Page 40 of The Warrior Priest (After the Rift #1)

“That was true then, but it’s no longer true. Now it feels right to leave. Do you remember what I said outside the temple gates earlier, when I resigned?”

“When you resigned as master?”

“When I resigned from the order .”

I thought back to his announcement, trying to pinpoint how I’d misunderstood his full intention.

“You said ‘You need to know that I’m resigning.’ The brothers all spoke among themselves, then asked you who should be master.

You told them it was up to them to vote but you endorsed Rufus.

You rattled off a number of qualities he possessed that?—”

He closed the gap between us and placed a finger to my lips. “Not that part.” He caressed my top lip with his thumb. My skin responded with a rush of tingles as it always did when he touched me. “The part about not having the right temperament,” he murmured.

Being so close to him wasn’t very helpful for my concentration, but my excellent memory wouldn’t allow me to forget.

“You said you didn’t have the right temperament to be master.”

“Not master. To be a priest. I was resigning from Merdu’s Guards because being a priest is not for me.

There are too many restrictions. I needed the order when I was younger.

It was my home. The brothers were my family.

They still are and always will be. But it is time for me to leave home and begin a new life with someone else.

” He cupped my jaw and searched my face.

“With you, Jac. If you’ll still have me. ”

“Ohhh,” I said on a breath. It seemed to be all I could manage.

His hand dropped away. “I’ve changed. I’m not the man I used to be when we first met. I’m not as easygoing?—”

It was my turn to stop him with a finger to his lips. “I’ve changed too, Rhys, and this version of me loves this version of you even more.”

His chest swelled. His lips twitched with a tentative smile.

I stroked them with my thumb, as he’d done mine. “I’m glad to see your smiles again. I’ve missed them.”

“I love you, Jac.”

“I love you too, Rhys.”

He kissed me. It was not like the drunken kiss we’d shared a lifetime ago. It was tender and honest, and filled with the sweetness of longing we’d both tried to suppress.

The kiss soon changed, however. It became earnest. I wasn’t sure which one of us deepened the kiss, but it didn’t matter.

We tugged at and untied each other’s clothes.

My fingers fumbled, but I managed to get his tunic and shirt over his head, while he was a little gentler with me, careful of my injured shoulder and the cuts and bruises. It was frustratingly slow.

It became even more frustrating when he stepped away, out of my reach. He dragged his hand through his hair and cursed under his breath.

My gaze lowered to his magnificent chest, rising and falling with his ragged breaths. It was bare, without bandaging. “Is it the wounds on your back? Do they pain you?”

He shook his head.

“Then…have you forgotten how to…you know?”

It was meant as a joke, but he didn’t smile. “I won’t take your virtue, Jac. Not until we’re married.”

I ground my back teeth together to stop myself snapping at him in frustration. “Very well. What about when we’re engaged?”

He considered it, then nodded. “All right.”

“Then I accept.”

“But I haven’t proposed yet.”

I tilted my head to the side and arched my brows.

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “It’s not how I imagined it, but Jac, will you marry me?”

I grinned. “I will.” I hooked a finger into the waistband of his trousers. “Now, show me what I’ve been waiting to see all these years.”

We stayed in the room all the next day. The day after that, we borrowed clothes for Rhys from the innkeeper then headed to the sheriff’s office. The holding cells behind the office kept the prisoners locked up until their trial was held, but we didn’t get that far.

“I’m afraid he died overnight,” the sheriff said. “I am sorry, Miss Trenchant.”

Rhys circled his arm around my waist. I leaned into him. Not because I was so shocked at the news and needed support, but simply because I liked to be near him. Hearing about my uncle’s death didn’t affect me.

“The magistrate has yet to complete the formalities, but no one will object if you wish to move in immediately, Miss Trenchant,” the sheriff went on.

I frowned. “Move in where?”

“To your uncle’s house. It’s yours. Or it will be soon.”

“But I’m a woman. The house and all my uncle’s property and belongings go to his nearest male relative.”

“There aren’t any. You’re the only surviving relative he had. The magistrate will ensure the property deeds are amended and your name added.” He waved a hand at Rhys. “You may want to tell the magistrate what name you want to use if you plan to marry soon.”

“Oh. You mean the property will be given to Rhys, as my husband.”

“No, Miss Trenchant. The law recently changed. Women can inherit property in their own right now. I’m simply asking if the magistrate writes Jacqueline Trenchant or Jacqueline Mayhew.”

I was going to be the owner of a house? Just me?

“We haven’t settled on a date,” Rhys said when I didn’t respond. “Ask the magistrate to write Trenchant for now. We’ll have it changed later.”

I left the sheriff’s office still feeling somewhat numb. “What should I do with such a large house?”

“You could live in it,” Rhys said. “Or if the memories are too painful, you could sell it.”

“I think I will sell it. It’s too large, too ostentatious. Besides, I want us to choose where we live together.”

He drew me against his side and kissed the top of my head. “We’ve both lived in one room for a long time. We deserve something bigger, but I agree. Something a little more modest is probably more suited to us.”

We discussed where in the city we wanted to live while we walked to the temple of Merdu’s Guards.

The bell of the high temple on top of the hill chimed midday, just as it had done every day since the bell tower was built.

Just as it would for years to come, whether the high priest was in residence or not.

A new high priest would be appointed soon, and everything would continue on as it always had.

Merdu’s Guards would continue, too, but without Rhys.

His name would be remembered, however, etched in stone in their small temple beneath Master Tomaj’s.

I suspected it would be remembered in many other ways, too.

He would be the charismatic warrior priest, the charming young man who’d broken a few vows along the way to becoming master, and finally given it all up for a woman.

I couldn’t enter the temple complex. Nothing had changed there.

Women still weren’t allowed in. Rhys fetched his friends and brought them out to me.

We stood under the tree where I’d once hidden and listened to the high priest’s conversation with Master Tomaj and Rhys, and where Giselle had hidden before attacking me a mere two days earlier.

The day was warm, and the shade was welcome.

I thought seeing Rhys’s friends would be awkward. I thought they’d blame me for taking Rhys away. But they all embraced me, none more fiercely than Rufus, the serious new master of the order.

Rhys stood close behind me, one hand on my hip. “Is all well here?”

Rufus nodded as he glanced back at the gate. “The vote happened last night. I’m master.”

“Congratulations,” I said. “Any news on the high priest?”

“The former high priest. He’s awaiting trial. The sheriff thinks there’s enough evidence to convict him and Giselle. The crime of conspiracy to murder isn’t punishable by death, but they could be sent to the prison mines in Freedland.”

It sounded awful, but the alternative was rotting in jail, and that sounded worse.

“Let’s discuss happier things,” Andreas said. “When will you two marry?”

“Very soon.” Rhys’s voice rumbled through his chest against my back.

I told them about my uncle’s death and inheriting his house, and that we’d decided to sell it and find a cottage, perhaps on the river. Rufus and Andreas offered suggestions for streets where we should make inquiries, but Vizah didn’t seem to be listening.

He must miss having Rhys around. I wondered if he was having second thoughts about staying in the order too.

Like Rhys, he’d come to Merdu’s Guards as a youth in desperate need of a father figure.

Master Tomaj had provided that. But being brought into the comforting fold of the order at such a young age meant they hadn’t fully understood what they were giving up for a future as a warrior priest. Now, as men, the life they wanted for themselves was becoming clearer.

They understood the consequences of their choice.

For Rhys, what he wanted for his future had changed altogether.

“Are you all right, Vizah?” I asked gently.

“At the governor’s house, I overheard you telling him that you would have cared for him in his old age, but he’d rejected you and chosen to be alone. It was one of the saddest things I’d ever heard.”

I threw my arms around him and hugged him. “You’ll always have Rhys. And me. We’re your family, Vizah.”

Andreas gently punched Vizah in the arm. “As are we,” he said with a nod at Rufus.

Rufus threw his arm around Vizah. “We don’t abandon our brothers.” He gave Rhys a flat smile. “Even the ones who no longer sleep in the next room.”

Vizah sniffed and turned his face away.

“Are you crying?” Andreas asked.

“It’s the pollen in the air today,” Vizah said, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

Rhys drew the bigger man into a hug. “Don’t worry. Jac and I won’t move too far away.”

“What will you do for work?” Rufus asked him.

“I haven’t decided. I’ll find something.”

“I hear the position of governor is open.”

Rhys laughed.

No one else did.

“You’d have to start as a councillor first,” Andreas said. “Knowing you, you’d move up the ranks quickly. Running the city will be easy after running this place.” He jerked his thumb at the temple gates.

Rhys pressed his fingers into his forehead and groaned. “I have no money. I don’t even own these clothes. We can’t live without money, Jac.”

I cupped his face with both hands. “Take a breath, Rhys.”

He drew in a breath and released it slowly.

“You have time to think about your future,” I went on. “I inherited my uncle’s property and his wealth. It will buy us more than enough time.”

“Right. Of course. I forgot about that.” He circled his arms around my waist. “If we have too much, do you want to set up an orphanage? Or a school?”

“I would like that very much.”

He kissed me lightly and the world disappeared. In that moment, it was just us.

Until Rufus cleared his throat. “I think it costs a lot of money to run an orphanage, but we can help build it. It’ll give the brothers something to do.”

Rhys clasped his arm. “Thank you.”

“How much money is needed to set up an orphanage?” Andreas asked.

We all shrugged.

“I don’t even know how much it costs to buy a candle,” Vizah said.

Rufus indicated to his friends that they should go. “Let’s leave these two to plan their wedding, new home, orphanage, and children.”

“About that,” Vizah said. “Can I put in a request?”

“For us to have children?” Rhys asked, sounding amused. “Do you have a particular number in mind?”

“Three. All boys. I want you to name one after me.”

“Vizah’s a good name,” I said, trying not to laugh. “We’ll consider it.”

Vizah grinned. “Then you can name your second one Rufus and your third Andreas.”

“Why am I third?” Andreas asked.

“I should be first,” Rufus said. “I am the master of the order now.”

Andreas rolled his eyes. “I was wondering how long it would take before you brought that up.”

Rhys put his arm around me again as his friends walked back to the gates. “What if we have girls?”

“I’ll think of some girl names,” Vizah called back. “Don’t worry, Jac. Leave it to me. You won’t have to worry about a thing.”

Andreas thumped Vizah’s shoulder again. “She’ll be the one birthing them.”

Vizah placed his hands over his ears, earning another thump from each of his friends.

Rhys steered me away. “I’ve never noticed how immature they are.”

“Says the man who encourages them.”

He grinned that boyish, charming grin I’d missed. Without the burden of responsibility for something he no longer felt committed to, he was back to being his old self, with a few modifications that came with maturity.

I tilted my head up, intending simply to look at him and allow myself to be steered along by his body. But he stopped and faced me. His gaze searched mine.

“You have the most remarkable eyes, Jac. They’re like nothing I’ve ever seen.”

I pulled the pendant out from beneath my shirt. “They’re the same color as this stone.”

“The color is the same, it’s true, but your eyes have a depth and warmth that a mere stone can’t match.” He bent his head and kissed me lightly, teasingly. “Have I told you how much I love you?”

“Not since this morning.”

“Then I love you, Jac. I may not have much, but I have that. I give it all to you.”

“It’s enough, Rhys. More than enough. I’ll cherish it, always.”