doorway. Her eyes drifted behind her then, watching the three males descend the stairs inside before joining her at the door. And while Eamon and Archer continued outside, fully dressed in their armor since they were planning on spending the day training just outside the city, Elys stayed at Cleo's side.

Dessa quickly looked away, still speaking with Lyv as they walked over to the dragons.

"It's been over a week, you know," Cleo mumbled to Elys when she finally looked over at him.

He, too, was dressed in armor, his sword along his back and dagger on his leg. Arms crossed over his chest, she could practically feel the tension rolling off him, just like he'd been over the short time she'd been in Ayveri.

"I know you came here for a reason, Cleo," Elys told her, eyes still on Dessa as she pulled herself up into the saddle behind Len. "I'm actually surprised you haven't brought it up yet with me. We'll talk today, though, all right? I need to get some training in and then I'll find you with Lyv at Sherine's later this afternoon."

"I wasn't talking about that, kid."

"Of course, you weren't."

"I was talking about you and the princess."

"When she's ready to talk to me again, I'll be here."

She nudged him with an elbow. "I'm sorry. Again."

"And just like I've told you, it's not your fault."

"Can't I feel like it is? Because I do."

"Well, stop."

Cleo's hand flew out and smacked him in the stomach, though the blow hurt her more when it connected with metal and leather. She cursed, which had Elys laughing. A laugh that quickly ended when Eria and Arsais took off with their bloodrite bonds and one giggling little girl on their backs.

Lyv stalked over to the bottom of the steps just as Elys started his way down. Her arms crossed over her chest as she glared at him. "I don't like that you two aren't talking again. I had one day. One day of seeing you two together like you were before and now it's all gone to hell."

"She'll talk to me eventually. She just has to realize both of us grew up."

"Grew up enough to have relationships with other females."

"That lasted just a few weeks, Lyv. And if my visions are clear, Dessa's had a few relationships that have gone a little bit farther than she's even told you."

"I...what?"

Elys's face flamed, though it wasn't clear whether in anger or embarrassment of what he was seeing in those visions of...never mind.

Oh, gods above. Why was Cleo stuck in the middle of this? That's right...because she was the one to cause it. Realizing that, she heaved a sigh and continued watching the volley of words between Lyv and Elys.

But Lyv just shook her head, clearly putting away that tidbit of information for a later time when she could talk to her eldest daughter alone. "Fix it, Elys. Soon. I don't want to watch you two skirting around each other and eventually fighting, which I know it will lead to."

"If I remember correctly," Elys continued, fidgeting with the buckles on his jacket. "You and Jai fought and still fight all the time."

"But at least we talk to each other!"

"Really? Need I remind you that one time when you went months without speaking."

Cleo knew the time he was referring to, when Lyv had first met the little Seer and saved him from a deadly fate when he was just five years old.

Lyv ground out a retort. "No fair. I was focusing on you and you know it."

"Of course, I do...but we still could have been back with Jai, Gideon, and Thia if you hadn't wanted to wait."

"Why did we switch to this topic? We're talking about you and Dessa."

"And there's nothing to talk about with me and Dessa, other than the fact that we have some things to work through."

Lyv choked on her words, emerald eyes flashing as if she were remembering something. "Oh. Oh."

Elys's smile was tightly controlled. "I said that to you before, didn't I? When we saw you in the Keep's dungeon?"

All Lyv did was nod.

"All right," she said eventually. "Go on with the boys. You three don't get into too much trouble, though, you hear me?"

More relaxed than he had been, Elys closed the short distance between them, gave Lyv a quick hug, and kissed her cheek. "When have we ever gotten into too much trouble?"

He danced out of the way before her fist could connect with his stomach, chuckling, before jogging to catch up with Eamon and Archer, who were already headed toward the stables. Three horses were already saddled and ready to go, allowing for them to jump up into and take off through the palace gates.

Lyv heaved a sigh, hands on her hips as she turned to Cleo. "Like I said, I had one day – one day – to see them acting like they used to and now it's back to this!"

"Oh, quit being all overprotective of the two of them from each other, would you? You're sounding like a mother," she told her cousin, looping her arm through hers. She started them in the same direction the boys disappeared to. "They'll figure it out. You know they will."

But Lyv wasn't going to let up. "And for that boy to throw mine and Jai's relationship into it..."

"Well, he's got a point with you two fighting...or so I've been told by Gideon plenty of times since you know he likes to talk about his two best friends more than he probably should. Including the few times he's walked in on the two of you," Cleo snorted.

A sly smile stretched across her face. "At least he's learned how to knock now...including this morning."

"Ew, Lyv! I didn't need to hear that!"

"Sure, you did. Because you still want me to tell you. You and my sisters are the worst."

"We can't help that your mate and husband's one of the most devastatingly handsome males in both your world and in Laria."

"Don't let him hear you say that."

"Please, I tell him that all the time...and he completely basks in it and tells me I'm his favorite."

Lyv let out a snort, then went into a full fit of laughter as they slowly started down Penrose.

The two of them spent several hours together, just talking and catching up with what happened over the last few months since they'd been together. Conversation was easy to get into, just as it had been since the day Cleo had met Lyv almost twenty years before. They spoke about what had been happening in both of their worlds over the last few months, how everyone in their lives were doing, and even about their love lives.

Which is when the topic of Kav came up.

"Ah," Lyv grinned as they sat outside at a table in front of Sherine's bakery. "The little Krahzaran prince who could never keep his eyes off you. I haven't seen him in a few years."

"He's even more annoying now that he's older and knows how to influence females with just one seductive smirk," Cleo replied with an eye roll as she ran a fingertip around the edge of her teacup.

"Maybe that's why I've always seemed to like him. He was turning that charm on me, too."

"He was in Arloerin just before I left to come here."

"And how many times has he asked you to marry him now?"

Cleo snorted. "Too, too many."

Lyv tried to hide her smile from behind her own cup as she took a sip.

"What?" Cleo demanded.

"Oh, nothing."

Nothing. Sure.

She knew. She knew just by the look in her emerald eyes they shared.

"Elys told you, didn't he? And I bet it was years ago when he was little and couldn't control those rambles of his."

Lyv was practically holding in her squeal of excitement. "Yes! But you're stubborn just like me and probably haven't even entertained the thought of actually accepting."

"Just like I promised Janan, the next time he asks, I'm saying yes. Too bad he's being an ass and making me wait. Maybe I can be the one to seduce it out of him. Gods know it will probably work."

Oh, the look on Lyv's face when she understood what Cleo was implying...it was marvelous.

"You two are already mated?" she practically screeched.

Cleo immediately hushed her. "You think you're loud enough? Geez."

"How could you not tell me?" Lyv demanded, smacking her hand on the table to make their cups and plates rattle. "You tell me everything."

"Of course, I do," she nodded. "But this...this was mine. Mine and Kav's alone. The only two who knew were Janan and Elys. Janan because she mistakenly walked in on us one morning and Elys because of his visions."

Lyv squealed again, wiggling excitedly in her chair. "Tell me. Tell me everything!"

And with a laugh, Cleo did, almost relieved to have another in on her and Kav's secret.

"Almost four years...I hate you for not telling me sooner! Why didn't you bring him here?" Lyv pouted when she finished. "I want to see him again just so I can threaten him. Ooh, and Jai, Gideon, and Mik can threaten him, too. Because if he ever hurts you, you know damn well I'll be one of the ones to beat his ass."

"You'd have to do it after I do, too. But he never would. I know it."

Lyv sat in silence, starting at her with a smile.

Cleo hardly noticed, though, as Kav's image appeared in her head, his smirking smile making a small one appear on her own. Gods, she missed him. Lyv was right. Maybe she should have brought him along, then he could have seen everyone again. Someday soon they would and maybe Cleo wouldn't be nervous to let the worlds see that Queen Cleo of Arloerin and Prince Kaveh of Krahzara were mated and would be married as soon as the prince asked her for her hand yet again.

When she finally broke from her reverie, she glanced back up at Lyv, who was still staring, still smiling.

"What?" Cleo asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "Stop looking at me like that."

"I'm looking at you like this," Lyv began as she reached over to grasp her hand, "because I honestly don't think I've ever seen you so happy before."

"Janan said the same thing."

"Of course, she did. Would you ever question your second?"

"Never."

"Exactly. Seriously, Cleo. I've always felt you were keeping something but never would have dreamed of that secret being this. I don't know how you kept it for so long, but I understand why you did. Especially with Kav being a prince of Krahzara. But does Malik know?"

Cleo shook her head. "Malik and I...we're still on edge around each other, even though speaking is a lot less tense than it has been in the past. He's actually the reason I'm here. Well, the reason I'm here is because I need to see if Elys has seen anything or if he can. I need...guidance. Seer guidance."

Lyv's brows furrowed. "What's going on that you haven't told me yet?"

"Nothing new. You know, Larian royals still trying to take over my kingdom and throne. And this time...this time I get one of the best assassins to ever live being sent after me. At least, that's what Kav and I think is going to happen. You know Sophea's had it out for me since...gods, practically since I was born, you know?"

"Cleo, seriously."

Taking a deep breath, she held it in for a few seconds before letting it out slowly. "According to Kav, he thinks Malik knows who the Lady in White really is and that she might be the one Sophea send to Arloerin to get rid of me. Not that she would succeed, but I'd like to see them try."

She hated to think this way, but Cleo was used to it. Used to the other Larian royals wanting to get rid of her by any means necessary. Sophea, of course, was the worst of them all. But Cleo couldn't return the favor. Regicide on her part wouldn't be the answer. If it was, all anyone would be able to see was the darkness that surrounded her.

Lyv was silent for several moments, undoubtedly thinking along the same lines as Cleo was. She'd known her fears, her worries. They had spoken about it multiple times before. "But Malik...he would never allow that to happen. You know he wouldn't. I know you two still aren't on the best of terms, but he wouldn't want the beginnings of that foundation of friendship crumble when it's being rebuilt."

"Of course, he wouldn't," Cleo agreed. "But he wouldn't have a choice when it's Sophea who still sits on the throne."