A Country Falls (Greatest Thief 3)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Our talk did Jalor some good. Over the next few days, he made small, tentative efforts to join the knights. The men were amazing, welcoming him back like nothing had changed. But something had changed, of course. Jalor was not quite himself. He was quieter, less likely to join in on conversations or jokes. Content to just sit and listen. I often found myself wondering what he was thinking about in those moments.

Then one evening, I was in the barracks again, sitting with the knights around a fire when Tannix, Acen and Jalor walked into the little courtyard. Tannix and Acen were beaming, and between them Jalor looked sheepish. We all immediately understood what had happened, but nobody said a word. We waited for Jalor to confirm what we were all thinking.

He looked around the fire, eyes landing on each of us. "Yes," he finally said. "I told Mayah that I'll marry her."

"Congratulations, mate!" Kor said, getting to his feet. He hugged Jalor, and as soon as he stepped back Ender was there to take his place.

"Lord East Draulin," Ender said when he released Jalor. "Who would've ever guessed that two Crelan lads would have both Draulin lords for brothers?"

Jalor swatted his shoulder jovially. "Don't. I don't want to hear the title until I have to." He sidestepped the twins to make his way around our circle, accepting hearty handshakes and thumps on the back from Mandell, Evrik and Joen. He even shook Castin's hand, although they had barely interacted.

After he'd made his rounds and we were all sitting around the fire cradling tankards of something I really didn't enjoy the taste of, the questioning began.

"So," Evrik broached the topic first. "Are you going to tell us how it happened, my friend?"

Acen chuckled. "Don't expect some big romantic story."

"I don't remember your proposal to my cousin being particularly romantic, either," Jalor replied, without looking at Acen. "We were having dinner. Just Tannix, Acen, Mayah and myself. She was talking about the education system she's going to put in place, and I realized... well, no." His eyes caught mine across the circle. "It confirmed what I've always known about her. She cares deeply about every single person in this city, and she wants to help them in every way that she can. So, I asked what I could do to help."

Tannix nodded. "Mayah looked shocked."

"She asked if that meant I was going to stay in East Draulin," Jalor continued. "So, I said that if she would still have me, I would be honoured to stay. And she said that she would have me."

"Well, well, well." Kor shook his tankard with every word. "This'll be your third title, won't it? Lord Jalor from Vasel, Sir Lord Jalor of the West Draulin Guard, Lord Jalor East Draulin."

Jalor groaned.

Tannix laughed. "You'll get used to it."

"And being stalked by guards?" Jalor asked dryly.

"Oh. They're annoying at first, of course," Tannix said. "But you'll get pretty fond of them before long."

Jalor chuckled.

We continued talking, laughing and drinking long into the night. I had decided early on to pass off my tankard to Castin, and so I was the only one of us still completely sober when the twins started to sing.

Kor started it, throwing his arm over Ender's shoulders so dramatically that he spilled half of his drink. "Sailing across the ocean blue."

Without pause, Ender picked up the song, "We're the lads that'll get you through."

"So climb aboard, the bell to ring."

Together, they yelled the next line. "We've got the blood of the Sailor King!"