Water's Wrath (Air Awakens Series Book 4) (17 page)

“I will be an old maid by the time it’s cleansed,” Vhalla lamented.

“Your second was faster than your first, and your third faster than your second.” Victor smiled, rounding his desk. “Think of it as learning magic all over again.”

“I just finished learning magic the first time.” She stood, stretching.

“Then the process is fresh in your mind.” Victor chuckled. “Thank you, Vhalla,” he said sincerely. “You’re going to be the catalyst for a new age.”

“One step at a time.” She shrugged. As all she sought was lasting freedom and peace, Vhalla kept her eye on the prize.

“We should work again tomorrow, if you feel up to it.” The minister started for the door.

“I have a feeling this is how I am going to spend my days,” she murmured.

“It is. I want to move quickly, but not so quickly that you burn out . . . so rest in the morning. I don’t want you pushing yourself on trivial things; this will be taxing enough for you. When we are not working, focus on giving your magic ample time to recover.”

“I’ll be certain to take it easy,” she agreed lightly.

The minister paused, unappreciative of her tone. “I am quite serious. We are working with advanced magic unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.”

Vhalla held her tongue about the magic she had seen in the North.

“Don’t fret.” She shrugged off the minister’s worry as fatherly concern. “I’ll keep up my strength.”

“I trust your judgment,” Victor said finally, shrugging off the disapproving glint to his eyes. “Though, I request that you tell no one of what we are doing.”

“By the Mother, no,” Vhalla laughed. “I’m not stupid.”

“No,” the minister smiled, “you’re not.”

When Vhalla finally returned to her room, the window was dark and the moon was already cresting the horizon. Utterly exhausted, she wasted no time bathing. The baths were mostly empty due to the unconventional hour, and Vhalla greedily soaked in the warmth of the water.

By the time she crawled into bed, she expected to fall asleep instantly, but her mind lingered in wakefulness. There was a smell on her pillow, on her blankets, so faint that Vhalla was certain she was imagining it. Real or not, it brought back memories of the last nights she’d spent in the bed, with Larel soothing her nightmares away.

Vhalla passed the watch around her neck from hand to hand. She’d returned home, she was surrounded by almost everyone she’d ever known, but she still felt very, very alone.

T
WO DAYS LATER
, Vhalla escaped the Tower with determination—she could only spend so many hours with Fritz and Grahm making eyes at each other and saying nothing about it. There was somewhere else that she knew she had to venture. And, while she’d find friends there, it would also force her to confront the truth she’d been harboring since the West.

Swords rang out above shouting and laughter. The palace training grounds were full of veterans from the Northern war, and with them came a whole host of new recruits for the palace guard. It seemed Tim had been at it again, spreading stories about her, as most of the guard had a wing painted on their breastplates. It didn’t take long for Vhalla to be noticed by some of the men and women, and she was greeted like an old friend.

It was the reception she would’ve wanted from the librarians and would’ve never expected to find among swords, bows, and drills. But the encouragement was welcome. Plus, once she was spotted, it made fleeing in absolute terror much more difficult.

Her eyes scanned the dusty training field. Archers sent arrows toward targets, and men assaulted wooden dummies with what would be lethal slashes. Vhalla found Daniel among the latter.
Breaking the news about Jax to one of the guard would mean breaking the news to them all.

“If you want to say hello, I think he’d appreciate it,” the voice nearly startled her out of her skin.

“Erion,” she breathed the second she met the Western eyes. “Erion!”

Vhalla threw her arms around the man’s shoulders. They’d never been exceptionally close, but the Golden Guard felt like family. The feeling must have been mutual as his arms wrapped around her waist for a brief squeeze.

“You are all sorts of trouble, aren’t you?” Erion pulled away quickly, his Western nature getting the better of him. “It’s no wonder Jax likes you.”

Vhalla swallowed hard. “Erion . . . Jax is . . .” Vhalla gripped her fingers, emotions running high. “He was trying to protect me.”

“Oh, he told us.”

“What?”

“When he got back to the palace a few days ago, not long before Daniel, he told us all about how you got him stabbed,” Erion laughed.

Vhalla didn’t share the same emotion. “He’s here?” she asked, deadpan.

“Yeah, right over there.” Erion pointed to a group practicing grappling.

Vhalla stormed across the training grounds like a little vortex, her hands balled into fists as she stomped toward the tall figure of a Western man.

Jax turned with a laugh, breaking away from his conversation and noticing her for the first time. He put his hands on his hips and tilted his head to the side. “No blood, no weapon, no armor? This may be the first time you’ve disappointed me.”

She debated between punching him and kissing him the second he was in arms reach.

“You’ve been back for
days,
and you didn’t think to tell me you were alive?” Her voice couldn’t make up its mind either, and it alternated between cracking with rage and relief.

“I figured someone else did.” Jax shrugged. “It’s not like it makes that much of a difference.”

“Of course it does!” Her intensity startled him. Vhalla spoke over his loss for words. “You think that you dying ‘doesn’t make a difference’?”

The Easterner in her finally won out, and Vhalla wrapped her arms around his waist. The hug was awkward, but she persisted all the same. His hands fell on her shoulders, but he didn’t instantly push her away. It seemed as though he was at an utter loss for what to do when someone showed him affection.

Vhalla broke the short embrace, staring up at him. “I’m glad you’re okay, Jax. I thought I’d killed you.”

“You don’t need to worry about someone like me,” Jax replied. He glanced around, catching the eyes of the other guards staring curiously. The man thumped the top of her head with a fist in a brotherly fashion. Laughing, he spoke loud enough for everyone to hear, “Bleeding heart Easterners! You don’t need to worry so much about us tough Western stock. Right, Erion?”

Erion gave a marginally committal grunt.

Some of the men chuckled, and Vhalla let them have their laugh. The look she received from the corner of Jax’s eyes spoke volumes of his true feelings toward her concerns.

“How did you survive?” Vhalla was still trying to process that the man before her was real.

“One of Schnurr’s servants found me,” Jax explained. “I was able to cauterize most of the wounds myself, so I didn’t bleed out entirely. Unsurprisingly, they had little love for their
most generous
lord, and helped me get back on my feet.”

Her presence had been enough of a break from the normal routine that others were noticing. Among them was the golden prince, Raylynn at his side, with Craig and Daniel in tow.

“Vhalla!” The Eastern man nearly sprinted over to her.

If Vhalla hadn’t pushed wind at her back, the force of his embrace would’ve knocked her over. But Vhalla locked her arms around him tightly for a long moment. Daniel pulled away, beaming.

“It’s such a relief to see you all right.” He hooked an arm around her shoulders and shook her lightly. “You had me so worried!”

“Jax told me you were foolish enough to feel responsible for letting me leave alone.” Vhalla grinned, appreciating the now effortless atmosphere time had created between them.

“If it isn’t the troublemaker herself.” Baldair joined the group.

“You’re one to talk.” Without hesitation, Vhalla hugged the youngest prince tightly. Baldair squeezed her in reply. “How many hearts have you broken while I was gone?”

“Me? I never break hearts!”

Raylynn snorted.

“At least five,” Erion outed the golden prince.

“No, no, only three.”

“
Only
,” Vhalla teased.

“It’s not my fault if they think there’s more to it than a night! I never advertise any differently,” the prince defended himself with a laugh.

Vhalla decided it was true after a moment’s consideration. He didn’t seem to have many
repeat offenses
. Her eyes shifted to the blonde at Baldair’s side.
Maybe he had one repeat offense
.

Raylynn rolled her eyes. “The paragon of innocence.”

“I’m about to make all of you run double drills,” Baldair threatened.

“Speaking of,” Erion said as he caught Daniel and Craig’s attention, “where are they at so far?”

The men began conversing on the status of the swordsmen. Vhalla was quickly forgotten, until Baldair took a step closer to her.

“Take a walk around the grounds with me, Vhalla? I’d like to show them to you.”

She knew by his tone, by the way that the rest of the Golden Guard seemed to take a step away, that the prince showing her the grounds was a front for other intentions.

“Certainly. I’d like to see them,” Vhalla agreed with grace.

The prince offered her his elbow, which she took without hesitation.

“I remember a time when you wouldn’t be seen touching me.” He chuckled softly.

“How times have changed.” She smiled in bittersweet fondness at the unconventional start of their relationship.

“You are the only woman who ever was of such an opinion. I should’ve known then you were already practically family.”

“Jax informed me that you told the guard to protect me as if I was kin.” Vhalla glanced at the Western man, reaffirming he was actually alive.

“I heard you were to be family.” Baldair’s usually booming voice was soft and rich with sorrow.

Vhalla couldn’t stop her hand from flying to the watch at her neck, confirming his words with a single action. “How did you know?”

“When Aldrik came to his senses, finally, he went to Father and begged once more for you.”

“
Begged
?”

“He said that he loved you and that he had already promised his heart and future to you.”

Vhalla stopped in place with shock. “He said that, to your
father
?”

“Not one of his finer ideas, I agree. I wouldn’t have been surprised if Father’s eyes had fallen out of their sockets as they bulged with rage.” Baldair shook his head, and they continued their walk. “We all should’ve known what that token meant.”

Vhalla focused on the dusty ground, not even bothering to pretend the prince was showing her the regimen of the palace guard. “How is he?” she breathed.

“Rough, beyond rough, for a while. He snapped, broke completely in a way I’d never seen him break before.” Baldair paused, chewing over his words. “Then, one morning, like magic, he woke up and changed everything. Or, at least, he started
trying
. It was like he finally got it, what everyone had been trying to tell him all along. He worked to put a stop to all his nasty habits, he endured the shakes, the sickness. He withdrew more, but it tempered his anger.”

“Ophain said much the same,” Vhalla recalled.

“Aldrik’s uncle? You met with him?”

“In the West,” she confirmed.

“Right . . . Were you really ambushed by the Knights?”

Vhalla shook her head in exasperation. “You think I’d lie about that?”

“I suppose you wouldn’t,” the prince laughed. “The fools, like you could ever be chained. If my father couldn’t, no one could.”

She never thought she’d laugh about the Emperor trying to enslave her. The conversation reminded her of what she’d learned about Jax’s history during her brief time on the run.

Before she had a chance to ask, Daniel interrupted them. “My prince, were you still planning on heading to Court?”

“Oh, by the Mother,” Baldair groaned as he glanced at the sky. “I was, but I’ve no time to change.”

“Neither do we.” Daniel shrugged. “I thought we might present the Lady Vhalla to the Court today.”

“Present me to the Court?” Vhalla wasn’t sure if she liked the sideways look Baldair was giving her.

“I suppose you haven’t been here since the last Court day,” Baldair murmured. “If the lady wishes it, I’ll come for moral support. But, Mother, don’t make me speak more than I must.”

“What does being
presented
entail?” Vhalla asked uneasily.

“You’re just formally announced as a new lady,” Daniel answered easily. “If Baldair doesn’t wish to speak, I’d be honored to do the announcing.”

He held out a hand, and Vhalla considered it briefly before taking it. “Couldn’t hurt, right?”

“It’s easy!” Daniel encouraged.

“By the Mother,” Baldair muttered under his breath. He turned and raised his hands to his mouth, calling across the field. “Ray, we’re going to Court.”

The blonde let out a monumental groan at that information.

“That’s not encouraging,” Vhalla said uneasily.

“Raylynn’s just dramatic. She hates Court.”

“For good reason.” Baldair actually frowned.