Chapter 337: Home

Chapter 337: Chapter 337: Home

Enia reached Liam first.

She crossed the western reception terrace with absolutely no regard for imperial protocol, caught him by both shoulders, and pulled him into an embrace hard enough to force the air from his lungs.

Liam froze for half a second.

Then his arms closed around her.

For months, she had existed through memories, delayed recordings, and finally a phone screen after the Gate opened.

Now she was warm and real, her familiar perfume mixing with the clean mountain air moving through the palace colonnade.

"Oh, thank the gods," Enia whispered against his hair.

Liam’s throat tightened.

"I told you I was fine."

Enia pulled back immediately and held his face between her hands.

"You also told me that while dressed for a surprise wedding after raising an empire from the ocean. Your credibility was compromised."

"That is unfair."

"It is extremely fair."

She inspected him from forehead to shoes.

Liam endured it.

Behind her, Mirelle had already started crying.

"That is unnecessary," Liam warned.

"I haven’t seen you in over a year."

"You saw me on video."

Mirelle ignored the objection and wrapped herself around him the moment Enia released him.

Liam sighed into her shoulder but hugged her back.

"You are taller on video."

"I have never been taller anywhere."

"I was trying to be kind."

"That was poorly executed."

Mirelle laughed through her tears.

Only then did Liam see Henry.

His stepfather had remained several paces behind the others, dressed in a dark traveling suit without any of the diplomatic insignia worn by the officials near the transport. He looked older than Liam remembered—or perhaps simply more tired.

Henry opened his arms slightly.

Liam went to him before either of them had to decide how to make the moment less awkward.

Henry hugged him tightly, one hand settling against the back of Liam’s head.

"Good to have you back."

Liam swallowed.

"Technically, I haven’t gone back anywhere."

Henry laughed quietly. "Still you, then."

"Unfortunately."

"Fortunately."

Liam looked away before that could become emotional.

Then Rex stepped out from behind the transport.

Unlike everyone else, the King of Wrohan had apparently decided that arriving at the newly restored imperial palace required at least some concession to his title. His charcoal coat was sharply tailored, silver detailing running discreetly along the cuffs and high collar, though there was no crown in sight.

At twenty-seven, Rex looked considerably less like the solemn monarch international broadcasts preferred and much more like the man Arik had spent years arguing, conspiring, and occasionally drinking with.

His eyes found Liam first.

He stopped.

"You look alive."

Liam raised an eyebrow. "Remarkable observation."

"I spent months receiving updates from people who considered probably alive reassuring."

"That sounds like a problem with their communication standards."

Rex smiled.

Then he crossed the terrace and hugged him.

Liam barely had time to return it.

An arm appeared around his waist.

Arik pulled him backward and directly against his chest.

Rex’s arms closed on empty air.

Silence.

Liam looked down at the hand locked securely across his stomach.

Then up at Arik.

Arik looked perfectly calm.

Rex stared at him.

"Did you just take him away from me?"

"Yes."

"He is my nephew."

"Half-nephew."

"That distinction does not help you."

"He is also my husband."

Liam closed his eyes.

Behind them, Mirelle made a suspicious choking noise.

Enia did not even attempt to hide her amusement.

Rex looked at Arik for several seconds before his mouth curved.

"You let everyone else hug him."

"They are different."

"How?"

Arik glanced at Enia, Mirelle, and Henry as though the answer should be self-evident.

Then his gaze returned to Rex.

"You are twenty-seven."

"So are you."

"Exactly."

Rex laughed.

Liam twisted slightly in Arik’s hold.

"You understand that he is actually related to me."

"I am aware."

"And your friend."

"Yes."

"Which somehow makes him dangerous?"

"I did not say dangerous."

"You physically retrieved me."

Arik’s arm tightened.

Rex looked delighted.

"Oh, this is excellent."

"It is not," Liam said.

"I disagree."

Arik finally released enough of his hold for Liam to turn around, though one hand remained at his waist.

Rex shook his head.

"You became emperor and somehow got worse."

"I spent months trapped behind an ancient Gate with him."

"That should have improved your tolerance."

"It did the opposite."

Liam pointed toward Rex. "You are encouraging him."

"I have known Arik too long to waste an opportunity like this."

That, at least, was true.

Rex and Arik had been friends long before either of them had expected to spend their twenties ruling countries. George’s death had put the Wrohan crown on Rex’s head; Nuria had done the same to Arik in an even more spectacular fashion.

Neither development had made them significantly more mature around each other.

"Good. You have already started fighting."

The voice came from behind them.

Arik turned.

Noah was crossing the terrace at a pace that suggested palace protocol had failed to slow him down in the slightest. His travel coat was still fastened over a dark Agaronian uniform, the collar slightly crooked and one glove tucked carelessly beneath his belt. Wind had disordered his hair, and the grin on his face immediately warned Liam that whatever composure remained on the terrace was about to disappear.

"Noah," Arik said.

"My favorite cousin."

"You only have one cousin standing here."

"That makes the selection process efficient."

Noah reached them and looked Arik over from head to toe.

His gaze paused on the restrained gold detailing of Arik’s imperial coat.

Then moved to Liam.

Then to the hand Arik still had planted firmly at Liam’s waist.

Noah’s eyebrows rose.

"I see marriage has made you normal."

Rex laughed.

Arik gave him a flat look. "Why are you here?"

"That is a beautiful welcome after more than a year."

"You spoke to me three days ago."

"Through a screen. Completely different emotional experience."

Noah stepped forward and wrapped Arik in a hard embrace before Arik could object.

Arik returned it immediately.

That silenced Noah for perhaps half a second.

His arms tightened.

"You absolute bastard," he muttered near Arik’s shoulder. "Do you know how many times my father asked whether I thought you were dead?"

Arik’s expression changed.

"I’m sorry."

"No, you aren’t. You were busy becoming emperor."

"That was not intentional."

Noah pulled back.

"Somehow that makes it worse."

His grin returned, but the relief beneath it remained obvious.

Arik caught the back of Noah’s neck briefly before releasing him.

"Where is Max?"

"Still downstairs trying to convince Nurian security that being your uncle should count as clearance."

Arik glanced toward Cassian.

Cassian, who had been watching from several meters away with his tablet tucked beneath one arm, showed absolutely no sympathy.

"It does not."

Noah pointed at him. "That is exactly what they told him."

"Good."

"You are a terrible nephew."

"I am a living nephew."

Noah considered that. "Fair."

Then he looked at Liam.

Liam immediately recognized the intent.

"No."

Noah stopped.

"I haven’t done anything."

"You were about to."

"I was going to hug you."

Before Liam could decide whether he cared, Arik moved him half a step backward.

Noah stared.

Rex folded his arms, visibly delighted that someone else was receiving the same treatment.

"Oh, excellent," he said. "Try it."

Noah looked between them.

"Why is he holding Liam like someone might steal him?"

"Because I hugged him."

"You are his uncle."

"Half-uncle," Arik corrected.

Rex pointed at him. "See?"

Noah’s expression brightened.

"This is the best thing I have learned since entering Nuria."

Liam pinched Arik’s hand where it rested against his waist.

"Release me."

"No."

"I am not going anywhere."

"I am aware."

"Then what exactly is the objective?"

Arik looked at Noah.

Noah lifted both hands.

"I have a wife."

"That has never prevented you from making terrible decisions."

"That is slander."

"It is documented fact."

Liam sighed and stepped out of Arik’s hold by force.

Arik let him... until his fingers caught Liam’s hand instead.

Noah watched the compromise happen with fascination.

"Did the bond make him worse?"

"Yes," Liam said.

"No," Arik said simultaneously.

Rex nodded solemnly. "Much worse."

"You have been here for ten minutes," Arik said.

"I have sufficient evidence."

Noah laughed and finally hugged Liam.

It lasted perhaps two seconds before Arik pulled Liam back by their joined hands.

Noah burst out laughing.

"You actually timed it."

"I was generous."

Liam stared at his husband.

"You need help."

"I have physicians."

"That is not what I meant."

Another transport descended beyond the palace gardens before Arik could respond.

Its engines changed pitch as it approached the western platform, low enough that conversation briefly disappeared beneath the sound. The craft was larger than Enia’s civilian transport, its dark hull marked with silver insignia Liam recognized immediately.

Noah glanced over his shoulder.

"Speaking of people who will probably make this worse."

The landing struts touched the stone.

Security formations flashed once around the platform before fading.

Liam looked toward Arik.

"Your parents came too?"

"The border authorization cleared this morning."

"You neglected to mention that."

"You were threatening the customs department at the time."

"They deserved it."

"They had categorized Nurian ether instruments as agricultural equipment."

Liam’s expression hardened at the memory.

"They still deserve it."

Noah nodded. "I missed him."

The transport doors opened.