“Za, quiet.” Sehra wasn’t about to allow negotiations to be interrupted. “I want my people safe. I want Shaldan’s interests protected, now and in perpetuity.”
“Tell me you will fight with us, give us your men, your weapons, your knowledge, and you will have my word,” Aldrik agreed.
“Your word isn’t good enough,” Sehra said sharply. To Vhalla’s surprise, the girl’s eyes turned to her. “You speak highly of peace.”
“I do.” Vhalla wasn’t afraid to say so. “Our land has seen too much turmoil.”
“Will you be peace’s champion in the battle to come?”
“I will be.”
“Are you finally ready to pay the asking price for it, when the time comes?” The princess’s words had a weight to them unlike anything Vhalla had ever felt before.
“I will be,” she reaffirmed after a long moment.
Sehra took a deep breath. “I will return home, and I will tell my mother of what has happened here. She will heed my counsel, and I will tell her to fight with Solaris. To remain a part of this Empire and its future leaders who vow to fight for peace and the wellbeing of our people.”
Vhalla’s heart began to race.It was too easy. She braced herself for the princess to continue.
“Needless to say, I will return to inherit my birthright of leading the Head Clan of Soricium as a Child of Yargen.” Her eyes turned to Aldrik. “I have no interest in mingling my bloodline with yours if I am guaranteed that my people will be looked after.”
“You have my word.”
Vhalla frowned at the fraction of relief in Aldrik’s eyes.It was too easy, she wanted to scream at him.
“I told you, that’s not good enough.” Sehra smiled tiredly. “My people need assurance. And since I know you are one to value the life of one you love more than an entire people, I will ask for only one.”
“You are not taking Vhalla from me.” Aldrik scowled.
Sehra laughed. “Predictable, but no. She will stay to honor her words to me, to prove that the future Empress of this land is worth her word.”
“Who then?” Aldrik let his unquestioning silence stand as affirmation to the princess’s assumptions that he and Vhalla would wed when he was no longer promised to Sehra.
Vhalla’s hand went to the watch at her neck. Her heart was still beating frantically.
“Your heir.”
Confusion ran quickly across Aldrik’s feature, anger quick on its wake. Vhalla knew he was imagining the child he’d dreamed of.Their child.
“You would ask for my first born?” His voice had gone deep and threatening.
“I ask for your heir, future Emperor.” Sehra remained resolute. “If Solaris keeps their word throughout the battle that you will honor Shaldan and do everything to rid the world of this abomination, we will lend our strength. To ensure a lasting peace, your heir, which I imagine will be conceived quickly to fulfill your duty as a ruler, will come and live as a ward of my family for his or her first fourteen years of life. This will ensure that Shaldan is protected in the formative years of becoming part of your empire and that the next Solaris will care for and love our people as their own.”
Vhalla gripped the oversized shirt she wore. If she and Aldrik wed she would be conceiving his heir, the heir Sehra wanted.They wanted her child.
“Fourteen years?” Aldrik balked.
The conversation faded a moment as Vhalla retreated into her own mind. She automatically assumed it to be her child. But who knew what would come to pass? Every day was less certain than the last. Taint had been unleashed upon the world, and she was nothing more than a Commons now. Vhalla looked at the turmoil on Aldrik’s face. He was being asked to choose between his Empire, and the family he’d been idolizing in his dreams. He couldn’t make the decision rationally, so she did.
“I think you should agree, Aldrik,” Vhalla interjected, not even noticing who she interrupted. The look on his face alone affirmed all her suspicions on what he’d been thinking.
“That would be your child.”
“I know.”As if she needed reminding. “And even if it is, I still think you should agree.”
Sehra met Vhalla’s eyes, and the princess gave an appreciative nod. The girl wasn’t gleeful. Sehra clearly wasn’t relishing in the idea of separating a family. But she also wasn’t backing down from what she believed she needed to do to protect her people. Vhalla would never verbally admit it, but if she did have a child, there would be worse fates than being raised in a culture with such deep knowledge and apparent honor.
Aldrik stood, pacing the room. Everyone remained silent as the crown prince visibly debated all his options. He was the only one who could make this decision, as he would be the one who would be forced to honor it as the future Emperor. He paused, staring at the fire, suddenly still after the momentary flurry of activity.
