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.If nothing else, the exertion makes it easier to forget a certain red-haired, blue-eyed captain, though he permits the bird, a creature he’d been tempted to call Rory but had chosen to name Aurae instead, to take command of his chamber as it pleases.In spite of its love of exploration, it rewards him by never flying too far, always remaining a call away.Months roll by.The Duke of Althea, vice admiral of the queen’s navy, comes home.Kamil hasn’t seen him since the preliminary days of his illness, when he was bedridden and delirious at the Althea estate, the duke and his wife guiltily checking in on him like fretful parents.Compared to the duchess, the vice admiral is a solemn, remote man, but Kamil met him first in Siro, and Jerold has done so much to make up for what has happened to him since that before long, they are at ease in one another’s presence once again, conspiratorially discussing their imminent meeting with the queen.That day, too, comes and goes.It isn’t until an additional two months afterward that Kamil and the duke exit the Houses of Parliament, drive past streets in less of a state of squalor, and discover an unexpected guest at tea with the duchess, awaiting their homecoming.Although the man has his back exposed to Kamil, his red hair, bare of its hat and curling at the nape, plainly divulges his identity.He turns to bequeath Kamil his familiar impish grin as the duchess says, “Isn’t this a wonderful surprise?”Kamil snaps his jaw shut but manages a nod of concurrence.“W-what are you doing here, Captain?”“Well, don’t look so eager to see me,” answers Talos, arching a fiery brow.He inclines his head at the vice admiral, who recovers his decorum enough to hide his puzzlement at the stranger’s presence and return the gesture.“Let’s give them some privacy, Jerold,” his wife says, coming forward to take his arm and steer him out.Talos heaves himself out of his chair with a dramatic sigh of relief.“Thank goodness.Shui’s more a tea gal than me.I’d have waited under a tree for your carriage, but either your duchess has got the vision of a hawk, or I’m less impressive a hunter than I thought.”“Is that what you are?” asks Kamil.“A hunter? Does that make me your prey?”While he must, at last, be snapping out of his daze, he still feels far away from this moment, unsure whether it’s reality or a dream.Since their parting, the latter has undoubtedly transpired more than often, so enmeshed with even his waking thoughts that it’s almost a fairy tale in its own right.He’d just never dared to hope it would ever earn a happily ever after.It may not, even now.The captain shrugs.“Not really.Although it’s quite rude to make fun of a man’s analogies when he’s not half as educated as you.”“But no less intelligent!” Kamil’s fervor brings a blush to Talos’s fair face, remindful of the red feathers on his mechanical bird.Abrupt anger assaults Kamil at the sight.He compresses his fists and, more caustically than before, demands, “What are you doing here? Don’t play me for a fool, Talos.”“I wouldn’t do that,” Talos says.All traces of his playful smile have vanished.He glances toward a window, as he did in the carriage when the duchess teased him about caring too much.The sight only invites more ire from Kamil, but Talos deprives him of the opportunity to translate it into yelling.“A little birdie told me you were heading back to Siro soon.I’ve never been there myself, but I heard tell it’s beautiful.” His gaze roams to meet Kamil’s, a wistful urgency in its oceanic depths, though his tone retains its swaggering quality.“I was thinking, since you’re likely sick of the sea after your last trip, you might, with me, take to the skies?”“Captain…?”“Free of charge, of course,” Talos adds hurriedly.“And, uh, you needn’t call me that, really.You said once, aboard the ship….Well, you can do as you please.”“What would you like me to do?” Kamil inquires.“To accompany you? To call you Rory?”Talos’s mouth twists to one side.He looks very unsure of himself, very helpless and lost and young, but while Kamil wants to spare him that, he also wishes him to be honest, to not mask any and all of his weaknesses from him, if only the once.At length, Talos says but a word: “Yes.”And then Kamil’s fingers are in his red hair, palm framing his freckled cheek, their lips a lattice of soft, amorous flesh.Kamil can’t remember who instigated the first move but can’t bring himself to care.Using his free hand, he cages Talos’s metal fingers in his own, and all the while murmurs a mantra of, “Yes, Rory, yes, yes, yes, beautiful Rory.”“Kamil,” Talos says between kisses that leave them breathless, “I-I want to stay with you, if that’s okay? For as long as you’ll have me.The ship’s meant to be Shui’s, anyway, and even if she doesn’t think she’s ready, she’ll be a better captain than me.I’ve been telling her so forever.When she’s finally settled, maybe I can set up shop in Siro, sell some of my trinkets?”Kamil hears a throat clearing.They break apart, panting and wild-eyed, to the Duchess of Althea surveying them, the set of her face unreadable, her eyes inscrutably dark, her powdered features indistinctly red.She resembles, in this moment, the hawk they had joked about, and Kamil knows he doesn’t solitarily feel like a field mouse.“My lady,” he starts to say, just as she breaks out into a beaming smile.“Shall I presume Captain Talos is staying the night, then?”Kamil and Talos—Rory—exchange a fleeting look.Kamil clears his throat and takes Rory’s hand.“Yes, my lady, and… thank you.For everything you’ve done for me.”She waves away his gratitude with an effortless flick of her wrist.When she retreats, still in obvious good spirits, they pick up where they left off: whispering about their future together, leaning so close that a single motion, a single tilt forward, can coax them to kiss again if they desire it.They meet each other halfway.ANKA GRACE has been making up stories for as long as she can remember.In high school, she began putting them down on paper, regaling her friends and family with them, and she’s never looked back.She knows she made the right decision by majoring in literature and creative writing in college, because reading and writing are her two true loves.Tea and coffee are a fair third and fourth.Anka’s personal mission is to create diverse casts of characters wherever possible.Growing up, she felt estranged from the characters in even her most favorite books, because so few were like her.She tries to do her part now so that her readers won’t feel the same way.In addition to diversity, Anka loves all things fantastical—dragons, fairies, jinn, kitsune—so expect to see those and other mythical creatures popping up in her works.Anka is available on Twitter (https://twitter.com/gracefullyanka) and Tumblr (http://gracefullyanka.tumblr.com) to answer readers’ questions and rock out.She lives in New Jersey with her close-knit family.Screws – R.D.Hero“YOU’RE doing me quite the favor, Bellhouse.”Julius Barnes trailed several feet behind his father, gaze to the ground, barely paying attention to the conversation taking place ahead of him.Pleasantries had already been exchanged, Julius had already proved he could string two words together, so his responsibility in this endeavor had already been fulfilled.“Think nothing of it, Amos,” John Bellhouse said, his voice magnanimous, his glossy shoes tapping on the floor.Julius tuned them out, gaze drawn up when he could just feel them nearing the end of the hallway
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