“Jade left and never came back to the Jewel,” Dragon said. He stared at the cable message Lars had handed him, but the words blurred before his eyes.

Silence fell in the room. Even Valemir stopped his suction noises.

“Have the Glory readied.” Dragon looked up from the brown paper to Valerian and Lars. “I’m leaving today for Celestia.”

He had meant to deal with the Assassin Academy immediately after Jade left, but a High Lord’s time was never his own, and the attacks and the princesses’ business had detained him on Solaria. Now he couldn’t wait any longer. The sooner he paid the Academy for Jade’s life and his, the sooner he could sail toward the Outer Belts.

“Lauren and Gilda?” Valerian asked.

“Inform them I’m leaving.” Dragon’s mind was already on the voyage ahead.

“What about the Front Pro Humanity’s threat?” Gabriel asked.

Dragon shrugged. “They’ll probably follow me. In any case, Solaria is safer with me far away.”

Nothing was more important than finding Jade. He would find any excuse to justify his actions, but was glad that at least one of the men present knew Dragon didn’t have a choice.

“We’ll escort you on our way home,” Valentine said.

“Time to go back home for me as well,” Gabriel chimed in before taking another sip from the chalice.

* * *

After a day spent in preparation, Dragon could barely sleep. Instead, he used the night to send letters to his business associates in the Merchant Guild, informing them he would be gone for several months.

He also took advantage of the nocturnal lull to take care of a conversation he knew wouldn’t be easy.

“Did you want to see me?” Valerian asked after a perfunctory knock on the open door of Dragon’s studio.

Dragon nodded and pointed at one of the sofas facing the fireplace. “Sit, please.” He stood from his desk and walked around the table.

“I’m coming with you,” Valerian said point blank as he sat.

Dragon chose the vacant sofa. “No, you are not.”

“Are we doing this again?”

“Only because you’re more stubborn than Contessa.” Dragon stretched his legs before him and leaned his head against the back of the sofa. Had he eaten dinner? He couldn’t remember, but his stomach grumbled loud enough to elicit a raised brow from Valerian. “Let’s have this conversation before a plate.” He stood and walked to the door. “Otherwise I’ll end up saying things I’ll regret later.”

Valerian followed him to the kitchens where the cook received them with a smile.

The staff at Sol Manor was accustomed to the High Lord coming and going through the servant wing. He liked to eat in the more intimate setting of the retainers’ dining room, because although the chamber was spacious enough to accommodate more than thirty people at once, the place managed to remain cozy. Also, Lauren and Gilda would never enter those quarters, and given the disastrous result of their recent encounters, having a meal without having to confront his ex-betrotheds was a definite plus.

“What can I prepare for you, High Lord?” the cook asked from the doorway of the dining room, already turning toward the kitchen proper.

“Whatever is left over from dinner is fine,” Dragon answered.

“I’ll have some more of the roast,” Valerian said. “It was divine,” he explained to Dragon, swinging one of the upturned chairs to sit at the long wooden table that stretched from one end of the room to the other.

“You are staying behind because I need you to protect Lauren and Gilda while I’m gone, and Lars is coming with me,” Dragon said, lowering his tired body to the chair that groaned under his weight.

“Why are you taking Lars and not me?” Valerian was like one of those wild winged-goats roaming through the roughest parts of Solaria, determined to a fault and never stopping before an obstacle, no matter how high or impervious the climb was.

Maybe it was the late hour. Maybe it was that Dragon had enough of skirting around the topic, but he asked, “Do you want to switch places with Lars and leave Gilda behind?”

The question had the desired effect to silence Valerian. His lieutenant stared at Dragon in shock, and his composure crumbled. For a moment, the mask Valerian always wore fell. His friend’s unguarded expression shown more than words could have ever expressed. It lasted but a moment.

“I am the obvious choice and should be the one protecting you.”

“I don’t want you to sacrifice your happiness for me.”

Valerian gave him another long, hard gaze before relaxing against the back of his chair, his arms folded across his chest. “My happiness was never part of the job description when I accepted the task of being your lieutenant.”

“And my destiny called for a triad marriage, and here I am, changing my stars.”

On silent feet, one of the scullery maids approached with a tray heaped with food.

“Thank you.” Dragon smiled at the girl as she bowed and stepped back before turning and leaving.

He was hungry but couldn’t eat before the air between him and Valerian was clear. “We are past conventions and duty. I don’t care to live a long life if I am miserable.” He looked past Valerian to the large window that opened into the Green Valley.

“What about your heir?”

“I won’t have one.”

“You are the High Lord.”

“By a quirk of fate. I’m not any better than you or Lars. I was just born into this position, and I can always abdicate.”

“You are not talking seriously.”

“I can’t even think straight, but one thing I know, I can’t go on living without Jade by my side.”

“And what if she doesn’t want you? Have you thought of that?”

Dragon had thought of nothing else. “I still have to try.”

“Because you love her.”

“There’s no greater power in the universe.” A little smile curved Dragon’s lips. “It makes grown men fight for the wrong reasons—”

“And big idiots gallivant through the galaxy in search of women who might never want them,” Valerian finished.

“You should try it, too.”

“The gallivanting or the fighting? I could start with the latter.”

“Letting yourself love.”

Valerian groaned. Instead of talking, he stabbed a piece of roast from the meat plate. “It’s getting cold.”

“Gilda loves you.”

“She wasn’t meant for me.”

“Jade was not meant for me. It isn’t stopping me from fighting for her.”

The piece of roast dangling from Valerian’s fork landed abruptly back to the tray as he threw it down and stood. The chair slammed against the table, knocking over a few of the long-stemmed chalices. Wine stains bloomed on the white tablecloth.

“You think I don’t want to fight for Gilda?” Valerian sputtered the words as if they were acid corroding his lips. “You believe I liked the idea that she was going to be with you, carrying your child while I watched from the shadows?” He slammed both hands palm down against the table, toppling more glasses as the china rattled. “Is that what you think?”

Dragon had surmised his friend’s emotions ran deeper than he had ever allowed anyone to witness, but he was still surprised by Valerian’s vehemence. “You should have told me.”

“What exactly?” Valerian stood back, stepping away from the table. “That I hated the idea of you spending your nights with the love of my life?” Angry tears welled in his eyes, but he didn’t let them fall. “Or that I felt like the worst person in the universe for desiring my best friend’s future bride?” He opened his clenched fists and closed them again. “Imagine the conversation.”

“We are like brothers—”

“Cousins,” Valerian reminded him. “That’s what we officially are, and it doesn’t change the fact that I could never tell you that I am in love with your betrothed.”

“Ex. And I give you my blessing to pursue Gilda,” Dragon said.

Valerian stopped rocking on his feet. The first glimpse of hope illuminated his eyes.

Stomping feet preceded Lauren’s entrance into the dining room and prevented Dragon from adding to the conversation.