Grey started laughing almost immediately.
It wasn't a polite chuckle either, his head tipping back as the sound rolled across the courtyard, but to his surprise, Mensah only stared at him for half a second before joining in.
Within moments both men were laughing like they had just shared the funniest joke in the world, while Brad looked increasingly tempted to find a chair and a bag of popcorn.
The women were considerably less amused.
Elowen probably cared the least about being casually included in some imaginary harem, though the reason had less to do with Grey and more to do with how she had been raised. Her mother had hand-selected the fathers of every one of her children according to whatever traits she believed might strengthen the Imperial Bloodline, and Elowen had never even learned which man had actually fathered her.
If she had to guess, he probably hadn't come from Melix at all.
