“How could you treat him that way? He’s done so much for us. What of his feelings? What of my feelings?” Haymi shrieked in anguish. “Now he hates me too. I’ll never get to—”
“I get it, Haymi. I know you had a thing for him. I’m sorry.”
“It’s not me you ought to be apologizing to, Tia,” Haymi said with a sigh.
“You think we’ll ever see him again?” Vason asked softly.
Haymi looked crushed. “Would you want to see us again? After something like that?”
“No. No, I don’t suppose I would,” Vason said, casting his eyes over the princess.
Tia bit her lip, face scrunched up in anguish. She couldn’t meet his gaze.
48WHOLE AGAIN
“What are you doing here?” Vir whispered. “Why are you—!”
Before he knew it, Maiya had enveloped him in a hug, his thoughts blown away by a crimson wind. And when her sweet-smelling, nostalgic fragrance touched him, he lost all capacity for thought.
“I’m so, so sorry. I couldn’t reveal I knew you because it would be bad for you to have any connection to me, because then you’d have even more people after you. I wanted to avoid that but I screwed up and now you hate me, don’t you?”
What did she just say?
Vir took a moment to piece together Maiya’s torrent of words.
“Wait. I know you stopped me from harming Tia to protect me. You’re saying that exposing you knew me would’ve put me in danger?”
When Maiya broke her embrace, her cheeks were wet with tears. “I thought you’d pick up on it. But you were too angry. That’s why I said that thing about Saran. Y’know? The fighters of Saran stick together? Remember your words to me back then?”
“Er, not exactly.”
“Well, I do. ‘Even when the entire realm turns against you, I’ll be there by your side. Fighting until the end. So don’t tell me to leave you behind.’”
Did I really say something so dumb? Badrak’s Balls, that’s embarrassing.
“It’s not embarrassing, Vir. And no, I’m not reading your thoughts. Your face says it all!” she said, poking out her tongue. “Those words really touched me. They had all of your emotions packed in. Well, I guess maybe I’m the dummy for thinking that.”
Maiya looked him up and down.
“N-no. I did mean it.”
“You did?”
“I do,” Vir admitted. “Also, why are you looking at me like that?”
“Your injury! Did you get a mejai to heal you?”
“Oh, yes. All good. The wound wasn’t that bad in the first place.”
“W-well, good, then. That’s good.”
“Um, what about you? That was a pretty nasty wound… that I gave you,” Vir said, looking away.
“Haymi patched me up. No worries, yeah?”
“I’ve been such a chal, haven’t I?”
Maiya flicked him on the nose. “You have. And I’ve missed you. This. Everything.”
“I said such horrible things to you. I hurt you! I’m so sorry. I can’t even… How do I possibly make this up to you?”
“Hey. It’s alright. Everything’s alright.”
Just like that, the storm in Vir’s chest parted, and calm seas returned. Gone was the angst and anxiety and regret.
And all it took was one word. I feel so stupid for doubting her.
For the first time that night, Vir took some time to actually look at Maiya. Things had been so intense earlier, he hadn’t had the chance.
The flowing red hair and hazel eyes Vir had always known struck him as much the same, yet she was markedly different. For one, her body was far more sculpted than when they’d separated. Maiya was never particularly chubby, but now, it looked like she didn’t have a shred of fat on her. She wore elaborate half-plate, half-fabric exotic armor, which contoured perfectly to her torso and ended in a gambeson skirt.
More than anything else, it was the light in her eyes that captured his attention. Eyes that exuded utter confidence—something that Maiya lacked before—along with a genuineness that Vir so sorely missed.
Here was someone who accepted him fully for who he was. Someone he could confide in.
Vir grasped her again and squeezed tightly, and now it was his turn to shed tears. Something had been wrong with him ever since they’d separated. Now he understood. It was the hole in his heart left by Maiya’s absence. A hole he’d tried to fill with Tia, only for it to have grown even larger after she’d turned on him.
Now that hole was filled. Not just filled—his chest threatened to explode with the emotions that coursed through his body. He had a million questions for her. How was she? Where had she been? What did Riyan make her do? How’d she end up at the Kin’jal garrison when he did? But before all that, there was something that had to be said.
“I missed you, Maiya. More than you could know.”
“Liar!” Maiya whispered into his ear, tickling him. “I missed you more. And y’know? Pretty seric, the way you stood up to Tia back there.”
As if to prove it, she pecked him gently on his cheek, making them both blush and break their embrace.
“I, er, uhm,” Maiya stammered. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to—that just kinda…”
“N-no. My pleasure. I mean, it’s fine! So, uh,” Vir replied.
“Not to ruin your awkward reunion, but why is she here?” Badal asked, pointing a finger at Maiya. “This is no place for strangers, let alone Kin’jali handmaidens.”
Lord Reth, who’d stayed several paces away, sighed. “Badal, can’t you see they were having a moment? You’ve gone and ruined it!”
“I presume you have a good reason for this?” Badal asked.
Reth lifted an open hand. “Of course! It’s been so long since we’ve had a human visitor! I simply couldn’t resist divulging our greatest secrets to a complete stranger. That’s all. I fail to see the issue!”
Commander Badal was not amused.
Reth sighed. “Do you believe I’d allow her here without vetting her first?”
“No, of course not. Just that this is very unusual. For an outsider to witness our Acira landing… It’s unprecedented.”
Right. Badal never saw her at the garrison, did he? Otherwise, he’d be freaking out right now.
“You may be at ease, Badal. She’s a bit special,” Reth said with an awkward smile. “She already knows all about us.”
She knows the true nature of the Pagan Order? Vir thought. Only royals were supposed to know that. Vir wondered if that knowledge had something to do with why she was at the garrison.
“I vouch for her,” Vir said. “She’s been my best—and only—friend ever since I was little. And she knows I’m a demon.”
Badal raised a brow. “What do you think of demons?” he asked Maiya.
“What, interrogating me now?” Maiya asked with a sarcastic smile, causing Badal to narrow his eyes.
“Relax. I have nothing against demons. I truly wish they were treated better. Vir being a demon has absolutely nothing to do with our relationship.”
Vir was only half-listening, more concerned with the pounding of his chest. Maiya’s presence had never made him feel anything other than comfort. What had changed?
I’m just excited to finally see her again. That has to be it.
Maiya glanced in his direction, but the moment their eyes met, his head grew hot and he looked away. She did the same.
Okay, definitely not normal.
Vir panicked. What if it’s because we’ve grown apart? Have we… drifted away from each other?
“If both Lord Reth and Vir vouch for you, then I suppose I have nothing further to say,” Badal said, nodding slightly at Maiya, then turning to address Vir. “Be sure not to stay up too late. You’ve been through a taxing ordeal. You need rest.”