Second? Just what didthatmean?
“Come on, then, walk with us back to the center of the Crossroads,” Jax said lightly. The brief moment of recognition had passed and they began to walk. “Why do you want to join the army?”
“To serve the Empire.” Vi sniffled, rubbing her eyes until a few more tears squeezed out.
“What’sh wrong?”
“I got in a fight with my parents about it,” Vi said, looking at her feet. The sorrow in her voice at the mention of parents was genuine; it was compounded when she looked over at Aldrik. He had the bump in his nose now that she remembered her father having. His cheeks were gaunter than the last time she’d seen him. Deep bags clung underneath distant, harrowed eyes. “They don’t want me to enlist. But I’m a woman grown. And well…”
“Yooou ran away from hoome.”
Vi nodded at Aldrik’s slurred words.
“You should go back,” Jax said firmly.
“Jax, don’t lose-us sholdiers.”
“You only get one family. Hold them close.”
She’d been worried about the two men getting a dagger between the ribs by a cut-purse in the night. But it was Jax who caught her off guard, striking her breathless. Vi took a second to compose herself. Her family was, and would always be, a soft spot. She formed an answer befitting the seventeen-year-old girl she’d once been, and not the timeless traveler she now was.
“I do hold them close,” she insisted. “But they have to understand I’m doing this for them. I’m fighting for them. So they can have a better life. They have to understand that this ismychoice, not theirs.”
“Yooou’re doing ah goodthing.” Aldrik patted her on the shoulder and his hand stayed. He blinked into the brighter lights of the center of the Crossroads as they entered their aura. “Not like me. Not like someone who’s done terrible things.”
“That’s enough for tonight. We’re not far from your bed.” Jax led them over to the Imperial lodging. Three, large, circular windows kept an eye on the square below. “Wait here just a moment, I’ll be back,” Jax said to her, giving her no time to reply before disappearing inside with Aldrik.
Vi sat on the stoop, elbows on her knees, staring at the other revelries happening at a bar across the square. Her mind was on Aldrik, on those haunted eyes— the ghosts of her actions haunting his nightmares. She clutched her hands so tightly together that her nails left crescent moons in her skin.
The door behind her opened again, startling her. Jax hopped down two steps, wobbled, and sat with a sigh.
“He’ll be fine,” he said.
“‘Fine’ is an interesting word choice for the hangover he’ll be nursing.” Vi glanced up at the second-floor window that she knew to be her father’s room. “Does the prince drink to excess often?”
Jax’s long silence was answer enough. When the “No” finally came, Vi knew it was a lie.
“Well, that’s good, I suppose,” she lied right back, pretending she didn’t hear all his unspoken hesitations.
“And, for that reason, I appreciate your discretion about tonight’s events.”
“I don’t really have any friends. So I’ve got no one to tell. Not that I would tell anyone. I’m looking to be in service to the crown and I know what’s best for the crown isn’t rumors of what the prince does during his downtime.”
“He gets precious little of it.”
“I’m sure,” Vi murmured. “But he still has it better than he thinks.” What Vi wouldn’t give to be a “tortured” princess again.
“I wouldn’t count on that.”
“How so?”
Jax shrugged and Vi let that topic of conversation die. She didn’t want to seem too eager for information on the prince.
“You said you wanted to enlist, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Come find me in the morning.” Jax stood. “You can be under me, or Raylynn, depending on if you have magic or not.”
