Chapter Text
Six months…
‘Stop worrying,’ Kai laughed and lightly touched Irene’s wrist before kissing her temple. ‘You have never been tidy and Bradamant knows this.’
‘I am not worrying about her judging the mess,’ Irene sighed. ‘I am worried that she will either just not show up or it’ll turn out we were wrong and other than a one-off, we don’t work outside of letters and emails.’
‘You are overthinking things,’ Kai said. ‘You have read the same letters that I have, and maybe more. She cannot wait to get back here and see you again.’
‘She can’t wait to see you either,’ Irene said and Kai beamed. ‘Look at you, preening like a swan. I know you are hiding her letters around here somewhere.’
‘Shoebox in the closet,’ He shrugged. ‘Hardly well hidden,’ He kissed her again. ‘Don’t worry. I’m nervous too. I can’t wait to see her.’
‘I am going to get changed,’ Irene said, wiping clammy hands on her shirt. ‘I was thinking of that red dress, the one that I got last month,’ Kai’s smile slowly widened. ‘Is that a yes?’ He nodded. ‘Keep an eye on dinner, I won't take long.’
‘Take all of the time that you need, though if you need help to get dressed…’
‘Undressed more like it.’
Kai was just pulling food out of the oven when the doorbell rang and Irene all but ran to answer it. Bradamant stood in the doorway, fur-trimmed cape draped around her shoulders and her hands tightly clasping the handle of her suitcase, she seemed surprised that Irene had answered the door so quickly.
‘Hi,’ Irene breathed, words quickly leaving her to instead smile.
‘Hi.’
Kai took the small case up to the bedroom whilst Irene poured drinks.
‘You look a lot better than you did last I saw you,’ Kai said as he accepted his glass. She did, she was practically glowing, her hair freshly cut and gone was the deep tiredness behind her eyes. ‘You are just beautiful,’ Bradamant raised her glass to him.
‘Flatterer.’
‘How long are you staying for?’ Irene asked, suddenly worried that maybe they would only get a few hours, she’d brought a case but maybe she would be going straight off, into danger. Bradamant seemed to sense her worries and reached over to touch her hand.
‘A week,’ She said. ‘I tried to argue for more, that I would help you out whilst I was here, but Kostchei wasn't letting that slide. So one week, and he will probably be unhappy if I don’t come back with at least one rare book.’
‘I can deal with that,’ Irene nodded. One week. That was okay. She looked to Kai. It was better than one day, and at least she had it easier, if they were both in the Library, they would be able to snatch time together, even if it was just a few minutes.
Kai got letters and emails passed through Irene. He hadn't seen her since Irene had dragged him into the Library to stop her.
He was smiling at them both though.
‘We can leave Irene to fetch the book, I owe you dinner,’ He winked at Irene.
‘And let me miss out on the fun? Hardly,’ She smiled. ‘I shall have that promised dinner and Irene and I shall be going to steal that book.’
‘Having your cake and eating it too, madam?’
Irene threw the bolt across the door, locking it behind her as Bradamant pulled their stolen book out from underneath her coat with a grin and wicked gleam in her eyes.
‘That shouldn’t have been so fun,’ Bradamant tilted her head back as she laughed. Irene gladly took the opportunity to lurch forward, cradling Bradamant’s jaw in her hands and stealing a kiss.
‘We can put that in the safe and you can take it home at the end of the week,’ Irene said. ‘Come on, Kai will still be awake,’ Bradamant smiled knowingly.
Irene locked the book away as Bradamant headed straight upstairs without waiting for them. She heard the bedroom door open and shut before hearing a soft oh from Kai. Both of the women had gone out in trousers and Kai had expressed his appreciation of the way that they looked before they had headed out into the smoggy night.
It wasn't quite a leather catsuit, but he didn’t seem to mind that much and before they had left, Bradamant had whispered something to Kai that Irene hadn't heard but had made Kai choke and turn pink.
Kai tucked the pressed flower into the pages of Bradamant’s book whilst she freshened up the pot of tea, along with a note telling her when she should be ready for dinner that night. Irene was out with Catherine for the day leaving him and Bradamant with a lazy day for themselves.
Bradamant put the tea down and picked up her book again, Kai’s note sliding out onto her lap. She picked it up and read it before setting it to one side in complete silence.
Dinner was in a quiet restaurant, Kai could have chosen somewhere nicer, more lively, but he enjoyed the more subdued atmosphere, it made conversing easier and there were less tuts as he ignored propriety and reached across the table to squeeze Bradamant’s hand.
‘Do you bring Irene here?’
‘No,’ Kai shook his head. ‘I wanted somewhere new, where I haven't already taken Irene. Somewhere just for us,’ She looked at their hands, her fingers tensing around his.
‘Our first date.’
‘Finally,’ Kai said. ‘The letters have been nice and all, and thank you very much for that copy of the Red Room, it was an excellent deviation from the usual versions,’ She had sent it via Irene for Kai’s birthday.
‘I wasn't sure if you would like it or not, I have to go through your books so I know what you may enjoy next,’ Irene did the same thing, any book that she thought Kai would like got snuck in between folders for work.
Bradamant picked up her wine. ‘It has been a while since I have been on a date, at least a decade, maybe longer?’
‘Really?’
‘The work doesn’t really lend itself to relationships,’ Bradamant shrugged. ‘I am not counting what I did to get books, naturally.’
‘Of course not,’ Kai shook his head. He and Irene tried to go out as much as they could, to new restaurants, exhibitions, the odd foray into a new world or an old one. ‘Hopefully, I can make up for the decade of no dates.’
‘I am sure that you will more than exceed expectations.’
One year…
‘What are you going to do now that Catherine is off doing her own thing?’ Bradamant asked. ‘Empty nest and all of that.’
‘I’m not taking on a new student,’ Irene leant her head on Bradamant’s shoulder, she folded her arm around Irene. ‘I don’t- I think if I had a new student straight away I would get angry that they aren’t Catherine.’
‘What about all of the work that she did?’ Irene sighed.
‘I don’t know yet. I will have to see how much I can get done alone, anything else, I will have to request people to come out and collect things for me,’ She didn’t really want to do that, it meant she would have to sort out background information, disguises, then find people to take on the jobs, that sounded worse than just going it alone for the first time since Kai had landed into her life.
She didn’t like that idea.
‘You could come and help me,’ She said slowly, not looking up. Bradamant’s arm tightened around her. Irene swallowed. She had discussed this with Kai as she had sat in Catherine’s empty bedroom and tried not to cry.
‘You could stay this time,’ Bradamant buried her face in Irene’s hair and breathed in sea salt and ink. She couldn’t get enough of that smell. It lingered on her skin and in her hair, trapped between the folds of her clothes.
‘I don’t know,’ Bradamant held Irene tightly, expecting her to withdraw at the first sign of rejection. ‘I- I want to, but I also don’t want to give up what I have too, I will miss the travel.’
‘Ok.’
‘Ok?’
‘I understand, I wouldn't want to push you,’ Irene said.
‘We could find a compromise and take it to the elders though,’ Irene sat up. Bradamant smiled. ‘What about… what about I am here for maybe one week a month, I help with what you are behind on, spend time with you and Kai who is terrible at not hiding behind doors and not getting caught!’
‘I didn’t want to interrupt!’ Kai laughed. ‘I was trying to leave you to it but thought you would hear me going back down.’
‘Get in here,’ Bradamant clicked her fingers. He scuttled in the room and shut the door behind him, not that they had to worry about Catherine walking in now. ‘How does that sound to you both? If they will accept it as an option.’
‘Bigger bed?’
‘I mean, it would help?’ Bradamant crossed her arms. ‘But I don’t think it would really fit. Besides, with me only here for a week at a time, there isn't much point.’
‘There is a point if it makes you more comfortable.’
‘Sap.’
‘Hardly. You cannot do a good job if you can’t sleep properly or wake up stiff and aching,’ Kai said. ‘I suppose we don’t all have to sleep in the same bed every single night that you are here, if anyone is out late or going out early, maybe the best solution is for someone to sleep in the spare room as to not disturb the others.’
‘So… sex bed?’ Bradamant gestured to the bed in the master room, the bed that Irene was reclining on ignoring her partners in favour of reading. She sighed and turned the page.
‘I am not opposed to that suggestion,’ She said, still reading. ‘But use the bed in the spare room for that, this one is more comfortable and I would like to keep sleeping in it.’
‘We will sort something out,’ Bradamant said. ‘It doesn’t matter right now.’
‘I’m home!’ Bradamant kicked her shoes off and hung her coat up. ‘I am absolutely starving and raiding your kitchen!’
‘Our kitchen!’ Irene shouted from upstairs. ‘We’ll be done in just a minute.’
Bradamant could walk the kitchen blindfolded now, she made herself a plate of toast and a cup of tea, carrying it into the lounge and making herself comfortable on the green chaise lounge, tucking her feet underneath a blanket tossed across the end.
Kai grinned as he stuck his head around the door. ‘You will never guess what Irene managed to do last-’
‘Kai!’
‘She is still embarrassed,’ He said. ‘I’ll tell you when she isnt listening in on every conversation in the house.’
‘Will that ever happen?’ Kai kissed her temple. ‘How have you been since I last saw you both?’
‘Irene is exhausted, she is going to need a lot of help this month, I don’t know how much relaxing any of us are going to get done, she has three retrievals to set up, one of which will need a detailed cover identity.’
‘Oh joy,’ She offered him a piece of toast, Kai leant forward and took a bite of it whilst she still held it. ‘There is never a dull moment here is there?’
‘Never.’
Kai sighed. Irene was asleep at her desk, again. The second time this week. Bradamant was half asleep at his desk, her head rested in her hand and her pen idled on the page.
‘You two never know when to take a break, do you?’ Kai said, making her jump out of her skin. ‘Go to bed, I will carry her up.’
‘I just need to get this finished,’ She yawned and stretched. ‘The more I get done tonight the less we have to do tomorrow. And the less that Irene will need to do next week.’
‘But you still have to rest,’ Kai said. ‘Go, or I will carry you as well,’ She arched a brow. ‘No, you are exhausted. In the morning,’ Bradamant snorted.
‘Fine. You are coming up too?’
‘I will be right behind you with this one,’ He had to peel a piece of paper off Irene’s face before hoisting her up into his arms and carrying her up the stairs behind Bradamant. ‘How long have you been working?’
‘I didn’t bother to keep track.’ She said. Bradamant flung herself onto the bed and Kai deposited Irene down just beside her. It was a challenge to strip her down to her chemise without waking her, but between them they managed it and they settled with Irene between them, her head nestled against Bradamant’s chest, her badly against Kai.
‘I know you are here to help, but now I can't help but think that you both need to take it easy.’
Five years…
‘I am not moving,’ Bradamant muttered, her face against Irene’s stomach. Irene stroked her fingers along the scars on her back, tracing around the edge of them.
‘You will have to, I am hungry,’ Irene said. ‘Maybe not yet, but eventually.’
‘No, I am staying here, god dammit Melusine herself can drag me back to the Library for all I care,’ She said, raising her head just enough to speak. ‘I don’t think this compromise thing is working any more.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t want to leave, but I know that I have to,’ she sighed. ‘Unless we are married, they will never give us the same benefits that married couples do, they’ll give every excuse not to let me stay here full time.’
‘I mean, the simple solution there is that you are just going to have to marry me then,’ Irene replied as if it was the most obvious solution in the world.
Bradamant, constantly elegant, constantly ladylike, snorting against Irene’s blouse. ‘Very funny.’
‘Get off me a minute? Bradamant sat up with a great deal of reluctance, flopping onto the patch of bed that Irene had vacated. She had been on a long assignment before eturning to the embassy to see Irene and Kai, it had been nearly three months since she had last had the chance to see them.
‘What are you doing?’ Bradamant called as Irene left the bedroom and she heard her trot downstairs, calling Kai’s name before she heard both of them heading back upstairs. ‘What on earth are you up to?’
‘I was planning something a little bit nicer than this,’ Irene said. ‘But you started the conversation so…’ She rifled in the bedside table and pulled out a small red box.
‘No,’ Bradamant sat up. ‘No, you are not doing that after I made fun of you,’ Irene grinned. ‘Kai, talk some sense into our woman.’ Kai sat down next to her.
‘It would solve your problem,’ Irene said.
‘You cannot just propose to fix our problems.’
‘I can, but no, I want to propose to you because I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you,’ Irene smiled. ‘I was going to propose when you were back anyway.’
‘She was, we went to pick the ring together a few weeks ago,’ Kai reached over and squeezed Bradamant’s hand.
‘Because it makes sense,’ Bradamant said.
‘Because,’ Irene put the ring down on the side and knelt on the edge of the bed, reading out to cup Bradamant’s face. ‘Because I love you and yes, it makes sense, but I would marry you for any reason or no reason at all. Because I love you and I want to marry you.’
Bradamant swallowed and looked at Kai.
‘If I thought it would go over well, I would ask you as well,’ He smiled. ‘Say yes, love.’
Bradamant looked between the two. ‘You two have been together for longer.’
‘And we always knew that our relationship,’ Irene said. ‘Or yours and Kai’s, could never be on those terms. But ours can. If you want it to be.’
‘I want a proper proposal,’ Bradamant said. ‘None of this,’ She waved her hand around. ‘Proposal of convenience rubbish,’ Irene nodded. ‘I want Kai to be there for that one too.’
‘Of course,’ Kai kissed her temple.
Kai leant over the wall and grabbed Irene’s wrist, hauling her up to the top of the wall before doing the same for Bradamant. All three jumped down the other side in near perfect unison.
‘How much further?’ Kai asked. It was very rare that Irene invited him along to steal a book, but she had insisted with a glint in her eyes that he knew too well. She had a plan.
‘Just the next street,’ Irene said. ‘I told you that it wasn't too far.’
‘Why didn’t you send someone else to deal with this one?’ Bradamant asked. ‘It’s so near to your house, it could backfire.’
‘That's why we have taken a very broken up route,’ Irene explained, they had climbed walls and ducked down narrow alleys, traipsed across someone’s garden, if anyone tried to trace their path, they would struggle. ‘It’s a nice easy job and let’s be honest, we all needed to get out of the house and stop doing paperwork for a few hours.
‘That’s true enough,’ They had all been working through mountains of paperwork for the last four days and all of them were getting irritable. Irene had suggested the job after a tip from Vale about a copy of Pride and Prejudice being found at a crime scene.
A copy that she had been trying to track down for three years now and it was just around the corner in someone’s private library and had been likely since the original printing of the book.
She had been furious.
But now they would finally get their hands on it.
They nipped around the back of the house and Bradamant let them through the servant's entrance. Kai led the way based on the instructions that they had been given, all three of them were silent in the dark house.
‘Vale said that it was in here,’ Irene said as she opened the door and poked her head into the Library. ‘He is certain that it was not on the police’s inventory of this place but he does not know if there is an inventory in here.’
‘We’ll look for the book if you take care of that,’ Kai said with a knowing smile. Irene nodded.
Vale had told them where the book was, in fact, Irene had already seen the book and managed to get her hands on it. Getting the book was actually the easy bit, getting it back into the house, now with a purple ribbon wrapped around it, a thin gold band tucked into the ribbon, was actually a lot harder.
She’d had to break into the house whilst it was under police guard to sneak the book back into place. Now the guard was gone and the house entirely empty giving them the perfect opportunity to get Bradamant to find the book whilst Irene wasted time pretending to look for an inventory that she had already found and modified to say that the book had been sold years ago.
Irene sat down at the desk and watched as Bradamant started to go through the shelves, Kai on the opposite side of the room from where Irene had told him the book was hidden.
‘Ah!’ Bradamant stood on tiptoes to reach the book. ‘Got it,’ She pulled the book out and flipped it over. ‘Oh.’
Irene took the book from her hands and slid the ring out.
‘Marry me?’ She said quietly. ‘Please?’