Page 109 of The Prince's Fealty

They were up very late the next morning, convening at closer to lunchtime than dawn. Ada apologized to everyone at breakfast for disturbing them, which resulted in a lot of people pulling her into a hug and assuring her that she didn’t have anything to apologize for.

“I had nightmares, too,” Fernila volunteered.

“And me,” Tor admitted.

“Me as well,” Stronex confessed.

Ada looked like she thought they were humoring her, but she let the matter go. Tor wished theyhadbeen humoring her. He’d had enough frantic worry about saving his family before he’d helped accomplish it; he really didn’t need that fear to follow him into his dreams. Each time he’d woken, Pel had roused by his side and pressed a kiss to the closest bit of skin and assured him that he was safe and everyone was well. Tor felt bad for continually disturbing him, but the comfort had been very welcome.

Whether Var had had the chance to sleep on it or simply decided now was not the time, he didn’t mention Ada or Stronex or anything about what had happened last night. Even with their late start, they made it into Lotar before they stopped for the night.

They spent two more nights at inns along the road, and the only interruptions to their sleep were private ones. (If Var noticed that it was not Larexa and Ada sharing a room, he didn’t mention it.)

Early in the evening on their fourth day, they arrived back in Scala. For Tor, it felt like a lifetime had passed since he’d last been here. He hadn’t evenknownPel when he’d last visited, and that seemed almost inconceivable. So much was different now. He wasn’t sure any of them knew quite how to react.

It helped to have small children who came shooting out of the castle to fling themselves at Ada and their father and then Tor and then Var. They’d known that Tor and Var were twins, of course, but they’d never gotten to hug the two of them before and assess if they hugged the same or different.

Since this was children giving cuddles, Tor was all for it, and Var was equally patient as Hena and Para—lots of ribbons in her hair today—went back and forth between them a dozen or more times in order to make a thorough assessment of their hugging capabilities.

They finally decided that Tor had moreexperienceso he might be a little bit better at it, but it was nice to have someone that they didn’t hug as often.

Little Hena cheerfully told Var that if he wanted to come more frequently, she was sure he’d get as good as Tor.

“Thank you for the recommendation,” Var told her gravely, though his lips twitched a little. “I will certainly try to visit more often. And perhaps you can come visit me, too.”

Para pointed out, “Uncle Tor said that we could come visit.”

They turned back to their father, and Hena asked, “We can visit, can’t we, Daddy?”

“Of course you can visit,” he told them. “But just at the moment, we’d like to come inside. Is that all right with you?”

They giggled.

Hena told him, “Of course it’s all right, Daddy. It would be silly to stay outside all day!”

Hena reached out her hands, one for Ada and one for Stronex, and Para took Ada’s other hand. Var’s eyes followed the movement, but he still said nothing.

They split up to get settled. Stronex handed Var, Fernila, Larexa, and Bavil over to his housekeeper and then went to update Solil. (Tor had almost forgotten about Thurnil being dead. He might be of the firm belief that the man had been terrible, but he was still family for these people. Hena and Para would have to be told, too, and Tor was selfishly glad he wasn’t the one who would need to do the telling.)

Ada tried to be host, but they all assured her they were totally fine, so she let the children tug her away, chattering about every single thing they’d done while she was gone. It sounded like a great list of events from the little bit that Tor heard—way better than what they’d been doing.

He smiled at Pel, and Pel grinned back.

“That’s such an ‘I want kids’ look.”

Tor grinned at him. “Is it?”

“Do you deny it?”

Tor shook his head. “No.”

It wasn’t at all what he’d expected or thought he wanted, but it was fast becoming exactly what he desired.

Tor confirmed with the housekeeper that his regular room had been prepared and then led Pel to it.

“Oh, before I forget,” he said. “There’s a fair to middling chance we’ll be woken up by children jumping in the bed.”

Pel grinned. “Got it.”