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The massive, midnight-black scales of Tairn glistened under the brilliant summer sun as his enormous talons sank into the pristine, white sands of the coastline. With a heavy, rhythmic thud that vibrated through the dunes, the great dragon settled, his tail sweeping a gentle breeze across the shoreline. Attached securely to his claw was an oversized, reinforced wicker transport basket, custom-engineered with heavy leather padding and safety harnesses.
Before Tairn’s wings could even fully fold against his back, the basket erupted with pure, unadulterated noise.
"I see the water! I saw it first, Caelum, I swear by the Codex I saw it first!" six-year-old Nyxra shouted, her sharp onyx eyes scanning the horizon as she unbuckled her harness with practiced efficiency. Her long, dark brown hair was already whipping wild in the ocean breeze, her mind working three steps ahead as she calculated the optimal spot to build a fortress.
"Did not! I was looking through the spyglass!" eight-year-old Caelum retorted, a mischievous grin plastered across his face. His unruly black curls tumbled over his forehead, and his bright hazel eyes danced with absolute glee as he practically vaulted over the rim of the basket the moment Xaden unlatched the safety gate.
"Careful, little shadow," Xaden warned, though his voice lacked any real bite. He reached into the basket with effortless strength, scooping up two-year-old Aine. The youngest Riorson, sporting a soft tuft of pitch-black hair, clutched a stuffed dragon to her chest and let out a bright, gurgling laugh as her father hoisted her onto his broad shoulder.
Violet stepped off Tairn’s foreleg, brushing a stray silver-tipped strand of hair from her face, her eyes softening as she watched her children hit the sand. "If anyone loses a shoe to the tide, you’re the one wading out to get it," she told Xaden, a playful smirk tugging at her lips.
"Hey! The royalty has arrived!" a loud, boisterous voice boomed from just down the beach.
Ridoc was already sprinting toward them, his tunic half-unbuttoned and a ridiculous straw hat perched precariously on his head. Right on his heels were Sloane and Bodhi, both carrying an assortment of blankets and wooden buckets, while Dain walked at a more measured pace, carrying a massive cooler and shaking his head at Ridoc’s antics.
"Uncle Ridoc!" Caelum squealed, completely abandoning his quest for the shoreline to launch himself directly at Ridoc’s midsection. Ridoc caught him with a theatrical gasp, spinning the boy around before dropping him into the soft sand.
"Look at you, you’re practically as tall as a daggertail now," Ridoc laughed, ruffling Caelum’s curls.
Nyxra walked up to Sloane, her expression shifting instantly to one of serious, intellectual inquiry. "Auntie Sloane, did you bring the specialized structural tools I requested for the sand tunnels?"
Sloane let out a bright laugh, kneeling to Nyxra's eye level. "Better. I brought iron-rimmed trowels. We’re going to build a fortress that even a venin couldn't take down."
"Excellent," Nyxra approved with a sharp, decisive nod.
Dain set the cooler down, a warm, genuine smile breaking across his face as he walked over to Violet and Xaden. Little Aine immediately reached her chubby arms out toward him, and Dain gladly took her, letting the toddler pull playfully at his collar. "She’s getting big, Vi," Dain murmured. "They all are."
"Too fast," Violet admitted, leaning back against Xaden’s chest as his arms wrapped around her waist, watching Bodhi and Caelum immediately begin a competitive game of chasing the retreating waves. "It's nice just to have... this. No war rooms, no councils. Just the beach."
The peaceful atmosphere was punctuated by a heavy, distinctly ungraceful thud further up the beach, near the edge of the tree line.
A medium-sized, dusty-red dragon had landed, looking thoroughly exhausted, its wings drooping. From its back, a man dismounted who looked entirely out of place amidst the sun and surf. Senior Aetos stood in the sand, his face frozen in a look of profound, existential dread. Clad in the plain, rugged garb of a servant—a stark contrast to the general’s uniform he had worn a lifetime ago—he looked at the vast expanse of the beach as if it were a punishment worse than the dungeons.
He was currently burdened like a pack mule, draped in heavy canvas shade tents, folding chairs, umbrellas, and three separate cooler bags.
Caelum’s head snapped toward the new arrival, his hazel eyes lighting up with a dangerous, predatory gleam. He nudged Nyxra. "Look. The cargo has arrived."
Nyxra’s onyx eyes locked onto Aetos. A slow, calculating smile spread across her face.
Before Aetos could even drop the first heavy tent pole into the sand, the two older Riorson children were sprinting toward him like a pair of hunting hounds.
"Aetos! You're moving too slow!" Caelum yelled, skidding to a halt right in front of him, intentionally kicking up a spray of sand that dusted the older man's boots. "We need the shade tent set up exactly ten paces from the high-tide mark. If it's nine paces, it'll flood. If it's eleven, the sun will hit my fort."
Aetos closed his eyes, taking a long, suffering breath. He looked over the boy's head toward Xaden and Violet, silently pleading with his eyes for a reprieve.
Xaden merely offered a cold, entirely unsympathetic smirk from a distance, lifting his hand in a lazy, two-finger salute that clearly communicated: You asked to stay behind. ㅔ wanted you here. Good luck.
"I am currently carrying eighty pounds of equipment, Caelum," Aetos said, his voice tight, trying desperately to maintain a shred of dignity. "If you would allow me to breathe—"
"No time for breathing, Aetos! The tide waits for no man!" Nyxra commanded, crossing her arms and looking remarkably like her mother when she was issuing military orders.
"I am fifty-four years old," he rasped. "I am a servant of the crown, not a beast of burden."
"You're the lookout," Caelum corrected cheerfully, grabbing one of the un-deployed umbrellas and handing it to him like a spear. "Hold this. And stand guard over the bucket of crabs I'm about to catch. If any of them escape, you're demoted."
"Demoted from what?" Aetos muttered under his breath, though he obediently took the umbrella, grabbed the bucket, and went off to set the tents and beach rugs.
Down by the shoreline, Bodhi choked on his drink, laughing so hard Dain had to slap him on the back. "I swear, those kids are going to break that man before the weekend is over."
"He deserves worse," Xaden said softly, though the tension had entirely left his shoulders. He pressed a kiss to the top of Violet’s head, watching their family and friends gathered on the sand.
“Last one in the water is a rotten dragon!” Ridoc shouted, pushing Bodhi in the chest, making him stumble and running off, spraying sand everywhere.
"Hey! No fair, you had a head start!" Bodhi yelled, recovering his footing and kicking off his boots as he sprinted down the shoreline after Ridoc.
The beach immediately transformed into a battlefield of splashes and laughter. Ridoc hit the surf first, diving headfirst into a cresting wave and coming up shaking his head like a wet hound, spraying water in every direction. Bodhi wasn't far behind, launching himself into a spectacular cannonball that drenched Ridoc entirely.
"Attack!" Caelum shouted, his hazel eyes gleaming with pure chaos. He charged into the shallows, his small legs pumping through the water as he aimed a relentless barrage of splashes directly at Ridoc’s face.
"Oh, you want a piece of this, Rider, little shadow?" Ridoc grinned, cupping his hands to send a massive wave of water back at Caelum. But Caelum was quick; he ducked, and the entire splash hit Nyxra squarely in the chest.
The six-year-old froze, her long dark hair instantly slicked back against her shoulders. She wiped the saltwater from her onyx eyes, her expression shifting into one of pure, tactical calculation. "Error in judgment, Uncle Ridoc," she said with chilling calmness. "Sloane! Flanking maneuver, now!"
Sloane let out a bright laugh, immediately moving into deep water to cut off Ridoc’s retreat while Nyxra and Caelum executed a coordinated, two-pronged splashing assault. Even Dain got dragged into the fray, wading in to hoist a giggling Caelum onto his shoulders to give the boy the definitive high-ground advantage.
Up on the dry sand, Xaden and Violet stood side-by-side, watching the absolute mayhem unfold. In the background, a heavily sighing Aetos was meticulously smoothing out a massive beach rug, occasionally glancing over his shoulder to ensure none of the rogue crabs from Caelum's bucket were making a break for freedom.
Violet leaned her head against Xaden’s shoulder, a soft smile playing on her lips. Aine was currently sitting at their feet, happily patting a damp pile of sand and transferring half of it onto her own knees.
"They're going to completely exhaust Ridoc," Violet noted, her violet eyes tracking her children's wild movements. "And honestly? It’s the best thing I've ever seen."
"Ridoc brought this on himself the moment he challenged them," Xaden murmured, his dark eyes warm as they reflected the sparkling ocean. He looked down at Violet, the familiar, fierce love pulling at his chest. "We should probably go rescue him before Nyxra figures out how to court-martial him in the surf."
"Or," Violet smiled mischievously, grabbing his hand, "we join the winning side."
Xaden’s lips twitched into a rare, breathtaking smile. "After you, Violence."
Scooping Aine up into his arms, Xaden walked with Violet down to the water's edge. The moment the cool tide lapped over Violet's toes, a collective cheer went up from the kids.
"Mom! Dad! Help us, Ridoc is trying to retreat!" Caelum yelled from atop Dain’s shoulders.
"I am outnumbered and out-strategized!" Ridoc yelled back, dramatic as always, as he floated on his back. "The Riorson fleet is unstoppable!"
Violet waded right into the thick of it, laughing as Nyxra immediately swam over to use her as a human shield. Xaden stayed just at the edge of the deeper water, safely holding Aine above the spray as the toddler squealed with delight, dipping her tiny feet into the foam.
Ridoc made a show of taking a deep breath and swiftly disappeared under the water. "Where did he go!" Caelum shouted from Dain’s shoulders, twisting around and leaning so far over the water for a better look that Dain had to grip the boy's calves just to keep him steady. "It can't be good he—AAARRRGGG!"
Bodhi yelled out as his legs suddenly gave out from under him, sending him crashing backward into a huge wall of spray.
A second later, Ridoc’s head broke the surface, his hair plastered across his face as he gripped Bodhi’s ankle. He spat a dramatic stream of water straight into the air like a ridiculous garden fountain. "HA! Who’s better at stealth now?" he yelled, triumphantly letting go of Bodhi's leg and wiping his eyes.
Ridoc waited for Bodhi to come up sputtering and swearing revenge, but the water stayed completely still. Only a few bubbles floated to the top where Bodhi had gone under.
"Uh, Bodhi?" Ridoc asked, his smug grin faltering just a bit as he looked around the swirling green water. "Come on, man, don't play like that."
Suddenly, Dain gasped as something clamped onto his left ankle with the force of an iron vice. "What the—" Dain didn't even get to finish his sentence before he was violently yanked backward. With a massive splash, Dain went down, losing his grip on Caelum.
Caelum went airborne for a glorious, terrifying half-second, shrieking with absolute delight before hitting the water with a loud smack.
Bodhi popped up a few feet away, coughing out a laugh. “You can’t get me that easy Ri-wait, you’re not Ridoc,” Bodhi cocked an eyebrow as Ridoc howled behind them.
Dain surfaced a moment later, blinking away the salt water and looking thoroughly disheveled, his usual neat hair completely ruined. "Oh, it is on now," Dain muttered, a competitive spark lighting up his eyes. He didn't even bother wiping his face before he ducked right back under the surface, completely vanishing from sight.
"Scatter!" Caelum screamed as he popped back up, his hazel eyes wide with excitement. He began frantically dog-paddling away from the spot where Dain had disappeared. "He's under! Everyone run!"
Nyxra didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed onto Violet’s arm, trying to pull her mother forward like an anchor. "Mom, move! Use your legs!"
But it was too late. Violet felt a pair of hands lock onto her waist from beneath the waves. She let out a sharp, genuine laugh as she was dragged down into the cool water, her silver-tipped hair floating around her before she submerged entirely.
"Violet!" Xaden called out, though the broad smirk on his face showed he wasn't the least bit worried. He shifted Aine higher onto his shoulder to keep her completely dry. The two-year-old was clapping her chubby hands together, shouting, "Down! Down!" as she watched her family disappear one by one.
Violet burst back through the surface, shaking her head and laughing so hard she could barely breathe. "Dain, you traitor!" she yelled, immediately ducking down to grab the nearest pair of legs she could find, which happened to belong to Sloane.
"Hey! I was on your side!" Sloane shrieked as she was pulled under next, her hands splashing wildly before she went under.
Within minutes, the entire shallows became a chaotic circle of sneak attacks. Nobody knew who was grabbing whom. Ridoc got yanked down by Caelum, who had teamed up with Bodhi for a double-leg takedown. Sloane came up only to immediately dive back down and pull Nyxra under by her knees, resulting in a muffled, bubbly squeal of joy from the six-year-old.
Even Xaden wasn't safe. While he was carefully watching the water to protect Aine, Ridoc and Bodhi executed a coordinated underwater raid, each grabbing one of Xaden's ankles.
"Hold on, little bird," Xaden warned Aine with a quick grin. He didn't let himself get dragged under completely, but the sudden pull forced him to take a massive, stumbling step back, creating a wave that drenched everyone within five feet. He tossed Aine safely up into the air, catching her securely under her arms as she let out a loud, ringing belly laugh at the giant splash her dad had just made.
“Again!” Aine squealed, laughing.
Xaden handed Aine to Dain, who happily waded out of the splash zone and plunged into the clear, emerald sea, seeking his next prey.
"We need more sand!" Nyxra shouted, her voice carrying across the hot beach. She was kneeling by the edge of a massive sand fortress, her long brown hair pulled back into a messy bun. Her thin linen gown was damp and coated in white grains. "The north wall of the castle is crumbling, and the tide is turning!"
"I'm on it, Captain!" Sloane called back. Like Nyxra, she had shed her heavy, wet uniform for a light, breezy gown that was now thoroughly soaked at the hem. She scooped up a fresh pile of wet sand with her trowel, running it over to Nyxra's side of the fort where Dain was carefully packing the foundations.
"Dain, reinforce the base while Sloane pours," Nyxra ordered, her onyx eyes scanning the structure with total focus.
"Yes, General," Dain chuckled, his bare shoulders glistening in the sun as he patted down the wet walls. He looked up, shouting toward the dunes. "Hey, Xaden! Your daughter is running a tight ship over here. You might want to come check her blueprints!"
Under the shade of the large umbrella Aetos had set up earlier, Xaden and Violet were stretched out on a massive, colorful beach rug. Their wet clothes were draped over the low branches of the nearby trees, gently swaying in the breeze. Xaden was propped up on one elbow, wearing nothing but his dark swim trunks. His skin was warm from the sun, the intricate, swirling shadows of his rebellion relics stark against his toned chest and torso.
Violet lay beside him, her hazel eyes lingering just a second too long on the sharp lines of his bare torso before she caught herself and looked up. "Don't look at me," she called back to Dain with a lazy laugh. "She gets the bossiness from the Riorson side."
"I am not bossy," Xaden murmured, his deep voice vibrating right next to Violet’s ear as he leaned down, a slow smirk playing on his lips. "I just know how to give efficient orders. There's a difference, Violence."
"Mhm. Sure," Violet teased, shifting in her gown and reaching out to playfully poke his ribs. "Keep telling yourself that." She turned her head to check on little Aine, who was napping soundly between them under a small shade cloth, her tiny black curls damp against her forehead.
A sudden, loud splash broke the peace, followed by Ridoc’s boisterous cheering.
"Look at my form! I am one with the ocean!" Ridoc yelled, balancing precariously on a wide, weathered plank of wood he and Bodhi had dragged out of the tree line. He managed to ride a small wave for three glorious seconds before the board wobbled violently, sending him crashing face-first into the surf.
"Form? You looked like a falling boulder!" Bodhi shouted from a few yards away, paddling out on his own matching piece of driftwood. He caught the next cresting wave, standing up smoothly in his trunks and carving a neat line through the foam. "That is how you do it, Ridoc! Pay attention!"
"Oh, shut up, Bodhi! The wave cheated!" Ridoc sputtered, surfacing and shaking the water out of his ears. He looked back toward the beach, waving his arms. "Hey, Caelum! Did you see that? Tell your uncle I won that round!"
But Caelum wasn't watching the surfing competition. He was entirely occupied, a few paces away from his parents' blanket, crouching in the shallow surf right next to Aetos.
Aetos was still fully dressed, looking hot, miserable, and deeply out of place in his heavy tunic and trousers. He was gripping the handles of the metal bucket with white knuckles, his face tight with anxiety as he watched eight-year-old Caelum reach blindly into a rocky crevice.
"Caelum, I highly advise against sticking your hand in there," Aetos said, his voice strained as he tried to maintain his composure. "The crabs in this region are known to be particularly hostile."
"Found one!" Caelum squealed triumphantly. He pulled his hand out, holding a massive, angry-looking crab by its back shell. The crab's thick claws were snapping wildly in the air.
"Excellent. Now put it in the bucket. Quickly," Aetos ordered, taking a cautious step back.
Instead, Caelum turned around with a massive, mischievous grin, his hazel eyes dancing with pure trouble. "Look how big it is, Aetos! Look at the claws!" He thrust his arm forward, waving the snapping crab way too close to the older man's face.
"Caelum, put that down immediately—"
SNAP.
The crab's claw clamped firmly onto the fleshy tip of Aetos's nose.
Aetos froze, his eyes going completely wide as he went dead silent for one horrifying second. Then, he let out a high-pitched, strangled yelp, dropping the bucket entirely. "Get it off! Get it off of me!" he panicked, flailing his arms but terrifyingly afraid to touch the crab, which was now dangling directly from his face.
Caelum doubled over, falling onto his back in the sand and laughing so hard he couldn't breathe.
"Riorson! Sorrengail!" Aetos yelled, momentarily forgetting the title as he stumbled backward, trying to shake his head without making the pinch worse.
Up on the blanket, Xaden let out a dark, rumbling chuckle, not moving a single inch. "I told you to look out for them, Aetos. Seems like you're doing a great job keeping him entertained.”
Seeing that the older man was genuinely about to tumble into the dunes, Caelum scrambled back to his feet, his hazel eyes bright with tears of laughter. "Hold still! I'll get him, Aetos!"
Aetos, completely desperate and hyperventilating, blindly leaned down toward the eight-year-old, his hands hovering around his face like he was trying to ward off a ghost. Caelum lunged forward, his small, sandy fingers reaching out to grab the thick, barnacle-encrusted back shell of the crab. He braced his feet in the sand and pulled with all his might.
But the crab didn't budge. If anything, the sudden tension made the creature dig its primary claw even deeper into the cartilage of Aetos's nose.
"Do not pull! Do not pull!" Aetos hissed through his teeth, his eyes watering fiercely.
In the next chaotic second, the crab decided it had had enough of the tug-of-war. With a lightning-fast snap, its free, secondary claw whipped around and clamped down directly on the tip of Caelum’s index finger.
"Ow! Hey!" Caelum startled, his mischievous grin instantly vanishing as he tried to yank his hand away.
The double weight and the sudden, violent jerking motion caused the crab to lose its primary grip. With a pop, the claw let go of Aetos’s nose—only to slide instantly across his face and clamp firmly onto the fleshy part of the older man’s left cheek.
"Son of a—!" Aetos bellowed, his head snapping sideways from the weight shift. Now, both the former general and the oldest Riorson boy were inextricably linked by a single, highly aggressive beach crab, spinning around in a clumsy, agonizing circle in the sand like two terrible dancers.
"Caelum! Hold still!" Violet called out, finally sitting up from the blanket, her protective maternal instincts overriding her amusement the moment her son cried out. She began to rise, but before she could even take a step, the situation spectacularly resolved itself.
Caelum gave one massive, panicked yank of his arm, while Aetos simultaneously jerked his head backward in a desperate attempt to escape. The combined, opposing forces were too much for the crab's grip.
With a loud, rubbery snap, the crab released both of them at the same time. The momentum sent the heavy crustacean sailing high through the bright summer air, spinning like a thrown dagger. It soared past the shade umbrella, cleared the low-hanging branches where their wet tunics were drying, and flew straight toward the massive sand fortress down by the shoreline.
SPLASH.
The crab landed with a perfect, muddy thud right into the center of the deep water trench that Dain had just finished digging.
"Perfect hit!" Nyxra shouted, clapping her hands as she peered into the moat. She looked down at the angry crab, which was now aggressively waving its claws at the water, immediately settling into its new territory. "The northern defenses are now fully guarded. Excellent work, Caelum."
"It pinched me!" Caelum protested, hopping on one foot and sucking on his red finger, though the tears in his eyes were already turning back into a wide grin as the throbbing subsided. "Did you see how far it flew?"
"I saw it," Bodhi laughed, paddling his wooden board back to the shore and wading into the shallows. "I think that's a new record for crab-tossing in the Southern Provinces."
Aetos remained standing, breathing heavily as he pressed his hands against his face. A bright red indentation marked the tip of his nose, and a matching, angry welt was rising on his left cheek. He looked completely exhausted, his brown curls damp with sweat, staring at the sandcastle moat as if the crab inside were a personal insult to his entire military lineage.
Dain walked up from the water, tossing a clean, damp towel toward his father. "You might want to put some cold water on that," Dain said, his tone a mix of mild pity and lingering amusement. "Before the swelling sets in."
Aetos caught the towel without a word, glaring at the shoreline before sinking heavily back into his righted chair, thoroughly defeated by an eight-year-old and a shellfish.
The fiery orange and bruised purple hues of the sunset bleed across the horizon, casting a warm, amber glow over the entire shoreline. The rhythmic crash of the waves has slowed to a gentle lap against the sand, cooled down significantly by the approaching evening.
In the center of their small encampment, a crackling campfire roars to life, throwing dancing shadows against the dark wood of the tree line.
"Gods, I’m so hungry," Sloane groaned, collapsing onto a large, colorful beach blanket next to Nyxra. She rests her chin in her hands, her eyes locked with absolute, desperate longing on the makeshift grill resting over the glowing embers.
The smoky, mouth-watering aroma of fresh clams popping open in their shells and thick, seasoned cuts of meat searing over the fire filled the salty air.
"Patience, Sloane. A good rider doesn't faint before the rations are served," Dain teased, though he too looks entirely ready to dive into the food. He sits cross-legged near the fire, using a long wooden paddle to shift the hot coals and ensure the heat is evenly distributed under the grill.
A few yards away, completely out of the equation and entirely spent from a brutal day of crab-guarding and sand-castle construction, Senior Aetos is sprawled out cold in the dry sand near the dunes. Pulling his hat completely over his face to block out the rising moon, he is fast asleep, snoring softly and completely dead to the world.
"He's been out for twenty minutes," Bodhi murmured, tossing another dry log onto the flames with a quiet chuckle. "I think Caelum officially broke him."
"Good," Xaden said smoothly, walking up to the fire with a sleepy two-year-old nestled securely against his shoulder. Aine’s soft black curls are damp from a final, pre-sunset rinse, her small thumb tucked firmly into her mouth as she blinks sleepily at the bright orange sparks floating up into the twilight sky. Xaden takes a seat on a large driftwood log next to Violet, his bare chest finally covered by a loose, dark linen tunic which Violet glanced at disapprovingly.
Violet leaned sideways into his space, her fingers lightly trailing down Aine's back before she looked over at her other two children. "Caelum, Nyxra, hands washed?"
"Yes, Mom," Nyxra said primly, holding up her small, clean palms. She had changed into a dry, oversized shirt that swallowed her tiny frame, sitting with her legs crossed like a mini-commander as she watched the clams. "And I have calculated that if Ridoc eats more than his fair share of the meat, we will have a supply shortage before dessert."
"Hey! Why am I always the target?" Ridoc protested, stumbling back into the light of the campfire from the trees. He was carrying a massive wooden crate filled with fresh blankets and a jar of sweet, preserved fruits they had packed from the fortress kitchens. "I am a growing man. I require sustenance after spending four hours acting as a personal wave-riding instructor for your brother."
"You fell off the board more than I did, Uncle Ridoc!" Caelum shouted, bounding into the firelight with endless energy despite the late hour. His unruly black curls are sticking out in every direction, and his hazel eyes dance with the reflection of the flames as he drops onto the blanket next to Sloane. "You went splash, and then your hat floated away!"
"The hat was a sacrifice to the sea gods, Caelum. It was a donation," Ridoc sniffed grandly, though he immediately ruined the dignity of the statement by reaching down and trying to snatch a piece of resting meat from the grill.
Smack.
Dain slaps his hand away with the wooden paddle without even looking up. "Not yet. Give it two more minutes."
"You're cruel, Dain. Absolutely heartless," Ridoc grumbled, though he smiles as he sinks into the sand next to Bodhi, wrapping a warm, dry blanket around his shoulders as the ocean breeze turns crisp and cool.
Violet shifts closer to Xaden, pulling a heavy wool quilt over both of their laps as the temperature dips. She watches the easy, effortless banter of the people who had fought alongside them, survived with them, and now shared this peaceful slice of ordinary life.
"Here," Xaden murmured softly, his deep voice carrying that familiar, private warmth meant only for her. He carefully shifts a fast-asleep Aine into the crook of his left arm, using his free hand to pull the blanket higher over Violet’s bare shoulders. "You're shivering."
"Just a little," Violet admitted, leaning her head against his shoulder, her violet eyes reflecting the deep gold of the campfire. "It's perfect out here."
"It is," Xaden agreed, his dark eyes fixed on Caelum and Nyxra, who are currently engaged in a highly intense, whispered negotiation with Sloane over who gets the largest clam shell.
"Alright, rations are officially served," Dain announced, lifting the perfectly grilled meat and steaming clams onto a series of wide, wooden platters.
The wooden platters had barely touched the center of the blanket before Ridoc practically snatched three clams, earning a sharp look from Nyxra, who was already keeping a silent tally. But as the warmth of the food settled over everyone, the initial rush to eat slowed down, replaced by the comfortable, lazy storytelling that only comes from years of shared history.
"I still can't believe we used to eat that gray mush in the dining hall," Bodhi said, leaning back on his elbows and staring into the fire. "Remember the winter of our first year? I thought my tongue would freeze off from the cold and the lack of salt."
"Oh, please, the food wasn't the only distraction in the dining hall," Ridoc grinned, his eyes shifting mischievously between Xaden and Violet. He leaned over to Caelum, lowering his voice in a theatrical whisper. "Hey, Caelum. Did you know your mom used to spend sixty percent of breakfast just staring at your dad's head? She thought she was being completely invisible."
"I was not staring!" Violet protested instantly, her cheeks flushing a warm pink that had absolutely nothing to do with the heat of the campfire. "He was trying to kill me at that time and he was the Wingleader. It was basic survival."
"Right, 'survival,'" Dain chimed in, a good-natured laugh breaking through his words as he shook his head. "Vi, you used to freeze in your tracks every time he walked past the tables. The whole squad knew it. We just didn't say anything because we valued our lives."
Caelum looked between his parents, his hazel eyes wide with curiosity. "Did Dad know?"
"Of course he knew," Bodhi laughed, tossing a small pebble into the fire. "Xaden wasn't any better. He used to position himself at the high table just to keep her in his line of sight. He’d be pretending to read reports, but the page wouldn't turn for twenty minutes."
Xaden didn't even look up from slicing a piece of meat for Nyxra, though a slow, unbothered smirk curved his lips. "I was supervising the quadrant. It’s called leadership, Bodhi."
"Sure, let's go with that," Bodhi scoffed playfully. "Is 'leadership' also the reason you spent three sleepless nights personally going down to the armory to get custom, tailored daggers for her? Because I distinctly remember sitting on the stool while you bargained with a metallurgist, stressing out over how to give them to her without looking hopelessly in love."
Violet paused, her fork hovering in the air as she turned her head to look at her husband. "Three nights?"
Xaden finally looked up, his dark eyes meeting hers with a mixture of warmth and mild amusement at being exposed. "They needed to fit your grip perfectly, Violence. Standard issue weapons would have weighed you down."
"He was terrified you'd figure it out," Bodhi continued relentlessly, enjoying himself entirely too much. "So his grand plan to hide his massive crush was to drag you out to the sparring mats, train you, and then casually hand over a priceless, custom-made set of weapons like it was nothing."
"It worked, didn't it?" Xaden murmured smoothly, reaching out to tuck a stray silver-tipped strand of hair behind Violet's ear. "She took the daggers."
"Yeah, well, the real peak of your failure to hide it was the flight leathers," Ridoc chuckled, pointing a clamshell at Violet. "Explain that one, Sorrengail. The day you marched right into formation wearing the wing leader's jacket."
"It was an emergency!" Violet defended herself, though she buried her face slightly against Xaden's shoulder as the memory came back. "Garrick suddenly knocked at the door and told us we were under attack!"
"You looked like a toddler wearing your dad's uniform," Dain recalled, grinning. "The sleeves completely covered your hands. The entire quadrant went dead silent because everyone knew exactly whose jacket that was, and nobody wanted to be the one to laugh and get throttled by Xaden."
"I wouldn't have throttled anyone," Xaden said softly, though his arm wrapped securely around Violet’s waist, pulling her closer against his side under the heavy quilt. "Though I admit, seeing you in my armor was... highly motivating."
"Oh, gross," Nyxra muttered, looking up from her perfectly organized pile of empty clam shells. "Can we talk about the dragons again? This part of history is boring."
"Agreed," Caelum piped up, though he was still giggling. "Did Dad make the saddle too? The one mom rides?"
"Oh, don't even get me started on the saddle," Bodhi groaned dramatically, throwing his hands up. "The amount of leatherwork he rejected because it wasn't 'soft enough' for her knees was ridiculous."
Violet laughed against Xaden’s chest, the sound light and clear against the steady rhythm of the crashing tide. She looked up at him, her eyes bright with the memory of those chaotic, dangerous days when they had tried so hard to deny what everyone else could clearly see. Xaden pressed a quiet kiss to her forehead, completely unbothered by the teasing of their friends, perfectly content in the warmth of the summer night.