Chapter 400: - 400: Sibling Inspection

Chapter 400: Chapter 400: Sibling Inspection

Ayla and Samuel arrived without Enia.

Liam should have expected that to make everything worse.

Their transport had barely stopped beneath the eastern palace entrance before the rear door opened and Ayla stepped out without waiting for the attendant assigned to assist her, one hand already pushing loose brown hair away from her face as she looked up at the palace façade with open interest rather than anything resembling appropriate diplomatic restraint.

Samuel emerged behind her carrying a backpack over one shoulder and immediately turned in a full circle beneath the covered entrance.

"This is ridiculous."

Liam, waiting several meters away beside Arik, folded his arms.

"Hello to you too."

Samuel’s pale green eyes snapped toward him.

Then his expression changed completely.

"Liam!"

He crossed the distance at a run.

Liam barely had time to brace before his younger brother hit him hard enough to force him one step backward, both arms locking around his ribs.

Ayla followed at a considerably more dignified pace.

For approximately three seconds.

Then she joined them.

Liam found himself trapped between two younger siblings who had apparently decided years of distance could be compensated for through compression.

He laughed despite himself.

"You could have warned me."

Samuel tightened his arms.

"We did."

"You sent me three messages saying you were coming."

"That counts."

Ayla finally released him enough to look at his face.

"You look the same."

Liam raised an eyebrow.

"That sounds disappointing."

"No, I mean you look more normal than the news makes you sound."

Samuel stepped back.

"The news makes you sound terrifyingly imperial."

"I am an engineer."

"You are also an empress."

"Consort."

"Still an empress."

Liam sighed.

Behind them, Arik laughed.

Both siblings turned.

The effect was immediate.

Ayla’s eyes traveled upward... and continued.

Samuel did the same.

Liam knew exactly what they were seeing.

Photographs did not properly communicate Arik’s size. Nothing did until someone stood beside him and realized that the Emperor of Nuria seemed to occupy significantly more vertical space than architecture generally anticipated.

Arik wore dark trousers and a black shirt beneath a long coat edged subtly in gold, formal enough to receive family from another royal household without making the arrival ceremonial. His black hair was swept back, and the faint warmth of smoky caramel surrounded him without any display of dominance.

He looked perfectly relaxed.

Ayla stared.

Then turned slowly toward Liam.

"He didn’t look this intimidating in the photos."

Arik’s mouth curved.

Liam closed his eyes.

"Ayla."

"What? He didn’t."

Samuel was still looking up at Arik.

"Is he taller than Damian?"

"Do not encourage this," Liam said.

Ayla ignored him entirely.

She moved closer to her brother, tipped her own head back to demonstrate, then looked at Liam with complete sincerity.

"How do you talk to him without a neck brace?"

Arik laughed.

Liam stared at her.

"I do not spend every conversation standing six centimeters from his chest."

"That would help."

Samuel nodded thoughtfully.

"You probably sit a lot."

Liam looked toward Arik for assistance.

His husband was enjoying himself far too much.

"This is funny to you."

"Extremely."

"You are supposed to be intimidating them."

"Why?"

"So they stop."

Ayla looked delighted.

"He wants you to scare us."

Arik slipped one hand into his coat pocket.

"I was informed I would be judged."

"You were," Samuel said.

"Then frightening the judges seems strategically unwise."

Ayla pointed at him.

"I like him."

"That was fast," Liam muttered.

Arik smiled at her.

"I have younger siblings."

Liam immediately understood where this was going.

"No."

Ayla looked between them.

"What?"

"He is going to weaponize experience."

"I am going to welcome your family."

"You have never done anything that innocently in your life."

Samuel grinned.

This was already becoming a disaster.

They moved inside.

The eastern family entrance had deliberately been kept quiet, with no formal reception beyond a handful of household staff and security positioned far enough away to avoid making Ayla and Samuel feel as though they had arrived for a state visit. The corridor beyond opened into one of the warmer residential galleries, autumn light filtering through tall windows onto dark polished floors while gold and red leaves drifted beyond the glass.

Samuel noticed everything.

"Are those original pre-Gate mosaics?"

"Yes."

"Can we go into the old city?"

"Yes."

"Can we see the Core?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Because it is the imperial Core."

"Arik sees it."

"Arik is emperor."

Samuel looked toward Arik.

"Can I see the Core?"

"No," Arik said pleasantly.

Samuel nodded.

"Worth trying."

Ayla had drifted closer to Liam.

She studied the mate stone at his chest before looking toward Arik’s back.

"So."

Liam recognized the tone immediately.

"No."

"I haven’t asked anything."

"You were going to."

"Yes."

Ayla lowered her voice.

"Is he always that possessive?"

Liam glanced toward Arik.

His husband had somehow ended up beside Samuel, answering questions about the palace’s oldest wing while also making sure the younger alpha did not wander through the wrong doorway.

"Yes."

Ayla considered that.

"And you like it?"

Liam looked at her.

She was not teasing now.

"Yes."

The answer came easily.

Ayla nodded once.

"All right."

Then the seriousness vanished.

"Does he carry you?"

Liam nearly tripped.

"Ayla."

"He looks like he could."

Arik glanced back.

Liam pointed at him.

"Do not answer."

"I was not going to."

"You were absolutely going to."

Samuel turned around while still walking backward.

"He carries you?"

"No one asked you."

"That means yes."

Liam rubbed both hands over his face.

He had been nervous about this.

He had spent half the previous day wondering whether the years between them had stretched too far, whether Ayla and Samuel would arrive and discover they no longer knew how to behave around one another.

Apparently he had underestimated the durability of sibling harassment.

Arik slowed until Liam caught up beside him.

"You are doing well," he murmured.

Liam gave him a flat look.

"They have been here nine minutes."

"And you have threatened neither."

"Give me time."

Arik’s hand settled against the small of his back.

Ayla noticed immediately. Her red eyes narrowed with interest.

Liam saw it coming.

"Do not."

She smiled.

"I said nothing."

"That is becoming everyone’s favorite defense."

Samuel stopped at the entrance to the private family sitting room.

"Oh."

The room had been prepared simply, without the absurd ceremonial arrangements Liam had rejected the moment Rubis suggested them. A fire burned beneath the stone mantel, several trays of food waited on the low table, and the wide windows overlooked the autumn gardens.

Ayla walked inside and dropped onto the sofa as though she had lived there for years.

Samuel immediately inspected the pastries.

Liam stopped in the doorway.

Arik leaned closer.

"They seem comfortable."

"That is what worries me."

Ayla picked up a small tart.

"Is this the room where you two actually live, or one of the fake palace rooms nobody uses?"

Liam blinked.

"The first."

"Good."

Samuel looked at Arik.

"Does Liam still get angry when people move his things?"

"Yes."

Liam turned.

Arik answered without hesitation.

"He also leaves technical papers on furniture and then claims there is a system."

"There is a system."

Samuel laughed.

Ayla looked delighted.

Liam stared at his husband.

"You changed sides very quickly."

Arik slipped an arm around his waist.

"I am building diplomatic relations."

"With my siblings."

"Especially with your siblings."

Ayla lifted her tart in approval.

Liam sighed.