Like cry and tell Ivren everything.
“Well…” I nodded to Ivren’s tall frame. “Those muscles should help you during the trials. You didn’t have those back when we’d play on the muddy beaches of Gotravik.”
A laugh burst from his lips. “Is that a compliment?”
Heat crept up my neck.
“Don’t get shy on me now.” Ivren chuckled. “You grew up as well, Elvara Sweengard.” He gave me an appreciative look. “Youreallygrew up.”
Viljan made a sound that should have made the hairs on Ivren’s body stand on end, but that only made the Solsken heir laugh harder.
“Come on.” He waved toward me. “You might be her guard, but you have eyes. Beauty isn’t only for the hands, is it?”
“Enough,” I said as Viljan’s growl shook the ground beneath my feet. “Save your silver tongue for someone else.”
“But I was only getting started,” Ivren teased. “Lika didn’t tell me his sister had become so beautiful. I need to have a word with him.”
I cocked my head, swallowing the knives jabbing at my throat. “Do these lines ever work for you?”
“When I’m lucky.” He grinned. “But you’re too clever for me, aren’t you?”
“I fucking hope so,” Viljan snarled softly.
I rolled my eyes. “He’s only joking, Viljan.”
“Mostly.” Ivren threw a look over his shoulder, toward the longhouse where initiates were spilling out from the double doors. “Speaking of your brother. Is he coming to support you? I’m surprised he would give up his spot as heir. When we spoke a few moons ago, he was set on being here.”
It was like taking an axe to the heart, but I pulled my lips into the widest smile I could muster.
“He isn’t.” I laughed, and although the sound felt strangeleaving my throat, like a foreign lump I had to expel, it was convincing enough. “You know my father. He found a new piece of land with crops we’d never seen before. He couldn’t resist, and he wanted Lika with him. Lika can’t say no to an epic battle—being a war hero and all that helps him with his women—and since I’ve been secretly training as heir, my father decided I would take over while Lika continues to manage our warriors. It’s been really?—”
Viljan cleared his throat, and when I turned, he made a cut-it-out gesture with his hands.
Fuck. I’d been rambling. I snapped my lips shut, fighting for my life to keep the smile plastered on my face, my teeth clenched so hard my jaw started to ache.
Ivren’s dark brows pulled, his eyes shooting from the overgrown forest behind us to the food tent from which mouthwatering scents drifted our way—wood, meat, and rich ale filling the summer breeze—and then back again.
I saw the exact moment he understood.
He jerked back for a moment. Then his eyes glossed. His hands fisted by his sides.
His voice lowered, only a fraction, but enough for me to hear everything he wanted to say in the one word he uttered. “Elvara.”
“Fuck,” Viljan growled.
When metal clinked, my stomach flipped, and despite the warm summer night, my veins froze to ice as Viljan gripped his axes in his hands and stalked closer to me than he’d ever done before.
Five feet.
Four.
Three.
“Stop,” I croaked, and I wasn’t entirely certain at first what the expression on Viljan’s face was—what the wild eyes, flushed cheeks, and thin lips meant. But then his brows drew high, and I realized it was surprise. I’d surprised him for the first time in the ten years he’d protected me, and notin a good way.
“I—” I started, but Ivren interrupted me.
“May Odin protect them on their journey,” he said, his smile returning, albeit turning far cooler when it moved Viljan’s way. “Apologies, I was disappointed at first—I’d looked forward to spending the next few years with Lika, but of course furthering our king’s borders is more important. I’m glad he sees it. And I am glad you’re here, Elvara. I’m sure we’ll be good friends as well.”
