“My prince,” Vhalla dared to interrupt. “I think, you must be tired still from your long sleep.” She tiptoed delicately with her words. “Your concern on my behalf is beyond what one like me deserves.” Vhalla lowered her eyes, hating herself immediately for the necessary act of humility. She wasn’t beneath Aldrik any longer, and the last man she wanted to humble herself before was the Emperor. “But I understand you have other duties. Please, consider them.”
“What a day, when the crown prince is reminded of his duties by a low-born girl,” the Emperor sneered. “Nowsit,Aldrik. We have much to discuss.”
Vhalla watched Aldrik sink onto the bench. His shoulders were heavy, but his eyes were aflame. She let Baldair usher her into the sun. Vhalla searched for Aldrik’s image even as the door closed, praying he would continue the necessary dance. Her stomach tightened.
“So what needs to be done?” Vhalla asked no one in particular. One of the Golden Guard, Elecia, someone around her would know what was next. Her brain wasn’t working properly,she was so tired. All she could think of was Aldrik and his father alone in that overwhelming room.
A man pushed off from where he leaned against the side of the building next to the door. “I’ll show you what we need moved.”
Vhalla tensed instantly.Daniel. His dark brown hair was tied at the nape of his neck today, stray pieces floating around the stubble on his jaw. Vhalla’s lips pursed into a thin line. No one else spoke. Jax, Baldair, Elecia, Raylynn, half the army could’ve been standing there, but none of them saved Vhalla.
“Not you,” she breathed.
“I’m sorry.” Daniel took an unwelcome step toward her. “Let me apologize.”
Vhalla bit her lower lip to keep it from quivering in frustration. She wanted so badly to hate him. It would be so much easier if she could hate him for his petty jealousy.
“No one else knows?” Vhalla sought help from Baldair and
Raylynn. Jax and Elecia had already vanished—the traitors. “Daniel?” There was a whole language of words around the man’s name from Baldair’s mouth. The prince peered at the guard, apparent concern in his eyes at Daniel’s continued involvement with Vhalla. Raylynn seemed to hear the meaning as well, gazing expectantly at the Easterner.
“I know what I’m doing,” Daniel asserted to his friends. “I’ll show her what the majors decided to move.”
“I leave you in his care,” Baldair said after a long internal debate.
Vhalla wanted to scream at the prince’s back as he walked away.What did he think he was doing?She was going to find Baldair, sit him down, and make him tell her everything that went on in that confounding head of his.
But, for now, Vhalla’s attention finally returned to the inevitable: Daniel. His eyes shone with earnest remorse. She crossed her arms.
“Let’s talk as we walk,” he suggested.
Vhalla nodded and dragged her feet half a step behind him, focusing on the ground.
“You were right,” Daniel began. “I was the one who presumed.” He tilted his head up to the sky, watching the cloud wisps drift through a canvas of endless blue. “You owe me nothing for spending time with me. You can do so without it meaning anything, or, well, anything that you don’t intend for it to mean.”
His apology was both justifying and guilt inducing. “
Truthfully, I think we both wanted the same thing: forgetfulness of the holes in our hearts left by others.” Daniel paused briefly, glancing down at her. Vhalla met his eyes. Their hazel colors were nothing special; pull any ten Easterners and nine of them would have some variation of the shade. But the way they shone then, the way the sun hit his raw honesty and sincerity. He was stunning. “I can’t fault you for seeking something to fill the void when I was doing the same.”
“Well, that doesn’t make it right,” Vhalla finally spoke. She brought her hands together, paying attention to her feet more than the soldiers around them, the camp, or wherever it was he was leading her to. “You just said so yourself. I was using you for something.” The confession was barely a whisper.
“Just because something isn’t right doesn’t make it wrong.” Daniel’s tone shifted, and it sent a small tingle up Vhalla’s spine. “Tell me something. During all this ‘using’, were you unhappy?”
“No, but—”
“Then it couldn’t have been wrong,” he spoke with confidence. “I was happy, you were happy. Let’s not worry so much over what it was or is. Let’s not try to make it into something it’s not. You can make your own decisions, and trust that I know such. You can do what you wish and—” he faltered briefly, but long enough for Vhalla to witness, “—with whomyou wish. So, let’s put it all behind us?”
Vhalla reflected on the time she’d had with Daniel. It was strange to think that, were it not for the war and her situation, she would’ve never even met him. Marching with him, training with him, as both Serien and Vhalla, had been enjoyable. Maybe more than she should’ve enjoyed. Vhalla’s cheeks felt warm. “All right.”
Daniel assessed the large tower that had appeared before them. But his eyes weren’t seeing it. They had a look that instilled the same feeling Vhalla had felt when she saw Elecia and Aldrik together, before she’d known of their kinship.
Her throat felt gummy. She didn’t want to do this to him; Daniel was her very dear friend, and there was something that felt so wrong about the position he was in.
As if sensing her concern, Daniel returned his attention to her, laughing lightly at her terror-stricken face. “Don’t be so worried, Vhalla.” He slung an arm around her shoulders and shook her lightly. “I won’t utter a word and am still your ally. I can remain that for eternity. Or perhaps something more if you ever desire it and the mutual opportunity arises.”
Vhalla opened her mouth, but she wasn’t even sure what she would’ve said and the world spared her from figuring it out. It preserved the delicate stasis between them that Vhalla was more than relieved to have back.
“So, that’s what the majors decided was the most important tower to be moved.” He pointed, and Vhalla realized instantly why he had been against moving it in the first place.
