Normal
One would think, with all the beings I loved most in the world (save Mom, Dad and Monique) sitting at one table, dinner would be fabulous.
But it was awkward as all hells.
I was casting around in my head for a conversational gambit to take the edge off when I caught Tanyn’s gaze.
And suddenly, all that was happening melted away (and other things melted too).
He was not feeling discomfort.
Manny and Zyr were there.
Nayden and Uly.
Regardless of what was going on, Aleksei, Cormac and Bainon were all there too, and I knew he liked and respected all three (even Cormac).
And I was sitting at the foot of his table.
His hostess.
His queen.
Tanyn wasn’t wreathed in smiles and cracking jokes.
He was Tanyn, quietly content, surrounded by beings he cared about.
And after all he’d endured all his life, I loved seeing it.
I just wished his mother (and father) had lived to do so too.
He dipped his chin and looked at me from under the lush fan of his lashes, a gesture I’d never seen, therefore I had no idea how, but I somehow read (and what I read wasn’t just that it was hot, but I read that too), and I nodded for him to go for it.
“We have one more thing to discuss,” Tanyn announced.
“If you think Bain is moving in with me at the Celestial Palace, you can think again,” Aleece declared.
“No, sweetheart,” Aleksei entered the conversation to address his sister.
“We need to talk about the fact that the males went over this on our journey to Gehenn, and we feel the best way forward strategically, considering our instincts have been tripped to indicate a very real threat is facing our mates, that, in the short term, we all need to stay close together.”
“It’s easier to cover the females with security,” Bainon added when it looked like Aleece would argue. “And for all of us to be better able to communicate, not to mention, for Aleksei, Mac and me to be directly involved with Tanyn as we go about discovering what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry,” Aleece said to me, before she returned to her brother, “but it’s my understanding it was only Catla who was threatened. I don’t get why this is a four-mates gig.”
“We don’t get it either,” Aleksei replied. “And that’s the problem. Because yes, you’re correct, the most recent threat was to Catla. However, the threat before was to my Laura.”
Aw.
I loved it when Aleksei called her “my Laura.”
“And I would have found a much better way to share who we are to each other if that worry was not driving me to be close to you,” Bainon put in.
“It’s safe to say, Cormac would have kept buggering off down in Land’s End if this wasn’t a thing,” Sirk muttered.
Cormac scowled at him.
Even visibly fighting a smile, Gayle whispered, “Sirk. Behave.”
“We can all work remotely,” Aleksei said to redirect the conversation. And then to Gayle, “And if your employers have an issue with that, I can speak to them directly.”
“Laura can’t work remotely,” Aleece pointed out.
“My producers hired an assistant for me,” Laura said, and I noted she already knew this was going to be suggested because she was entirely at one with it.
So obviously, like Tanyn and me, she and Aleksei had time to do more than pounce on each other before they came for drinks.
“She’s fully immersed in the shoot, knows what’s what, but I can holo in if needed. ”
“And what about my duties?” Aleece asked. “I have appearances set for months in advance. I can’t holo into those.”
“We can speak to Mom and Timothee about covering for you,” Aleksei said.
“Tim?” Aleece asked, shocked and not in a good way.
This was because Prince Timothee was not super popular among the citizenry of Night’s Fall, mostly because he had bro bullshit down to an art.
I knew he was cleaning up his act, because Laura told me, not to mention, I’d seen these efforts with my own eyes.
But he was a sorry substitute for Aleece, who was widely beloved in the Fall.
“Desperate times,” Aleksei replied.
“And it’ll give Tim the opportunity to pump up his ratings,” Laura added.
I shared a look with Tanyn, who was shaking his head in disbelief, and I grinned at him, happy that he didn’t hang on every poll like the family that lived in the Celestial Palace did.
“And how will we explain me suddenly disappearing?” Aleece asked.
“We’ll pick the appearances that are most important, you’ll attend them with your security detail amped up, and I’ll go with you,” Bainon said.
Aleece did not hide she wasn’t liking that.
“Okay then, so how do we explain me suddenly hanging out with the Crown Prince of Dawn’s Break?
” she demanded. “Let’s not forget”—now she was glancing at Laura—“and I’m also sorry to bring it up, but at this juncture, I must”—she went back to Bainon—“it wasn’t too long ago my brother broke an engagement with your sister. ”
“I don’t have to be at your side. Just close to you,” Bainon replied. “We’ll deal with the social fallout of Anna being Anna later.”
Anna being Anna not only included Aleksei breaking their engagement, but also her cavorting with other males very publicly not long after.
Not to mention, since the Masque, which she attended with Tim (see earlier note on bro-dom), something that was not popular, she’d devolved into a party princess who was lighting up the social tapes.
And not in a good way.
That said, although her golden image had been tarnished since the breakup, Breakians were still pissed at Aleksei for casting aside their precious princess, and not long later, finding his True Bride.
“Honest to fuck, no clue how you managed to stay away from her for years, mate,” Cormac muttered to his soup bowl.
“It wasn’t easy,” Bainon said in a tone that exquisitely shared it was not at all easy.
Aleece heard the tone, her head ticked, her scrutiny of her mate got intense, but she didn’t say anything.
And I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t point out that Cormac hadn’t seemed to have any trouble staying away from Gayle, until this new threat reared its head.
“If you can fix it with my bosses, Aleksei,” Gayle said, “I’ll be okay with it. Though, do you think it’s going to last long?”
“Progress is being made.” It was Tanyn who answered. “Not as fast as we’d like, but it’s happening. That said, if this is agreed, I would prepare to be here at Berg, or wherever we all might need to be, for the foreseeable future.”
“Do we have a choice?” Aleece asked.
“You always have a choice,” Tanyn told her. “And we’ll do everything to make sure you’re covered whatever choice you make. That said, as it always goes, there are good choices and poor ones. I urge you not to make a poor one.”
My male was just so diplomatic and logical and mega.
Aleece studied Tanyn a moment before she queried, “Do I have to decide right now?”
“No,” Aleksei said. “But so we can make arrangements if you leave, or your aide won’t quit because she has to make so many adjustments to your schedule at the last minute, it’d be good you didn’t delay.”
I could tell Aleece saw the wisdom of that, but I saluted her decision not to share audibly she did.
“But you can head back to the Fall,” Cormac said to Sirk.
I saw Sirk getting riled up, but I was stunned when Gayle waded right in to handle it.
“He’s my friend, but he’s the chef at the most celebrated restaurant in all the realms. He can’t be here forever.”
Her restaurant claim was debatable (said me), but Stained Glass was certainly in the top five.
“For me,” Gayle went on, still speaking to Cormac, “can you please just leave it alone?”
Not quite over being stunned by Gayle, I was shocked when Cormac did nothing but jerk up his chin, then go back to his soup.
I sent wide eyes to Tanyn.
His lips quirked.
“No one has addressed the engagement party, which is next weekend,” Aleece pointed out.
Ah hells.
I hadn’t thought of that.
“We’re already on it,” Aleksei said. “Heightened security.”
“We had that at the Midnight Masque,” Aleece replied, not being snarky, just sharing truth.
“It’s a smaller, more intimate gathering,” Aleksei reminded her (if two hundred and fifty guests could be considered small, then again, the Masque’s guest list was three times that). “But even so, when I say security will be heightened, I meant significantly.”
Probably knowing Aleksei would have Laura nowhere near something he didn’t think was safe, Aleece let it go.
“I know we’ve just met, but I’m being very honest when I say, it would mean a lot to us if you two would attend our party,” Laura said to Mangold and Zyra.
Mangold looked ready to politely decline.
He didn’t when Zyra exclaimed, “Oh my goodness. What an honor.” She looked at me. “But I don’t have anything to wear.”
Manny aimed his eyes to the ceiling, but he said nothing.
My male gazed at them both fondly.
Oh yes.
He was totally in his element, his family becoming part of a bigger family.
“Fortunately, you’re sitting at a table full of females who can sort that out, no problem,” I told her. I then turned my attention to Manny. “There isn’t a lot of time, but we do have a ton of pull, so we can get you fitted for a tuxedo too.”
“Just what I always wanted,” Mangold muttered.
Zyra elbowed him.
Tanyn chuckled.
And fortunately, we entered a phase of the dinner, the first in our togetherness, where there was a détente.
Sure, Cormac remained broody and often eyed up Sirk like he wanted to rip his head off, but he kept it together.
And Aleece wasn’t all that great at stopping herself from checking out Bainon in a way I wondered if she’d had a crush on him even before she knew they were fated mates.
But Bainon proved charming.
Sirk was his usual hilarious. So was Manny.
Zyra was sweet. And as always, so was Laura.
And I had to admit, in a detached female sort of way, Cormac’s intensity was all kinds of attractive.
Tanyn was, as ever, wonderful.
And obviously, my gals were mega.
So in the end, this, the first meal together of royals and their future queens, all of them friends whom I hoped would remain friendly forever, didn’t go too badly.
In fact, in the end, it took some effort…
But it was fun.