Epilogue

Epilogue

Greed leaned on the fence that surrounded his training yard, watching the flashing of blades. The lithe bodies whirled in front of him, two warriors at battle not with play swords but the real thing.

Normally he wouldn’t let any of his soldiers practice with real blades, but these two? He trusted they were capable of avoiding each other. And if they weren’t, then they’d be annoyed enough with themselves that he wouldn’t have to warn them again.

Footsteps approached, light and far too easy to be any of his people. And then his brother leaned against the railing with him.

Gluttony looked a little better, with a slight burn on his cheeks. His skin hadn’t darkened with all the sun exposure, but at least he appeared a little more alive these days. Less like a corpse. More like an actual person, at least.

“Spoke with Wrath,” his brother said, eyes on the two warriors in the ring. “He said it’s all right for me to head home now. Apparently, it’s all died down enough that I don’t have to worry too much.”

“What did he do to make it all die down?”

Gluttony shrugged. “I never know what Wrath does. It’s a waste of time to question his methods.”

Or to question the man himself.

Grunting, he shook his head. “I don’t like it. Seems strange that Wrath would go through all that trouble just to leave you on your own afterward.”

“I don’t think he was trying to steal from me,” Gluttony murmured, but his eyes said otherwise. “I don’t think there’s anything in my kingdom that he particularly wants, but... I’m not sure. I don’t think there’s anyway for any of us to be sure. Part of me wonders if he’s more interested in the spell your Horde had devised. You’re sure you’re all right with me taking it home?”

“I don’t know what to do with it. You’ve always been more magically inclined than me,” Greed replied, then ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know what the right answer is here. All I know is that I have to focus on my own kingdom and my own people for a little while. I’ve neglected them for long enough.”

“Indeed.” Gluttony straightened and then clapped a hand to Greed’s shoulder. “Keep an eye on that woman of yours. I think she’s more likely to stab you in the heart than she is to let you leave her room alive.”

A blade soared through the air, but at the last second, Gluttony grabbed it. Red stained his palm as he squeezed the metal a little too hard, but the blood dripping on the sand was only more payment for the desert looking out for them.

Greed crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow. “I don’t think she liked you saying that, brother.”

The two women in the arena had stopped their fighting. Even Morag was drenched in sweat, and she said his queen had gotten much better in her fighting skills than before. Varya enjoyed practicing every single day with the other spirit influenced person, and she’d gotten even closer to both Morag and Ivo.

Well, when they even saw Ivo now.

Greed had released him to go live with his redheaded beloved. Far away from Gluttony’s wandering eyes and in one of the few places where she could grow food.

“Go away, Gluttony!” Varya called out as she sauntered toward them.

His eyes trailed over the lovely muscles that rippled across her entire body. He lingered on the drops of sweat that slid underneath her shirt and between her breasts. The long length of her legs made his mouth water and the sway of her hips had him seeing stars. Ach, but he loved this woman.

Would it ever end? The wanting her?

Probably not. Because she was looking at him with the same eyes right now. Those eyes that said, I need you, I want you, and I will never let you go.

The feeling was mutual, even though their world had gotten a little bigger as of late.

Gluttony grumbled under his breath, “I intend to leave if there wasn’t always a crowd of people here. I preferred it when it was just servants and Greed.”

“Yes, well, you haven’t learned how to temper yourself yet,” Greed scolded. Then he ducked underneath the railing and strode up to his wife. “Go away, Gluttony.”

If he noticed that Varya gave a wild grin to his brother over his shoulder, he pretended he hadn’t. Because once he had her in his arms, his lips on her neck and her hips grinding against his, nothing else mattered.

He’d found home in the arms of this woman, and he would never let her go.