Loyalty and War

by Devon Vesper

  “You have definitely earned that.” Sovras chuckled. “I wouldn’t take you and Valis away from your adopted fathers for anything. Take a couple of years off. As the Grand Master Aesriphos, you both can take a while off and delegate assignments. Let more rested teams take over that duty. Now that they are trained better, thanks to Valis, there will be much less loss of life in these excursions.”

  Valis sagged at that news. “That’s perfect.”

  “I thought you might like that,” Sovras said.

  Then he straightened and gave them that fatherly smile that Valis loved so much. “I will send you all back to the living world, now.” He stood and held his hand out to Valis, helping him off the ground. Once Valis stood, his childhood friend pulled him into a tight, warm hug that Valis eagerly returned. “I love you, Valis. Take care of him,” Sovras whispered. “Take care of my husband.”

  “It’s my honor,” Valis whispered back. “I promise.”

  When Sovras let him go, he kissed Valis on the forehead, and the world went black.

  “He’s coming around,” Vohan said. “Shit, did they all have to keel over?”

  Shyvus chuckled. “Why not? It’s not like they don’t give us enough heart failure. You should have seen Valis constantly falling off his horse.”

  Valis grunted. “I wasn’t that bad.”

  He regulated his temperature and fought to sit up. When he got up, he felt his father’s warmth enter his mind. You there, Dad?

  I am, Roba said softly. Always.

  “There’s Tavros,” Xetar said. “He’s coming out of it, too. I didn’t even know he had precognition.”

  “He doesn’t,” Valis said. “Sovras pulled us into his world for a chat.”

  Tavros groaned, and soon he sat up with Xetar’s help. “Thyran will be a while. Sovras wants to spend some time alone with him. He asked us to keep Thyran’s body comfortable.”

  “We’ll take him to his quarters,” Valis said. “I’d like to watch over him.”

  Once they got Thyran to his quarters, Tavros took up a chair in the corner of his bedroom while Valis laid his mentor down and kept vigil on the side of Thyran’s bed. He woke three hours later, and when he opened his eyes, he focused on Valis and furrowed his brows. “You waited for me?”

  Valis patted his chest. “I wanted to make sure you were okay when you came out of the vision. I didn’t know Sovras was your husband, so I wanted to make sure you weren’t alone when you woke.”

  Thyran’s eyes turned glassy, but he valiantly blinked the tears away. “Thank you.”

  Valis helped him up and hugged him tight. “Do you need anything? Or would you rather be alone for a while?”

  Thyran seemed to weigh his options, then shook his head. “You boys go on and dote on your fathers. I need to process for a while.”

  Nodding, Valis leaned in and kissed Thyran’s forehead before getting up and heading for the door. “Send someone if you need us.”

  He stroked Tavros’s cheek to wake him up, and once they were halfway down the hall, Kaltani and Netai turned the corner, and Valis waved. “Can you two help me get couriers together to head to all our garrisons and strongholds to spread the word about our victory?”

  Netai nodded. “We’ll do it. Do you need anything else?”

  Valis shook his head. “No. And delegate it to someone else. You two must be as exhausted as we are.”

  She smirked. “It will take all of twenty minutes. It is no bother. Go visit with your fathers.”

  He wasn’t about to argue with that. Now that he’d made sure all his duties were done, or could wait, he all but dragged a still-groggy Tavros behind him until they reached Valis’s fathers’ suite.

  Now that he was home, now that his fathers were safe, now that the world was safe, Valis intended to do his best to make up for lost time.

  “You seem so determined,” Tavros mused as he caught up to walk beside Valis instead of behind him like a banner in the wind.

  “Just eager to meet our future,” Valis said. He bumped shoulders with his husband. “It’s so bright it’s blinding, and it’s time to enjoy the ride.”

  Bonus Chapter

  “I’m gonna get you!”

  Valis glanced up just in time to see Tavros catch his five-year-old niece and toss her in the air. Her squeal made Valis grin, and when Tavros caught her and blew a raspberry against her neck, making her erupt into infectious giggles, Valis shook his head and leaned on the hoe to watch.

  He and Tavros were celebrating their ten-year anniversary at Tavros’s parents’ farm, though it now belonged to Tavros’s younger brother and his wife. They were outside with their parents, Valis, and the seasonal workers they had hired to help bring in the harvest. It felt different than when he’d worked his father’s farm back in Evakis. He wasn’t under fear of a beating if he didn’t work fast or hard enough, or if he needed a lavatory or food break.

  I am so sorry, my son, Roba said. Valis smiled at the apologetic tone. Over eleven years of having his dad’s spirit in his head, and he still carried so much guilt no matter how many times and ways Valis had told him he’d forgiven him.

  You’ve more than made up for it, Dad. You don’t have to apologize anymore. He closed his eyes and meditated, having gotten very good at it over the years. He no longer even needed to sit.

  He made it to the lake of his roiling power, and there his dad stood, looking so contrite that it melted Valis’s heart. He held his arms open, and Roba hesitantly walked over. Valis wrapped him in a tight hug that made his dad purr and lay his head on Valis’s shoulder.

  Valis stroked his long, golden hair and kissed the side of his head. “I love you, Dad. Those years are over. You’ve come so far. Don’t beat yourself up for something you really had no choice in. Sovras needed you to be as you were so I could be ready for what came later.”

  “I know,” Roba murmured. “It just hurts.”

  “One day,” Valis said against his dad’s hair, the flyaways tickling his nose and cheeks, “one day I hope it doesn’t hurt anymore.” He rocked them side to side, just the way Roba liked. “One day I hope you’ll be free. You’re my dad, and I want you to always enjoy the time we have together without that black cloud hanging over your head. You don’t need it anymore. We don’t need it anymore.”

  Roba nodded and pulled back just enough for Valis to kiss his forehead. “Now, I have to help bring in this harvest. It actually makes me homesick.”

  His dad tilted his head. “Homesick?”

  “Yeah.” Valis gave a wistful sigh. “I liked the hired hands. They told great stories while we worked. Some of them lied to protect me. Mom used to come out and sneak me cookies or a sandwich. There were some good times, even if I couldn’t appreciate it at the time.”

  “I’m glad,” Roba whispered.

  “Valis!”

  “That’s my cue to get back to reality.” He gave Roba another tight hug and opened his eyes to the real world just as Aenali threw herself at him, certain he’d catch her.

  “Ugh,” she said. “You’re all sweaty!”

  Valis chuckled and kissed her shoulder. “I missed you, too, dollface.”

  She had grown up into such a beautiful young woman. At just eighteen years, she’d filled out, grown taller, and now had her own students. She taught reading, writing, and magic theory and practice. The mages who came from her classes always impressed Valis with their skills.

  “Did you bring your dad?” Her mother had died not long ago, so she tried to include him in as many things as she could.

  “Yes,” Aenali said. She glanced back at Tavros’s childhood home. “Jedai and Maphias are here, too. I saw Seza and Zhasina, and they should be here in a few minutes. They were still unpacking from their trip in from Loron.”

  “And Aryn?”

  She grinned. “He and his husband left at the same time we did, so they should be here anytime, too. They convinced Shyvus, Phalin, Brogan, Rylas, Cassavin, Nevesar, Thyran, Brother Bachris, Sist
er Qisryn, Jintas, Kaltani, Netai, Isophel, Ephala, Xetar, and Vohan to come, too. So they’re riding slower and as a group since only Aryn knows the way by heart.”

  Valis laughed. “We don’t have room for all of them!”

  “We’ll make room,” Dyna called. “We can always eat outside. It’s a beautiful day.”

  “True,” Valis called back to his mother-in-law—Tavros’s mother.

  He turned his attention back to Aenali and grinned. She wore her curly auburn hair long now. Today she had it braided with blue ribbon weaved into the plait to her nape where it was tied off with the ribbon and allowed to hang freely without fetters. She hadn’t grown out of her big green doe eyes. They seemed bigger than ever, making her look like some exotic beauty. Gods, where did the time go? She was barely up to my waist what seems like hours ago.

  “I grew up, silly,” Aenali said, having read his mind. She had become so powerful in such a short time. So powerful that their current Sovereign Priest, Kyris Yavih, was training her—with Thyran’s blessing and recommendation—to become her replacement for when Kyris decided to retire from the position.

  “You grew up too fast,” Valis teased. “I miss getting bossed around by a midget.”

  She chuckled and gave his chest a playful swat. “Come help me get everything ready.”

  Leave it to Aenali to take over dinner preparations. Valis didn’t argue, just put his hoe in the shed of tools and headed for the kitchen to wash up.

  As he went back outside to start assembling makeshift tables out of slabs of wood and sawhorses with sturdy harvest baskets as extra seats, Valis grinned as Kerac and Darolen approached with baskets full of apples and pears from the orchards at the back of the property.

  Both men had filled out beautifully. Darolen had bulked back up to his former body shape before the Qos adherent army captured him and Kerac. It was almost as if he hadn’t gotten so sick and frail that he’d almost died.

  Both men kissed his cheeks as they walked past, making Valis grin and making him warm all over as if they’d wrapped him in a warm blanket made out of their love.

  “Where do you want these?” Darolen asked Tavros’s younger brother, Veodore. He was the second oldest of the four brothers, with Aryn as the youngest.

  Veodore stuck his head outside and motioned for them to come in. “Wife wants to bake pies tonight, so bring them on in, gents. Thanks.”

  Not long after, the front lawn held so many people that Valis started to get a little overwhelmed. Aenali seemed to sense it and sauntered over and pressed a toddler in his arms. Valis looked down at the wide blue eyes of Veodore’s youngest daughter, Sessilie. She cooed at him around a piece of skinned apple she was munching on. But it did the trick. The moment her weight settled on him, he relaxed and kissed the top of the child’s head.

  “You were meant to be a father,” Aryn said as he came over. He hugged Valis from the side that didn’t have a child attached to it. He hummed happily as Valis kissed the side of his head. “But it isn’t like you have a shortage of children to spoil.”

  “Right?” Valis laughed. “Come on, let’s get things settled and get the food on the table.

  Tavros waylaid him with a sweet, slow kiss. His hand rested on his niece’s back, and when he pulled away, he ruffled her black hair. Valis looked into his eyes, and it hit him right in the chest. Tavros’s eyes no longer held the hardness of a man who had seen too much death and hardship. Now, they were a clear, crystalline gray that grew stormy when he was aroused or angry. Now, they were warm and inviting, and when he smiled, it brightened his eyes like silver stars.

  They were still healing, but they had come a long way from how traumatized they were when they’d arrived back in Avristin after defeating the former Sovereign Priest of Qos and his monastery of dark priests. Regular therapy with Sister Qisryn helped.

  Tavros had grown so much, and Valis couldn’t be prouder.

  “What are we doing for the Autumn Festival,” Tavros asked. “Are we—”

  Aenali came up behind Tavros and rested her chin on his shoulder. “We are going to play games and have fun in Cadoras. Then we are going to watch the fireworks display. Then you two can do what you want, but your nieces and nephews will want to do everything, so we need all hands in the square, so we don’t lose kids.”

  Valis chuckled and glanced at the child in his arms. “You wouldn’t make me run after you, would you?”

  Sessilie giggled. “Run!”

  “Well poopsicles,” Valis said on a sigh.

  “Gods, Valis,” Veodore said as he brought out two covered dishes. “Don’t teach her that!”

  “Better than teaching her ‘shit.’”

  “Shit!” squealed Sessilie.

  Veodore groaned and went about setting the table with over a dozen helpers while all his nieces and nephews attacked Valis like he was some kind of child magnet. He didn’t mind, though. As he looked around, Valis hugged Sessilie tighter to him.

  He’d never thought he would have such a huge, loving, normal family. How far had he come from that craven boy who refused to trust anyone for so long until Kerac and Darolen had come and broken his bubble of fear?

  As if he sensed Valis’s thoughts, Kerac looked up and gave him a sweet smile that lit up the entire afternoon.

  Valis threaded his fingers into his nephew’s black hair and hugged him to his hip. “Thank you, Sovras, for my family.”

  THE END

  Want to Know More About God Jars?

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  Also by Devon Vesper

  The God Jars Saga

  Saviors

  Avristin

  Possessed

  Support

  Mentor

  Betrayal

  Marshal

  Anchors

  Incursion

  The God Jars Saga Boxed Sets

  Duty and Sacrifice

  Purity and Control

  Loyalty and War

  About the Author

  I'm a mother, furbaby spoiler, and a girl who can't get enough of pretty, pretty boys. As a kid, I traveled the world, too young to appreciate the gift I was given, but now those adventures spur on stories that my brain just can't keep up with. Well, my brain tells me it keeps up just fine, but my fingers are the slow ones. I'll let you decide. But the boys, man. The boys I remember make my heart sizzle looking back on them. Being a kid at nude beaches, I never cared, but looking back on those memories of Sicily, WHEW! There are some really great childhood images that I wish I could have been an adult to savor.

  Home is some place I call "rustic". I'm used to large cities, stores everywhere, gas stations on every corner. Here in rural Pennsylvania, it's rustic and beautiful. And quiet. Too quiet. With all this quiet, all there is to do is write stories, and let the hot men in my head out to play. We all benefit, yes? I like this development. The only thing I dislike about this rusticness is the fact I can't find a coffee shop that sells a proper chai latte. They make it from powder. Ew. This makes for a disgruntled Dev. Ugh. I miss my chai.

  Most of all, I am a down-to-earth sout
hern girl at heart from spending 16 years in Florida. If you chat with me, you'll hear endearments like darlin', sweetheart, and hon/hun/hunnie. It's who I am, and if we chat, you're almost instantly family, so get used to it.

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  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading the God Jars Saga! I hope you enjoyed it. Valis has been one of my favorite characters since 2014, and I'm so stoked I get to share him and his adventures with you!

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  Devon Vesper