“Did you clear the hall?” Freya’s muffled voice called from within.
“Yes. All clear,” Hedda answered.
Astrid swallowed. She turned to Hedda with wide eyes.
For Hedda’s part, she swayed a bit with the drink, but she held her own. She gestured toward the door, all business.
Astrid opened it. Freya stood by the single window in the room, adorned in the same inn-provided robe and holding something in her fist. Her hair was wet but slicked away from her face.
She was not wearing her gloves.
Astrid turned back to Hedda once more. Hedda wore a conflicted look that cleared when she noticed Astrid staring.
“Good night,” Hedda said.
She closed the door, shutting them in.
Astrid stepped into the room tentatively, as if afraid to spook Freya. She brought herself close enough to see the water dripping from the end of Freya’s hair, the damp on her shoulders.
“Letter from Brenn,” Freya clarified. Huginn, Freya’s falcon, preened in the window, magnificently reflecting the warm orange glow from the hearth. “Varin wanted to send a search party after you, but Brenn assured him we were safe.”
“That was kind of her,” Astrid said carefully. She had decided hours ago she would worry about the consequences of her ride into the distance later.
“Can I get you anything, My Queen?” Freya asked. She stood soundlessly as a snake. “Water?”
“Water would be nice,” Astrid said.
Freya poured her some from the pitcher next to the bed. The water was cold, the pitcher beaded with moisture. Astrid tilted the cup back to get every last drop.
When she put the cup down, she caught Freya staring at her neck.
“I’m glad you didn’t leave,” Astrid said. “There’s something I would like to talk to you about.”
Freya remained standing. Astrid sat to allow them to talk at eye level.
“What is it?” Freya asked.
Astrid worked a circle into the eiderdown blanket with her thumb. What had started as an impulsive move to leave had turned into the best evening she’d had in recent memory. And it had the potential to be even better—
But she had no idea how Freya would react.
“I have grown very fond of you, Freya.”
Fonddidn’t cover the depth of her investment, butI would go to war for youwas a cliché—a line right out of the saucy romance with the soldier and the maiden.
“I noticed,” Freya said. The corner of her mouth turned up. Astrid couldn’t help but smile back.
“What do youwant out of this? Out of…” She gestured between them, signifying whatever was there. Whatever they had not defined.
Freya considered this. “Anything. I mean… Everything.”
Astrid tried not to show her disappointment at the ambiguity in Freya’s answer.
“I told you before,” said Freya, “that I try to take what I can while I can. So maybe the question is not what we want, but what we can have?”
“What canwe have?” Astrid asked, desperation creeping into her voice.
Freya was quiet for several beats. “We can’t present to the public as a couple,” she said bluntly. “It would undo all of my spy work, and show my importance to those who we may need to hide it from.”
