Alien General's Chosen (Brion Brides 4)(39)

Diego’s smile spoke volumes. Not all the tasks they had were enjoyable, but every once in a while, they got to play with something like this.

“Oh, I would love to come to your concert!” Isolde’s excited voice carried to them again. “Oh, no, don’t expect Diego there. That would be the day when Brion generals start attending musical events. But we’ve heard you, and your voice is amazing. You’ve brought me to tears…. Hmm? Oh god no, I don’t think Diego even has tear ducts.”

“I was joking,” they heard Leiya protest quickly.

“I know,” said Isolde’s laughing voice. “But I’ll be there for sure, alone. Just me and a few hundred armed-to-the-teeth guards, however many Diego thinks is enough to keep me safe from fans of the musical arts.”

“Oh, he does that too? A week ago I went home to see if my father was alright, you know, after all that mess with Senator Primen and me. My front lawn was so packed with warriors I didn’t see the grass! My mother said some words I hope Faren doesn’t ever hear repeated to him. She loves that grass.”

Faren exchanged an amused look with Diego. It wasn’t easy, having their hearts walk around out of their chest, but that was what geshas were to them. They couldn’t have dealt with the loss of them. Even the idea of it was so painful that they refused to consider it. So Diego and Faren made them move with armed forces who could have taken over a small world, while Isolde and Leiya joked as if nothing could ever happen to them.

Nothing, of course, ever would. They’d make damn sure of that.

“Did you get what you want?” Diego asked suddenly.

“From what?” Faren asked, although in truth he knew.

“From Leiya.”

It had been his goal to be a better warrior through the acquisition of a gesha. To be complete in spirit, therefore stronger in battle. Everyone knew a trained physique was useless if one’s mind was in shambles. Gawen’s death had unhinged him, but Leiya had fixed that and more.

Like a distant memory that no longer belonged to him, he remembered that it would have been hard to believe that he’d ever like someone like Leiya. But he did. Her endless vigor had once seemed exhausting to him, but he’d found she had enough life force for the both of them. And the memory wasn’t important anymore, after all. He was no longer that man.

Faren looked at her, standing not far from him, talking to Isolde. The smile on her lips was as true as she herself. Knowing something and experiencing that were two different things, after all. Faren had known that the Brion fated couples were everything to each other, but he hadn’t expected to feel what he did. To feel at all. He’d expected a sense of duty and closeness, but what he felt was alive.

He turned to his friend, who already knew the answer for there was only one possible option.

“Yes,” he said.





EPILOGUE

Leiya



“Tell us everything, human.”

Human. That's what they lovingly called her now. The first time they did it, Leiya had been scared that it meant they no longer felt close to her. She realized quickly that it meant the exact opposite. They called her that to let her know that no matter what she was, they still loved her unconditionally.

It helped during the first weeks and months when others were getting used to the idea, helped that her friends joked to keep her in good spirits. Leiya didn't tell them that with her gerion, she was anyway.

The last few months had been so busy for Leiya that it was actually the first time she got to properly sit down with her friends after their last talk on the grass. And that time, she’d been fairly forcefully removed from the conversation, not to mention it being the only thing people seemed to have talked about in her absence.

After Primen had died, she’d spent a few weeks on the Unbroken. Her fear and her desire had both come true and in that time, they’d barely left the bedroom with Faren. If the general hadn’t actually had duties he took very seriously, they might not have been seen in those weeks by any other living soul.#p#分页标题#e#

And then, slowly and surely, Leiya had adapted to her new life. The Brion bonds truly were a wonder and her heritage was made public, changing everything for her, somehow making it all better than it had ever been before.

Firstly, she didn’t even need to tell Faren, because the general understood most of her wishes before she did. All the bloody or gory or simply deadly things were kept away from her. And in return, Leiya didn’t make a single comment about the way Faren ran his ship or what he did when he was away from her.

As best as she could, Leiya took an interest in what it was that the warriors did anyway. Some of what she found confirmed her earlier opinions, while other pieces of information toppled them.

In time, Leiya thought she’d get to an understanding with the warriors.

She was also fixing her relationship with her parents, mostly her father. It wasn't like Leiya to hold on to anger, even with something like that. His father had actually cried, something Brions rarely did, when she told him she forgave him. And they'd both cried when she assured him that he'd always be her father, no matter what.

Adapting to her new life mostly meant writing songs again. She was a singer; everything came by a melody to her. To her absolute joy, she found that the huge dark echoing rooms of the Unbroken were amazing for her inspiration. Whistling to herself quietly, with all other senses but hearing dulled, inspiration flowed freely.

And now she was back on Briolina, ready to start her concerts again. They told her that her first scheduled performance had been booked faster than any other. Ever. That was to be expected, of course.

News of her being human had traveled so fast it nearly defied possibility. If possible, she was more loved and more sought after than before. Being a human, being Faren's gesha, it made her exotic and interesting in ways no one could compete with. Everyone wanted to know what the new Leiya would have to say.

Not to mention, of course, that they wanted to hear what she had to say about Faren.

Just like her friends, sitting there on the grass, or what remained or showed of it.

“Roven,” she called.

The big warrior thumped over to her, already talking before she could complain.

“I know, my lady,” he said. “I’ll order them away from the grass. But you have to let me be near then.”

“That’s fine,” Leiya said, smiling.

Of course it was a bit bothersome to always be guarded like that, but she understood Faren’s concern. After a while, the general had promised, the safety measures could be let up a bit, but in the meantime she’d have to manage.

She wondered how they’d let her on the stage. With Roven standing behind her with a shield? Leiya smiled. She considered that to be completely in the realm of possibility.

“Tell them it will greatly upset the General if they don’t give me space,” she called to Roven, who barked a laugh in response.

Then he went on his way to drive her guard unit a bit further away from her parents’ house.

That suggestion always worked magic, it seemed. Leiya felt kind of bad for using it, knowing how badly all warriors wanted to serve their generals well, but it was the only way to counter their strict orders.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” Aya said.

“I still can’t believe you’re really Faren’s gesha,” said Iloya.

Leiya waited a moment, holding their attention, before she broke down.

“I know!” she said. “It’s amazing and not what you think it would be like, but I’m still feeling like I stole Iloya’s dream life.”

They both laughed with her.

“Oh gods, no, dear,” Iloya said. “He’s all yours, he terrifies me.”

“He terrifies me too,” Leiya admitted, giggling. “I think he even scares Diego a bit.”

“I can’t believe you said that either,” Aya cut in. “You’re on such casual terms with two of the most feared men in the galaxy. Gods, Leiya – Faren. What is it even like?”

What was it like? Leiya knew it wasn’t a real question. No one really asked about someone else’s binding or intimate details about the fated couple’s life, but they wanted her general impression. Even that seemed like too much to give them. Everything they were, they were to each other. Leiya searched for words that would convey her happiness, while saying nothing in particular.

“Amazing,” she repeated at last, smiling.

They both fell quiet for a bit, just taking a second to be happy for her. There was a new reception coming up, said to be the biggest ever – once again Leiya and Faren were to blame. If a bloody Brion general and Briolina’s brightest star could go and meet there, anyone could. So Iloya and Aya were naturally hoping to find their gerions there too, as they told her.#p#分页标题#e#

“After yours, no story would ever come close,” Aya said, laughing.

“I mean, I remember it like it was yesterday. You climbing on that table, falling straight into his lap. And afterward… we were so worried about you. Miren was almost ready to come after you.”

Leiya was deeply thankful her childhood friend – and admirer – had decided against that. She didn’t know if she could have stopped Faren a second time.