Chapter Text
Mia didn’t like being a buffer when Roy and Oliver argued, but it also felt wrong to retreat to her own room and pretend everything was fine.
She didn’t know who the child—Lian—was, but if Roy wanted to keep her out of it, Mia would have to put on a smile and keep her feelings in check. But as soon as she had the chance, she’d start by shooting at a few practice dummies, because bottling up her feelings really wasn’t healthy.
“Are Daddy and Uncle Connor okay?” Lian asked on the way to Mia’s room. When she moved in, Mia had wanted a place where she could easily make sure no one showed up uninvited. That’s why she’d chosen one of the towers, and even though climbing all those steps every day was torture, she could always hear the armor of approaching knights coming from a distance and had a phenomenal view of the entire courtyard and most of the city.
“Daddy?” Mia asked before she could bite her tongue or even think it through. In the next moment, it struck her that the girl reminded her quite a bit of Roy.
Roy had a daughter.
Roy had entrusted her to Mia.
Mia wasn’t going to mess this up.
“He was angry. I’ve never seen him like that before,” the girl murmured, and Mia couldn’t help but pull her into her arms and carry her the last few steps. Even though she couldn’t find the right words, she hoped this would help convey that everything was all right.
“Your dad’s taking care of everything. He always gets angry when someone in the family gets hurt.”
Lian looked at her with sad eyes. “Is Connor hurt?”
Mia shook her head. “No. Don’t worry.”
It wasn’t quite the truth, but Mia wasn’t sure how much Lian already understood about the world and didn’t want to expose her to the confusing truth. Instead, she opened her door and sat Lian on her bed before reaching under the bed and pulling out an old teddy bear. He had a bow sewn onto his paw.
“Look who we have here. Lian, this is Sir Fluffy. Sir Fluffy, this is Lian.”
Mia smiled as she introduced Lian, and a smile appeared on Lian’s face. For now, the distraction had worked, but if Roy didn’t show up with good news soon, Mia would step in herself and make sure the girl’s world was back in order.
“My brother’s an idiot,” Emiko complained as she made her way with Roy to Mia’s room to meet the newest member of the family. When she thought back on how much Oliver loved to spoil Mia—and her, too—the child would soon be showered with little gifts.
“You won’t hear me disagree,” Roy replied, but he glanced back one last time, as if he weren’t sure whether he should wait after all, just to make sure everything would turn out all right.
This family was a motley group, but they all had one thing in common: they were protective.
“He may be an idiot, but he’s not the kind of idiot who wouldn’t own up to his mistakes.” Sometimes it took Ollie a while to realize he’d done something wrong, but once he came to that conclusion, he never chose the cowardly option. He didn’t deny his mistakes, even though it would be very easy for him to do so as king. Instead, he made it a point to make amends. Yet, Emiko couldn’t imagine what form an apology for abandoning his son should take.
Then again, her father had never tried to make amends. So what did she know?
“Then I suppose I should follow his example,” Roy said after a long silence. “I’m sorry for keeping Lian away from you for so long.”
Emiko shrugged. She’d often wondered why Roy disappeared for days at a time, but she’d never asked. You didn’t have to know everything, and as she’d said, she understood his protective instinct. Getting angry now would only cause them to lose even more time.
“Any tips on how I can become her favorite family member, even though Connor and Mia already have a head start?”
Roy stopped on the steps and stared at her in disbelief. “I’m her favorite family member.”
“Of course you are. Whatever helps you sleep at night.”
Dinah had barely left the throne room when she saw something flash out of the corner of her eye. She’d already been wondering when Oracle would get involved. Although Oracle was in another kingdom, she had informants everywhere, and there were several unfamiliar faces in this castle waiting to share useful information with Dinah.
When Dinah reached the windowsill, she saw not only the pin bearing Oracle’s symbol—a mask—but also an accompanying letter.
“What do you have for me this time?” she wondered to herself, hoping it was something that would help with this whole messed-up situation. Having council members at court who were willing to scheme was never a good thing, and Dinah didn’t believe for a second that Armitage was acting alone.
The message was simple, but it still brought a smile to Dinah’s lips.
“Lord Brickwell and Lord Armitage have met in secret.”
It seemed she owed Oracle something.
Dinah walked purposefully down the hallway before she saw Hal, who was standing in a corner, waiting, and clearly didn’t know what to do next. First, Oliver ordered Connor’s arrest, and then it turned into an emotional discussion whose outcome was still anyone’s guess. Dinah hoped for the best, but she understood that the Knights rarely allowed themselves to hope; instead, they relied on their ability to handle any situation, even the worst ones.
“Queen Dinah,” Hal greeted her, then glanced briefly at the crumpled piece of paper in her hand before looking up again and making no mention of it.
“Once Ollie has finished his conversation, I want you to bring Lord Brickwell to him. He knows something about Armitage’s plan and must decide whether he wants to testify against Armitage or go down with him.”
Hal nodded. His expression was serious, but he didn’t object.
“Your wish is my command.”
“Thank you,” Dinah said, because she felt that word had been said too rarely in the last few hours, given how loyally Hal had followed her orders, even though he certainly hadn’t agreed with everything.
Hal said his goodbyes to go in search of Lord Brickwell, and Dinah hesitated briefly before deciding not to follow the rest of the family, but instead to wait for Oliver to finish his conversation with Connor. When she entered the servants’ entrance, where Kyle was supposed to have taken Connor, Kyle was already waiting there, even though no one had ordered him to.
Dinah wasn’t stupid.
“Connor caught your attention, didn’t he?” she asked promptly. Some things are best asked outright, and fortunately, as queen, she wasn’t given the side-eye for it all that often.
“Your Highness!” Kyle replied, but his guilty sideways glance was the only proof she needed.
“It’s all right. I don’t know if the other knights have told you this, but it’s important that you follow your heart. Oliver would never have heard your oath of allegiance, but Connor? Maybe you’ll stay at our house after all, even though I hadn’t expected it.”
Dinah had pointed out to Hal several times that he shouldn’t put any pressure on Kyle. The boy had clearly had his doubts, and the Green Knights took their oaths very seriously. It wouldn’t have been right to push him in that direction.
“Is that an option?” Kyle asked, not seeming to really want to believe it. Understandable—after all, he’d just escorted Connor from the dungeon.
“It’s the only option I’ll allow. Oliver and I don’t need a second Hal. Just be yourself and do what feels right to you.”
Kyle bowed slightly. “I will.”
It took a while for Oliver to break the embrace. Connor hadn’t dared to move and, in those first few moments, couldn’t believe it was really happening and wasn’t just a dream.
“Let’s go find the others,” Oliver said, and Connor didn’t object. He wanted to make sure Roy and Lian were doing well, even though a small part of him was afraid the rest of the family would hate him.
As they left the throne room, the queen was waiting for them, and Connor realized for the first time that he had no idea how to interact with her. They didn’t know each other, and yet formalities seemed like an inappropriate way to keep their distance.
“Dinah, may I introduce you to Connor?” Oliver spoke up, and Connor returned the polite smile Dinah gave him.
“I’d be mad at you if you didn’t,” she joked, nudging Oliver in the ribs with her elbow. Connor couldn’t tell if it really hurt or if his father was just pretending. “Ollie, you should stay here. Hal will be here soon with another witness who, hopefully, will be able to provide sufficient evidence against Armitage for the Council.”
Oliver nodded solemnly, but didn’t seem happy. “Am I really the last one to see my granddaughter?”
“What a pity it is to fulfill one’s duties as a rightful king.”
Connor remained silent but smiled slightly when he saw a genuine smile reflected in the couple’s eyes. They weren’t exchanging pleasantries but speaking to one another in the way that’s only possible when people trust each other.
“Yes, yes. I get it, but I certainly won’t pass up the chance to have dinner together.”
With that, Oliver reentered the throne room just as he saw Lord Brickwell entering the room accompanied by Hal.
Meanwhile, Dinah turned to Connor. “Just a heads-up: Oliver has hired the kind of chefs who aren’t afraid to use too many chili peppers.”
“He likes it spicy?”
Dinah laughed, but she felt that the answer in her head was inappropriate for this conversation, so instead she said, “I’m still not sure if anyone actually likes it spicy or if we’ve all been brainwashed into thinking it’s a good thing.”
Lian immediately jumped into Roy’s arms when he walked in. He picked her up and stroked her hair. Her eyes were already fluttering with sleep, and it wouldn’t be long before she fell asleep again. As exciting as the last few hours had been, she was still young and needed her sleep.
“She’s got your energy—that much is certain,” Mia said, proving that she’d figured out who Lian was. Roy had never doubted it.
“Then it’s a good thing you can still take on both of us with ease,” he replied, then turned around so Emiko could get a look at Lian, too. A smile played on her face as she brushed a strand of hair from the little girl’s face.
“Do we know her mother?” Emiko asked, and Roy pursed his lips while nodding at the same time.
“No. You’re kidding, right?” Mia asked sharply, staring at him with her mouth agape. “Not the assassin, right? You know she was supposed to kill you?”
Okay, apparently Roy hadn’t been very subtle when he’d talked about Jade. Or maybe Mia knew him better than he knew himself. It didn’t change the fact that, after just the second night with Jade, he’d realized they wouldn’t get a happy ending together. Jade didn’t want to be tied down to one place, and Roy had his obligations. And then, of course, there was the assassin thing, but that sounded worse than it actually was.
“It’s impressive that Ollie could pass down his taste in women without you two being related,” Emiko said, and that was fair. But who didn’t like strong women? To be fair, Roy knew almost exclusively strong personalities.
A soft knock sounded, and Dinah walked in, accompanied by Connor. A weight lifted from Roy’s shoulders, and he handed Lian to Dinah so he could pull Connor into a quick hug.
“Are you okay?”
Connor nodded against his shoulder. So Ollie had really kept his promise. Very good.
Roy broke the embrace and then smiled at the group. “Emiko, Mia. This is Connor. Connor, this is your aunt Emiko.”
Roy pointed to Emiko, who shot him a dark look. “Just Emiko.”
Without responding to that, Roy next pointed to Mia. “And this is our sister Mia. She cheats at card games, but she’ll beat up anyone who makes a stupid comment about you.”
“Always at your service,” Mia said, winking at Connor. “Where’s Dad?”
Dinah smiled gently. “He’s still taking care of a political matter; he’ll join us soon.”
“Then we’ll all be together,” Roy realized, and couldn’t help but smile. He had never dreamed that one day he’d see Lian sleeping peacefully, surrounded by his family. And he’d never thought it possible that he’d be able to welcome another little brother into the family.
At that moment, it felt impossible that there could ever be a more beautiful day in his life.
“I love you all,” he whispered.
