Chapter 231 — The Household Hears It

Kael had left his boots by the entrance before supper, with grit still packed into their stitching. He had spent much of the afternoon at the western drainage channel. The workers had finished opening the narrow run, but the stone along the lower edge still shifted under a cart's weight.

“Foot traffic only tomorrow,” he told Shen as they settled after the meal. “Tarek will look at the new layer before I let the carts through.”

Shen was sitting near the sleeping ledge. He had washed his hair and was working a little oil through the long white-silver ends, separating a stubborn knot with his fingers.

“The kitchen carriers were asking about that path,” Shen said. “I'll tell Mari they're still taking the other way.”

“Until the edge holds,” Kael said.

Kael stretched one leg out beside Nia. His water cup stood near his knee. She had been waiting for him to finish talking about the channel. When his hand settled on her thigh, she caught it.

“I told Ayari something today.”

Shen looked up. Kael turned toward her, giving her his attention without pulling his hand away.

“I told her I think I might want Ren as my husband.” Nia tightened her fingers around Kael's. “I'm not saying I've chosen him yet. But I'm thinking about marrying him, not just waiting for his next visit.”

Shen's gaze went to her bracelet, where the shell bead with its blue-green streak rested against her wrist.

“I thought you might be getting close to that,” he said.

Kael eased his arm around Nia.

“Come closer. You're half off the mat.”

She shifted over his leg, smiling a little despite herself. He settled his arm around her and drew her close enough that she could rest against his shoulder.

“You don't seem surprised,” she said.

“Ren has been courting you for a while.” Kael's thumb moved once over the back of her hand. “This was always a possibility.”

“I know. I wanted you to hear it from me.”

“You've told us,” he said. “Go on.”

Nia leaned into his shoulder. At Ayari's house, she'd been able to say what she wanted without seeing what it would mean for the people who already shared her home. Sitting between Kael and Shen, she could see the straps Kael hung beside the entrance and the shelf where Shen kept his gathering tools. Ren's pack still came in and went out with him.

“He can't live the way we do,” she said. “He spends so much time on the roads. I like that he has his own work, but there could be stretches when we'd barely see him.”

“Some stretches will be longer than others,” Shen said. “High water can delay a crossing. And when he's promised a buyer a delivery, he'll want to keep his word.”

“I don't need him here every night.” Nia paused, then corrected herself. “I'd want him here. That's different.”

Kael listened while she found her words. From the passage came the sound of someone carrying a wooden frame uphill; the lower end knocked against stone twice before the footsteps continued.

“I don't want him coming home feeling he's failed me just because his work kept him away,” Nia said. “And I don't want to spend his whole journey angry that he left.”

“You haven't treated his departures that way while he's courting,” Shen said.

“I haven't promised to share a household with him yet, either.”

Shen gave a small nod.

“Ren has always worked while he traveled. Even when we met at the same shelter, he might be gone before I woke because someone had brought a load in early. Other times he had nothing urgent to do and stayed talking long after the sellers packed up.”

Nia smiled at the picture of him keeping Shen company.

“He still does that.”

“He does. What he won't do is stop taking a journey because he'd rather stay in bed. Not if he's already promised someone he'll be there.”

Kael nodded once.

“He has workers and agreements beyond Hearthfang. He'll keep them.”

“That's what I want,” Nia said. “But I don't know how much time he'd actually be able to spend with us. He hasn't told me how he pictures it.”

“Then he'll have to tell you,” Kael said. “Not Shen. Not me.”

“And if he doesn't know exactly how many days he'll be gone, that won't mean he's avoiding the question,” Shen said. “Sometimes he really won't know.”

“I can live with that. I want to hear how often he thinks he could come home.”

Kael glanced down at her.

“To Hearthfang?”

“To us. Here.” She looked at Shen too. “When he comes home, I want him to feel he lives here. I don't want him staying only as a visitor who kisses me and leaves his bag by the door.”

Shen reached over Nia to take the cup of water beside Kael, drank, and put it where Kael could reach it again.

“Ren's comfortable making himself useful in other people's homes,” Shen said. “He's less practiced at leaving his own work behind when he sits down.”

“He might bring a stack of unfinished counts to supper,” Nia said.

“He probably will, once,” Shen replied. “Then I'll make him put them somewhere dry before he eats.”

Kael reached for the cup.

“He'll have to find a place for his things like the rest of us.”

“Eventually,” Nia said. “I keep looking around, trying to decide where we'd put everything, and then I remember I haven't even spoken to him.”

“Leave that for when he's here,” Kael said. He drank and passed the cup to Shen without looking. “If you choose each other, we'll make room together.”

Shen took it and placed it on the low stand.

“Ren will want a say in it. I know what happens when somebody moves his trade papers.”

“You've moved them?” Nia asked.

“Often enough that I know to leave them alone now.”

Nia smiled. Shen gathered another section of hair and worked the remaining oil through its ends.

Kael's hand settled against Nia's lower back.

“There'll be times he returns tired, or with work that must be finished before he can rest. I do the same thing after a difficult patrol. Shen has come home with roots he refuses to leave unexamined until morning.”

“Because some of them won't keep until morning,” Shen said, still separating the ends of his hair.

“I know.” Kael's voice was calm. “And when you need that time, we give it to you.”

Shen met his eyes across Nia, then gave a slight nod.

Nia stretched her legs out. She'd been holding herself too stiffly, and her foot had begun to ache beneath her. Shen noticed her shift and drew the folded mat edge flat so she could put both feet down.

“There is something I can't settle by deciding he'll be away often,” she said.

Kael waited while she moved her feet.

“The bond.” She glanced toward Shen, remembering the orchid mark over his heart beneath his clothing, then looked back at Kael. “I can release either of you if I choose to. You can't break it yourselves.”

Shen's hands stopped.

“If Ren regrets bonding with me, he can't undo it,” she continued. “Even if he discovers he hates having a home here, or he can't bear being away from his work as much as he thought.”

“He knows that,” Kael said.

“I know he does. But when I first bonded with you, I didn't understand this life the way I do now. I don't want to say yes and assume Ren will fit just because we're happy whenever he visits.”

“Then don't give him an answer yet,” Shen said.

“I wasn't going to.” Nia drew his hand into hers. “I just needed to say why I've been taking so long to think about it.”

He moved close enough to kiss her temple, lingering there before resting against her shoulder.

Kael lifted the outer edge of her hair away from the back of her neck and tucked it gently behind her shoulder.

“Ren isn't a young male being promised something he doesn't understand. He'll know what he's taking on.”

“He deserves to hear what I'm afraid of, though.”

“Yes,” Kael said.

A little silence settled while Shen adjusted his position beside them. Nia could hear the last of the washing water being tipped outside a neighboring household; then the passage quieted again.

“I haven't asked what it would mean for you two,” she said. “I keep talking about whether I can get used to his travel. He'd be sharing your home as well.”

Kael looked across her at Shen.

“You've spent more nights on the road with Ren than I have.”

“Not as many as Ren would claim,” Shen answered, then rested his forearm behind Nia. “He talks easily when he's selling something. At the end of a bad day he doesn't bother finding a pleasant way to say he's annoyed. I've heard plenty of that.”

“Does he direct it at you?” Kael asked.

“When I've actually caused the problem, yes. Sometimes he blames the weather first.” Shen paused. “He'll listen after he gets the complaint out of the way.”

Kael's mouth curved a little.

“I've seen that.”

“I'm not worried about sharing work with him,” Kael told her. “I know the decisions he takes seriously. We won't agree every time, but he can hear me out, and I can hear him.”

Shen rested his hand beside Nia's.

“And I already like him when he isn't on his best behavior.”

Nia looked at him.

“You would tell me if you didn't want to live with him.”

“I would.” He turned his hand beneath hers, threading their fingers together. “I'm not arranging your courtship for you, Nia. Ren is my friend, but you know him differently. You need to decide whether you want the days when he's tired or impatient as much as the days when he's making you laugh.”

She thought of Ren arriving wet from his journey, too tired to keep up the smooth smile he wore for sellers. She'd wanted to bring him inside before he'd said a word.

“I think I do,” she said. “That's the part that's changing.”

Kael shifted his leg and drew her closer, steadying her at the waist until she was comfortable. She leaned over to kiss him, then turned to Shen when his fingers touched her knee. His kiss was slower, with his other hand at the back of her neck.

When she drew away, her bracelet slipped down her wrist. She pushed it back into place.

“I'll talk to Ren when he returns,” Nia said. “I'll ask him what he can really manage with the roads and his workers. I want him to think about it before he answers.”

“Good,” Kael said. “He can speak for himself.”

Shen finished the last section of his hair, then held out the loose ends for Nia to gather while he reached for his tie. She brought the white-silver length over his shoulder and kept it together until he was ready.

Kael drew his knee back to give them room. Shen bent his head toward Nia's hands, and she held his hair steady as he tied it back.