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I thought it was an excellent idea.

Tuck requested the use of the eastern range and kitchen garden once the roof was repaired. He wanted to provide shelter for families displaced by Fitzwalter's soldiers.

He also suggested keeping rooms available for Omegas who needed somewhere safe during their heats. Sefa immediately announced that she'd require the room above those quarters.

Nobody argued. Much looked around the smoky hall.

"So that's it?"

I turned toward him. "What?"

"We're respectable now?"

Merry snorted. "Speak for yourself."

Little John glanced down at his clothes. "Does that mean we're expected to dress properly?"

"Only when the King visits," I said.

Tuck smiled. "And when will that be?"

"Hopefully never."

The room erupted in laughter.

I looked around at the people who'd become my family. For six years, we'd lived beneath the trees, sleeping in shelters and hiding from soldiers.

Now we were standing inside a hall that belonged to us. It needed a new roof. And better chimneys.

But it was a beginning.

I found Guy in my father's study that evening.

It was one of the few rooms Fitzwalter's men hadn't bothered looting.

There'd been nothing particularly valuable inside.

Just maps, old records, and shelves full of books about land management.

Guy sat behind the desk with his sleeves rolled up.

Two candles burned beside him.

He'd spread the drainage plans across the wood and was making notes in a column of figures. I stood in the doorway for a moment, watching him.

Something about the sight made my chest ache. I was twenty-four years old. And I couldn't remember the last time I'd stood in the doorway of a warm room, watching someone I loved doing something ordinary, without wondering when I'd have to leave.

Guy dipped his pen into the ink.

"You're staring."

"You're sitting at my father's desk."

"I'm looking at your drainage plans."

"Very romantic."

"I've been told I'm exceptionally charming."