Chapter 354: Edrava

Chapter 354: Chapter 354: Edrava

By the time they entered the Republic of Edrava, Liam had decided imperial travel was considerably less impressive from inside an armored car.

The teleportation gates had at least been efficient.

Three jumps had carried them from Deira through Nuria’s western relay network in less than forty minutes, each gate opening beneath a brief surge of ether before depositing the delegation hundreds of kilometers farther west. The final station stood less than thirty kilometers from the Edravan border, beyond which the old Nurian gate infrastructure had been disconnected after independence and never properly restored.

From there, they had cars.

Very comfortable cars.

Still cars.

Liam rested his head against the tinted window and watched Edrava pass outside.

The province had once occupied Nuria’s westernmost valley system, a long strip of fertile land enclosed between dark mountains before widening toward Wrohan. Seventy-seven years of independence had changed it without quite erasing what it had been. Old Nurian bridges still crossed the rivers, their carved black foundations supporting newer concrete lanes, while towns had grown around ether towers that were clearly imperial in design even when modern signs carried the blue-and-white emblem of the republic.

It looked like a country built over another country without ever completely managing to cover it.

Arik had been watching Liam instead.

Liam noticed eventually.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That was suspiciously fast."

Arik’s gaze moved over him again.

Liam looked down at himself.

He had dressed for eight hours of travel, not a diplomatic reception. His trousers were pale gray and loose enough to tolerate several hours of sitting, white sneakers had replaced every formal shoe currently traveling inside his luggage, and the oversized cream sweatshirt he wore had a hood with two small rounded ears stitched into the top.

Comfortable.

Perfectly reasonable.

Apparently devastating to imperial dignity.

Arik’s mouth curved.

"No."

"I said nothing."

"You are looking at the ears."

"They are difficult to ignore."

Liam pulled the hood farther over his head.

The ears stood upright.

Arik stared.

Liam immediately regretted giving him more ammunition.

"You are extremely cute."

"I am Empress Consort of Nuria."

"That is unrelated."

"Your argument against being called cute was that you are emperor."

"That was different."

"How?"

"I am not wearing ears."

Liam looked toward Kamal, who sat opposite them beside the narrow divider separating the rear compartment from the security vehicle ahead.

"Help."

Kamal glanced up from his tablet.

"No."

"You did not even ask me to change."

"I considered it."

"And?"

"I value my remaining years."

Arik laughed.

Liam stared at him.

Kamal returned calmly to the route report.

"You have a formal meeting tomorrow. Today you are sitting in a vehicle for several hours. I could require ceremonial clothing, but then His Majesty would spend the entire journey listening to you complain."

"I do not complain that much."

Neither man answered.

Liam looked between them.

"Rubis would support me."

"Rubis remained in Deira," Arik said.

"Convenient."

"For Rubis," Kamal murmured.

Liam pulled the hood lower and returned his attention to the window.

Arik reached across the space between them and caught one of the small fabric ears between his fingers.

Liam slapped his hand away.

"Behave."

"I am appreciating the imperial wardrobe."

"This is not imperial wardrobe."

"Everything you wear becomes imperial wardrobe."

"That is horrifying."

"It is legally plausible."

Liam narrowed his eyes.

Arik looked entirely pleased with himself.

The convoy slowed as they approached the first major Edravan town.

Security vehicles moved ahead and behind them, discreet by Nurian standards and extremely obvious to everyone else. Mezos had objected to reducing the escort farther, particularly after confirming Felix remained somewhere north of the provincial capital, while Severin had responded by adding two additional field teams without bothering to tell Arik until they were already through the second gate.

Arik had approved.

Liam suspected Mezos was still offended that someone else had managed to be more paranoid than him.

Outside, the road widened.

Edravan flags appeared along the central avenue beside older stone monuments whose inscriptions had been cut in the original Nurian script. People had begun gathering near barriers farther ahead, phones raised as the convoy passed.

Liam sat straighter.

"They know we arrived."

"They knew before we crossed the border," Kamal said.

"Our itinerary was restricted."

Kamal gave him a look.

"The Emperor of Nuria traveling personally to a republic asking to be absorbed back into his empire is difficult to conceal."

"Reintegrated," Arik corrected.

Liam looked toward him.

"That sounds nicer."

"It is also technically accurate."

"They are bankrupt."

"Also accurate."

Edrava’s government had requested reunification less than two weeks after Nuria returned.

Officially, the petition cited historical identity, infrastructure integration, common law, cultural continuity, and a population that polling apparently showed overwhelmingly favored returning to Nurian administration.

Unofficially, Edrava owed enough money to several foreign creditors that Liam had spent half an evening wondering whether bankruptcy could qualify as a national tradition.

Now Felix was somewhere beneath its northern territory.

That coincidence had become less amusing the closer they came.

Arik’s expression had changed too.

The teasing warmth disappeared as he looked through the opposite window toward a line of old ether pylons running parallel to the road.

"They are active."

Kamal followed his gaze.

"Partially."

Liam leaned forward.

The pylons were old enough that even from the car he could recognize Nurian construction beneath decades of repairs.

"What are they supplying?"

"Officially, regional transport and municipal grids."

"Unofficially?"

Kamal turned the tablet toward him.

"Consumption exceeds declared output by twenty-eight percent."

Liam’s brows drew together.

"That is not leakage."

"No."

Arik looked toward the mountains.

Felix.

Perhaps not directly, but enough to make the possibility impossible to ignore.

Liam let the hood fall back from his head.

The mood inside the car changed with the motion.

"When do we inspect the northern network?"

"After the meeting tomorrow," Arik said.

Liam looked at him.

"We are waiting?"

"We are arriving as a diplomatic delegation."

"And?"

"And I want to see whether the president tells me about the missing ether before we ask."

Kamal nodded faintly.

"If he knows."

"If he does not," Arik said, "then I want to know who has been running his infrastructure without him."

Liam settled back.

The capital appeared in the distance twenty minutes later, built along the sides of a broad river valley where old Nurian towers rose between newer government buildings of pale stone and blue glass.

"Name?" Liam asked, studying the skyline.

"Verera," Kamal answered.

Arik looked at him.

"You read none of the briefing."

"I read the financial section."

"Of course you did."

"It was the alarming part."

"The president may be offended."

"He borrowed against water infrastructure."

"That is not technically the current president’s fault."

"Then I will dislike his predecessors."

Arik smiled again.

"There is my diplomatic husband."

Liam ignored him.

Their meeting with President Marek Sovan was scheduled for ten the following morning at the Republican Palace, followed by lunch, a closed economic session, and what the Edravan government believed would be preliminary negotiations concerning reintegration.

They had no idea Arik already intended to spend part of the visit hunting Felix beneath their country.

Liam glanced toward his husband.

Arik had returned his attention to the city, gold eyes reflecting faintly against the dark window while one hand rested loosely over Liam’s knee.

The gesture looked casual.

It was not.

Liam placed his hand over Arik’s.

"You are thinking too loudly."

Arik looked at him.

"So are you."

"I am thinking that you are going to be intolerable tomorrow."

"Why?"

"Because they want something from you."

"That usually makes negotiations easier."

"It makes you smug."

Arik’s thumb moved once beneath Liam’s palm.

"You like me smug."

"I tolerate you smug."

"You married me smug."

Kamal sighed quietly from across the car.

Liam looked at him.

"You could have traveled with Severin."

"I am beginning to understand that."

Arik laughed.