“We need to go back and warn the capital.” Elecia looked to Aldrik.
“The capital is gone.” Sehra shook her head at the futility of Elecia’s suggestion.
“Don’t you say such things!” Elecia snapped.
“Elecia, calm,” Aldrik ordered. The curly-haired woman sat slowly. “The capital is bloated with soldiers from the war. If there was ever a time to brace for an attack, now would be that time.” The prince pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh. “All that said, we should return as soon as possible. If Victor hasn’t already launched an attack, we may be able to help warn them.”
“Go on your suicide mission. Za and I will have no part.” Sehra drew her line in the sand. Aldrik studied his child bride for a long moment, his gaze searching. “I think, in light of recent events, we can reach a mutually beneficial agreement instead.”
“I am listening.” Aldrik sat back in his chair. Vhalla had to blink twice. Despite being of basic construction, it suddenly looked like a throne.
“My mother sent me south for two reasons: to thwart the Empire’s plans for the crystals and to protect our people.” Sehra was clearly ready to lay everything on the table.
“And assassinate the Emperor.” Vhalla scowled at the Northern women.
“Assassinating the Emperor would’ve supported both ends,” Sehra said easily. “But circumstances have changed.” The princess returned her attention to Aldrik. “You need my people. You need our knowledge of the crystals, our fighting prowess. Give me your word as a ruler that you will relinquish Shaldan from the Solaris Empire, and you shall have knowledge and arms for this fight.”
“Impossible.” Aldrik didn’t entertain the idea for more than a breath. “As Vhalla so aptly pointed out, you need to fight or your people will surely perish. Why would I agree to something you will do anyway?”
“The sea is not so wide between us and the Crescent Continent. We could flee.”
Aldrik considered this a long moment. “You are smart, princess. So you know that I cannot make Shaldan a free state once more. My people will rebel after the price we paid to conquer it.”
Vhalla almost pointed out that she had already said such to Sehra previously.
“Shaldan cannot be bought with Southern blood!” Za interjected angrily.
“Za, quiet.” Sehra wasn’t about to allow negotiations to be interrupted. “I want my people safe. I want Shaldan’s interests protected, now and in perpetuity.”
“Tell me you will fight with us, give us your men, your weapons, your knowledge, and you will have my word,” Aldrik agreed.
“Your word isn’t good enough,” Sehra said sharply. To Vhalla’s surprise, the girl’s eyes turned to her. “You speak highly of peace.”
“I do.” Vhalla wasn’t afraid to say so. “Our land has seen too much turmoil.”
“Will you be peace’s champion in the battle to come?”
“I will be.”
“Are you finally ready to pay the asking price for it, when the time comes?” The princess’s words had a weight to them unlike anything Vhalla had ever felt before.
“I will be,” she reaffirmed after a long moment.
Sehra took a deep breath. “I will return home, and I will tell my mother of what has happened here. She will heed my counsel, and I will tell her to fight with Solaris. To remain a part of this Empire and its future leaders who vow to fight for peace and the wellbeing of our people.”
Vhalla’s heart began to race. It was too easy. She braced herself for the princess to continue.
“Needless to say, I will return to inherit my birthright of leading the Head Clan of Soricium as a Child of Yargen.” Her eyes turned to Aldrik. “I have no interest in mingling my bloodline with yours if I am guaranteed that my people will be looked after.”
“You have my word.”
Vhalla frowned at the fraction of relief in Aldrik’s eyes. It was too easy, she wanted to scream at him.
“I told you, that’s not good enough.” Sehra smiled tiredly. “My people need assurance. And since I know you are one to value the life of one you love more than an entire people, I will ask for only one.”
“You are not taking Vhalla from me.” Aldrik scowled.
Sehra laughed. “Predictable, but no. She will stay to honor her words to me, to prove that the future Empress of this land is worth her word.”
“Who then?” Aldrik let his unquestioning silence stand as affirmation to the princess’s assumptions that he and Vhalla would wed when he was no longer promised to Sehra.
Vhalla’s hand went to the watch at her neck. Her heart was still beating frantically.
“Your heir.”
Confusion ran quickly across Aldrik’s feature, anger quick on its wake. Vhalla knew he was imagining the child he’d dreamed of. Their child.
“You would ask for my first born?” His voice had gone deep and threatening.
“I ask for your heir, future Emperor.” Sehra remained resolute. “If Solaris keeps their word throughout the battle that you will honor Shaldan and do everything to rid the world of this abomination, we will lend our strength. To ensure a lasting peace, your heir, which I imagine will be conceived quickly to fulfill your duty as a ruler, will come and live as a ward of my family for his or her first fourteen years of life. This will ensure that Shaldan is protected in the formative years of becoming part of your empire and that the next Solaris will care for and love our people as their own.”
Vhalla gripped the oversized shirt she wore. If she and Aldrik wed she would be conceiving his heir, the heir Sehra wanted. They wanted her child.
“Fourteen years?” Aldrik balked.
The conversation faded a moment as Vhalla retreated into her own mind. She automatically assumed it to be her child. But who knew what would come to pass? Every day was less certain than the last. Taint had been unleashed upon the world, and she was nothing more than a Commons now. Vhalla looked at the turmoil on Aldrik’s face. He was being asked to choose between his Empire, and the family he’d been idolizing in his dreams. He couldn’t make the decision rationally, so she did.
“I think you should agree, Aldrik,” Vhalla interjected, not even noticing who she interrupted. The look on his face alone affirmed all her suspicions on what he’d been thinking.
“That would be your child.”
“I know.” As if she needed reminding. “And even if it is, I still think you should agree.”
Sehra met Vhalla’s eyes, and the princess gave an appreciative nod. The girl wasn’t gleeful. Sehra clearly wasn’t relishing in the idea of separating a family. But she also wasn’t backing down from what she believed she needed to do to protect her people. Vhalla would never verbally admit it, but if she did have a child, there would be worse fates than being raised in a culture with such deep knowledge and apparent honor.
Aldrik stood, pacing the room. Everyone remained silent as the crown prince visibly debated all his options. He was the only one who could make this decision, as he would be the one who would be forced to honor it as the future Emperor. He paused, staring at the fire, suddenly still after the momentary flurry of activity.
“You have your deal.” Aldrik didn’t look at anyone as he spoke. “Now leave me.”
Sehra stood gracefully, leaving with Za’s arm tucked around her. Elecia gave Vhalla a glare. Clearly the woman didn’t approve of Vhalla’s influence on Aldrik. Vhalla pursed her lips, she wasn’t going to be made to feel guilty for doing what she felt was right.
“Not you, Vhalla,” he ordered without turning.
Vhalla sighed softly and crossed to her prince. His shoulders were stiff and his eyes focused on the flames, as if he prayed for them to tell him the answer. To present him with an alternative to what he had just agreed. Vhalla wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek on his back.