Chapter 4

Vanya's repurposed office in the Senate building lacked a fireplace, but the winter chill wasn't so bad he needed one. His winter robes were designed to keep him warm, and the aide who attended him ensured his tea was never cold. Vanya looked at the clock on the wall, noting the time. Taisiya was due with Raiah shortly so that they might have their midday meal together at one of the newly redone restaurants that made his daughter's favorite spiced lentil soup. He was looking forward to leaving the stacks of folios on his desk for later review.

The months following the end of the Infernal War had not been easy for Solaria or his House. Vanya had kept the Imperial throne only by his actions in the south and Callisto's lingering blessing. His depth of starfire was not matched by anyone, and he'd given favor to the Houses, both major and minor, that had sent those who could cast starfire to defend against revenants.

His favor couldn't overshadow the eradication of the House of Kimathi by Daijalan hands or the House of Aetos by his own. Blades had murdered Joelle, and Vesper had been given the choice of a firing squad or poison after being found guilty of colluding with a traitor and a foreign country. Their actions had damned their Houses to death, but Vanya felt no guilt over their court-ordered deaths, not if it meant Solaria remained whole and free of foreign subjugation.

Two cities now stood without a major House to rule their vasilyet. Vanya was working with the House of Vikandir and the House of Balaskas to determine which minor House would be best to be uplifted into a position of generational power. He wasn't going to carve up those vasilyets as his mother had done with Rixham. And unlike with Rixham, the Senate and the Houses hadn't protested removing the Houses. The shadow of the Infernal War crossed borders, and no country had gone untouched by Eimarille's machinations.

Part of the Legion was still lending aid to Ashion in the north, providing military support to help fill in the gaps of that army's heavily depleted ranks. Queen Caris had been grateful for his alliance still, even knowing he hadn't done it for her. She was young to the throne but knew what she wanted for her country, and it was nothing like what Eimarille had envisioned. Vanya had no doubt Caris would keep to the treaties their diplomats were drawing up.

He scrawled his signature across another military order and set it aside before reaching for the next. He flipped it open and paused halfway through reading the first paragraph when someone knocked on his office door. "Enter."

His Chief Minister opened the door, an unreadable look on his face. "A warden is here to see you, Your Imperial Majesty."

Vanya stilled, fingers tightening around his pen. He'd had an open line of communication with the wardens' governor to coordinate the payment of tithes Solaria owed for the sanctions incurred, as well as the continued defense against the revenant horde still crawling up from the south. He'd sent Delani's last warden off with the latest border report a week ago and didn't expect them back until the new year.

But there was one warden he'd been aching to see for months already, having to console himself with the sound of a well-loved voice in his ears over a telephone instead. "Who?"

Caelum pushed the door open wider, moved aside, and bowed his head. "Yours."

Soren stepped inside the office, wearing the uniform of a warden, poison short sword strapped to his back and pistols holstered to his belt. He appeared healthy and whole, and the smile that bloomed on his face wasn't hesitant at all.

"Hello, princeling," Soren said.

Vanya didn't know he was moving until he was halfway across the office. Soren met him there in the middle as Caelum discreetly left and closed the door behind him. Vanya drew Soren into his arms and kissed him as if he were starving for air, the ache of months from not holding the warden washing away. Holding Soren again was like rising up from a dream, everything he'd ever wanted finally returned to him.

"You came back," Vanya rasped once he finally broke the kiss.

Soren smiled. "Of course."

Vanya cradled Soren's face in his hands, stroking his thumb over the arch of his cheekbone, looking into those gray eyes he knew he'd see every morning from here on out. "I am glad you kept your vow."

"You promised me your name and a place in your House. I've nowhere else to go but back to you, and I came home gladly."

Vanya kissed him again, the words he wanted to say stuck in his throat. Soren kissed him back just as fiercely, his fingers digging into Vanya's shoulders. Vanya turned them around and walked Soren backward until they reached the desk. Soren wrenched his head aside and let out a breathless laugh as Vanya kissed down his throat, catching himself with one arm on the desktop and nearly toppling over a pile of folios.

"Caelum told me on the walk over that Taisiya and Raiah will be here shortly," Soren said.

Vanya bit lightly over the pulse fluttering in Soren's neck. "I am aware of that."

If it were anyone else, Vanya would make them wait until he'd had his fill of the man he loved. Vanya reluctantly stepped back but didn't get far by virtue of one of Soren's legs curling around his own, keeping him close. Soren raised his gloved hand and brushed his knuckles over Vanya's cheek.

"Caris is queen, and I'm no longer welcome back at the Warden's Island. Delani released me from my duties as a warden. I've no more borders to guard."

He didn't sound angry or sad, not how Vanya thought he might. If anything, Soren seemed relieved. Vanya reached up to cup Soren's face with one hand. "Guard my heart. That's all I'll ever ask of you as my consort."

Soren gripped his robe and pulled Vanya in for a kiss that was gentle but no less intense than the others they'd shared. "I love you."

"And I you, until the end of our roads." Vanya pressed their foreheads together, reaching up to grip Soren's wrist, listening to him breathe. "Welcome home, my beloved."

Whatever Soren might have said was interrupted by the door to Vanya's office banging open and Raiah shrieking her excitement. "Soren!"

Soren hastily dropped his leg so Vanya could step out of the way as his daughter launched herself at the warden. Soren laughed, getting his hands beneath her arms so he could lift her up. Raiah wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to shout his name, clearly excited he'd returned.

"She missed you," Taisiya said with a welcoming smile as she entered the office.

"I missed her, too. All of you," Soren said.

"Well, you're just in time for the start of the weeklong new year celebration."

"There's going to be fireworks every night!" Raiah said, leaning back a little so she could look Soren in the face. "You'll watch them with us, won't you?"

Soren laughed, the sound soothing Vanya in a way little else outside his daughter could. "Of course. I'm not going anywhere now."

"I'll have the servants find you a set of robes to wear when we get back to the estate," Taisiya said.

Vanya thought Soren would protest that, but at Vanya's raised eyebrow, Soren merely shrugged. "I can't wear a warden's uniform anymore, and I've always liked your robes."

The idea of Soren dressed in Solarian garb, no longer easily standing out from the crowd as a warden or other, pleased him.

"If you wear our robes, will you wear a crown like Papa?" Raiah asked.

"Yes," Vanya said before Soren could answer in the negative. "He will."

It was Soren's turn to arch an eyebrow, staring at Vanya. "Will I, now?"

Vanya stepped close, wrapping his arms around Soren and his daughter, holding on to the entirety of his world and refusing to let go. "You'll be my consort. You already said yes, and a consort wears a crown."

"And if I don't want it?"

"For me, you will."

For a moment, Vanya thought Soren would deny him this want—this partnership, this marriage he would see written into the royal genealogies held by the Star Order in Solaria. Soren had declined the name and the throne and the crown of Ashion, refusing even to remain as Caris' heir. Vanya should have known the answer would be different for him.

"I'll wear it for you, the same way I wear your vow," Soren finally promised.

"Mine will be prettier," Raiah said, pouting only a little.

Soren threw back his head and laughed, the sound mingling with Taisiya's. Vanya smiled at his daughter and took her into his arms. "Of course it will be. Only the prettiest of crowns for my princess."

Soren stepped back, but Vanya didn't let him get far. He took Soren's hand in his, giving it a squeeze, and led them all out of the office. They walked through the Senate building, and Vanya didn't hide the way he held on to Soren, how the other man walked beside him as his equal, and let everyone draw their own conclusions.

They ate the midday meal together as a family and ended it with a handheld flaky berry pie, of which Raiah ate two. The sugar rush when they returned to the estate afterward was predictable.

That night, they took to the rooftop of his House's ancestral estate, all of them wearing warm robes against the cold breeze, the dark sky clear of clouds overhead. The moon was a crescent against deep black, the Viper Constellation ascending above it, the season of the Twilight Star beginning.

The first explosion of color against the starry night sky made Raiah gasp and clap gleefully where she stood by the railing next to Taisiya's seat. The estate's gas lamp lights had all been muted to better enjoy the fireworks, but Vanya could still make out Soren's face in the glow. He looked beautiful in a set of white-and-crimson robes Taisiya had insisted she'd had lying around just in case. They matched Vanya's in style, the golden vow hanging from his throat.

Vanya couldn't help but reach for it, fingers wrapping around the cool metal, the edges of the roaring lion pressing against his palm. Soren turned his head, a soft smile quirking at the corner of his mouth.

"Do you regret it?" Soren asked, tapping his finger against the back of Vanya's hand that held the vow.

"No," Vanya said, simple and easy, a truth he didn't have to think about. "Regretting it would mean I regret you, and there is no road I walk where that would be true."

Vanya tugged on the chain, drawing Soren into a kiss as fireworks burst overhead, the sound of his people celebrating in the streets beyond the security of the estate ringing through the air. Raiah's happy laughter overrode it all, his daughter safe and alive. Vanya knew he'd get to raise her with Soren, raise her into an empress that would make the House of Sa'Liandel proud, one who would be capable of holding the Imperial throne long after his and Soren's ashes danced in the stars.

"Papa, look!" Raiah cried out.

He broke the kiss and let the vow go but held Soren close because he could now. He smiled at where Raiah stood, pointing at the sky, feeling Soren lean in close, his head resting against Vanya's shoulder, a warm and coveted dream made real.

"I see it," Vanya said, looking out across Calhames and the fireworks exploding above, the stars eternally burning beyond, his road solid underfoot with Soren beside him. "It's beautiful."