Abendau's Heir (The Inheritance Trilogy Book 1) (27 page)

***

Stepping out of Rjala’s office, all Kare could feel from Eevan was anger and hatred, stronger than ever tonight. For a moment, just one, Kare wondered if he had made a mistake, handling this the way he had.
No
. He’d had no option– it had to be dealt with. Even so, it wouldn’t do any harm to give Eevan his place now.

“Eevan,” he said, “perhaps this is a good time to start afresh.” Eevan sneered, but Kare continued anyway. “I’m friends with your brother, I love your sister, and I’d like to work on a more professional level; mutual respect, if you like.”

“You know the way you’re fucking my sister?” Eevan’s face twisted, removing the resemblance to his father, making him look older and meaner. “The best thing you could do is go fuck yourself instead.”

Don't lose my temper; Lichio's right about that
. “Forget I said anything.”

“I’d take you in a moment,” said Eevan. “That’s if you have the balls to face me without using your powers. Or without the general to hide behind, you conniving shit.”

“You know what?” Kare said, his temper building. “I don’t know what hole you crawled out of, Eevan, but you can piss off back into it.”

It wasn’t eloquent, he knew, but at least it summed up his feelings. He turned and walked away, before he could say something worse. Silom strolled over. “I’d have floored him.”

“And give him the pleasure of seeing me disciplined?” Kare tried not to show how close he’d been to doing just that.

“Good point. Can’t you do something else? Ants in his bed, trousers mysteriously loosened?”

Kare grinned, and his anger receded a little. It was good to have Silom back on the base; he didn’t take things as seriously as everyone else, didn’t treat the Banned and its business as untouchable. “Have you been talking to Lichio? Trust Eevan to make it personal, he’s one dislikable sod.”

Silom shrugged. “It’s because he doesn’t have a life outside the army, and you just made him look bad in it. Let him throw his toys around for a day or two.”

“True, but I could do without things like that being flung at me.” Eevan’s words came back to him, the dismissiveness of his and Sonly’s relationship. “You know, I might do something about that.” They reached the apartment and Kare went in to find Sonly grinning at him. “You’re a witch; I thought I was getting demoted.”

“Congratulations.” She sobered, a small frown in place. “How did Eevan react?”

“Oh, you know, poisonous. I did try to say we should find a way to work together. I’ll not repeat what he said. But it made me think there’s something I should ask you.” His throat tightened, the words sticking in it. This was something he should have rehearsed, not decided on at the spur of the moment.

“Go on then.”

He thought about backing out but instead took a deep breath, swallowing his nerves. “Will you marry me?” he asked, the words falling out in a rush. “Eevan said something about you and me, something crass. I just thought, I’m proud of what we have.”

“Marry?”

She was going to say no– he hadn’t thought of that. This had been a mistake. He should have set something up, ordered some dinner in, made it romantic. Too late to think of that now. Instead, he went down on one knee and looked up at her. She blushed, and warmth spread through him, a tingling in his arms and legs. This was the right thing to do, something he should have thought of long ago.

“I love you. Please, Sonly, marry me. Be my wife." He waited just a moment, and decided he couldn’t resist saying it. “Piss your big brother off.”

She smiled, her eyes full of mischief, dancing in the soft light. “Well, if you put it like that: yes, I’d be delighted to.”

“You will?” He forced himself to take a deep breath and got up. He moved to kiss her, but she stopped him, a look of horror on her face.

“What is it?”

“What will I wear?”

“You’d look lovely whatever you wore,” he told her, pushing her hair back from her face. “But it doesn’t have to happen overnight. Take your time, make sure it’s the way you want it– you’ll only do it once.” He paused, not wanting to push his luck. “Well, hopefully, anyway.”

Sonly smoothed her dress down, a little embarrassed by how special it made her feel. The traditional deep blue suited her fair hair well, and the long, sleek cut emphasised her slim figure. “Does it suit me?”

Lichio stopped fiddling with the sleeve of his formal uniform, tucking an end of red braid out of sight, and looked her up and down. “You’ll do.”

Brothers
. Just once, it might have been nice to have a sister. “No, really.”

Lichio grinned. “You look lovely. Dad would have been really proud. So would Mum. And they would have been pleased with your choice, I think.”

“I hope so. He liked Ealyn, despite everything that happened, and Kare has a way about him– an intensity– that reminds me of Ealyn.” She checked the time. “Will Eevan come?”

“He should.” Lichio pushed her hair behind her ears. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

“You know I asked him to stand for me,” admitted Sonly. She pulled her hair forward. “Don’t do that– I don’t want to look like I’m working.”

“Of course you did. You know better than to ignore him. It’s a good thing he didn’t, though; he’d have spent the day glaring at the groom.”

She laughed and then sobered. “The groom’s response might have been a problem. I’ve warned him he’s to do nothing to Eevan today, no matter how much he’s provoked.”

“Spoilsport, think how it could have livened things up.” Lichio held out his arm. “Ready?” She took it and they started to walk through the base. “I’m glad it’s me, Sonly.”

They reached the door of the Banned’s small chapel, and when it opened she was amazed to see how many people were squeezed in. The Banned always enjoyed a wedding– there was little enough to celebrate– but this was more than she’
d ever expected. Her team had softened the look of the room with jungle flowers in jars around the room, their blues and violets matching the off-cuts of her dress tied in bows around them.

There was a murmur as some of the guests noticed her, and then the room went silent. Her stomach jumped with nerves and she tightened her grip on Lichio’s arm.

“Leave it attached,” he whispered. She relaxed her grip.

They walked slowly to the front of the room to a collective intake of breath. Even Eevan, sitting near the back with a crowd of his army colleagues, nodded at her and seemed to approve. At the front Kare and Silom waited, their backs to her. As she joined them Kare turned to her, his face stunned.

“You’re beautiful,” he mouthed. She smiled and the world shrank to this one moment in time, where he was the only one who mattered.

Rjala entered from the anteroom to the left, her footsteps steady, and the hush deepened. Sonly gulped– this was it, she was going to commit to Kare and promise to face the future with him. Nerves welled up and she felt sick.

"Ready?" asked Rjala.

Was she? Kare looked terrified, as if expecting her to refuse, and she lifted her chin, knowing what she was doing was right, that there was no one else she’d rather share her life with. Lichio left her side as Kare took her hands.

“As persons of faith,” said Rjala, her voice carrying through the room, “we are here today to give our blessing, and ask the blessing of the eternal force which governs our lives, for this marriage between Kare and Sonly. We ask that they be bound together by your eternal love, to face what may lie ahead. It is our prayer that they stay loyal to one another and faithful.” She looked up to the crowd. “If anyone has a reason this pairing should not take place, they may speak now.”

There was silence in the chapel and Sonly held her breath. If Eevan said anything– if
anyone
said anything– she would kill them. Rjala held her gaze, smiling a little, as if to say don’t worry. Kare made a small grimace, and she almost giggled.

“Sonly le Payne,” said Rjala. “Will you accept this man as your partner, pledge to stand with him and face the future together?”

“Yes.”

Rjala turned to Kare, repeating the words. He looked at Sonly throughout it, and at the end his voice rang out through the chapel. “I do.”

Silom stepped forward, and she took the ring he gave her and slipped it onto Kare’s finger, noticing his missing finger as she did. Lord, what was she doing committing to him; where would it bring her? He gave a tiny frown, and she knew he’d picked up something of her thoughts. He slipped her ring on, squeezing her hand very slightly, as if to say it would be okay.

“You have made these pledges before the eternal force, and before us, your witnesses. Together we will celebrate your union.”

Sonly smiled– he was right, this was right– and heard the cheers as Rjala told him he could kiss her. She closed her eyes as he leaned in, cupped her chin gently, and– like she was something precious and special–
kissed her in front of the room.

Later, Sonly wiped the tears from her eyes. She really was going to be sick with laughter. Beside her Kare’s face was serious as he tried not to rise to Silom’
s merciless speech about him, but she knew it was an act and he was struggling not to laugh.

“He assured me he could fly the bloody thing,” said Silom. “And then he nearly took the port out. That landing was more terrifying than anything I’ve faced in the field… which brings me to the last gift.”

There were cheers in the crowd as he pulled out a comically large, obviously homemade medal. He searched the crowd until he found the person he wanted and nodded to them. “Captain Stitt; for going over and above the call of duty in training what was
undoubtedly
the worst foot soldier I’ve ever served alongside.”

Kare started to laugh at that, properly laugh, even as he glared at Silom. As Stitt passed her little one– Sophie, if Sonly remembered right– to her husband and came up to take the medal, Kare leaned over and confided, “I’m going to kill him later.”

Sonly giggled. “You shouldn’t have asked him; you knew what would happen. No one else had as much ammunition on you. Oh, my sides are sore.”

Kare glanced around the room and saw Eevan. “Which is more than can be said for your big brother. The only thing sore is his face.”

Eevan did indeed look like he had toothache. “Ignore him.” She intended to. Let his quiet menace dominate other days and places, but not this one.

Silom wrapped up with a last joke and sat down to huge applause. Sonly nudged Kare. “You’re up next; follow that.”

“Mine’s easy." He gave her a smile more intimate than any before, as if they were alone, making her breath catch in her throat. "You're beautiful and I’m the luckiest man alive.”

She watched him stand up and say exactly that, and wanted to keep this moment forever: put it in a bottle so that she could pull it out when she wanted to. She closed her eyes, mentally taking the picture: Kare, serious and earnest, telling her he loved her; Silom, musing loudly about what she’d ever seen in his cousin; Lichio, clapping along, meeting her eyes and smiling.

Later, much later, she lay beside Kare in their bed, her fingers tracing a pattern across his chest. He smiled at her, lazily, half-asleep.

“Did you really think I looked nice?” she asked. She snuggled against him, her head on his shoulder, luxuriating in their closeness.

“I told you. Lots. You were beautiful.”

“You didn’t think I looked at all fat?”

He started to laugh. “If I say yes, this could be the quickest marriage in the history of the Banned. No, you didn’t look fat, you looked perfect.” He trailed a finger across her breasts, making her shiver. “Anyway, you aren’t fat, you know that…”

“Good,” she said, but her hand moved down to her stomach, and she rubbed it, imagining she could feel a swelling. He watched for a moment, before putting his hand over hers. It was warm against her, cupping her. Too late, she realised she hadn't guarded her thoughts.

“Sonly?” he asked, and raised an eyebrow.

Suddenly shy, she nodded.

“When? How?”

“I think you should know how.”

He didn’t smile. “When?”

“I’m nearly four months,” she said. She’d held off telling him during the wedding preparations. It had helped that he'd been working so hard: it had been easy to hide her tiredness, and how little she’d been able to eat through the nausea. She wondered why they called it morning sickness, since it was there all day long. “I didn’t mean to tell you tonight– I’d planned it for tomorrow. I had a meal booked.”

“I thought you were taking precautions,” he said. There was an edge to his voice that was hard to place and, for a moment, she thought about lying.

She faced him instead, meeting his eyes. She’d thought long and hard about the decision– she’d stand by it. “I stopped.”

“You stopped?” He pulled away from her and sat up.

“Yes.”

“Why?” he asked. “Didn’t you think to talk about it?”

She sat up too, draping the covers around her shoulders. “I thought about it, and decided you’d say no.” Knew he’d say no, that he wouldn’t understand her need to do this, a need that had dominated her thoughts for months, growing more urgent, as if time was running out for them. She couldn’t tell him any of that; it would bring the demons he fought, every night, to the fore and give them strength.

“I would have.” He got up, pulling his trousers on, his movements jerky and angry. “This can’t be, Sonly. It’s bad enough I’m here, but another Varnon… what the hell is that going to do?”

His reaction was what she had expected, but she was still disappointed. A small part of her had hoped he’d be pleased.

“It’s going to give us a baby, one that I want.” But it went deeper than that, the reasons for her decision. It went beyond her need, the hungriness of wanting a part of him, into the politics she was immersed in. He only saw himself, not how things could be changed if they took control. “And it gives us the legacy. Here, at the Banned, the future…”

He turned to her, his face angry, like she’d never seen him before. “That’s complete crap. You must know if– when– this news gets out, the target switches.”