It was far easier this way. With a shifty glance, Vhalla slipped into Daniel’s shack. She couldn’t leave the axe behind. Vhalla started with the small pile of his clothes in the corner, fishing through them for a bundle that could hold the crystal weapon.

“Where is it?” she muttered when she reached bare ground at the bottom of the stack.

“Where is what, exactly?” Daniel leaned in the doorframe.

Vhalla was like startled game, frozen and wide-eyed, caught by a hunter. She stood, swallowing the awkwardness. “The axe.”

“Hidden, like you asked.” Daniel regarded her thoughtfully. It was a look that she hadn’t received from him, and Vhalla wasn’t sure if it was a look she should like or not.

“I need it.”

“Why?” He took a step closer to her.

“I don’t need to tell you that,” she said cautiously.

“You don’t.” He could’ve fought her, but he didn’t. After the events of the evening, Vhalla had a whole new appreciation for the fact. “But will you at least tell me that you aren’t planning on hurting yourself or someone else with it?”

“What?” the word was half a gasp. “No. Why would you think that?”

“Many wouldn’t blame you.” Daniel put his palm over her cheek. It wasn’t chance his thumb ran over her bruise. “Not after how he is.”

“It’s not like that.” Vhalla was still defensive from Fritz, but once that immediate reaction wore off, she was stilled by a realization. “Wait, how do you know?”

“Where do you think we all were—are?” Daniel frowned. Vhalla didn’t understand, and that much he picked up on, continuing, “It takes a bit of strength to subdue one of the fiercest warriors and greatest sorcerers in the world.”

“What?” Vhalla whispered in horror.

“Baldair called for help. The guard answered,” Daniel began.

“Aldrik, is Aldrik all right?” Vhalla was asking before she could stop herself.

Daniel sighed; the noise was disappointment incarnate. Vhalla didn’t know if the sound made her feel worse than her own realization of what her immediate reaction had been. It reaffirmed everything for her. She had to go. The longer she stayed, the sooner she’d fall back into Aldrik’s gravity.

“The prince is subdued. He’ll be fine—if Baldair doesn’t decide kill him. He doesn’t take kindly to people who mistreat women.”

Vhalla stared at her feet as if daring them to move. They didn’t. They managed to keep her in one place, resisting running to Aldrik. Not taking a step was the first step.

“They’ll be fine.” She tried to shrug it off, to put it behind her. “The axe.”

Daniel squinted, assessing her actions. “Why do you want it?”

“I just do.”

“Tell me,” he pressed.

“I’m leaving.”

Daniel paused, absorbing this news. His hazel eyes seemed to almost glow with interest. “Where are you going?”

Vhalla noticed he didn’t ask why she was leaving. “You don’t need to know that.”

“Can I go with you?”

That was a question she hadn’t been expecting, and Vhalla didn’t know how to answer it. “Why?”

“Because it’s safer to not travel alone. Because I want to leave, too.” Daniel paused. “Because I want to leave with you.”

“Daniel.” Vhalla shook her head firmly. “Don’t you know how it is? Didn’t you see it? I love-loved-love him. I’m not someone you want to be with. I’m not healthy right now.”

Daniel snorted with easy laughter. “And who is?” He gave her a smile that Vhalla had to fixate on, otherwise she wouldn’t have believed it was real. “I thought I tried to explain it. My feelings aren’t dictated by yours.”

Vhalla opened and closed her mouth, unable to come up with a retort.

“When I returned from my last tour, I returned to a letter, a letter from the woman whom I loved, who I thought loved me, saying that she was gone.” Vhalla remembered the history Daniel had told her before, but he’d never continued. “Then I met someone new. I met someone curious, charming, strong, magical. I watched her persevere when the world had written her off—and I thought that if she could do that, I could keep waking up each morning and summoning the strength to get out of bed.”

She felt tears burning behind her eyes, her throat gummy. Vhalla wasn’t overcome with emotion at his words. She felt the tears burning with the knowledge of what she needed to say to him despite his well-intended kindness.

“Daniel—”

“Hear me out,” he said, hastily scooping up her hands. “We don’t have to be alone, don’t you see? And I don’t need your love to help you.”

Vhalla shook her head. “Daniel,” she sighed. “Saving me isn’t going to fill that hole in your heart.”

He stared at her in shock.

“I have to go, alone.” Vhalla withdrew her hands slowly from his. She wasn’t going to use Daniel as a comfort any longer. Vhalla rested a palm on his rough cheek, smiling tiredly. “Please understand.”

He stared at her for a long moment. His eyes fluttered closed, and he engulfed her in a tight embrace. “Be careful out there.”

“I will be.” She gave him one final squeeze before he withdrew. “And be ready for when you return, because I’m going to prove you wrong.” Daniel grinned faintly. “I’ll be looking forward to seeing you, still. You’re not just ‘something to fill the hole in my heart’, Vhalla Yarl.”

Vhalla shook her head hopelessly. He would think whatever he wanted. Time had its own plans in store for them, it always did.

The swordsman relinquished the axe without further objections, producing it from a hidden area beneath his cot. He didn’t try to stop her, and he didn’t insist on going with her again. Daniel watched her leave with his warm hazel eyes, silent appreciation glittering in spite of apparent disappointment.

Vhalla relieved some military stores of rations and a small pack worth of clothes. Armor was plentiful from the dead, and she found some chainmail that fit loosely. Vhalla procured a wide belt that she wore around the waist and slipped the axe, still wrapped, through. She wasn’t going to let it out of her sight again, not until it was returned to Victor.

Finding a horse was surprisingly easy. With the chaos of the battle, some had yet to be corralled. No one noted the Windwalker selecting a still-saddled and bridled stallion. Vhalla stared once more at the camp palace before putting her heels to the sides of the mount.

She set an aggressive pace and rode hard without reservation. By the time dawn came, she was well into the jungle and free from the oppressive smoke that still hovered from the burning pyres of the North’s last stand.

By the time she was missed, Vhalla was far out of the range of scouts.

And by the time the crown prince learned of the Windwalker’s whirlwind departure, Vhalla Yarl was too far to hear his screams of anguish.