“Of course it’s you. Three years after you vanished, I respond to a message about a stolen scout horse and I find you here.”

Linara smiled up at the man from her seat at the table in her suite of rooms. “It’s nice to see you again, Vendel.”

“The feeling is not mutual, I assure you, Linara. A letter from the most expensive hotel in the entire independent lands, and it’s an invoice! It took me two weeks to get here, to sort this all out, and I find you. I could have spent time with my family.” Raising an eyebrow, Linara watched as Vendel sat down across from her as he complained, reaching across the table to pick up on the pastries on Linara’s plate and sniff at it experimentally between words. “Are these from this morning?”

She nodded at him, and he bit into it, making a noise of approval. “I’m so sorry that you were called upon to do your job as a treasurer, Vendel. The cost of these rooms pales in comparison to getting one of the king’s horses back.”

Leaning back in his seat, the middle-aged man let out a sigh, apparently done complaining. “Yes, yes, the Royal Horsestock. How did that happen?”

“A deserter stole it.”

“And where is this deserter now?”

“Dead. Him and two squads of men.”

“One of yours?” Linara stayed quiet, her lips forming a thin line. “I’m sorry.”

“What is going on in Olentor, Vendel?”

The man brightened up, setting the half eaten pastry down on the tablecloth. “Oh, it’s wonderful. Peasants and nobility alike are upset at increased taxes, a lot of which has been, without subtlety, used to enrich Wellent. Our allies, Wellent. You remember them? Our queen was born there. We are all one nation now, she says, we must share our resources, she says. The king is apathetic about everything, even his own children. He has two sons. Everyone is very happy about that. The two of them have been seen arguing recently, which some people believe is a bad sign. I’d say it’s going well.” He smiled at her.

Linara frowned back at him. “Is it really that bad?”

“When I list it all out like that, it certainly sounds that way. But is it all coming apart? No. The tax situation has created grumbling, but little more than that. We are not dealing with open revolt over it. There was never any romance between the king and queen, so his apathy with her is not unexpected. He is actually rather enamored with the new envoy, to the queen’s displeasure.”

“Tell me about the envoy.”

“Another one of your people, overseeing that particular alliance. There was some degree of grumbling about that, as well, from the militia and the knights. We send them food and other supplies in exchange for weapons, just like we always have, but the new envoy is a lot less hands-on with training. In fact she hasn’t trained anyone at all.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“My place as the master of arms was separate from my duties as the Hatharen envoy.” Linara said, still frowning.

Vendel shrugged back at her. “The men expect more. They see her as a step down. There have been suggestions that if she shared the forging methods we could replicate the high quality weapons they send to us.”

“What’s her name?”

“Atheyara.”

Crossing her arms and sitting back, Linara tried to remember the woman. She recognized the name but couldn’t remember ever meeting her. “And Senral is spending time with her?”

“His Majesty, King Senral, has been seen talking to her at length. Nothing more than talking, however.” He looked at her pointedly. “It took your people over a year to even give us a message that they were looking for a replacement, which we didn’t know about since you asked for one without telling us, after you left without telling us. Abandoning both of your posts like that was mildly extreme, you know. But when she finally did show up this last year, he was immediately very fond of her. I think she reminds him of someone.”

Linara groaned, placing her head on the table. “He was supposed to move on.”

“Did you?”

“What?” She looked up at Vendel. Beneath his slightly gray beard, she could see a frown.

“Have you moved on? Found anyone else to romance? Had a fling or three? A one night stand?”

“No.” She said, quietly. He probably couldn’t even hear her, but he nodded all the same.

“During one of my conversations with Atheyara, she mentioned the…limitations that you have. I told her that you never talked about it and asked her not to tell anyone else. I understand why you gave him away, but the fact remains that you did do that, despite how you feel about him, and despite how he feels about you.”

Linara sat up straight, looking directly at Vendel, intent on every word. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. She ground her teeth together. “My feelings are my own to deal with. His feelings are not. A king must act like a king, regardless of his feelings. His duty is to the people. Mine is not.”

“Yes, that is true, Linara. I suppose a sixty year old human like myself cannot judge a Hatharen that will live far longer than me for running away from home like a child that learned the world doesn’t work out perfectly, and then crying about how she left behind her favorite toy and not just getting a new one in the three years since.”

“HE ISN’T A TOY!” She found herself standing, leaning forward, her fists suddenly hitting the surface of the table. Vendel did not flinch away from her, but his frown deepened as he looked up into her eyes, disappointment on his face. Sighing, she sat back down, defeated. “I don’t want anyone else. My people are very open with relationships, but I can’t be like that. Just because I gave him up doesn’t mean I have to replace him. He needs to give up as well.”

Vendel made a noise of agreement, rubbing his bearded chin. “I’ll deal with your bill here, collect the horse, and be on my way. I will not further chastise you on your abandonment of your positions, since you did arrange for replacements. You will come visit us some time, won’t you?” He stood up, shoving the last bit of the pastry into his mouth.

Waving a hand, Linara rolled her eyes. “You take care of your business and I will take care of mine. I’ll see where I am after that.”

“I can only wonder what business you would have, these days.” He said, turning and walking out the door. Linara watched him go, then let out a sigh. She did miss Olentor, but the thought of going back filled her with anxiety. She didn’t want to see Senral again. Vendel, for all his complaining, was right; she had not overcome her feelings. The last three years, she ran from facing that fact.

Perhaps it was time to face him.