Mak just stood there, arms crossed, as he grinned. He was enjoying this far too much.
“Come in. The food is currently an edible temperature.” Pip’s dacha spun on his heel, opened the door, and gestured for everyone to precede him inside.
Mak pushed away from the wall and strode in first, followed by Pip’s muka. Fieran fell in behind Pip, and as they stepped inside, Pip’s dacha followed after him, shutting the door with a finality that shivered against Fieran’s shoulders.
When they sat at one of the round café tables, Fieran found himself between Mak and Pip and facing Pip’s parents.
The table had already been set with covered dishes crowding the center. The table hadn’t been designed as a family dining table, and with five of them around it, Fieran had to keep his elbows tucked to his sides to avoid bumping Pip and Mak.
For a few minutes, an awkwardly tense silence fell around the table, broken only by the clink of dishes as everyone helped themselves to the chicken, potatoes, and corn that must have come from the officers’ mess since it was recognizable as food.
Pip’s dacha glanced up from his plate to spear Fieran with a look. “Tell us about yourself.”
Where to start? Most of the basics about Fieran’s family were public knowledge.
With a glance at Pip, Fieran started talking. It was, after all, something he was good at.
By the timethey finished supper, Fieran had everyone laughing at his stories, and Pip’s muka was slapping her knee as she guffawed. Surely that was a good sign for Fieran’s chance of a future with Pip.
Pip’s dacha stood and tilted his head toward the door.
A clear order. Fieran pushed out his chair, stood, and followed as Mak took over the conversation.
Pip glanced over her shoulder, but Fieran gave her a smile. Everything was fine. Hopefully. This was merely the conversation he’d been expecting the whole night.
They stepped outside, and Fieran closed the door softly after him. Evening cloaked Fort Defense, the sun setting beyond the Escarlish hills in the distance. To the east, the blue glow of the Wall filled the horizon.
Dwarves still lounged on the various sidewalks and stoops, their laughter and boisterous voices filling the street. Yet the groups were still far enough away that Pip’s dacha and Fieran had a semblance of privacy.
Pip’s dacha led the way around the corner to the alley between the buildings so that they weren’t standing in front of the windows where Pip, Mak, and Pip’s mother would see.
Once they were around the corner, Pip’s dacha turned to Fieran and crossed his arms. He was even slimmer than Fieran’s dacha, lacking the lean muscles of a warrior, nor did his face have the hard edges. Yet his brown eyes were still flinty with fatherly determination. “What are your intentions toward my daughter?”
The standard question, but Fieran could hear the implied layers to it. After all, Fieran wasn’t just any young elf lad. He was a prince in two kingdoms. He could toy with a girl’s affections and leave with few consequences.
As if his own parents would ever let him get away with acting like that.
What were Fieran’s intentions? He drew in a deep breath, then let it out slowly as the question settled deep within him. He called up all the memories of his time with Pip, from that first meeting at Fort Linder to holding her hand on the way home to Aldon.
Straightening his shoulders, he met her dacha’s gaze and held it. “I’d like to marry her someday. She’s the most amazing, talented woman I’ve met. She’s going to go far, and I want to be there when she does. I can’t imagine my life without her.”
From the way her magic interacted with his to how well she got along with his family, he fell more in love with her the more he got to know her.
Her dacha searched Fieran’s face, as if looking for the truth of those words. He must have seen an answer he liked for asmile replaced the flat expression. “Good. Then we will not have a problem.”
Even more surprisingly, he held out his hand for a human-style handshake.
Fieran grasped his hand and shook it firmly. “No, we won’t.”
He resisted the urge to pump his first. Pip’s parents approved.
The war was still ongoing. The future was still very much uncertain. But at least he and Pip were on solid ground. As long as they were together, he could face whatever would come.
Chapter
Twenty-Three
“This is Merrik, Lije, Stickyfingers, Tiny, and Aylia.” Pip gestured to each one as she spoke, the predawn chill wrapping around her as they stood in the street. “Everyone, these are my parents.”
