She stopped shy of begging, but only just.
The king closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them, he looked out on the courtyard with a sorrowful expression. Vi knew she was asking him to risk his family for her to save hers. She knew it wasn’t a fair trade. Just as she knew exploiting the world’s end was an underhanded tactic.
But Arwin also had her own reasons for going. She could see it on the woman’s face. Even if Arwin’s presence would help Vi, she got the impression it would help Arwin, too. She just wasn’t sure exactly how.
“Did you not tell me we are to help the Champion?” Arwin asked, stepping forward. “Isn’t that why you gave her the scythe and your hospitality?”
“I do not wish to give her my daughter as well.”
Arwin knelt by her father. “You will not lose me, father. But I must put an end to the abominable shift that protects the bane of the seas—the shift that should’ve never been established and is a theft of our magic. I must put an end to the one who betrayed us.”
King Noct looked only at his daughter, slowly lifting his hand. He cupped her cheek thoughtfully, lovingly. Vi’s chest ached, thinking back to the few times she’d been with her own father and he’d looked at her with his heart in his eyes.
“If you take this burden on yourself, if you leave our lands… You know I must make it a royal decree. You will get no exceptions as my daughter.”
“I understand.”
“Then, my royal guard…” King Noct’s whispering voice quivered slightly. “I command you to leave the protection of the Twilight Kingdom to atone for your past transgressions. I command you to venture beyond the embrace of the Twilight Forest. You are to go, and on your way, you will teach the Champion so that she may save our world. You are to destroy the shift which should’ve never been—and you are to ensure it shall never be formed again by killing the one who created it. Otherwise, you will not be welcomed back into this court.”
Vi’s heart pounded so hard in her chest that it rattled her lungs. Breathing suddenly felt harder than normal. Cast out? Succeed, or live in exile? What circumstances were these? When she’d envisioned Arwin coming, she hadn’t envisioned anything like this.
Vi was playing a game, though she knew precious little of the rules.
“Do you understand?” King Noct asked solemnly.
“I understand, my king. And as your royal guard, I live by your words.”
* * *
The next morning, Vi woke early. She dressed with more than enough time to get lost in her thoughts before there was a knock on the door.
“Come in.”
Vi turned, surprised to see Sarphos rather than Arwin.
“I hear you’re leaving,” he said as he entered the room.
“So it seems.” Vi leaned against the wall by the window, staring out at the bloody-ringed moon that never left the sky. “Can’t say I’m surprised the King’s hospitality has run short given that I’m responsible for his daughter’s exile.”
“King Noct holds no ill will toward you.” Sarphos set a satchel down at the foot of her bed.
“I wouldn’t blame him if he did,” Vi said gently, giving him permission to be honest.
“Arwin made her choice.”
I did a pretty good job of convincing him to go along with it,Vi thought to herself. She’d replayed the conversation again and again for half the night. Wondering if she’d done the right thing. But Arwin had been eager to go along first. So Vi tried to set the worry out of her mind.
“I prepared something for the road.” Sarphos motioned to the satchel. “There’s some crackers in there that can fill an empty stomach like a meal, a specially woven blanket that will keep you warm even on the coldest nights without being bulky, salves, of course, and—”
“Why have you been so nice to me?” Vi interrupted. “You hardly know me.”
“Do I have to know someone to be kind to them?”
“Too much kindness… too much trust… It will get you hurt, or killed,” Vi muttered bitterly.
“The opposite is also true—but it’ll be a much lonelier death.”
“What would you know about it?” she murmured.
