Page 47 of The Interdimensional Lord's Earthly Delight
“I am not a warlord anymore.”
And that loss bit at him as cruelly as her moment of weakness haunted her.
Finally, she curledinto his side. “I want Rayna and Trixie to be happy.Theyfought and won—Rayna got us the space station, Trixie got rid of Blackworm—so they deserve their happiness. But me…”
When she didn’t continue, he wanted to shake the rest of the words out of her. But what made him think he had that right when he was a failure himself? “As a one-time warlord, I can tell you war and reward are not alwaysmatched.”
“And that’s why we’re hiding here in a ruined castle, stealing love tokens.”
He wanted to argue with her, but… She was right. This wasn’t a battle he could win. Fighting her friends would only make him more like Blackworm when he was trying to prove the opposite. The best he could do was unearth some ancient testament of his identity from a life that was no longer his.
As his hopefor a future went, it seemed the chains of the past were stronger even than the fatal abyss of a black hole.
***
They didn’t sleep long, although their makeshift bed was cozy enough. Tynan sensed the coming daylight even before it drifted through the door they’d left ajar. As long as he’d been gone, the rhythms of the mountain were still the same.
Lishelle shifted, easing away from him.
“Good morning,” he said softly.
“Oh, hey.” She pushed upright, nudging springy curls out of her eyes. “You’re awake too. Good. It’s a race whether my stomach is going to cave in first or my bladder explode.”
“Either way, sounds messy.” He rose and held one hand back to her, tugging her to her feet. “Let’s see if the bathrooms still work and then scrounge the offerings.”
She tagged along behindhim, not trying to pull her hand out of his. “I’m scared to ask, but…”
He glanced over his shoulder as they stepped out into the great hall. “You can ask me anything.”
Her brow furrowed. “What kind of bathroom exactly?”
His bark of laughter echoed in the big room.
By the time he showed her the bathing options—which had only a trickle of water, but enough to do the job—and explained how thecastle had been plumbed with gravity-fed runoff a millennium before he took it by right of conquest, they were good and hungry. They found a selection of unexpired food pouches in the gifts strewn around the dais and took their haul outside to the front steps.
The morning sun had climbed high enough to shine down through the jungle. The storm last night had left raindrops everywhere, glisteninglike the world had been dipped in jewels in every hue of green with a few pops of blossoming color. Though it was still early, the heat was gathering, and silvery wisps of fog spiraled up from the ground to dance among the vines.
“It’s beautiful,” Lishelle murmured. “So unlike the Azthronos estate.”
“The estate planet was always the proper head of this system,” he said. “This world was its wildheart.” He stared up as a small flock of local avians flew across the courtyard, chirping a morning song. “I’m glad this at least hasn’t changed.”
When a less musical gurgle came from his companion, he turned his attention back to her.
“Sorry.” She clamped one hand over her belly. “Tell me more.”
He smiled. “While I feed you.”
They tore open the packets of food. As befit gifts for a god, everythingwas high quality, maybe too rich for a picnic breakfast. All the bottles they tried were various strengths of ghost-mead and even more exotic liqueurs. Except they found one bottle of a delicate fruit nectar that hadn’t been fermented and one suspiciously dark carafe—
“Coffee!” Lishelle hugged the carafe to her chest. “Thank god!”
“Thankthisgod,” he said smugly.
She grinned. “I suppose Ishould share.”
He waved it away. “I’m feeling benevolent.”
While they dined on Thorkon delights, he told her about growing up in a jungle village near the castle. When he’d been denied a servant’s position at the castle because of his jungle upbringing, he joined the army of a neighboring warlord and worked his way up through the ranks where his rough ways hadn’t mattered.