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I shared his beliefs on that one. I also had the feeling that it was necessary for the Wolf River Kingdom to emerge as the most stable and prosperous kingdom in the frontier in order for us to fend off another attack like Yuri’s, one based on basic prejudice instead of some madman who wanted his slave back. Just because we’d made it through the winter in good shape didn’t mean the people of the cities and the Old Realm wouldn’t carry on with their prejudice against men who loved other men. That’s why we’d all been ousted from the cities in the first place, after all.
Magnus understood that the only way to change people’s minds was to coax them with sweet things and threaten them with powerful ones. Which was why he was up early, dressed in royal purple and gold, groomed to perfection, and pacing the decks of our boat with restless energy, by the time Peter and I emerged from our cabin to join him. Ox and Katrina were already on the deck, talking to the captain.
Magnus stopped his pacing as soon as he saw us and burst into a proud, lascivious, loving smile for the two of us. “The two of you look absolutely beautiful,” he said, changing directions and marching across the deck so that he could take us, one in each arm, and pull us close for hugs and kisses.
He was anxious. Magnus was always amorous, and he would probably have spent every spare second of his days fondling or kissing me and Peter, but I could feel the tension in his body as I kissed him back and rested a hand at the back of his neck.
“This is going to be fun,” Peter said, the light of excitement visible in his eyes, even though the boat was lit only by lanterns and the first whispers of dawn on the horizon. “Hedeon isn’t going to know what hit them when they see us.”
“That is exactly my plan,” Magnus said, then leaned into Peter, devouring his mouth in an obscene kiss. He moved his hand down to grab a handful of Peter’s ass as well.
I snorted with laughter and leaned my head against Magnus’s neck for a moment. God, I loved them. I hadn’t thought love like that was even possible, especially not for two men at once. Peter and Magnus were so deeply ingrained in me now that it was like the very fabric of my soul was interwoven with theirs.
Magnus twisted to kiss me again as he’d kissed Peter. It spun my head so much that I almost didn’t hear when he said, “I respect Sai and value him as a leader and a friend, but in no way will that stop me from overwhelming him and whatever advisors and governors he has with him.”
I was too kiss-drunk to reply, but Peter said, “I like Sai too, but cities are not run by one man alone. I was less impressed with some of the noblemen Sai brought with him to the coronation.”
“Like my father?” Lefric said as he strode toward us. Olympus was right by his side, which made me smile with warmth and happiness for him.
Magnus loosened his hold on me and Peter and nodded in greeting to Lefric and Olympus. “Like your father,” Magnus agreed.
None of us had been impressed with Lord Lefric of Klovisgard. Not only had he been awful to Lefric after seeing his son for the first time since selling him into pupdom almost two years ago, knowing what I knew now about the fate of well over half the noblemen of the cities during Gomez’s reign and the Dying Winter, I wondered what he’d done to survive.
Actually, strange as it felt, having been born a nobleman myself, I was walking into this meeting with a deep and unexpected suspicion of any nobleman who had escaped slaughter in the last year. I wasn’t certain I was comfortable with that feeling.
Once he and Olympus stood close to me, Peter, and Magnus, Lefric shrugged with feigned disinterest and said, “My father has always been a twat. I don’t think he could possibly have much sway with someone like Sai.”
It was a front, I could tell. Lefric had been deeply hurt by his father’s treatment. We hadn’t talked about it, but I could tell. Lefric had always tried to mask his emotions with false bravado, trying to be like Jace or Peter—or anyone else he’d known in his life and believed to be cocky and important—but I’d always seen the desperation to be loved that existed right under that surface.
Of course, the moment Olympus rested his hand on the small of Lefric’s back and watched him with a cozy smile, I felt confident my friend had finally found someone who might actually love him the way he deserved to be loved.
“I wish I had paid attention to the diplomacy my father has attempted with the cities in the last year,” Olympus said, looking cautiously at Magnus. “I should have paid much more attention.”
Magnus sent Olympus a friendly smile. “You’ll learn quickly,” he said. “I wouldn’t have negotiated with your father for you to join this meeting if I did not think you possessed a quick mind and a hunger to learn. And if worse comes to worst, you have Lefric to keep you in line.”
He winked at Lefric, who blushed and squirmed, then smiled adoringly at Olympus.
I kept my face as straight as I could. Of course, Magnus, Peter, and I had spoken about Olympus and Lefric, Good Port, and Vikhrov Hakobyan extensively in the last few days. What Magnus actually thought was that Olympus had been indulged too much and needed a sharp lesson in facing the realities of the world like a man. I thought Lefric and Olympus could be the making of each other, and that they were each precisely what the other needed to become better men. Peter thought Lefric was actually the more powerful of the two, since he was a Son of the Cities, but neither Olympus himself nor Lefric knew that yet.
We were all probably a little right and a little off the mark. Either way, I was surprisingly glad Good Port would have a representative at the meeting that was about to take place. If any entity could challenge the Wolf River Kingdom for supremacy in the frontier, it was Good Port.
Or perhaps the alliance Boris and Yates had made with the Old Realm, but I really didn’t want to think about what could happen there, especially since no one knew what was happening there right now.
“Why has the boat stopped?”
The question was asked by a bristling and frowning Jace as he and Gennadi strode forward from the back of the boat, where the cabins were. Ox and Katrina took notice of their arrival and stepped away from the captain to come join us. Ox glared at Jace, like she might tackle him if he attacked Magnus. One glance in the brightening dawn light was all it took to see that Jace was on tenterhooks. I would have been too if I were about to see my family for the first time in three years.
“Ah, Jace, Gennadi,” Magnus said with the impatient smile he always wore when Jace was in a mood and challenged his authority or decisions. He shook his head slightly at Ox when she reached for the dagger in her belt. “Lovely of the two of you to join us.”
I exchanged a look with Peter, silently noting that Magnus hadn’t actually answered Jace’s question. Peter arched one eyebrow in return, which was his way of saying he knew and Jace would be intolerable today.
“Now that we’re all here,” Magnus said, as though he’d summoned us all personally for a meeting, “I would like to discuss our strategy for arrival in Hedeon.”
“The only strategy we need to discuss is how soon I can get off this boat and be reunited with my mother and sisters,” Jace said, scowling even harder at Magnus.
“Maybe we need to discuss strategy to keep you from making an ass of yourself,” Ox snapped.
I felt Magnus bristle with impatience and nearly reached out to him to calm him.
