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In the end, Mikol didn’t have to talk at all, as he passed out when they were taking him out of the cell. He woke up onboard his ship, in the infirmary, and stayed conscious long enough for the physicians to tell him his captors had come close to fracturing his skull during the capture. He was in bad shape, and they were pumping him full of medicine and would keep him sedated.
He saw Kalen and Ryan hovering near the doorway, both of them with worried expressions, but he didn’t stay conscious long once he saw they were both all right. It was two days later, as he later found out, when he finally woke up to find Kalen sitting by his bedside, holding tightly to his hand.
He tried to speak, but an attendant had to come over and give him a drink of water before he could manage it. He checked again to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.
“Kalen?”
“Yes, it’s me. I’m here,carli.” he said, leaning over and kissing the hand he was holding. “I’m right here.”
“Whyare you here? It’s not that I’m not glad to see you. I am—but I believe we discussed why this mission was too dangerous for you to come.”
“Oh, don’t fuss. I’ve just got you back. You gave meorders, Mikol, which I really don’t respond well to.”
“I noticed.”
“I did reconsider after you left and realized, because I really don’t have the experience you do, that you were right all along. And I realized that you were the best one to lead my army. But Mikol, I won’t stay behind again, do you understand? If that’s a dealbreaker between us, then I-I guess this is the time to say so. I’m a man, and though I may not be as experienced as you are, I still am a leader in my own right. I’m king of Loros now, and I won’t forsake my people. And I have every intention of living on Loros at least part time. If-if you’ll come with me. The captain of your warship is taking over for now, and I’ll agree to let you train me. For as long as it takes.”
“Is that right?”
Kalen bit down on his lip, looking nervous. “I want to be with you. Like you said once about dividing our time between Tygeria and Loros. I’d really like that. If you would.”
Mikos gazed back at him, and then took a deep breath for perhaps the first time since he’d left Kalen behind. “I think we could manage that,nobyo.”
Kalen’s face lit up in a huge smile. “You called menobyo. Does that mean we’re not fighting anymore?”
“It means I love you, and you’re my mate. But something tells me we’ll never stop fighting altogether. Not really. We’re both princes and too used to having our own way. One of us in particular.”
“You’re talking about me, right? That’s fair. I admit it and your omak says that the fighting we do is just the passion we feel for each other coming out. And that it meant you have a lot of strong feelings for me. Is that true? Do you, Mikol?”
Mikol patted the mattress beside him. “Climb up here. And I’ll show you.”
Epilogue
Three months later
Kalen was sitting in his old room, which he and Mikol had turned into a seating area, studying a training manual. They were returning to Loros in a week’s time, now that Mikol was fully recovered, and he was hoping to impress his husband with how much he’d learned.
Dartan was still with them on Tygeria, and things seemed to be going much better with him and Florin. He had stayed by Florin’s side while Florin was in the hospital, and now that he was back home, Florin had returned to trying to convince Dartan that he was the only one Dartan really wanted. Dartan had promised to try, and so far, things seemed to be coming along nicely.
Dartan had been worried sick about the Tygerian captain, though he barely admitted it, even to Kalen. Instead, he sat by his side on the ship and checked in at the hospital every morning after they returned to see what his condition was. He said it was because Florin had taken such good care of him when he’d been injured, and he was only returning the favor. But Kalen didn’t believe that was all it was at all. The good news was that Florin would go with them when they left for Loros, and Kalen remained hopeful that Dartan would get out of his own way.
Nerol was dead, of course, and Kalen wasn’t the least bit sorry for his small role in it. As for Queen Brandalla, she had been unharmed and was now living at Lord Nerol’s former compound—now completely cleaned out. It was far enough away from the palace that Kalen wouldn’t have to see her for long periods of time, or ever again if he decided that. He still hadn’t forgiven her and suspected she had something to do with his father’s death. But he had decided not to pursue an investigation now that Nerol and his guards and the entire council were gone, all of them either dead or banished. It was enough that she was no longer in power and had no more power over him—she’d killed any feelings he once had for her. He didn’t want revenge on her though. He didn’t quite have the heart for that, and he’d leave it to her gods.
The Pton were long gone, and scans showed the remnants of their scouting mission on the way back to the main fleet, which was still lightyears away. The main group was still coming, but perhaps now that they’d seen what Tygerians could actually do and how powerful the Axis was, they would proceed with caution. If not, then any force would be met with equal or superior force. The Tygerians would wait and see, while remaining vigilant.
Davos had congratulated Rakkur and Kalen and all the others personally. He said the humans had proven their bravery and their worth, and he’d commissioned medals for all of them. He had also taken Kalen aside and suggested it might be time to start the injections if he and Mikol wanted to have a child. He said he thought Kalen and Mikol would make strong, beautiful babies. Kalen had declined as nicely as he could.
“No babies for me,” he told Mikol privately afterward. “Not yet anyway.”
“I’m willing to negotiate the matter, nobyo. And offer very good terms for your consideration,” Mikol had told him, backing him up against a wall and kissing him breathless. “I do love your body the way it is now though, and you’re still quite young. We have plenty of time for heirs. When you get to Loros, perhaps you can still wear the blue robe for me sometimes? There was something about that robe…and what you wore underneath it.”
“I didn’t wear anything underneath it.”
“Oh, I’m very aware…” Mikol said, smiling.
“Perhaps I can wear it for you in the evenings, after I have a bath. So long as you wear one too.”
“I think that can definitely be arranged,” he said, trailing kisses down his throat.
Still smiling at the memory, Kalen got up to greet Mikol, who had come into the bedroom on the other side of the bathing room, and he hurried to join him. As he headed toward his husband, he thought about the coincidence that had brought them together in the first place on that crazy moon. What if they’d never met on Belline? What if he’d blundered into someone else’s room?
When he told Mikol, he said he didn’t believe in coincidences and neither did Kalen, really. Theyhadmet. They had made love, and against all odds, even fell in love with each other afterward.
When he was a child, he used to love putting together puzzles, and finding just the right spot for all those pieces. When completing a puzzle, if some of the pieces seemed to fit together perfectly, no one called it a coincidence. Or luck. They just said the pieces fit, and that was good enough. That was good enough for Kalen too, and he thought maybe it always would be.
The End
