“So, that’s still on you, huh?” He’d been given the job officially before winter was over. Mat nodded, then grabbed a piece of bacon from the main dish. “What about you, Zayden?”
“Helping Senri. I take whoever Mat thinks is ready to be a guard, train them in everything Senri wants, then assign them to either a patrol or a stationary watch at one of our lookout points. I keep them on their toes for her since she can’t do any sparring right now. That might slow down with Kian back.”
“You can work with him,” Mave said, reaching out to pat his hand. “Thank you for helping her.” He grabbed her hand and pulled it up to his lips, delivering a soft kiss to the back.
“Anything for you and our family. Your father always had a wanderlust. I knew it was him or me to join you on the campaign. I couldn’t keep him from fighting with his daughter and his best friends. Helping Senri was the least I could do.” He released her and finished making the plate in front of him, then switched it with her empty one, so she had food.
“Bryn? Luykas? What are you two doing today?” She turned to them, full of pride and love for Zayden.
“I have scouts coming in today and tonight. I’ll be out of the city to rendezvous with them, then send them off, so they don’t lead anyone back to the village. I might not make it back tonight.” Bryn sighed. “I was lucky to be close by when you got home yesterday.”
“Be safe,” she ordered. He nodded, a solemn promise. She trusted him, but Bryn often found trouble when he was away. That was why he didn’t go on those missions anymore.
“Well, I’ll be safe all day,” Luykas said, smiling at her. “I’ll be with Leshaun. Another day of the change over from his time as spymaster to mine. We should have started over winter or even last year, once I started talking to Nyria, but I don’t think any of us were ready for how much Leshaun was going to slow down over winter.”
“No, we weren’t,” Mat said softly, looking down at his food. “He hit old age hard.”
“It’s the war,” Luykas said kindly. “Your uncle had centuries left in him, but he’s an elder now. A village consumed with war isn’t the best place for him, and if he sticks around for another few years, it’s only going to take a harder toll on him.”
“I know.” Mat sighed.
“He’s leaving? None of you said that yesterday.” Mave felt a sense of dread. “He’s family. He can’t leave.”
“He won’t be going far,” Mat said gently. “But I’m right there with you, Mave. It’s not going to be easy with him farther than just a short flight away. He’ll probably move out of the Dragon Spine into a new small community where the winters won’t hit quite as hard. We’ll send Blackbloods to him for training, but Seanev is also bringing down an experienced one who works and trains up north to replace Leshaun.”
“Luykas, I’ll go with you to see him today, even if I don’t stick around,” Mave announced, deciding what she wanted to do with her first day back. “When is he moving?”
“In the autumn,” Mat answered. “He’s going to let the mativa set up her new small community without him in the way. The new mativa already agreed to allow him to join her as an elder, someone who will need help and can help with smaller tasks. They know he’s from a place of great respect. It’ll be her honor to have him settle in her community.”
“It will be,” Mave agreed. I’ll make sure she understands it, just in case.
They finished breakfast, and Mave left home with Luykas. It was odd being back in the village after so long, having missed an entire season. The village had changed. She noticed it the day before, but that could have been written off to the excitement of the warriors coming home. Now, it was abundantly clear.
As she and her blood bonded husband walked down the trails, paths, and small roads, she took it all in. There was so much happiness. Everyone was smiling as they talked. Males were joking around as they worked on another new building. The streets were clean. A few children ran around, laughing as they ducked and dove away from their caretakers.
“There’s a war going on,” she whispered.
“Do you think the world paused for the war?” Luykas asked, and she quickly figured out his meaning.
“No, but I don’t even remember the village in Olost being this happy.” She remembered a more somber feeling in Olost, a desperation to hold on to the scraps of Andinna society they could save when they ran from the Empire. This felt rejuvenated.
“Because we weren’t happy in Olost. We’re happy here. And we’re winning. Shadra hasn’t been able to claim a major victory against us yet. If we can stay a step ahead of her, we can win this. Everyone knows it, and it…” he trailed off, looking away from her.
“It’s electrifying,” she said softly. “It’s something in the air that wasn’t as strong when I left on campaign.”
“Yeah,” he agreed softly. “I think it really started after Lothen’s execution. It’s only grown since then with Sen and our other captains coming back with our people in Olost and supplies we needed. Then there’re the victories you brought home yesterday.” He smiled. “This is what we’re fighting for, Mave.”
“It is,” she acknowledged.
They continued their leisurely stroll, Luykas taking her hand as they walked.
Leshaun lived in a very quiet area of the valley in a small wooden house, not a cliffside retreat. A stream ran next to it, made of snowmelt from the mountains rising around them. As they approached, Leshaun came out. He used a cane and leaned on a post that held up the cover for his porch. She took in his wrinkles and pale green eyes, once probably the same vibrant emerald green as Mat’s. His once black hair was now nearly all grey.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite female,” he said with a kind smile. “Mave, how are you, my dear?”
“I’m well,” she said as she went up his steps, Luykas quietly following. “I got back yesterday, but I didn’t see you.”
“The parties of the younger hearts in the village are not for me any longer,” he said, patting her cheek. His hands had more wrinkles than they once did. Since she had met him, time had taken a devastating toll. He was far more aged than she believed he had any right to be. “But I toasted you, Nevyn, Varon, and Kian every night while you were away, with a small glass of wine.”
“You have more grey hair than when I left,” she pointed out softly. He also hunched more and had lost muscle mass. He was no longer a strong, older male, now firmly in the decline that took all old Andinna.
“Stress ages us quickly if we’re not careful, but it’s okay. I’m certain someone has told you I’m retiring fully, and Luykas is taking over my work. I’ll settle into a quiet life and still have at least five hundred years, if not more. Once I’ve handed everything over to others, I’ll have more energy to spend with the family.” He smiled as though he wasn’t worried about his age. “Now, you have two options. You can come inside and sit quietly while Luykas and I work, or you can go. I don’t have the energy to listen to stories of war today, my niece. I must keep teaching him, then take a nap.”