“Not in the direction we’re headed then,” Fritz sighed on her behalf.

 “No, it’s not.” Vhalla couldn’t keep the wistful longing out of her voice.

 “We should go,” Aldrik said definitively.

 “To Leoul?”

 “To your home,” he clarified.

 “But it’s a day’s ride out of the way, and we’re in a hurry,” Vhalla protested weakly.

 “I think we should go as well.” Elecia was the last person Vhalla expected to voice her support. She elaborated at Vhalla’s inquisitive stare, “Family is incredibly important. I would want to make sure my father was safe.”

 “We will stay here for the night, get a good night’s sleep, and ride to your home tomorrow.”

 The Emperor had spoken, and a weird mess of contradictions waged war in Vhalla’s chest. She was excited to go home. She missed her father desperately after all that had happened. But she was terrified of what she may find. Her origins were no secret. What if Victor had sent a monster out for her father? And even if her father was safe, what if he wanted nothing to do with her? So much had changed since she was last home. Would he be proud of the woman she had become?

 Luckily, Vhalla knew the route to the inn well enough that she didn’t have to dedicate much of her cluttered mind to it. There wasn’t any risk of the inn being filled, given the circumstances of the world, so they didn’t have to fight for stables. An old man, bald at the top and white on the sides, was asleep on the counter.

 “Geral?” Vhalla blinked at how little had changed. Between her speaking and the door closing behind Fritz, the portly man stirred, adjusting his suspenders.

 “W-welcome!” He coughed away the sleep that was stuck in his throat. “Not many travelers these days! How can I help you?”

 “Geral, is it really you?”

 “Well, I don’t know who else I’d be,” he chuckled. “And who is really you, miss?”

 Vhalla lowered her hood, and he stared at her face blankly. She knew her hair was a mess and she was caked in dirt. Crossing the gap to let him get a better look, Vhalla rested her hands on the countertop that she had been barely tall enough to see over the last time she’d touched it. Geral squinted at her from the other side.

 “I . . .” Disappointment hit her harder than she expected when he was unable to place her. “I was just a girl the last time I was here. It makes sense you don’t remember me. I would always come with my mother and father for the Festival of the Sun and . . .” She daydreamed away for a long moment. “Sorry, we’ll need a room for the night.”

 “Two,” Aldrik corrected.

 “Three silver.” The man turned to fetch keys that hung on hooks behind the desk as Aldrik placed the money on the counter.

 “So, ladies’ room and gents’ room?” Elecia inquired as they headed up the stairs. Aldrik shot her a look that explained such was not the case, eliciting a sharp gasp. “Don’t make me sleep with them!”

 “You’ve been sleeping with them the whole time.” Aldrik rolled his eyes and thrust one key into Elecia’s hand.

 “That’s different! There was no alternative. This is so improper.”

 “Be improper with me, Lady Ci’Dan.” Jax waggled his eyebrows.

 “Don’t give the lady trouble,” Aldrik scolded.

 “I’m never trouble!” Fritz pouted.

 Jax smirked proudly. “I’m always trouble.”

 “Cousin, you are lucky I love you.” Elecia’s sharp glare didn’t have weight behind it, and Aldrik smiled tiredly. “And I get first choice of bed.”

 “Second!” Fritz bounded into their room behind her.

 Jax didn’t move. “I’d like to stand guard outside your chambers.”

 Vhalla blinked in surprise, realizing he was addressing her. She’d almost forgotten that he had been her close shadow on the ride, not only because they were traveling in a pack, but also because he had somehow become her sworn guard.

 “Jax, go rest.” The Westerner folded his arms on his chest at Aldrik’s demand. “If something happens to her while she’s tucked in my arms, it will never be blamed on you.”

 “Happy to serve.” Jax bowed, pausing before the still open door Elecia and Fritz had disappeared within. “Oh, and if you two need a third, be sure to let me know!” With a wink and a laugh, he popped into the room.

 Aldrik shook his head. “That man.”

 “Never a dull moment,” Vhalla agreed.

 The room was small and tidy. A single rope bed, a small table at its side. The window was drawn to keep out the cool nighttime breezes.

 “What is it?” Aldrik asked, closing the door behind him.

 “They didn’t have glass the last time I was here.” Vhalla rested her hand on the pane. “But not much else has changed.”

 Two warm palms fell on her hips, and Vhalla felt the length of his body behind her. The perpetual heat that radiated off him was a contrast to everything else in the harsh world. She leaned back into that warmth, letting his hands slide around her front to hold her tightly to him.

 “You’ve changed,” his breath moved her hair as he spoke.

 “I have,” she whispered in reply. If nothing else, that one fact was certainly true. When last in the East, she had been a girl without purpose. Now she had an inkling of what the weight of the world felt like. She knew how the title of nobility fit her shoulders and the greater role she had to play. She wouldn’t return to her father an unaware girl.

 He rounded to face her. “And I love the woman you have become, deeply and completely.”

 “I love you, Aldrik.” Vhalla savored his touch as he palmed her face. “And I fear I always will.”

 “Ah, Vhalla.” He chuckled, pausing just before his lips came into contact with hers. “That is the one thing I do not fear.”

CHAPTER 6

 The Emperor had certainly been fearless that night when it came to heaping his adoration upon his lady. He had reminded her of the fire that lived in his veins. He immolated her passion at the altar of their mutual vows. The early rays of dawn peeking through the glass of the window found them still tangled.

 A banging on the door interrupted their otherwise peaceful morning, pulling them from slumber. Vhalla groaned and rolled over. Two arms enveloped her, stronger than they looked.

 “Aldrik.” She pressed her face into his bare chest. They had found a basic washroom the night previously and, while he didn’t have access to his usual eucalyptus scented soap, he still held the aroma of smoke and steel, a scent all his own.

 “What is it?”

 “You’re here.” Given the madness that had passed, something about waking up in his arms, skin on skin, was wonderfully impossible. It affirmed that not only had last night been real, but it had been the tiny glimpse of a future they fought for.

 “Where else would I be?” He chuckled deeply, laying a sweet kiss upon her.