by Elise Kova
The door opened and Egmun stood before the two.
“My prince.” Egmun gave a small bow.
“Minister,” Aldrik responded. Then, to Vhalla’s utmost horror, the boy smiled to the man she hated more than anyone in the world, and that man smiled back. “How are you?” Aldrik asked nonchalantly, letting himself into the room.
“I have little to complain about.” Egmun closed the door behind the two and Vhalla realized that she was somehow standing in the office alongside Aldrik. “Especially when I am in the presence of the most powerful sorcerer in the realm.”
“You flatter me, Egmun,” Aldrik said with a wave of his hand, sitting in one of the chairs. Though the small grin at the corner of his lips said that he did not mind the flattery much.
“How have you been feeling since our last session?” Egmun sat behind the desk, pressing his fingertips together.
“You should know by now that such trivial things cannot hurt me.” Aldrik smirked, and Vhalla saw the boyish confidence for what it was.
“Of course.” The Minister chuckled, turning to Victor. “And you?”
“I am fine,” Victor said stiffly.
“Liar,” Aldrik yawned.
Victor shot him a glare.
“Victor, you need to be honest with me.” Egmun looked at the young man expectantly.
“My Channel felt a little strange the other day.” Victor glared at Aldrik, who shrugged.
“We will observe it, but you may need to stop,” Egmun noted.
Stop with what? Vhalla wanted to ask.
“I can carry on,” Victor said definitively.
“We will see.” Egmun’s tone had a hint of finality. “Today then, my prince, it shall just be you.”
Egmun stood, and Vhalla could feel a quiver of nerves from the boy. What was Aldrik nervous about? It suddenly set her on edge as Egmun went to a back cabinet. She remembered a night, that couldn’t have been far from this one, in some dark place where Egmun would force blood upon Aldrik’s young soul.
When the Minister returned, his hands were laden with a box. Vhalla inspected it. She saw Western writing on its lock, but nothing else was particularly special. Something about it was familiar enough to tickle her memory; she’d seen it somewhere before. Someone had opened it for her. Vhalla tried to get a better look as Egmun placed it on the desk. She felt Aldrik take a breath, and she stilled with apprehension. Egmun clicked open the box.
Vhalla was startled awake by the sound of clanking bowls and plates. She rolled over in bed, surprised to discover Aldrik was not with her. He was standing next to the source of the sound. A worn-looking tray with some dishes upon it.
“Good morning.” He smiled. “How is my lady this day?”
Vhalla imprinted her prince’s handsome face on her memory. The dream was already blurring in the wake of daylight. “I had a dream.”
Aldrik paused, searching her for confirmation that she meant what he thought she did.
“A memory,” Vhalla clarified delicately.
“What was it?” She could see him trying to keep his voice level, the panic away from his eyes and his heart.
“Nothing important.” Vhalla shook her head, desperate not to cast a shadow over them so early in the day, especially not after so joyous a night. “You and Victor in the Tower, working with Egmun on something.”
“What were we working on?” Aldrik’s words betrayed no emotion.
“I don’t know.” Vhalla saw the conflict written clearly on his face. “It didn’t seem that important.” She smiled encouragingly. “Is that food?”
The question broke him out of his trance. “Oh, yes. I thought breakfast in bed might be nice.” Aldrik appeared equally eager to change the topic.
“No one will question you bringing me food in bed?” Vhalla teased, scooting to the side as he carefully transitioned some of the bowls and plates onto the tired mattress.
“Let them question.” Aldrik rolled his eyes. “If they have so much free time to concern themselves with what I’m eating and with whom, then they are ignoring something important,” he proclaimed arrogantly.
Vhalla laughed lightly, happy the mood hadn’t been lost and the dream could be pushed aside. “This is the first time I’ve ever eaten breakfast in bed.” She’d heard nobles engage in such things, but people of her status had to wake and begin the day. They also didn’t have people to cook for them.
“Is it?” Aldrik hummed, chewing over a scrap of meat.
“It is.” She nodded, reaching for a bowl of rice. Vhalla keenly picked up the brief hesitation around his words. “What about you?”
The prince paused, looking up at her. Vhalla stilled as his hand reached out, caressing the silver watch against her chest. “I have. Once before you,” he said thoughtfully.
“Oh?” It was a noise more than a direct question so he had the opportunity to ignore it.
“Her name was Inad.” Vhalla blinked at a woman’s name from Aldrik’s mouth. Not from jealousy, but because he had hardly ever mentioned the people he was with previously. He’d told her he had taken three women to bed before her, and Aldrik wasn’t the type for casual encounters between the sheets, so Vhalla suspected they’d each been someone to her prince. “It was the morning after my first time. She brought it to me, and it was special.” His hand fell from her chest.
Vhalla caught his fingers before they hit the bed. “What happened to her?” Vhalla asked. It hardly seemed as though he harbored any kind of anger toward the woman.
“My father found out about us, her and me.” Aldrik sighed. “I
was supposed to meet her one day in the library.”
“The library?” Vhalla blinked.
“I wasn’t yet twenty.” He finally glanced back at her. “I don’t think you were even there yet.”
Vhalla nodded. Sometimes their gap in age felt like nothing, other times it felt like he lived an extra lifetime before her existence had mattered to anyone. But her existence hadn’t been anything notable until her magic—until him.
“But it is rather ironic,” he chuckled. “I always seem to find more important things than books in that library.” Aldrik’s eyes met hers, and Vhalla’s chest swelled to the brim with the adoration he poured upon her.
“In any case ...” Aldrik stared at the world through the slats in the shutters. “My father found out, and he was less than pleased. She was a lower member of the Court, on the fringe really, and her family had been involved in some scandal. She wasn’t considered suitable for me, by him.”
“What did he do?” Vhalla asked.
“He sent her family back to the West,” Aldrik answered. “Or that’s what I was told. I never saw or heard from her again.”
“That’s awful.” Vhalla frowned. Could his father not give Aldrik a moment’s reprieve?
“It certainly put a sour taste in my mouth about the ladies of the Court and my father’s influence in my romantic life.” Aldrik nodded thoughtfully. “I realized I was simply a means for most of them to become Empress. When they saw me, they saw the titles, the power, and the gold that came from being Empress Solaris. Those were the type of women my father wanted me with. The ones who brought their own titles and aspirations. They were the ‘smart’ matches because they could give me something in return for what I gave them.” He leaned back. “Inad was different because she was never in that pool; being Empress never crossed her mind when she was around me.”
The emotion in his eyes stilled her. He was waiting for her to put it together. A small smile crossed Aldrik’s lips. Vhalla shook her head and laughed softly.
“Did you see me that way from the start?” she asked.
“No,” Aldrik confessed. “I told you in the chapel all those months ago. Initially, you were just a fascination, an amusement, and perhaps something practical when I learned of your powers. You made yourself into something more than that when I realized that somehow you were willing to tolerate the supreme ass that I am.”
&nb
sp; “You’re not a supreme ass.” Vhalla rolled her eyes, shoveling an unladylike amount of food into her mouth.
“I certainly can be,” Aldrik insisted.
“Well, I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.” Vhalla went back for more food, surprised to find she finished the whole bowl. It was easier to eat around him, she realized. Her spotty habits when it came to food faded away when she felt so at ease.
A short time later, they both stood and cleaned up their mess. Vhalla crept to the bathroom to tend to morning ablutions as Aldrik sorted out the tray. When she returned, Aldrik had assumed his place at his table.
“You’ll Project again today,” he informed her. “To see if we can get any more intelligence on what’s coming.”
“I think people suspect that you’ve locked me in your room and will never let me leave for more than a few hours at a time.” Vhalla sunk back onto the bed with a laugh.
“I am a healthier man with you around. I can hardly be blamed.” Aldrik returned her mischievous look before returning to his work.
Vhalla grabbed the watch at her neck, peering at the ticking hands within. It was warm to her touch, and the familiar links of the chain confirmed her previous theory when she first saw his watch. Her prince could make intricate devices also.
“Oh, what did the majors decide?” Vhalla asked, shifting her attention from admiring his profile to something productive.
Aldrik sighed heavily. “My father was adamant that he did not want to rush Soricium and burn it. No one seemed willing to risk his disfavor any further.”
“I can’t say I blame them,” Vhalla mumbled, relinquishing any expectation that the Emperor would follow her suggestion. One way or another, it would end.
“The majors are already beginning to organize the troops. Our best scouts have been sent into the forest to locate where the Northerners are amassing. If possible, we will take out some of their groups before they have time to attack. But we don’t want to alert them to the fact that we know of their plans.”
“Well, at least the spy inside the fortress is dead.” Vhalla found some small benefit to the act. Despite the fact that it meant they’d likely never discover the informants on the Empire’s side of the wall.
“Father wants to wait for the Northern attack to fail, then send a final message demanding surrender before putting Soricium to the torch,” Aldrik reported.
“He wants it to be like your uncle and the West,” Vhalla mused aloud, thinking of how the previously ruling family of the West still maintained some power, even if the king had been killed.
“I think so,” Aldrik affirmed. “There is some sense left in his head. He won’t completely kill off the head clan if they swear fealty to him. They can help him contain the North better than a foreign leader. You said yourself that the North is dedicated to their history.”
“Should I scout the forests some?” Vhalla asked.
“No.” Aldrik shook his head. “Our scouts are well-trained and will cover more ground than you can alone. Your time and effort is better spent focusing on the palace.”
“Understood.” Vhalla closed her eyes and slipped out of her body.
They had six more sunsets until what she hoped would be the final battle for the North.
SHE WAS STARVING by the time she pulled out of her Projection, and Aldrik insisted they eat dinner with the majors. Vhalla wasn’t going to object to anything that would put food into her. Eventually, she would be forced to face the Emperor; she would rather that time transpire with Aldrik—with her future husband—at her side.
He had said the majors were not cross with her over the shackles incident, but Vhalla questioned that the moment she walked into the long hall. Whatever meeting had been occurring had broken for dinner, but the food was quickly forgotten. Half the room was on their feet at the sight of her.
“Lady Vhalla.” She was immediately grateful to Erion for breaking the silence. The Western lord crossed to face her, bending into a low bow. “I want to formally apologize for the incident yesterday.”
Vhalla shifted uncomfortably under the weight of all the attention. “It was not your idea, Erion. You’ve nothing to apologize for.”
“Even still.” He straightened. “I do not want you to think that the West feels that way toward you, or any Windwalker alive today.”
“I know it doesn’t.” Vhalla gave an encouraging smile, and it seemed to be well-received by the Western lords.
Her eyes met Jax’s a long moment, and the Head Major of the Black Legion said nothing. The silence, however, was telling enough. There was a remorseful discomfort to it, and Vhalla knew it was the most apology she would get from him. She’d realized it the night the Emperor returned; they were both pawns of the crown. Creatures that barely had free will couldn’t be held responsible for their actions, not really.
Aldrik led her to a spot in the middle of the table that magically appeared, placing her at his right. Vhalla sat, instantly scanning the spread of food for whatever seemed the most palatable. If she ever returned to the palace, she would never complain about the servants’ and staff ’s meals again. Her eyes glanced over to Aldrik, if she ever ate such meals again.
“If it is any reassurance, I made sure the damn box was buried far and deep.” Jax surprised her with his announcement, a wicked grin overtaking his face at the end of his words that assured her things had returned to normal between them. “And if anyone tries to bring it near you again, I trust you to fight tooth and nail.”
Vhalla laughed at the sudden image of her blowing the Emperor onto his rear.
“When this war is over, you should come to the West, Lady Vhalla,” another Western lady remarked.
Vhalla couldn’t help but notice Major Schnurr was missing as the table voiced mutual agreement.
“Here, here!” Erion raised his glass.
“I think your reception would be glorious. We have libraries on magic alone that are, I am certain, beyond your wildest expectations.” Jax seemed to know exactly how to tempt her.
“When put like that ...” Vhalla mused.
“She has a place in the capital,” Aldrik said firmly.
Vhalla lost the fight with the blush that instantly appeared on her cheeks. A place at the capital by his side, he meant to say. If he spoke like that, everyone would know of their engagement within weeks. Their engagement, her heart still did flips at the thought.
Jax paused, peering at the prince. “It’s been some time, my prince, since you last paid a visit to the home of your forefathers. How long has it been since you visited your mother’s grave? Why don’t you go together?” A sly curl took to the corners of his mouth. “Imagine the reception for both of you, side by side. The Western prince, master sorcerer, returning home with the first Windwalker in over a hundred years—not in chains but as a free woman, a lady perhaps! A decorated soldier and master in academia—”
“I wouldn’t say I’m a master in academia,” Vhalla objected.
Jax didn’t seem to hear Vhalla as he continued, “—a girl who has risen from her servitude to change the world! They will weep in the streets, they will name babes after you both! These are the actions bards sing of and young maids weep over!” Jax clutched his chest. “You two will—”
“Jax, enough.” Aldrik pinched the bridge of his nose with a heavy sigh.
Jax roared with laughter, and Vhalla buried her face in her food to hide her slowly burning face. She would lie if she said his depiction did not wet her appetite for the West. Vhalla noticed the amused—yet approving—looks from the other Westerners at the table. She raised a hand, running her fingers over the small watch.
Vhalla failed to notice that more than one lord and lady at the table took note of the new token around her neck.
“Shades of Jax’s madness,” Aldrik muttered.
“Ah, friend, you know you enjoy it!” Jax raised his flagon in a mock toast.
“You tell me that every time, but I am still uncertain if it is t
rue,” Aldrik said dryly. His tone was just flat enough to be void of bite, and Vhalla knew Aldrik truly did enjoy the man’s company.
The talk quickly turned serious; there was only so much time to spare on levity. From the direct questions and the flow in conversation, Vhalla learned what she had missed throughout the day. It seemed no one was enthused about the idea of waiting for an unknown attack when Soricium was ripe for the taking. But the Emperor had spoken, and they had no choice but to bend to his will. He’d made that fact brutally apparent when he put the chains on Vhalla despite their objections.
The moment the food was finished, they returned to their spots around the standing table. Aldrik needed to be filled in as well, as he’d spent most of the day at her bedside. He had a completely different face when discussing strategy and war than the face he wore when it was just he and Vhalla. But his eyes shared a similar intensity when he was focused on her form as it was under his hands and weight. It made Vhalla shift in place, suddenly hot.
Erion would lead the attack on the western side of camp. He’d split swordsmen with Daniel, who’d be on the east. Baldair would take the swordsmen on the north, with Raylynn leading the archers at his side. The Emperor and Major Zerian would take the south.
Jax announced that he would be fighting with Erion in the west. Which left Aldrik to volunteer himself on the east side to lead the other half of the Black Legion. Vhalla forced herself not to show any emotion as she watched Aldrik’s name be penned into the map for the east side.
This was his duty as their prince, the ultimate leader of the Black Legion and their future Emperor. He would fight and lead on the battlefield. She clutched the watch at her throat tightly. Even knowing he’d been training for moments like this since he was a child didn’t make the knowledge easier.
The other majors explained their positions, dividing their expertise among the different sections of the armies. Vhalla focused on the appointments of this person or that person to this position or that position. Halfway through, the Emperor joined them all once more, settling at the head of the table and casting a heavy cloud over the group.