Chapter 6

Vanya was busy reviewing the latest update on the fight to reach Bellingham—he had vetoed yet another request for aerial bombardment of the city—when the door to his office was pushed open without even a knock. He looked up, frowning at the tense expression on Caelum's face. "What is it?"

Caelum bowed deeply. "Forgive me, Your Imperial Majesty. The Solarian diplomatic delegation has arrived."

"My position for Solaria hasn't changed. I don't know why they think it will."

"This time, the ambassador didn't come alone."

Caelum paused for long enough that Vanya set aside his report. "What has you worried? Was one of them a rionetka?"

"They all passed the physical checks. No, it's—" Caelum broke off, grimacing, a pained sort of look in his blue eyes. "It's the prince. He came with them."

Vanya froze, breath stuttering in his lungs, a high-pitched ringing tone filling his ears at Caelum's announcement. Lifelong training with controlling his emotions meant he didn't react worse than that, but it was close. Vanya swallowed, the motion like swallowing glass, and it took him a long minute to find his voice. "Why?"

He'd had no communication with Soren since the warden—the prince—had left his bed and left his road. That didn't mean Vanya hadn't wanted to know, even in the depths of the hurt left behind, where the other man was and how he was faring. Now he was here, returned, and Vanya knew with a sinking sort of disquiet that he wouldn't like the reason for whatever brought Soren back to him.

Caelum flexed his fingers before folding his hands together in front of him, no judgment seeping into his voice when he spoke. "He carries a vow. One with your House's crest on it. He asked to speak with you."

Vanya flinched with his entire body, glad the blow hadn't hit in the middle of the Imperial court, which he was due to oversee in less than an hour. Vanya closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, searching for the iron-willed composure that had seen him through the Conclave last year and finding it brittle.

"Is it valid?" Caelum asked into the silence Vanya couldn't bring himself to fill. "The vow? The crest?—"

"The vow is rightfully his." Caelum went silent at that statement, and Vanya finally opened his eyes, seeing nothing but concern in his Chief Minister's face. "He asked to speak with me?"

Caelum nodded. "Ambassador Dariush Zayed is with him, though he left the speaking to the prince."

It was strange to hear Soren referred to as that, anger flickering like a spark of starfire in Vanya's chest. He organized the reports on his desk into a pile, covers closed, and took a deep breath before standing, rolling his shoulders to settle his white robe with its gold embroidery. He wasn't yet wearing his crown or other jewels of state, but Caelum seemed to have anticipated that, for a knock on his office door heralded the arrival of an Imperial jeweler.

The woman carried a lacquered jeweler's box and curtsied rather than bowed, inclining her head with reverence. "Your Imperial Majesty."

Caelum directed her to place the box on the credenza before waving her out. He did the duty of taking out the Imperial crown with its gold filigree and deep red rubies and placing it on Vanya's head. "Is there anything else you need?"

"My valide. Send her to me," Vanya said.

His circle of trusted aides and family members was tiny these days, but he knew Taisiya would always see reason when he could not. Vanya was pragmatic enough to know that Soren was so much more than a liability to himself and his House and his country.

"I will summon her. The Ashionens are waiting in the dignitary room overlooking the oasis courtyard."

Vanya nodded and led the way to the room in question. It was a grand space made up of marble floors, mosaiced walls, and arched windows that opened into a courtyard that could have been a mirror of the wild jungle spread out beyond Oeiras' walls. Vanya noticed none of the grandeur when he entered after being announced.

All he saw was Soren.

Ten months since the last time they'd breathed the same air, and all Vanya could think was that Soren looked worn and tired, wearing the field uniform of a warden but surrounded by Ashionens. No crown, no trappings of royalty, only the golden vow Vanya had given him years ago as thanks for saving his life.

"I will speak with the prince alone," Vanya said into the tense silence.

Soren flinched, expression one of regret before he hid it all behind the political mask Vanya had taught him to hold when attending the Imperial court. "Here or elsewhere?"

Vanya didn't bother responding, merely headed for the arched doorway that led out to the inner courtyard. He didn't wait to see if Soren would follow, stepping onto the narrow arcade that provided some shade from the sun above. The plants and trees there were different from the desert ones Vanya was used to seeing in Calhames, but the lush greenery in pots and garden plots amidst the tiled courtyard and bubbling pond provided a veneer of privacy. The beauty of the surroundings couldn't soften the emotional blow of Soren's arrival back into his life.

Quiet footsteps behind him finally had Vanya turning around once he'd gone far enough, watching Soren come to a stop an arm's length away, too close and too far all at once. Gray eyes that he'd missed looking into at all hours of the day stared back at him from beneath a thatch of windblown light brown hair. A face he used to wake up to was dappled with shadows from sunlight streaming through the branches of the potted tree they stood under, but the shadows beneath Soren's eyes and within them persisted.

Vanya wanted to hold him close as much as he wanted to push Soren away, torn between all that they'd had together before lies came to light and the betrayal that fed the hurt Vanya still carried. Of all the losses Vanya had experienced, losing Soren had been the worst.

Neither spoke, not for a long few minutes, and when Vanya finally wrangled all his angry, bitter, mournful thoughts into some semblance of words, he found himself with only one question that mattered. "Is this you asking?"

Soren's trembling lips pressed together in a hard line, as if he were holding back whatever was the first thought to come to him. He breathed sharply through his nose before nodding with a decisiveness that appeared a lot like grief. "I always said I would never ask for myself."

Fury burned through Vanya like the molten heat of starfire for a split second. His skin went hot, as if he were too small to contain anything, before he wrangled it into submission. "You also said you were nameless, Alasandair Rourke. A prince is not nameless."

Soren's hands spasmed ever so slightly before he clenched them into fists. He lifted his chin, gaze never leaving Vanya's. "I haven't claimed that name."

"It is what people call you in every broadsheet and report I read."

"It's not mine."

"You are Queen Caris' heir. How can you not be Rourke if she claims you as her brother?"

"Because the governor gave me a border to guard, and that border was the wardens themselves. Do you think my people would survive if Eimarille defeats Ashion? She attacked us once already and cares nothing about the dead she uses to further her own gain. I won't see the wardens eradicated because of her ambition. Choosing to follow my governor's order doesn't make me a prince."

The words were said forcibly, passionately, but his tone was a plea Vanya couldn't accept. Only there was a vow Vanya had given when he'd been young and—in ever bitter hindsight—thoughtless. In his attempt to clear a debt owed by himself alone, Vanya had unintentionally damned his entire country.

If Soren had only ever been a warden, the vow would have been insignificant amidst Solaria's politics. Except here he stood before Vanya as a foreign prince, clinging to the only road he'd ever known, one that had led him back to Solaria.

Back to Vanya one last time.

Soren reached up and removed the vow, undoing the clasp with a peculiar hesitancy that spoke of never having done it much, if it all. Vanya wondered if he'd ever taken it off in all the years since it had been gifted, but it didn't matter anymore, not when Soren was finally giving it back. Soren held it out to Vanya, chain clenched in one hand, the medallion swaying from the end of it, glinting in the sunlight.

"This is me finally asking," Soren said hoarsely. "Ashion needs Solaria's Legion."

Vanya choked out a bitter, angry little laugh, staring at the vow before taking it with stiff fingers. The metal felt heavier than he remembered, the weight of what he owed like an insidious anchor. "You lied about everything. Did you ever even care about my country? About me?"

Soren's expression twisted, and he swayed forward a little, as if he were going to reach out to Vanya, before he jerked himself back. "Vanya, I?—"

"Soren!" Raiah shrieked, shattering the intimate bubble of illusory privacy they'd wrapped themselves in. "Soren!"

They both turned toward the entrance to the dignitary room that Raiah tore out of, her skinny little legs pumping beneath her summer gown. Her braids flew behind her as she ran toward Soren with a desperate look on her face and tears in her eyes. For his part, Soren wasn't unaffected, moving away from Vanya so fast there was no chance of stopping him.

Raiah threw herself at Soren, and the warden picked her up as if she weighed nothing. He hugged her close, an arm around her waist and his other hand cradling the back of her skull as Raiah wrapped her arms around his neck, buried her face against his shoulder, and sobbed. "You're back!"

"Hey now, no tears," Soren said raggedly, eyes squeezed shut against his own tears, but Vanya could see the way they dampened his lashes. "I'm right here."

"You were gone."

"I know. I know, and I am so very sorry for that, but I had to leave." Soren opened his eyes, the color of them like a desert storm when they stared at Vanya. "I had my duty."

It was as much an excuse for Raiah as it was a plea to Vanya. He wanted to discard it, to ignore it, but it would mean pretending that duty meant nothing to him when it was all that he had ever known.

Raiah clutched at Soren harder, her small fingers grappling at his vest around his poison short sword that no one had asked him to give up before being in Vanya's presence. Despite the Ashionens he traveled with, Vanya's people had treated Soren exactly as they always had—someone to be trusted.

After everything, Vanya wasn't sure he could allow such freedom again.

"Raiah, come here," Vanya said, stepping close and reaching for her.

"No!" she shrieked, holding on to Soren tighter. "No! He'll go away again!"

Soren looked as if he'd been punched. "Raiah, I'm not going away right now."

She was young, but she was Vanya's daughter and an Imperial princess and knew enough about how words could mean many things. Her grip on Soren somehow seemed to get tighter. "Right now doesn't include later."

Something that might have been humor at any other moment flashed across Soren's face before he turned his head to press a kiss against Raiah's. "I know."

Raiah grumbled something too low for Vanya to hear, but which made Soren's lips twitch into a smile. Vanya was about to take her from him when Taisiya stepped into the courtyard and came their way.

"Your absence has been mourned," Taisiya said, her shrewd gaze on Soren.

Soren whispered something to Raiah before bending to set Vanya's daughter on her feet. She still clung to his hand with both of hers, leaning in close, mindful of the weapons he carried. "Taisiya."

"Well met, Soren. Or should it be prince now instead of warden?" Her gaze cut away to the vow Vanya held before he could answer, expression never changing. "I see there are discussions to be had."

"Valide," Vanya said warningly.

Taisiya clicked her tongue at him. "The Imperial court awaits. We will discuss this after."

It was the better choice, given who peered curiously through the windows. Vanya didn't care for an audience when the ramifications of the vow he held and the debt he owed was finally acknowledged. "Then let us depart."

Taisiya held out her hand to Raiah. "Come along."

Raiah frantically shook her head. "No! I want to stay with Soren."

"Raiah," Vanya said firmly. "You will go with your valide."

Before she could throw a fit, Soren knelt beside her, catching her attention. "Go with Taisiya. I'll be at court as well, and she can show you where I stand."

"You won't be sitting with us?" Raiah asked.

Soren's gaze flicked to Vanya before returning to her. "I must stand with those I came here with."

"But you won't leave?"

"Not right now."

"Promise?"

Soren nodded gravely. "I promise."

Raiah sniffed and let go of his hand so she could wipe the tears from her face. "Okay."

She stepped away from him to go stand with Taisiya, who took her in hand and nodded at Vanya. "We will see you in the Constellation Hall."

Taisiya left with Raiah, his daughter looking back at Soren every step of the way, as if she were afraid he'd disappear. Soren, for his part, never took his eyes from her.

"She missed you," Vanya said roughly.

"I missed her, too," Soren said quietly as he stood.

Vanya refused to look at him, keeping his attention on his daughter. "You were of my household once. I won't have you pretend to be again only for it to hurt her when you must leave."

His name, when Soren spoke it, came out cracked. "Vanya?—"

"Go stand with your people, Alasandair. I must tend to mine."

Vanya tucked the vow into his robe's pocket and walked away, refusing to look back how Raiah had despite everything in him crying out to do so.