“I had no control over?—”
“I know.”
“I would never want to hurt?—”
“I know.”
He relaxes visibly, laying his head back on the pillow. His eyes flicker, like he’s struggling to keep them open.
“I love you, Kilda,” he whispers.
Heat flares up in my veins. The words settle in me like a seed in spring. A promise the Queen can never touch. Let the Queen choke on her delusions. Let her lies crumble to dust. Her schemes will never come between us.
“I love you too,” I reply.
But he doesn’t hear me. He’s gone. Sleeping. Healing. Still, my spirit soars. I choose him, like he has chosen me.
I sit and stroke his hair, watching his chest softly move with his breath. He has always seen me for what I am. A woman. Never a slave.
Ari is not the Queen’s weapon. He doesn’t long to return. He belongs here, with me. That cursed serpent can claim him all she wants. He’s not hers—he’s free. With me.
Ari isn’t bound to the Queen. He is not a slave. He’s a man.
My man.
CHAPTER 84
“Stop with your fucking questions,” laughs Ylvin with a wave of her hand.
“Answer me and I’ll stop,” I insist.
“How can I answer something I don’t know?”
Elof slams his bowl on the table—empty.
“Just answer her, by Odin,” he mutters as he stands to fetch more stew.
Ylvin sighs. Shaking her head in disbelief. Eidunn’s eyes flicker between us, trying to calculate if this might escalate to a real conflict. It won’t, if I know Ylvin. She just needs to be pushed to her limit so she opens up. A silly smile grows on my face, the face of a child teasing their parent.
“It’s a yes or no question!”
Ylvin points her spoon at me, ignoring the drop of stew that splatters on the heavy wooden table. Eidunn reacts, her eyeswidening. Since she was a girl, she has been trained to keep everything around her clean and tidy. Her eyes stay on the Volva’s nonchalant spillage. Ylvin clears her throat, keeping her spoon up.
“You ask it as a yes or no. Reality is a little more complex than that.”
I throw my hands in the air. If she keeps dodging, I’ll go mad. Her answer to my question could change my life. My fate. Nothing would be the same.
“You and your mysteries. Just share truth!”
Ylvin snorts.
“Though there is one truth, folk tend to have different perceptions of it.”
Eidunn’s will breaks. She stands and takes swift steps to the washing cloth. Ylvin turns to her, amused, watching the younger woman fret. Eidunn swipes the blotch of steaming stew, careful to remove every drop so as not to leave a stain. The sight is warming, reminiscent of daily life. Seeing her fuss over a stain is… relaxing. A small, ordinary moment. We are still here. Even after everything—we’re here.
Ylvin gestures to Eidunn.
“Observe, Kilda, Eidunn is so beautiful even the moon is jealous, but she is dutiful and polite. She could have a life of ease, yet she has learned, and chooses, to keep her space clean.”
