Page 75 of Valor’s Flight (The New Protectorate #5)

Chapter Fifty

It’d been a very, very long time since Alashiya hung out with… well, anyone besides Taevas. And she’d never known people like Hele or Alex.

It was one thing to hear about them from her husband’s stories, but it was something else entirely to sit with them and be treated like she’d been part of the clan for forever rather than a handful of days.

Alex’s dry humor and sharp tongue were a perfect contrast to Hele’s brusque sweetness.

Neither of them expected her to talk much, but they never treated her like she wasn’t there, either.

She wasn’t sure when or how it happened, exactly, but at some point after half a dozen decadent pastries had been consumed, Alex cajoled Alashiya into slathering something cool and jelly-like onto her face while Hele meticulously buffed her nails.

She’d been instructed not to panic when it dried to a hard, rubbery mask.

A show of some sort had been put on the television, but neither of the women appeared to pay any attention to what was happening on the screen, so Alashiya didn’t either.

It took all her focus to keep up with the two of them, anyway.

Trying to keep her head back so the mask didn’t tug uncomfortably on her face, she asked, “What exactly is this supposed to do?”

“It’s got collagen and seaweed extract,” Alex explained. “What dress size are you?”

Alashiya tried to look out of the corner of her eye at the dragon, but all she could make out was pale green goo. “Why?”

“Taevas gave me his cards and told me to help you get anything you wanted. I’m getting a headstart.” She shrugged. “I already did, actually. Some basics have been delivered if you want to change out of that robe and put on some skivvies.”

Alashiya pictured the sash and trendy, high-waisted short-shorts Alex seemed to favor.

She’d done a fine job getting her something to wear in the hospital, but she wasn’t entirely sure she trusted Alex to fill out her entire wardrobe.

Having new clothes was a big enough change.

She didn’t think she could handle trying to figure out how to strap her much heavier chest into one of those barely-there tops Alex wore so well.

Might be worth a try, though, she thought. What was a little more change on top of everything else, anyway?

“I don’t know my size,” she admitted. “I make all my own clothes. I can give you my measurements, if that helps?”

The feeling of something cool being brushed on her nails preceded Hele asking, “You make your own clothing?”

“I do. I’m a professional embroiderer, actually.”

“That’s lucky,” Alex said, her claws tapping on the glass face of her tablet. “I don’t know anyone who likes embroidery more than my cousin. Have you seen his wardrobe? The man’s obsessed.”

Warmth filled her chest. Feeling a little shy, Alashiya admitted, “I’ve seen it, yes. I… I’m actually the one who did most of the work.”

Alex popped into her line of sight. “What? You’re kidding, right?”

“Um, no,” she answered.

Alashiya had expected a lot of questions about what happened with Taevas, but up until then, both women had carefully avoided anything related to what had brought her there.

She got the impression that they had come to some sort of agreement prior to arriving to act as normal as possible, which she appreciated.

There really wasn’t any way to avoid it forever, though, so she took a deep breath before telling the story.

A trimmed down version that didn’t include her fixation on Adon, anyway.

“Good gods,” Alex muttered. “What are the odds of that?”

“Not very high.” Hele blew on Alashiya’s nails. “Thank you for saving our cousin, Emand. I didn’t think he was dead, but we were all starting to worry. And sorry again for my mate’s mistake. He’s hard-headed.”

Trying not to squirm with discomfort, Alashiya replied, “Ah, please don’t call me that.”

“Why not? It’s what you are.”

Alex hummed in agreement as she began to gently peel up the edges of Alashiya’s mask. “You’re the big man’s Chosen, which means you’re the Emand to his Isand. And not to scare you or anything, but as of eight AM this morning, everyone is required to call you that.”

“What?” She winced as the mask gave way, along with some of her eyebrows. Wiggling her nose to chase off the ticklish feeling, “What are you talking about?”

Alex dropped the rubbery mask onto the coffee table with a flick of her manicured claws.

It landed with a wet smack, the mouth hole spread in a comically wide smile.

“The announcement went out this morning that Taevas is back — all thanks to you, our new Emand, Alashiya Ardz, who’s also an embroiderer of some renown, apparently.

It’s been splashed across all the news feeds pretty much non-stop. ”

Alashiya, who’d just taken a sip of coffee, choked. “He what?”

“Look.” Hele replaced the cap on her nail polish before snagging a glossy black device from the cluttered coffee table. A few taps of her glowing finger changed the show on the television to what she recognized from glimpses of Debbie’s tablet as a popular news program.

She stared, gobsmacked, as two attractive people spoke to the camera with Alashiya’s government ID photo superimposed between them. A rapidly scrolling reel of information ran across the bottom of the screen, displaying truncated details about Taevas’s return and her mysterious role in it.

A wave of nausea rolled up from her gullet to burn her throat as she listened to the newscasters relate what few details about her were available to the public, like her age, her hometown, and her family.

“Why… why does anyone care about who I am?” she breathed.

Hele shrugged. “You’re a hero.”

Alashiya didn’t feel particularly heroic. She never had. Staring in bewilderment at the screen, she said, “I didn’t do it to be a hero. I didn’t want anything to do with Taevas at first. And then after— I just wanted to save my husband. That’s not heroism. That’s just… loving someone.”

Alex slung an arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. “Don’t worry about all this attention, okay? We’ll protect you and make sure you feel safe here.”

Eyes stinging, she swung her head around to give Alex a panicked look. “I— I don’t know how to do any of this. I don’t know how to be an Emand. I barely know how to be a queen of a grove. What if I fail? What if I embarrass everyone? What if—”

Hele switched off the television. “Alex, hand me a blanket, please.”

“Good call.” The dragon passed the soft gray blanket to her sister, who immediately wrapped it tightly around Alashiya’s shoulders.

The squeeze, as well as both women’s arms wrapping around her, brought an instant comfort. It was a bit like being held by her husband and also hiding in the deep greenery of her forest, except it came with the added benefit of the easy acceptance of two remarkable women.

Hele held Alashiya’s waist and pressed her cheek to her blanket-covered shoulder while Alex tucked her head beneath her purple chin.

“This world is very overwhelming,” Hele whispered in a soft, knowing voice. “But clan makes it better. You have nothing to fear, Emand. We’re here to help you and explain when things are confusing or scary.”

“Taevas told me all about you,” she whispered, breath hitching. “I hoped I’d get to meet you. So… please just call me Shiya, okay? That way we can be friends. I think I’m going to need those.”

“We’re not friends,” Hele announced, matter-of-fact. “We’re clan. This is better.”

Alex and Alashiya shared a small burst of laughter.

Pulling back a little, Alex offered, “Hele’s taken the clan thing pretty far. Did my cousin tell you she’s been running around the continent adopting elementals?”

Alashiya wiped her eyes. “Yes, he did. It sounds amazing. I wish we had someone like you.”

Hele tilted her head curiously. “We?”

“Nymphs,” she answered. “We used to be connected kind of like one big clan, but we’ve been cut off from each other for a very long time.”

“Why?”

“Because we drifted apart. And no one has had the resources to bring us back together, I guess.” Alashiya tightened the blanket around her shoulders.

It seemed like a lifetime ago that she and Taevas discussed her “terms” but it had only been a few days.

She’d barely had time to even consider what she could do with what he offered her.

But sitting there, surrounded by the warmth of a family that was now her own, she couldn’t help but wonder what it might be like to weave those old threads together again.

Alex and Hele shared a look. Speaking slowly, the dragon replied, “Well, you know who has a lot of resources? The Emand of the Draakonriik.”

A polite knock on the door cut off Alashiya’s reply. Their heads swiveled to find the hulking form of Radek standing in the doorway. As gruff as the day before, he announced, “Emand, you and the Isand have visitors. You should probably put some clothes on.”

Alex stood up and propped her hands on her hips. “What? Is it clan? If not, tell them to fuck off. She just got let out of jail. Can’t a hero nymph friggin’ relax around here, big bad Rad?”

Alashiya hadn’t met so many new people in her entire life, and she wasn’t exactly eager to meet more, so she was grateful for Alex’s sudden fierceness. She wasn’t sure she even knew how to relax in the way Taevas expected her to — especially after what she’d just heard — but she wanted to try.

The stony look on Radek’s harsh face made her hope on that score wither.

“If the Emand doesn’t want to meet the sovereigns of the Elvish Protectorate, that’s her choice,” he replied, completely unbothered by Alex’s snark.

“There are elves here?” Alashiya gasped. The blanket fell from her shoulders as she gripped the back of the couch.

Radek blinked slowly. “Yes, ma’am. Theodore Solbourne and Margot Goode will be arriving shortly.”

She looked askance at Hele and Alex. “Isn’t Theodore Taevas’s protege?”

Alex grinned. “Okay, I changed my mind. You should definitely put some clothes on.”