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“I mean, they could get a divorce. That’s a legal process to break up a marriage. But the ideal is to stay together forever.”

“Forever?” His mind raced, realizing her conception of what was happening gave him an advantage.

Sadie blinked drowsily. “Is that not how marriage works on Rath-er-in?”

He didn’t want to lie, but he wasn’t about to tell the truth, either. Also, she was still pronouncing it wrong. “There are few women on Rtaharion.”

“Is that why you left?”

“No, I had an argument with my brother. It happens often.” Their bickering seemed stupid now. He would give all four of his arms to see Hathgarr again. For so long, he’d thought he’d die with the last words they’d spoken being shouts of anger. Now, because of Sadie, he had a chance to fix that. “Hathgarr is very arrogant. I am the same, I suppose. But he is older, and this gives him a certainty that he is always right. He can be…”

“Bossy?” She suggested when he trailed off.

The word made him smile a bit. Xane was fairly sure no one had ever called Hathgarr the Ravaging Death King ‘bossy’ before.

“Bossy.” He agreed. “I wished for land of my own, to be free of his bossiness. So, I bought a ranch. It was expensive.”

“You have a ranch?” Her voice grew enthusiastic. “My grandfather had a farm. I grew up there.”

“Your grandsire owned land?” His eyebrows compressed. “Was he royalty?”

“He raised turkeys in Indiana. I wanted to keep the farm, after he died, but I was young and the damn bank…” She stopped and shook her head. “Well, it was a long time ago.”

“What are turkeys?” Xane asked, not liking to see her sad.

“Birds you can eat.”

Xane debated asking what “birds” were, but decided against it. He didn’t want Sadie to think he was ignorant.

“Turkeys are especially popular during the holidays, which is, I guess, why Christmas always meant so much to me. I felt like Grandpa helped make it magical for everyone else’s families, even though ours was small.” She gave a wistful sigh. “My grandparents met at a 4-H fair, when they were teenagers. My grandfather was showing a sheep he’d raised, and my grandmother was watching from the crowd.”

The word “sheep” translated to a creature close to agratmyrr. “Your grandmatron chose her husband based on his livestock?” He nodded in approval. That decision made sense. “I raisegratmyrron my ranch. They are valuable creatures.”

“Grandma liked sheep, but that’s not what attracted her to Grandpa. The sheep knocked him down and he ended up losing the blue ribbon. But, instead of getting upset, he laughed it off and took a little bow to the crowd. She knew right then he was the man she’d spend the rest of her life with.”

The idea of a woman choosing a man forever was so far out of Xane’s experience that he couldn’t even conceive of it. Especially one who lost a contest to agratmyrr.

Sadie dwelled on her memories. “She and my parents died in a fire, when I was eleven, so then it was just Grandpa and me. But he loved to tell that story. It was kinda the same for my mom. She saw my dad walking into a pizza place, and she blocked his car in the parking lot, so he couldn’t leave until he talked to her. She knew he was the one, from across the strip mall. Grandpa said that’s pretty normal for the women in our family.”

Xane very much doubted any women in the Malone line were “normal.”

“Sometimes you fall for somebody before you even know their name. That’s what Mom told me, once. Do you believe that?” She didn’t give him time to answer. “Probably not. You seem very practical. You like math-y things that make provable sense, right?”

Nothing his new wife said made any sense at all, but he liked her just fine. “Go to sleep.” He ordered, instead of explaining the odd feelings that she created within him.

“How long since you were captured?” She asked, ignoring the demand.

“Two years, forty-six days. That is inyourtime measurement.” Xane told her, before she could ask. “The translator converts it automatically.”

“That’s such a long time.” She murmured. “Do you think your brother is looking for you?”

He paused, considering it. Hathgarr and Xane had many fights. Spoke many harsh words. Threw each other through many thick walls. But Xane’s bond with his brother was absolute. And he had to believe that Hathgarr’s bond with him was just as strong.

“Yes.” He said quietly. “He’s looking for me.”

“Can you use this ship to call him or something? Can he help us?”

Xane made a face at the idea of asking his older brother for help. “Hathgarr would never let me live it down if I requested his aid. He always believed I am weak. All through my childhood, he would hover over me, making sure I was safe.”