Vhalla’s stomach clenched. “If the Emperor demands my death ... there isn’t much hope is there?”
“No. We will win this war and then your freedom—”
“I heard.” She couldn’t handle the flash of hopelessness in his eyes, the flash of truth, when he realized she knew his father’s demands of her death no matter the war’s outcome. “I will fail before I force your hand.”
“I couldn’t.” Aldrik shook his head. “You know I can’t.”
“He hates what I am to you,” Vhalla breathed in realization. “Well, if my crime is love, then I am indeed guilty.”
“I will not let it happen.” Aldrik tried to push himself up into a seated position. He grimaced, and Vhalla quickly adjusted the pillows to try to give him support. “I promise you.”
“Don’t.” Her hands faltered. Vhalla straightened and stood, her arms were limp at her sides. “Don’t cheapen our promises. Some can’t be kept.”
“No!” Aldrik’s voice rose slightly, and Baldair made a
shh
-ing sound with a nervous glance toward the door. “If I must, I will take you away myself and hide you.”
Baldair leaned forward in obvious surprise.
“Then you’ll be hunted also.” Vhalla shook her head. “Don’t be rash about this. It’s what’s meant to be and—”
“Don’t do this.” Anger flared in his eyes, and it made the timbre of his voice deepen. “Don’t you dare do this to me, Vhalla Yarl.” With more speed and strength than Vhalla thought he currently possessed, Aldrik pulled her back onto the bed. “I told you this would never be easy, I warned you. I begged you to spare my heart if you weren’t ready for this fight.”
She glanced away, unable to bear the burden of guilt.
“Look at me,” he demanded softly. She obliged. “You do not give in. You disobeyed the Emperor himself, you ran alone through the North,
you
—who was once a library girl! You’re smart and capable and strong and beautiful, and I will not let you forget those things now. I will not let them be diminished.” Aldrik gripped her hand as though he was physically holding onto the scraps of her humanity. Vhalla’s chest ached. “I’m tired of fighting,” she sighed. The memory of the Emperor’s boot on her face was fresh. Vhalla hated that the man could make her feel so little. “I would rather he continue to hate me and spend the end of my days as I choose than fight the Emperor in agony until my final moment.”
“No.” A smile spread across Aldrik’s face. It was tired, but it had a hopefulness Vhalla had never quite seen behind it. “I swear with you and Baldair and the Gods as my witnesses that you shall be at my side. I will think of something, I will find an opportunity. I do not know what that is yet, but I will find something that will be worth more to my father than this foolish notion of killing you. Whatever that thing is, I will threaten him with it. I will show him—the world—the astounding woman who has stolen my heart.”
“But how long will it last?” Vhalla hated herself for objecting to the words she had been so longing to hear. “Until you must find something else to barter or sacrifice just for my sake?”
“It doesn’t matter.” Aldrik shook his head. “I will fight to keep you until the end of my days.”
“You’re a fool,” Baldair declared, stealing the words right out of Vhalla’s mouth. He leaned back in his chair, considering his brother. But his words were betrayed by the appreciative gleam in his eyes as he switched his attention between the two lovers. Vhalla was still learning the nuances of the younger prince, but it was easy to guess that he was impressed.
Aldrik chuckled under his breath. “If I am, then the blame falls entirely with my lady here.”
A gentle warmth gave color to Vhalla’s cheeks.
“Well, you won’t be launching any suicidal campaigns if you can’t even get out of bed.” Baldair stood. “I’ll go fetch the clerics.”
“Go, but wait to fetch the clerics.” Aldrik ran his hand up Vhalla’s arm, his attentions returned to her. “Dawn is only an hour away.”
“Then get them in an hour,” Aldrik said as though that should have been obvious.
“You need medical attention,” Baldair insisted. “Your body is mostly healed. You should just need some strengthening potions for you to be close to normal.”
“I don’t
need
my strength just yet. I’m not leaving this bed,” the crown prince observed. “What I have here now will be far more effective than anything the clerics can bottle.”
Baldair gave a resigned huff of amusement and shook his head. “Gone by dawn,” the younger prince cautioned before leaving them alone.
Vhalla turned back to Aldrik as the door closed, but the man had other intentions as the hand that had been drifting up her arm tugged lightly on her shoulder. The moment the back of her neck was in his reach, his fingers were curled around it, and Vhalla met his lips.
His mouth had the faint traces of herbs, what Vhalla suspected to be remnants of medicine or sustaining potions that had been forced down his throat. The hair on his face tickled her strangely. But nothing could have made that kiss anything less than perfection.
“I love you,” he uttered like a prayer.
“And I you,” she affirmed.
“Don’t give up on me.” Aldrik pressed his eyes closed tightly. “I am not worthy of all you have done for me ... but, you,
this
is the first thing to make me feel human in almost a decade, to make me want to strive for something more. You are the first person to make me truly happy, to make me want and hope again.”
“I have never given up on you,” Vhalla pointed out gently.
“You are the only one.”
“Larel didn’t either,” she mused.
“No, Larel never did ...” Aldrik tugged on her gently and Vhalla understood his demand. She curled at his side, her head tucked between his chin and his shoulder to barely fit on the small bed. “I can’t believe you rode through the North. Gods, woman, have you no fear?”
“I was terrified,” Vhalla confessed softly. “I was just more terrified of living without you.”
Aldrik laughed, a deep throaty sound. He ran his fingertips over her arm and shoulder. “A terror I know well.”
Vhalla pressed her eyes closed. Her mortality stared down at her from the other side of an abyss. But his arm around her firmly kept her in place, kept her from tumbling down that dark chasm.
She relinquished doubt and embraced hope. Her hand snaked around his waist, and Vhalla listened to his heartbeat while feeling the slow rise and fall of his chest, perfectly in time with hers. They would fight together now.
“Stay with me today.” Aldrik pressed his lips against her hair. “I don’t know if your father ...”
“After the clerics have done their dance, I’ll command that you be brought to me. My father won’t dare reveal our family rift to the world by objecting, not after I’ve made a public command. He won’t undermine me before the subjects he intends I rule,” Aldrik stated with confidence.
“For how long?” she asked.
“All day today, tomorrow.” There were the makings of a deeper current powering his words. There was a plan formulating in his puppet-master mind. “I want the men, women, majors, and nobles alike to continue to see you are under my protection. I want them to see me value your brilliant thoughts. And,” Aldrik paused, as if bracing himself, “I want them to see my compassion for you. Most of all, my father will see that he will not take you from me with mere threats.”
“This is an awful idea.” Vhalla shook her head, pressing closer.
“It is brilliant,” he insisted. “Will you?”
Vhalla’s hand drifted up over the blankets to his exposed collarbone, running her fingers across the firm line in his skin. “I will,” she breathed in reply.
His arm tightened around her, and he hooked a finger under her chin. Aldrik tugged her mouth toward his once more, and Vhalla gripped his shoulder tightly. The world blissfully faded away as his lips parted.
Vhalla could have laughed, she could have cried, as each kiss reaffirmed their madness. A bundle of nerves began to tangle in her stomach. Each kiss undid a knot, each breath added two. Today, they would draw a line in the sand. On one side, they would stand, on the other, the Emperor and her death.
As true as it had ever been, dawn came too soon. Vhalla peeled herself away after they had both reassured themselves of their plans. His arms were hesitant to relinquish her, and Vhalla was reluctant to plunge herself into the suddenly cold world again.
After slipping out of his room, she drifted through camp, not paying attention to where her feet carried her. Doubt traded places with hope, and her thoughts ranged from horror, to cautionary urges, to elation. Somehow, she navigated back to Fritz’s tent.
“What in the sun?” Elecia exclaimed as Vhalla practically collapsed atop her.
She couldn’t say anything; the magical toll of Joining was mixing with lack of sleep, resulting in a potent exhaustion. Vhalla rolled off Fritz and onto her back, staring up at the lightening canvas with a small grin. No matter what happened,
he lived
.
“You two are so annoying,” Fritz mumbled from Vhalla’s right, still half asleep.
“He’s awake,” she intoned.
“What?” Elecia sat upright.
“He’s awake,” Vhalla repeated, sitting with a foolish grin. She grabbed the other woman’s hands, beaming. “Aldrik’s awake.”
“You ...” Elecia didn’t even pull away. “You actually did it?” Vhalla nodded and let out a small yelp in surprise as Elecia pulled her in for a bone-crushing hug.
“You’re so infuriating, Vhalla Yarl,” she laughed.
“You’re pretty annoying yourself,” Vhalla responded lightly, and both women shared a moment of sincere elation.
Vhalla had just turned to Fritz, beginning to share with them the broad strokes of what had occurred, when Jax’s voice carried through camp.
“Lady Ci’Dan! Lady Yarl!”
Vhalla exited the tent behind Elecia. “We’re here.”
“Why am I not surprised to find you both together?” the Westerner asked with a smirk.
“You should be.” Elecia placed a fist on her hip, shifting her weight with a familiar grin. “I can’t stand this woman.”
“A new development then?” Jax cocked his head to the side. Elecia hummed, starting in the direction of the camp palace without needing to be told. “I assume our prince has summoned me?”
The Western man nodded. “I’m surprised he brought you out here.”
Vhalla walked curiously behind the two. They spoke like old friends.
“He clearly needs me.” Elecia’s haughty voice sounded hollow to Vhalla’s ears. There was a sense of sorrow there. Elecia didn’t want Aldrik to need her to be there, Vhalla realized. Elecia would rather if he was in a position that didn’t require her expertise as a healer.
“So what is your grandfather up to with this one and her duchessness?” Jax nodded in Vhalla’s direction.
“Far be it from me to know.” Elecia glanced over her shoulder at Vhalla. “I found out
after
he’d decided to issue the first Crimson Proclamation since the West fell.”
Vhalla avoided the woman’s stare. She really didn’t want to know about the Crimson Proclamation any more than necessary. It made for unwanted attention.
“I doubt he got the Emperor’s permission first,” Jax’s voice dropped.
“He shouldn’t have to.” There was a bite to Elecia’s words that Vhalla liked. “He’s the Lord of the West; he can give them out as he pleases.”
Jax caught Vhalla’s shifting eyes. “Told you some people took it seriously.” He grinned.
All conversation ended as they entered the camp palace. Thirteen men and women surrounded a tall-standing table in the far left corner. They stopped studying the maps before them and turned to the people who entered. At the head of the table was the Emperor, Baldair to his left, and a much stronger-looking Aldrik to his right.
Vhalla’s eyes didn’t miss anything. She saw the slight sway to his movements just from turning to look at her. She saw the way Aldrik’s hands gripped the table for balance. She had to bite her lip to keep from scolding him for leaving his bed.
“My apologies for my delay.” Jax walked straighter, shifting into his role as head major. “I was on an errand for our prince fetching Lady Yarl and Lady Ci’Dan.”
Aldrik gave Jax a nod as the head major fit into the table. Elecia immediately started for Aldrik, her mission clear. Vhalla’s feet stilled a few steps from the table, trapped in the Emperor’s glare.
“Vhalla, to my right,” Aldrik announced, and all heads turned.
Vhalla took a deep breath, gripping her hands over her abdomen. She kept her head as high as possible and walked with purpose. But, even knowing Aldrik’s plans, her breath had a soft tremble to it.
Elecia glanced at Vhalla as she switched which of Aldrik’s hands she was holding. But the Western woman didn’t say anything as Vhalla assumed the place of honor at the prince’s right hand, nudging out a familiar old and grizzled-looking man.
“Aldrik,” the Emperor began ominously, “do you not think the girl would be better served
elsewhere
?”
“No.” Aldrik brushed off his father’s words as if they were nothing more than a half-hearted musing. “I think it wise to keep her informed on our preparations as the Lady Yarl’s knowledge of our forces will likely prove essential to her success.”
“Do you?” Emperor Solaris’s words practically dripped malice.
“The
Lady
Yarl?” Raylynn asked from Baldair’s left. Vhalla realized the whole of the Golden Guard was there, including a wide-eyed Daniel.
Time seemed to hold its breath as she met the other Easterner’s eyes. He was just diagonal to her right, not more than a few arm’s length away, but she felt like he was on the other end of the world. His hazel eyes drifted over to Aldrik at her side, clouding darkly before he averted his stare, making Vhalla’s chest tighten uncomfortably.
The rest of the table seemed oblivious to the silent conversation between the two Easterners. They focused on what Aldrik was saying, “... gave her a Crimson Proclamation.” “A hollow title,” the Emperor scoffed with a shake of his head.
“I respectfully disagree.” Erion had an amused grin playing at the corners of his mouth as his eyes darted about the table like he was watching a spectacular play unfold before him. “As a proud member of one of the oldest families in the West, I would take care to honor the Windwalker as a lady, if the Lord Ci’Dan has so decreed.”