Page 63 of Garden of Poisoned Delights

He looked down. Malik, his oldest, was tugging on his arm. Malik looked almost exactly like his father, Evander, but he had the personality of an elder politician who couldn’t believe he’d been saddled with such ridiculous adults. He took everything seriously, from the complex social lives of his favorite dolls to “Daddy Time,” when he stood at the door with his favorite ribbon dragon doll in a bag at his side and waited for Aleks to get ready for their daily outing.

“You were away again,” Malik said, frowning slightly. Aleks squeezed his hand. His trip to the river had taken only a moment, but it didn’t matter—Malik always seemed to know when Aleks was off at his second job.

“That’s right, I was. I wanted to check on your wind chime. I didn’t take anyone across.” Aleks didn’t really see the point in lying to Malik about why people called him a ferryman. Malik took it in stride, just as he had when he’d learned that his grandpa in Lukos could turn into a wolf. The only thing that fazed him was a brief period when he’d been a toddler and he decided, quite suddenly, that beards were fucking terrifying. Evander had been constantly shaving for a good six months. Wolves and ferrymen, he could handle.

“I don’t think I want to move boats when I grow up,” Malik said, staring at the ground as Aleks led them away from the tattoo parlor. Aleks’s new tattoo was on his shoulder, half hidden by his sleeve, but the puffy skin was already healed and smooth when Aleks checked. “I want to do something else.”

“That’s all right. You don’t have to move boats.” Aleks grabbed a hat from his bag as they stepped into the street, and Malik sighed heavily as Aleks pulled it over his curls. “You don’t have to be Strategos either, you know.”

“No, I’m gonna,” Malik adjusted his hat, “and I’m gonna send hats to Staria.”

“Yeah, yeah, but I’m the boss of hats right now, and it stays on your head until you’re inside.”

Malik sighed again. “When I’m the boss of hats?—”

“I’ll be boss forever, kiddo, it’s part of being a dad.”

Malik squinted at him. “You’re making things up again.”

“Only a little.”

“So how do I become a dad?” Malik asked. Aleks tried not to grin.

“Ask your mother when she comes back with Kataida.” Elena was going to kill him for setting her up for that conversation. He smiled at the thought of it. “Look, there’s Caius’s house!”

Malik started hopping on his toes. He loved Caius, who was about as unserious as Aleks, but had the benefit of actually being a politician. He was from Katoikos, technically, which was a long, long story, but he’d taken to Arktos like a fish to water. Malik had already decided that Caius would be on his council when he became Strategos, and Caius was amazing with kids, so the only downside of getting Caius to babysit was convincing Malik to go home.

Caius opened the door as soon as Malik knocked. He was dressed in embroidered cotton and smelled of citrus and cinnamon, and there were pastries on the table behind him. Malik immediately went for the table, and Aleks grinned.

“He ate cookies at the tattoo place, so watch out,” he said, handing over his bag. “His stuffed dragon had an incident yesterday and got stitched up, so he’ll want you to look it over to make sure the wound isn’t infected.”

“Yes, that’s a very serious concern.” Caius slung the bag over a shoulder. “Do you want to come in? I just got new earrings from Katoikos that I think you might like.”

“Tempting, but I need to show Evander the new tattoo before someone else tips him off.” Aleks tapped his shoulder. “Where’s the big guy?”

“Asleep. We’re having a rough day,” Caius added, raising his voice. Malik turned, mouth full of pastry, and nodded. Caius turned back to Aleks. “Sorry. He’d say hello, but maybe he’ll be up for it when you come by later.”

“No pressure.” Aleks leaned in the doorway. “Malik. You’ll be respectful?”

Malik nodded. “I’ll draw him a picture.”

“He’s a good kid,” Caius said. “I’ll try not to overload him on sugar.”

Malik, who’d already eaten one pastry, stuffed two more down his shirt before Caius was done speaking.

“Good luck with that.” Aleks waved goodbye to Malik, who of course was too focused on how cool Caius’s house was to do more than grunt, so he left Caius to the inevitable chaos.

Evander wasn’t likely to be home yet, and Elena was off on a trip with Kataida, so Aleks made his way to the civic building. The soldiers at the doors smiled as Aleks passed, and Aleks traipsed right by the reception desk and into Evander’s office. Evander was alone, looking over a map and a sheaf of papers, and he looked up with a raised brow as Aleks locked the door behind him.

“Are you busy?” Aleks asked, heading for the other door.

“The new king of Staria wants to send a delegation, so yes.”

“Okay, so you’re not busy-busy.” Aleks turned to smile at Evander as he locked the other door. “Staria doesn’t count.”

“Don’t let my people hear you say that.” Evander tried to look stern, but Aleks just pointedly pushed the papers aside and shimmied onto the desk in front of him. He rolled up his left sleeve and leaned forward, making Evander grab him by the waist to steady him.

“Got a new one,” Aleks said. Maybe he flexed his bicep a little when Evander’s gaze flicked to his arm, but it was worth it to see Evander’s expression go hot and possessive, and for him to run a hand up Aleks’s side to touch the new tattoo.

---