There hadn't been much to burn. Xaden had only brought what he needed for a few days, and there wasn't even a body to offer to Malek, just his spare clothes and travel kit.
The little notebook he always carried had disappeared. Maybe he'd had it on him. If not, well, Bodhi would have words with Malek himself before he'd ask Violet if she knew where it was.
As Xaden's only living family, lighting it was his responsibility. He thought about when he'd lit Liam's because Xaden wouldn't leave Violet's side, and hesitated. Imogen squeezed his other hand. She was a fucking rock, and he doubted she'd ever let him tell her how grateful he was for it. He was pretty sure she'd single-handedly held both him and Garrick together during the first twenty-four hours after the battle.
All of the marked ones who were in Basgiath and walking were crowded onto the rooftop platform. At least two who weren't walking were up here too, he'd seen Garrick carrying them up the stairs. Panchek had made him wait an entire week for permission to have any kind of ceremony, and leadership refused them anywhere else to hold it. Fucking petty bastards.
Bodhi locked eyes with Violet over the burn bin. Ridoc and her squad leader stood on either side of her, and he wasn't entirely sure if they were here as a show of support or to keep her from throwing herself into the pyre.
He drew the fire rune and pushed it in to the linen of one of Xaden's shirts. It smouldered for a minute and then the rune fully ignited. The canvas of his rucksack caught next, and the leather slowly joined it. The pouch with his razor and his wooden comb. A few things Bodhi and Imogen had dredged up, left in rooms they'd never meant to return to, just so the offering wasn't so paltry.
It didn't look like much. Bodhi steeled himself against the fact that they'd have to do this again, properly, when they went back to Aretia. At least they'd be able to put together something that reflected the empty space Xaden was leaving. Even when he'd been mad as hell at Xaden, there was no arguing that he had been a towering personality and he had no idea how they were going to continue without him.
Movement caught his eye across the fire. He looked up in time to see Violet wrench her arm away from Ridoc and pull one of the daggers from her jacket. Before he even understood what she was doing, she was reaching for her braid with one hand and pulling it against the edge of the dagger until her hair fell loose, framing her face as she threw the braid in the fire.
Bodhi stared. He knew Violet could be dramatic, but did she know? That was the kind of thing people did in ancient poems, and by people he meant widows. She'd… just announced that she and Xaden were married, as far as almost everyone standing here was concerned.
Imogen dug her nails into his palm, maybe because he was staring but maybe because she thought Violet was being dramatic. He'd have to talk to Violet later and figure out if she meant it. One more thing for the list of things he needed to be doing.
After they were done, Bodhi let Imogen make sure he ate and bully him to bed. His shoulder ached and he felt wrung out, so it was easy to let her. Everything could wait until tomorrow.
--
In the morning, he washed and dressed and tried to look at himself in the mirror and see a person there and not a ghost. He ate breakfast. He asked Imogen to spar with him to try to lose some of the tension in his spine, and it seemed to work even if she split his lip and he got blood all over his shirt. No wonder Xaden and Garrick always took their shirts off.
Bodhi thought he was holding it together, he really did.
Then some fucking messenger stopped him in the hallway and called him "Your Grace" and he nearly had a panic attack.
Nobody had ever addressed Xaden that way, fuck, he hardly remembered anyone addressing his uncle that way. The Assembly? The Assembly thought titles were bullshit, and he agreed with them. Titles got people killed, and somehow it was rarely the people with rank and title who did the dying.
"Your Grace, the Crown is prepared to negotiate the terms of the end of Tyrrendor's rebellion."
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He wasn't Xaden, had never been Xaden, couldn't be Xaden. Xaden had been the best of them. Well no, whispered a little voice, Liam had been the best of them.
Being the best also got people killed, apparently.
"Let me get my-- my people." And change into something that doesn't have blood on it. "I'll be there in a quarter hour."
He didn't run back to Imogen's room, but only because it wasn't far enough for him to really get up any speed.
"Im, I need you more than I have ever needed you before," he called as he knocked on her door.
She opened the door long enough to pull him inside, then slammed it shut behind him. She was already half changed out of her sparring clothes, but it wasn't anything he hadn't seen before.
"Put on your dress uniform." He was not shaking. He refused to be shaking.
"Why?"
"I've got to meet with the representative of the Crown on behalf of the fucking rebellion and also be the Duke of Aretia in fifteen minutes. I don't have an Assembly. You're now my advisor."
"Why not Garrick?"
"I'm not going to make him pretend I'm Xaden right now, and you've always read me better than he does anyway. Why wouldn't I pick you?"
She'd already manifested her dress pants from somewhere and was pulling out the matching jacket. "Not so I can erase their memories if you stutter?"
"That would be a bonus, but not my first reason." It was enough to make him grin and relax, though, and that had been her goal.
"Go get dressed and drag a comb through those curls, Durran. Do you have a third picked out?"
"No, I'm not sure who else would-"
"Ridoc."
"Im, he's not Tyrrish, I can't ask him to-"
"He followed you to Aretia, he's loyal to you personally and the rebellion, and he's guaranteed to say something that'll take anyone in that room down a peg if they need it. Now go get dressed and let me do the job you just bestowed on me."
Seven minutes later he was wearing his own dress uniform when he stepped into the hall. His hair wasn't long enough for anything approximating a traditional style but he'd swept it out of his face and pinned it back like he sometimes did when he sparred.
Imogen was waiting for him and so was Ridoc, already in… well, half a dress uniform.
"I thought you'd appreciate the de-stressing properties of my ass better in leather," Ridoc greeted him.
"It's good to have you." Bodhi let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and then turned. "Thanks, Im."
"Any time." She leaned in and pinned something to his collar where he couldn't see it.
"Did you just thank Imogen for my ass?"
"He thanked me for bringing your ass to him." Imogen picked at his jacket. "And the pin is a Tyrrish star- I had Henrick reshape one of the cadet stars while your trophy ass over here got dressed."
"You're brilliant."
"I know. Let's go fuck up some leadership."
"Do you know who we're meeting with?" Imogen asked. "Not Melgren, he went back to Calldyr days ago, and Panchek ran off after him to campaign for the Viper's job."
"If it's Aetos, I'm not responsible for my actions," Bodhi said, and then thought better of it. "No, I guess I would take responsibility for it. That just wouldn't stop me."
When they paused outside of the meeting room, though, Bodhi only recognized two of the voices.
"Colonel Markham and Greycastle?"
"Aaric," Ridoc nodded. "I guess that makes sense."
"But why is he here?" Bodhi asked.
"Because I asked him to be," the third voice said, and it only took a moment for Bodhi to recognize Halden when he turned. He looked like his brother in the same way Xaden looks - looked - like Bodhi; sharper and more serious. Older. Xaden will never look older like this, he thought.
"Your Highness," Bodhi greeted him with a bow shallower than he would have given two weeks ago.
"Your Grace," Halden acknowledged in return with a similarly shallow bow. Aaric made a movement that looked a lot like elbowing the crown prince in the side, and Halden continued. "I'm very sorry for your loss."
"Thank you." For all that he just saw Aaric prompt him to do it, Halden's statement is the first time anyone in leadership has actually said that and he's surprised how much it means to him to hear it. "It's been a very long week, but I appreciate you waiting until we were able to commend my cousin's things to Malek yesterday before asking to meet."
Halden looks confused at that. "Is it a Tyrrish custom to wait? Or do you prefer privacy? I had noticed he wasn't among the state funeral honors."
Bodhi took half a breath and looked away to meet Aaric's eyes. Is he serious? he tried to convey with his eyebrows.
Aaric looked uncomfortable too, so Bodhi supposed that was a yes. Imogen started to say something but Markham talked over her.
"Let's stay focused on the task at hand, Your Highness." Markham nodded at Bodhi. "You know all of us, Cadet Durran, but who have you brought with you?"
"My title is Duke in this context, Colonel Markham." Bodhi could hear his words getting clipped. "This is my Senior Advisor, Imogen Cardulo, and Ridoc Gamlyn, our Navarran Cultural Attache."
Behind him he heard Ridoc whisper softly to Imogen, "What's an attache?" and her response, "I'll tell you when you're older."
"Cadet Cardulo, Cadet Gamlyn, thank you for joining us," Markham nodded again. Bodhi had always thought there wasn't much worse than listening to the man spew lies like the sea spewed fish in Battle Brief, but at least in Battle Brief he wasn't being actively insulted. "Are you prepared to discuss the terms of the rebellion's surrender?"
"There seems to have been a misunderstanding," Bodhi ground down his anger, trying to stay calm. "I was invited as the Duke of Aretia to meet with the representatives of the crown to discuss the end of the rebellion, not surrender."
"Yeah, we'd have to lose first," Ridoc mumbled. His voice grounded Bodhi.
"As Colonel Gamlyn said," Bodhi continued, and Markham sputtered.
"Colonel?"
"Oh sorry, I should have mentioned. Yes, both of my advisors here today are Colonels in the Tyrrish army."
"You don't have an army-" Markham started, and this time Imogen spoke over him. "Of course we have an army. It's the army that showed up to save your sorry asses from the venin. That army."
Gods, he loved Imogen so much.
"Prince Halden," Bodhi jumped in. "I was under the impression you were in charge of this negotiation, but if that's not the case, I'll be leaving to prepare for our return to Tyrrendor."
Markham made to reply, but Halden gestured for him to stop. "It does seem like there's some confusion about what's happening here today," Halden told him. "Why don't you go take a break, Colonel."
He said something about how it was vitally important for scribes to be present in all negotiations, and Ridoc said, “It’s fine, we’ve got our own scribe who can step in. I’m sure you’ve got urgent… scribe things… to do.”
Ridoc opened the door and Violet’s scribe friend, whose name Bodhi could not remember, appeared as if she’d been waiting in the corridor. She was in a cream-and-gold dress uniform and she looked much less frantic than Bodhi felt.
“Cadet Neilwart?” Markham scowled. “Your highness, surely these proceedings should not be led by cadets? They’re scarcely more than children!”
“Unfortunately,” Bodhi said dryly, “Tyrrendor has a lack of… more traditional senior officers. The ones we have returned to the capital earlier in the week, as we weren’t informed that this negotiation would be happening. Regardless, I am the Duke of Aretia and these are my leaders. If you have a problem with that, perhaps you aren’t the best suited for this negotiation?”
"Markham. I appreciate your time and the insights you shared with me ahead of time, but I will not need you for the remainder of this meeting. Understood?" Halden's tone said he had just remembered that he was supposed to be in charge.
Markham gave the prince a glare that looked a lot like "wait until your father hears about this" to Bodhi, but the man did finally leave.
"Thank you for coming so soon," Ridoc signed to Jesinia.
"Of course," she signed in reply and readied her notes.
"Can we start over?" Halden asked, picking up the hint to sign along with his speaking voice. "We began on the wrong foot, and I dislike feeling like someone intended us to stay there."
"Meetings would be a lot shorter if we always had to hop on one foot for them," Ridoc remarked.
Bodhi let himself smile. "Please, let's start over. One question before we start?"
"Of course."
He turned to the side. "Aaric, how did you get roped into this?"
"Apparently I'm the only rider he trusts," Aaric answered, shrugging the last sign.
"Even though you left with us? I'm impressed," Imogen nodded.
“He is my brother,” Halden said. “I assume you know that?”
“You happen to be standing in the room with most of the people who do,” Aaric replied dryly. “If you can please refrain from exposing me to anyone else.”
“Like I said before, anyone who sees me and then you is likely to guess. You could’ve dyed your hair or something.”
“Not the time, Hal.” Aaric gave Jesinia pleading eyes. "Can we leave that out of the records?"
She considered it. "I can redact on His Majesty's authority."
Halden gave his agreement and she made an extra mark in her notes. They finally made it over to the table, sitting three on a side with Aaric across from Imogen and Jesinia across from Ridoc.
"First of all, Aretia- Tyrrendor- does not surrender." Bodhi used the sign for Tyrrendor he'd learned growing up, not the one they used at Basgiath. He gave a quick glance at Jesinia and she nodded that she'd caught it, which he expected. He was going to push Halden. He wanted to see where they stood.
"Why would our allies surrender to us?" Halden asked. Bodhi smiled.
"A very good point. So, Prince Halden, what does the Crown wish to negotiate so badly that I'm only given fifteen minutes’ notice of the meeting, yet wasn't mentioned before the Assembly returned to Aretia?"
Halden frowned and looked at Aaric.
"Yeah, leadership's been dicking them around since the battle," Aaric said. "I told you dad's an ass."
"You're undermining me," he hissed at Aaric.
"Dad's already undermined you. Melgren too. As far as I can tell they set you up to piss the Tyrs off so they can go back to acting superior about it and say it's not their fault."
"Cam, please-"
"You wanted me here so you had someone who'd explain what's going on with the riders," Aaric snapped, his hands flashing. "You've got at least three huge flags that there's important details you haven't been given. Markham could have told you that it wasn't their choice to hold their burning so late, but he let you sound like an ass instead. If they genuinely wanted you to negotiate, they wouldn't send you in like a first year infantry cadet left to piss his pants the first time he sees a dragon."
Halden was quiet for a moment, taking in his brother's advice.
“Will you tell me what happened?” he asked finally. “I have a feeling that the briefing I received was missing some key intelligence.”
"How much have you been told about the reason we came to Basgiath for the battle?"
The prince looked uncomfortable admitting that it wasn't much.
Bodhi waited for the pinch in his side from Imogen that they always used for silent agreement, and then plowed forward. "Melgren asked us to join the other battle, the diversion, because it was the only one he could see. He still hasn't admitted his signet is useless now, has he?"
Halden had the grace to look faint at that. "Not to me."
"He can't see any battle the children of the apostasy take part in." He hadn't consciously decided to change how they referred to the marked ones, but it felt right and he went with it. Bodhi quickly sketched out the parts of the battle he expected Halden wouldn't have heard, how Sgaeyl had told Violet that Xaden had died defeating the venin general just before Lilith restored the wards, the time they'd spent helping Garrick look for his body when they could spare the hours because leadership had very specific opinions on what everyone should be doing. The refusal to allow Xaden a state funeral because he'd deserted, even though that designation only seemed to apply to him and Garrick- the other riders who'd joined the rebellion had their records cleared, and none of the Basgiath students or professors had even had paperwork filed.
"My theory is Panchek was just hoping if he ignored it, someone else would take care of it for him." Ridoc added. "He was probably hiding under his desk the whole time we were gone."
"If that's true, I daresay he was right," Halden noted. "It does seem to have been resolved for him, since you are all here. Which is an entirely different problem, and not your responsibility."
"So what does the Crown want to do about it?" Bodhi asked again. "If you'll be straight with me, tell me what you're supposed to negotiate, I'll tell you what I'm able to promise in return. I don't know what Melgren's long term strategy is supposed to be, but I have no interest in fighting a war with Navarre on one side and the venin on the other."
"That may have been his goal," Halden allowed. "To the best of my knowledge, before my father came to power, there was always a significant amount of looking the other way in the matter of how Tyrrendor and the other border areas handled their own problems. I'm not sure what changed."
"My uncle always seemed to take it personally," Bodhi admitted. "He and your father were in Infantry together, he said. But if something happened on a personal level, he never mentioned it where I could hear."
"Melgren happened," Imogen added. "Before him, leadership would have had to depend on the reports sent by the border areas, so everybody had plausible deniability. Once you've got that beady-eyed weevil watching everybody, nobody could get anything done anymore."
Aaric snickered, and Halden glanced at him.
"Sorry, I just- that's such a good description," he laughed. "Weevil." He signed the word once more, and then Ridoc signed it back to him, drawing out the sign for 'e' to make it look vaguely dirty. Halden shook his head.
"If I may summarize, then? Navarre put the children of the leaders of the r- the apostasy-" he paused at Imogen's sharp intake of breath. "Would you prefer I call it something else?"
"I think we just never expected to hear the word from your family," Bodhi felt a little winded by it himself.
"Regardless of the actions of individuals on either side," Halden said slowly, "you were put in a position where you were not allowed to honor or mourn after you and your allies had come in good faith to assist Navarre."
"That's accurate." Bodhi said it slowly, like he thought there might be a trick if he agreed too easily.
"And the entire reason for the apostasy itself was, essentially, that Tyrrendor had been largely independent until my father revoked that freedom."
Aaric was starting to grin beside his brother. "Hal, you're using your pissing-off-Dad voice."
"I'm entirely aware, Cam, thank you," Halden was definitely smiling now. "Now it seems to me that I have been given the authority to resolve this situation on behalf of the Crown, and the simplest resolution would be to restore Tyrrendor's autonomy to deal with situations arising within its borders as it sees fit."
"You can't- would the King really agree to that? Would Melgren just stop?"
"Your very clever advisor has already pointed out that Melgren can't see much of what you do regardless, but if I were to, say… honor the brave sacrifice of the previous Duke of Aretia and so elevate him to the title of Archduke of Tyrrendor in honor of his service in defense of Navarre, and thus your province to an autonomous grand duchy, a title which you would then have inherited…"
Bodhi was pretty sure he'd died and Malek was just fucking with him now. Then Imogen pinched him in the side.
"I- I would have to put it in front of the Assembly, but- I think in that case Tyrrendor would be pleased to pledge their continued allyship with Navarre."
"Excellent. Father will be ever so pleased that we resolved this peacefully and within an hour."
"You guys really hate your dad that much?" Ridoc asked.
"It's complicated-" Halden said, just as Aaric offered a flat, "yes."
"I have one other request," Bodhi decided he might as well go for broke. "The other children of the apostasy, the ones still in foster care and expected to cross the parapet. What will happen to them? Xaden negotiated for our lives, and technically that deal is null now that he's dead."
"Do you have a suggestion?"
"Well… there are fewer than fifty of us left who haven't crossed or died trying. I want them back."
"'Back?'"
He could feel Imogen's surprise but he kept going. "I want them returned to Tyrrendor so they can finish growing up in their homeland. We can find people to foster them, people who actually want them there, people who won't--"
Halden stopped him. "Of course, that should be easy enough. And removing the requirement that they enter the Riders' Quadrant?"
"If they wanted to argue we were complicit, fuck, at least we were old enough to have an idea what was going on," Imogen said. "But the first year cadet who made it possible for Sorrengail Senior to power up the wardstone? She was fourteen when her parents died."
“Wasn’t the apostasy about how Tyrrendor thought Navarre should help Poromiel fight the venin and the king didn’t want to?” Ridoc asked. “Seems like punishing kids for their parents being right is kind of bullshit.”
Halden’s mouth quirked. “That is not an entirely inaccurate way to view the situation,” he said. “Let the children be returned, with no more requirements on their future than any citizen of Tyrrendor who comes of age.”
“What about conscription?” Imogen asked. “If we’re responsible for our own borders, we’ll need our people to stay in Tyrrendor and not get conscripted into Navarre’s army.”
“As an independent nation, your citizens would no longer be beholden to our citizens’ rights or responsibilities. We can bring in the diplomats to hammer out the details around trade and such; doubtless there are many that we aren’t considering in the moment. For now, I think this can serve as the scaffold on which a larger agreement might be built.”
Bodhi nodded. “Agreed. Thank you for taking the time to learn the truth of our situation - another person might have just walked in and assumed that Markham knew what he was talking about.”
“You might want to reconsider that guy’s job,” Ridoc said, scratching his chin. “He seems incapable of telling the truth, which is probably bad news for a scribe professor.”
“Noted. It seems to me that now is an excellent time to take a deep look at the leadership structure of Basgiath and consider what changes might be made. I will bring the problem to my father.”
"Good luck with that," Bodhi told him, trying to sound sincere.
"Cadet Neilwart, any clarifications needed?" Halden turned fully to face her.
"No, sir. I'll have my report and a drafted announcement ready for both of you before dinner." She signed the next sentence with a small grin. "I assume you want to release the announcement before the full details are filed, so there's no confusion?"
"Good thinking, Cadet," Halden replied. He rose and Bodhi and the others did the same. "It was a pleasure meeting with you, Archduke Durran. I hope this is the beginning of a long partnership between us."
"I think it might be," Bodhi answered, bowing just a little less than he would have an hour before. Halden and Aaric left, and after thanking Jesinia themselves the last-minute Tyrrish delegation looked at each other and burst into nervous laughter. Bodhi hugged Imogen and then Ridoc- who took the opportunity to grab his ass, but Bodhi wasn't complaining.
"I can't believe that happened. I'm glad you were here, Im, or I'd have shut down the first time the Crown Prince was polite, I swear." Bodhi shook his head. "Somehow even dead Xaden manages to save us."
"Oh no you don't," Imogen caught his chin in her hand. "You are the one who met with the Crown Prince, read the room, and got the negotiation done. You did it in Xaden's name, maybe, but that was a convenience. He helped, just like Ridoc or I did, but you are the fucking Archduke who asked to have the marked ones back, Bodhi Durran."
"Children of the apostasy, now."
"What was that, anyway?" Ridoc asked, throwing an arm around his waist.
"I thought it sounded more dignified. We're more than just Colonel Mairi's last gift. We're the heirs to our parents' fight."
"It was a good call," Imogen agreed. "I thought I was going to die of shock when he actually said apostasy the first time. Seemed like Navarrans were allergic to it."
“They were,” Ridoc nodded. “Didn’t you hear? Tauri would break out in hives, his throat would swell shut, it was a disaster. Hopefully they don’t need to call a healer in when that announcement goes out.”
Bodhi laughed and leaned into his arm. “Time for him to practice some exposure therapy, I think. He’ll have to say it a lot, now that Tyrrendor’s an independent nation.”
"Your first act as Archduke is that now you have to go and tell everyone." Imogen turned him toward the door.
"What are you going to do?" he asked her.
"I'm going to go catch up with Aaric," she told him. "He needs to tell Sloane who he is now, before you announce it, and he won't think to do it on his own."
"Good luck!" Bodhi called after her.
"She's going to need it."
"If it goes well, maybe I can convince her to talk to Garrick later…"
After talking to the marked ones, arranging to have someone ready to carry the news as soon as Jesinia completed her work, and generally making sure they wouldn't be here too much longer, Bodhi was honestly thrilled to lay eyes on Ridoc again in the dining hall. He didn't feel like he had the luxury of showing how much he was sagging under the weight of everything, but Ridoc generally knew how to take some of it off him anyway.
He walked over to the table where Ridoc and about half his squad were sitting, waiting for a welcoming nod from the squad leader before picking an empty chair.
"I'm told I have you to thank for the jewelry, Henrick," Bodhi nodded appreciatively.
"Oh, yeah, it was Imogen's idea but… I've been making lots of little pieces, mostly for Jesinia, while I've been recovering." He looked over like he was making sure his crutches were still there. "It's good practice for my signet, you know? I can make more if you need them."
"I'll probably need them in numbers for the military, but for now a couple more would be nice. I'd like one for Garrick, at least, if you really don't mind."
"I really don't," he insisted, and Bodhi remembered how frustrated he'd been with his limitations while his shoulder was healing. If Henrick wanted to be useful, he'd certainly let him.
The other thing he'd wanted to know was if Violet was with them, and her absence was the answer. He'd see if she was in her room after, then. He really shouldn't put it off any further.
"Did you tell your friends about your new rank?" Bodhi asked Ridoc with a wink.
"See! I wasn't joking, Rhi," Ridoc made a ridiculously adorable pouting face at his squad leader.
"Yeah, but that's not… real, is it?" she asked, looking from Ridoc to Bodhi. "We haven't even decided if we're staying in Basgiath or not, you can't just do that."
"I can. I needed a staff, and Markham was being an absolute shitheel about cadet this and cadet that." Bodhi hadn't really thought about what the other Navarrans were going to do, beyond the fact that they were welcome in Tyrrendor.
Well… What he really hadn't thought about was whether Ridoc would be coming. He told himself there were things that were up in the air, still, and they were close so they'd likely either all stay or all come with them. There were things that weren't exactly his business, like whether Henrick would be able to fly again, and things that might still be up in the air, like Sorrengail's choice.
And shit , he should have thought about that before declaring Ridoc to be his in front of Markham and half the royal family. Would they hold that against him if he stayed? Markham probably would, but aside from his grades in Battle Brief, how much did that matter?
"Can I be a colonel?" Henrick asked.
"If you want." He turned to Ridoc. "I just realized I probably put you in an awkward spot with leadership, if you decided not to come back to Aretia with us."
"Why wouldn't I?" Ridoc blinked at him.
“Because… Basgiath? People get attached to the place, for some reason.”
“Yeah, super attached to the place that’s consistently tried to kill me in between lying about everything that mattered. Except physics, I guess, and fuck physics.”
"Also Navarre? Right now you're in good standing, I don't know what happens if you leave again."
Ridoc's response took just a moment longer. "Nah, they had their chance. Besides, if I've got to look at the people in charge every day, I'd pick you over Tauri in a minute."
Bodhi could feel himself blush even though that wasn't really much of a compliment.
"There's one other thing I wanted your advice on," he asked the group of them. "I need to go talk to Violet. Do you know if she's eaten today?"
--
Ridoc had brought her breakfast and Rhiannon had brought her lunch, but they were willing to let Bodhi take her some dinner as long as he promised to let them know if she needed anything. Tray in one hand, Bodhi knocked on Violet's door, feeling the pushback of the wards even though he wasn't trying to go in.
Just another thing on the list of tiny pieces of Xaden that remained. Eventually the wards would be unworked, if not now, then in a year or two.
Violet's door opened. She looked less terrible than she had at the return ceremony, so he felt a little less guilty about trying to have this conversation.
“Bodhi,” she blinked at him. “I wasn’t - um. Hi.” Her hair, dark brown to the tips, hung loose around her face.
"I brought you some dinner," he offered, and kept going. "And I needed to talk to you about some things."
"Everyone does." She took the plate and didn't shut the door in his face, so that was a win.
"Some time-sensitive things, please," he continued. "I don't want to make it weird but I really have to."
She rubbed her free hand across her forehead. “Fine.” Violet pulled him through the wards into her room.
"The hair looks good, by the way. Did you trim it or something?"
"Rhiannon did. Can you just tell me what you need?"
"So, the good news you'll be hearing soon either way: I negotiated with Prince Halden this morning and Tyrrendor's going to be a largely autonomous grand duchy, so we're pretty much going to take the chi- the marked ones and get out of here before anybody tries to change their minds. I think it'll be fine but I don't want to tempt Melgren or Tauri, either."
He paused to breathe, giving her a chance to respond. “That’s - that’s good,” she said, perching on the edge of the bed with her plate and waving him to her chair. “Just the marked ones? Rhi said everyone who left was supposed to be - forgiven, or whatever they’re calling it. Not that. But they fucking better be teaching the truth.”
"Everyone who left is safe to stay, if they want to. I'm hoping at least some of the riders will return with us. Ridoc said he's planning to come. I'd like it if you did, and I'm sure your brother would. Buf if you do, I need to ask- when you cut your braid-" he stumbled. She had to know what it meant, right? This was Violet, she knew everything that existed in a book. He didn't want to insult her.
“Before the battle, we - he -” She trailed off, gave up speaking, and shifted the neckline of her tunic, revealing a scabbed-over cut. “He already had one for me, and….”
Okay, this was good. He knew how it went from here. "Then, it is my honor and my obligation to treat you as my cousin's widow, Violet. It can be as formal or… not, as you like, but I-"
Oh fuck. He was going to cry.
"I- I'm sorry I didn't- He didn't-" Fuck, she knew perfectly well that they hadn't told anyone, she didn't need him to apologize for not knowing. Fuck. Xaden would know how to do this without sounding like an idiot. Xaden, who had fucking married her and not gotten the chance to tell anyone. Fuck if he hadn't deserved that after everything.
Violet shoved her plate onto the bed and stumbled forward to hug him. “I just - I want to go home,” she choked out. “I was worried you wouldn’t - I couldn’t -”
He wrapped his arms around her, relieved. "No, of course, please. Please come home."