From what Colt heard, his day was a lot less eventful than Amneris’ day. He was glad to have missed the meeting, though the idea of her playing politics made him laugh. The last time he’d seen her in a meeting like this was five thousand years ago, and that particular meeting ended with the mysterious meeting of someone who called her “a worthless woman, only good for fucking.” No evidence was found for her being the murderer, of course, but she had eventually admitted it to him. Unless her people skills had drastically improved, Colt wouldn’t be shocked if a body or two were found after the meeting.

When an invitation was extended to the Court to join the others for dinner came, himself, Hathor and Kayla were the only ones to decline. Kayla stayed to keep an eye on Ema who was offended at not having been given an invitation. Kayla wanted to make sure she didn’t try to do anything stupid like escape.

Hathor declining had been a surprise. Colt knew she was a very social girl and very popular around Lapide and at the Academy. It wasn’t just because she was the Queen’s daughter.

Instead of going to a party, Hathor wanted to spend a quiet night in. And so Colt also declined so he had an excuse to spend time with his daughter, not that she knew she was his daughter . . .

His plan worked, though his offering of sahlab may have had something to do with that.

Hathor ended up teaching him how to play Senet. Instead of explaining how he knew the game from his childhood, Colt let her think she was teaching him to play. He purposely acted confused when he threw the first few matches. The girl seemed to enjoy teaching him, laughing whenever he made a bad move and correcting him when a piece was placed on the wrong square.

Hathor fell asleep during one of their games. With unhidden fondness, Colt carried her to her to her room and tucked her into bed before returning to the lounge room and packing up the game. He placed their mugs on the sink to wash later and stood in the centre of the kitchen. The house was silent. Kayla and Ema were probably asleep, same with anyone else who quietly let themselves in.

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Colt wandered up the stairs, stopping in front of the door to Amneris’ room. It was slightly ajar. He knocked.

“Wait!” Amneris’ voice cried from inside. “Wait. Wait. Wait.” A moment later, she opened the door. Despite her surprise, she let him in. “Thought you would be asleep by now.”

“I was about to go to sleep,” he said, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Thought you would be asleep.”

She looked down at her purple pyjama crop top and pants. “Well, I was about to do that but someone knocked on my door.” A pointed look.

“Sorry,” he laughed. “You are not staying in the Place?”

Amneris shook her head. “I felt like the comfort of my own bed and the lack of people.”

“Understandable. How did the meeting go?”

“No dead bodies to report,” she said. Amneris sat beside him and begun rubbing her still-wet hair forcefully with a towel. “It was stressful.”

Colt took the towel from him as it begun smoking. “You don’t say.” He held up the scorched towel.

She laughed, taking it and tossing it into the bathroom. She ran a hand through her hair, her power making it try instantly. One moment, her hair was almost straight. The next, it, for lack of a better word, poofed back into her regular curls.

Amneris flopped onto the bed with a groan. “Never have I been so grateful to have Le and Nik with me in a Council meeting.”

“Oh?”

“Yep. Nik got rid of the people who were there to fuck me over about the items being taken. Le did this big dramatic speech thing to make everyone get along. It was kind of impressive.”

“Things went . . . Well?”

She waved a hand. “More or less.”

Colt stood, walking to the other side of the bed where Amneris was now sitting. He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead as she hugged him. “I am sure you did well, Tali,” he murmured, moving to return the hug,

“We’ll find out tomorrow.”

“Yes, we will.”

He leaned down to kiss her but was stopped as Amneris press a finger to his lips.

“Colt . . . Assar, if you kiss me now, we both know there is no way in the worlds I’m letting you leave. And we both know that doesn’t mean fucking, just cuddling.”

“So?”

“No ‘so’. Just making sure you know.”

He kissed her. “Always my best interests in mind.”

Amneris made a wounded sound. “You stole my line.

He only laughed before kissing her again.