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“The love and desire I felt for you before – it has not lessened,” Nadyah confessed. “It is not the same as the love I have for my mate. But…how I feel about you…it is still there.”
And with the silence of the training room, both of them sitting as though they were meditating or praying…it felt like a confession and a plea as those words were barely whispered across the space between them—nothing more than a sigh on the wind.
Adelina blinked back her tears. She didn’t know what to say.
“What does that mean?” Adelina finally asked – her voice as quiet as Nadyah’s.
The courtesan shrugged. “Ian and I have discussed it. He still craves men, but out of love and respect for P’draic he is letting him go. That male deserves a husband who will focus on him and him alone. But…Ian and I have considered finding additional partners. We are happy together – complete. Yet we are still who we are. I am…relieved that so much of who I was has not changed.”
Nadyah tilted her head as she looked at Adelina. “But I do not want additional partners. Only one.”
Adelina closed her eyes again briefly as she considered all of what Nadyah had not said directly. “What does Ian think of that?”
The courtesan pulled out one blade and inspected the sharp edge. “As long as I am happy he is satisfied, but for the sake of our relationship we will speak of potential partners with each other before doing anything. Of course, he is my mate and will be my husband. No one can take his place.”
Meaning Adelina could not marry her. She opened her eyes and clicked her thumbnail against each of the others. “But a mistress does not marry.”
“No,” Nadyah agreed. She laid the blade on the floor gently like a mother with a babe. “Ian will be who I spend the most time with, but our personalities and preferences require us to include others into our life. It’s really not so strange. Many have multiple partners. It is only the mate bond and certain titles that can cause these sorts of problems.”
Adelina unsheathed one of her swords as well and placed it on the floor – a mirror to Nadyah’s. She trailed her finger across the sharp edge while studying her reflection. “If we survive this war and after you’ve settled in with Ian…I would like to discuss this further.”
Nadyah smiled slightly. “I am relieved you would consider the possibility. I was…doubtful after how we ended things. You did what was necessary, but I worried you would not forgive me for keeping that information from you.”
Sighing through her nose, Adelina shrugged one shoulder delicately. For a few hours while training she did not have to be royalty. She could shed protocol like a second skin. “It was difficult, and I wondered why you didn’t trust me to tell me right away, but I’ve had some time to consider it. You found out you were mated to my brother. That must not have been a simple thing to accept. Finding out you may have to live in the palace with an ex-lover…becoming in-laws?”
She wondered what people would think once they found out she and her brother were to share one female. But did it really matter? They loved one another – and it was not as though they were to share children. This would make their family stronger in some ways.
Adelina mentally scoffed. It was much better than marrying one’s sibling and procreating with them as her ancestors had done.
“I forgave you instantly,” Adelina admitted quietly. “It simply took time for me to manage the pain of having to let you go. I’m sorry that I was distant, but I needed you and Ian to have the time required to decide if you truly wanted the mate bond and how that would work…and how you felt after it had settled into place.”
Nadyah placed her hands on the floor and leaned forward. “I feel like my life would not be complete without you in it, even if it’s just as casual lovers. And it may seem silly to tell you now before we leave for Khara, but I didn’t want to wait until it was too late.”
The pain in Adelina’s chest that had settled in deep and heavy when she’d ended her relationship with Nadyah – it finally eased at those words.
Giving up Nadyah had been one of the hardest things she’d ever had to do, but it had been the right thing. And as Nash would say, Fate had rewarded her…finding a way for the person she loved and had been required to let go, to find a way back to her.
Adelina placed her hands on the floor as well – purposeful and slow to give Nadyah the time to change her mind if she wished. But the courtesan didn’t move. Then Adelina pressed her lips to Nadyah’s and breathed in the courtesan’s soothing scent – now a light orange blossom that was the feminine mirror to Ian’s – equals.
Now all she had to do was find a way to deal with the horde, reinforce Kaita, and get them all back home so she could enjoy her new family and the life they could have in peace and prosperity – if they survived this.
No,whenthey survived this.
One swift motion and Nadyah had her blade in her hand, aiming for Adelina’s throat.
Adelina laughed as her own fingers clenched around the hilt on the floor and she rolled away, unsheathing the second in the same motion.
Then the real training began and every time their blades clashed together Adelina grinned. That strangeness between them had finally eased and it was nearly back to the way things had been before.
As they performed the dance of death together, Adelina knew she would wait for as long as necessary to add Nadyah to her harem. Whenever they made it home and Nadyah was ready – they would make her Adelina’s official mistress.
Adelina laughed aloud as they clashed together and each tried to press the advantage. Who would have ever thought that she – the true submissive – would grow up to collect a harem of gorgeous lovers loyal to her?
It was always the quiet ones, Varan had said once. Always be wary of the quiet ones.
Baring her canines in a grin that spread across her entire face, Adelina fought Nadyah back and forth as they both held on to that slim hope of the future – the promise that would come with peace.
When. Not if.
