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Luca’s people were rowdy, reckless, and often downright crazy. They chose to live in one of the most desolate areas of Bhodhsa, where the summers scorched you and the winters tried to freeze you solid. They were generous, loyal to a fault, and Luca would choose them every time to have at his back.

On the surface, calling them to be security during a festival seemed not the best choice because they looked the type to capitalize on booze and fun rather than stay disciplined. Luca knew they could handle the festival goers, though, and often did it in such a way that the belligerent drunks didn’t take offense at being sent home. They were charming reprobates, his men.

It was why, when he’d realized they had to double security for the festival, he’d chosen his own to do the job. Besides, they all spoke Shiirein well enough. Er, mostly.

Luca walked the distance toward his office this morning with a brewing headache, right along his temples. Petar had not made breakfast pleasant. The young Scovian had clearly gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, and there was nothing anyone could do to change it. Luca had had to get into his face and tell him point-blank to leave the ryokan and go cool off.

Poor Noe didn’t seem to know how to handle his brother. Noe was frank enough about not being great with conflict, although Luca knew he could stand up for himself when circumstances called for it, as he’d seen Noe do it. Still, it put a strain on him, and fighting with family was the absolute worst. Luca could empathize, as he had two quarrelsome parents he’d contended with on a regular basis.

Bhodhsa had a phrase: You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. Did the Scovians not have it? If they did, then Petar sure didn’t seem to know it.

Luca would likely have to throw the young fool out of the country altogether, but for Noe’s sake, he’d let Petar run with more rope for now. He’d hang himself neatly enough without Luca’s interference.

He got near the door and could clearly hear Bram and Tavish—neither man capable of being quiet unless sneaking.

“Where be Himself, then?” Bram asked as if he’d also just entered. “Late? Someone go fetch him.”

“We’ve said his name a few times,” Tavish drawled. “He’ll show any second now. Man’s got magic in him.”

“He not be that powerful, Ewan. We’ve only said his name twice.”

“But we’ve said dumbass multiple times!”

Now that, Ewan would pay for.

Luca strode right in, panning his head, taking in the crowd of men who had either gotten here early enough to find a chair or were leaning comfortably against walls, desks, and each other. Spying Ewan near his desk, he strode right for the man, snagged his neck, and locked it in place before roughly rubbing the man’s hair. His spiky dark hair needed more messing up anyway.

Ewan squirmed and laughed, clearly not bothered by the attention. For all that he was nearly the same size as Luca, he could squirm with the best of them. “See! He heard the dumbass!”

“I heard a dumbass, for sure, right through a wooden door. Did yer mam never teach ye how to be quiet, ye lugnut?”

“She tried, bless ’er.”

Letting go, Luca pushed the man off, ignoring his grin. Incorrigible, this one.

“Now, lads, pay attention. We’ve got drama incoming.”

“Seems to me it’s already here,” Devaughn observed, one of the few who had found a chair, his long and lanky legs crossed at the knee, glossy black hair tied up at the nape, as per usual. “Word is, one of the students is our Noe’s brother.”

Luca paused. Our Noe? When had that happened?

“Everyone here knows about my engagement to Noe Keller, then?” Luca kept a weather eye on them, going from face to face to see their reactions.

“Soothe yer tail feathers,” Caelan encouraged, grinning and revealing his gapped teeth. “Word’s spread far and wide by now, especially with ye kissin’ yer man every chance ye get.”

Man had him there.

“We be pleased,” Caelan continued, still grinning. “Keller’s a good choice. Seems to make ye happy, for one. Smart, for another. Pulled him aside the other day, I did, and had a wee bit of a chat with him.”

He did what? When? Noe hadn’t mentioned this at all!

“A kind man, that one, and good-natured. Took the teasin’ we threw him in stride and even teased back. I’ve always liked a man who teases back. We’ve nary a problem with yer choice, so settle.”

This reassured Luca a great deal, and he released a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “Thank you. I think he’s an exceptional choice. I’m glad the rest of you have the judgment to see it.”

A few of the men wolf whistled and Luca rolled his eyes. Apparently, their seriousness could only last a whole fifteen seconds. Well, he should expect nonstop teasing from this lot.

He clapped his hands and then motioned for them to settle down. “Here’s the thing. You’ve heard we’ve got Scovian students who’ve joined the party? None of them know a blessed thing about Shiirei. Not the language, customs, nothing at all, at all. Warden Brahms has chosen to turn them loose during the festival so they can soak in some culture, and they’ve got a list of fifty words they’re supposed to learn this next week. I want all of you to keep an extra eye on them, help them along if they seem stuck. We want them learning, not getting drunk and causing trouble.”

Ewan made a vibration kind of noise.

“What was that?” Luca had no idea why Ewan was acting so strangely.

“Ye were maintainin’ eye contact, so I had to make some kind of noise,” Ewan explained.

That was Luca’s mistake, focusing too long on the member of his party with a single brain cell. Luca gave him a dry look and focused elsewhere. “Now, that said, we’ve got a few potential problems out of the students. First one is Nathan Asen. You can’t miss him, he’s bigger than Bram—”

“Oi! Me diet’s workin’ very well!”

“What diet?” Ewan demanded.

“Me beer diet! I drink all day and don’t eat a blessed thing.”

“I meant in height,” Luca corrected long-sufferingly. “Although for gods’ sakes, Bram, start eating. I can’t have you drunk all day. Moving on. Nathan Asen strikes me as a good kid, but he’s ridiculously tall, covered in tattoos—”

There rose oooh s of understanding from the men.

“—and doesn’t know more than three words in Shiirein. Seems keen to learn, though, from what I’ve seen of him. So keep an eye out for him. He’s by nature the very thing to unnerve Shiireins.”

For all they joked and teased, Luca knew his men absorbed the information he gave them, and they’d watch out for the kid.

“Second one is more troublesome in my opinion. Noe’s younger brother, Petar, is also a student. Noe had no idea he was coming. It’s not a good surprise. Petar’s very against Noe marrying a man, and he’s even more against Noe marrying me.”

The mood sobered immediately.

Caedmon was the one who stirred, his craggy face unusually stony. “How much trouble has he been givin’ our Noe?”

“A lot.” Luca sighed. “Screaming matches since the minute he arrived. Noe’s handling it, but he’s already wearing thin, fast. If you see Petar start in on Noe, break it up immediately. Cart Petar off into a holding cell if you have to. He’s been like this for years, and from what Noe tells me, it’s only escalating. I don’t want them coming to blows. Noe’s too tenderhearted to hurt his brother. Petar’s too hot-tempered to care what damage he does. It’s a disaster waiting for the iron to strike.”

All the men looked at each other. Luca could see they reached a general consensus right there.

“We’ll keep an eye on our Noe at all times,” Caedmon promised him. “Petar, too. That said, I had a feelin’ ye’d want extra security durin’ the festival, so why don’t we make this simple? Trouble won’t be happenin’ in the mornings, really. It’ll only start in the afternoon. So have Team A start at noon, go to ten o’clock. Team B starts at three, goes to midnight. We’ll offset each other so one of us will be patrollin’ the streets every fifteen minutes.”

This was the other reason why Luca loved working with his own people. They knew what to do and didn’t need him overseeing every little detail. Caedmon’s plan ensured they had the most people on the streets at the busiest times without any need to completely hash out a new patrol or new teams.

“It’s solid. Do it. Start today, in fact. I know the festival doesn’t start for another two days, but I’ve noticed the drinking has. With the students now in the mix, I’d rather not take chances.”

“That we’ll do.” Caedmon stood and clapped his hands, already shooing people out the door. “Ye ken what to do. Go on with ye, go on!”

Most left, other than Caedmon, Ewan, and Tavish, which was never a good combination unless something called for explosions. Luca eyed them with misgivings.

“Seems you have something to say yet?”

Caedmon dipped his head in a slight nod, eyes on Luca. “After the two of ye got engaged, yer Noe has been asking us all sorts of questions. He came and greeted us, every one, and sat and got to know us for a while. Not sure if ye were aware he’d done that?”

“No, I wasn’t. He mentioned meeting you all, but I didn’t realize it was to that extent.” The moniker “our Noe” made more sense now.

“It be why we’re sayin’, he be a good sort. He wants to do right by us, and he not be leavin’ things up to chance. He made mention too that none of his family will celebrate yer union, which we do not like the sound of. He be too good a man for that.”

Luca felt like the adoption of Noe by his men was one part kindness, three parts protective instincts. Which he completely understood because the more time he spent around the man, the more ingrained his own protectiveness became. Noe was just too precious. Everyone who met him wanted the best for him.

“I agree, he is.” Luca smiled. “He needs all the support he can get. Petar has been…awful. I thought my parents were bad, but I do think Petar could give them a run for their money. What’s worse is, growing up, Noe had a very good relationship with his brother. They’re very close in age. It’s why I fear he won’t put a stop to Petar’s antics when he should, as he’s still in the habit of indulging a younger brother.”

“Now that be good to know.” Ewan tugged his beard a little. “Ye can lead a horse to water but ye cannae make it fuck a cactus.”

“Ye and yer malaphors,” Tavish grumbled before poking him in the ribs. “What does that even mean, aye?”

“Means we can only explain to young Petar how stupid he be so many times before we have to admit he won’t change, and just start punchin’ him when the stupid comes out of his mouth.”

Luca wholeheartedly agreed. “Absolutely punch him if it calls for it. As I said, Noe’s too indulgent with Petar, and Petar’s only getting worse from what I can tell. I damn near punched him this morning.”

“Then that be what we’ll do.”

Everyone was more or less set on their tasks, and Luca knew a mountain of work awaited him, so he waved them out the door. “Go on with you, then. Relax while you have a few hours. You’ll be busy starting this afternoon, I’ve no doubt.”

They pushed up to their feet, heading for the door.

Luca, on instinct, called the worst of the troublemakers back. “Ewan?”

He paused, looking over his shoulder expectantly. “Aye?”

“You are not to teach the students how to say phrases like ‘Where are the prostitutes?’ Got that?”

Ewan blinked. “It be a learnin’ experience, innit?”

“They won’t know what to say to the geisha once they get there—or Shiirein brothel customs—and will likely get in trouble and thrown out,” Luca pointed out, exasperated.

“So yer sayin’ I should go with them?”

“Get yer horny dick above yer waistline, ye stupid bastard.” Caedmon lightly smacked him on the back of the head. “Himself’s got a point. Besides, we don’t want them ironclad.”

“Ye mean iron clap?”

“Not the disease, ye fool. Although that too.” To Luca, Caedmon assured, “I’ll keep an eye on him too, don’t fret.”

“Thank you.”

Luca watched them go, shaking his head all the while. There was an age-old question: Who should guard the guardians?

Luca had an answer. Not Ewan, that was for sure.