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Deep within the palace garden, there is a vine-covered arbor protecting an ancient stone bench. It’s a difficult place to find, but only if you don’t already know where it is. With a bottle of wine in one hand and rum in the other, Nika sits on the ground beside the bench. Wordlessly, she uncorks and hands the bottle of wine to Lucio, who takes it after a moment.
“Am I really so predictable?” he asks listlessly.
“To those who know you,” Nika replies. She takes a swig of the rum and listens to the garden’s wildlife. It is silent between them for a long time. “Are you going to talk about it?”
Lucio keeps his petulant silence. Nika’s lips quirk in a grin and she takes another sip of her rum, sighing in satisfaction. “The rum you have in the cellar is quite good,” she says, “but not nearly as good as the rum we stole from those pirates.” Lucio chokes on his wine.
“That shit was awful!” he wheezes indelicately.
“It’s better than that shitty wine,” Nika counters. “Its glorified grape juice!”
“No! It is a beautiful balance between the sweetness of cherry and spiciness of cinnamon.” They both freeze after their expressions and then burst into laughter, at each other and their ridiculous attitudes. “You’ve always hated wine,” Lucio says between chuckles.
“And you’ve always hated hard liquor, especially after that day,” Nika adds. She chuckles again quietly and looks up at the darkening sky, watching as the stars twinkle to life one by one. “What do you think the stars make of our lives?” she asks.
“Well, they think I have made the best choices,” Lucio says. Nika chokes a laugh.
“I’m sure the stars are very proud of your choices, no matter how questionable they may be,” she says with a wink. Lucio shoots her a look but then looks at the dusky sky.
“Do you remember when we looked up at the stars like this, far from here in the desert? The sky was so clear then...”
“If I recall correctly,” Nika snorts, “We were dying of thirst.” Lucio looks to her in confusion.
“We were?” Nika laughs even harder than before.
“Yes!” she says. “We passed out in the desert sands and were lucky someone from the convoy came back and picked our asses up.” She descends into a fit of giggles. Lucio grins.
“I don’t remember it like that,” he says and takes a large swig of his wine. Nika sticks her tongue out at him.
“Oh, don’t be silly. It was romantic.” Nika takes another swig of rum. “Strange how far our lives have come since then,” she comments. Lucio grunts in agreement. Nika turns to him and leans against the bench.
“Sometimes I miss our mercenary days,” she says. “Always travelling, always working, excitement around every corner.” She winces and continues, “but also death. So much death and airing out people’s dirty laundry. I don’t miss that.”
“Our lives are much quieter now by comparison.”
“Mine maybe,” Nika says with a wink. It’s silent again, but companionable.
“I’m sorry,” Lucio quietly says after a moment. Nika cups a hand around her ear.
“What was that?” she teases. Lucio pushes her over with his foot, leaving her laughing in the grass.
“I said I was sorry,” he repeats. “I shouldn’t have snapped at you today.”
“Apology accepted,” Nika says without hesitation. She stands and reaches a hand towards him. “Do you feel better?” Lucio struggles to contain his smile around the mouth of the wine bottle.
“Yes, unsurprisingly,” he says after he takes another sip. She smiles that blinding smile at him and he takes her hand. She pulls him up from the bench and raises her bottle in a toast underneath the light of the stars.
“To what awaits,” she says.
“Cheers,” he says and clinks their bottles together.