Page 2 of Thief of Hearts

She inclined her head and we began walking back to where everyone else was gathered outside, having a picnic. She glanced at me. “Am I about to get a lecture about honor? You have that look Demaratus used to get on a regular basis.”

That wasn’t where my mind had been at all, but I was glad to discuss something different because I didn’t want to think about my gift being gone. “The Thracian code isn’t much different than the Daemonian one. Don’t lie or steal. Fight with honor. Protect those that need protecting. Don’t leave the fight until the enemy is defeated.”

She opened her mouth to say something but instead made a slight groan and put a hand over her stomach. “He never stops moving. I don’t know what I’m going to do when he’s born. I already have a child who couldn’t hold still if her life depended on it.”

I heard the adoration and affection in her voice despite her half-hearted complaint. I understood her weary tone—her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Kyra, was a total delight bordering on madness. I considered her my niece as much as I did Minha, Thrax and Quynh’s daughter.

Thracian families weren’t conventional units like in some other nations. We were a broad family connected in so many different ways. Lia was my sister because her husband was my brother’s brother. We claimed one another as family, and that included everyone she cared about.

At the moment Kyra was running in circles, brandishing the wooden sword my mother had brought for Minha and whooping loudly. Minha watched her cousin from my mother’s arms.

Mother had focused all her attention on Minha. She had barely let the toddler touch the ground since we’d arrived two weeks ago. A different child might have squirmed and tried to get away but Minha was calm and content.

Someone might have thought that my mother was Minha’s as well—while the little girl had the shape and color of Quynh’s eyes, she had our family’s red hair. I wondered if she would be battle-favored when she was older.

“What did I tell you about not antagonizing my wife while she’s pregnant?” Xander called to us from where he sat on a stone bench, watching his daughter. “Pregnancy makes Lia far less patient.”

“It’s all the vomiting,” she shot back. “Which is entirely your fault.”

“It is.” He nodded, trying to suppress his smile. “But you were the one who said you wanted a dozen.”

Outrage flashed across her face. “No, you said you’d give me a dozen. I didn’t ask for it.”

He reached for her and pulled her closer so that she stood between his legs. “That’s not how I remember it.”

Her cheeks flushed and she gave him a sly smile. “That sounds like you’re questioning me. Do we need to take this to the sparring ring?”

“Wife, you know the only way you can beat me is with magic.”

She leaned in and stroked his face. “I don’t need magic to drive you to your knees.”

“You do not,” he agreed in what could only be described as a seductive tone, putting his hands on her hips and moving her even closer. “We should go upstairs and have you prove that right now.”

“We have guests!” she chided him with a laugh.

“Basileia is not a guest. She’s family.”

“Other guests are coming.”

“Who are also family.”

They continued to banter back and forth and I tried not to sigh in annoyance. From time to time I actually managed to forget how stupidly in love they were and how, despite the fact that they’d been married for years and were about to have their second child, they still behaved as if they had personally invented sex.

Xander let out a sigh of his own, one that smothered his frustration, and he attempted to be a polite host. “How was the match?” he asked me.

“Your wife cheated,” I informed him. “She used her savior aspect.”

He grinned. “Welcome to my life.”

“So . . . does that mean you lost the fight?” Thrax asked, the laughter evident in his voice.

“Would you like to spar?” I retorted.

Quynh just shook her head at both of us, her long dark hair swaying behind her. “There’s no point. We all know who will win.”

Her husband scoffed. “I let Bas win.”

I crossed my arms. “You’d better thank Invara that you have a child because it is for my niece’s sake alone that I will not cut you down for lying.”