I change my mind.I hate it here. And I want to go home—now.
Hopefully, I run into someone on the way who can tell Ashur that we’ve left. My stomach growls.Shit.We haven’t eaten dinner. Maybe I could pack a snack from the dining hall?
There’s bound to be someone in there, right?
The sounds of a celebration carry down the hallway when I get closer to the dining hall. Fuck. I don’t want to be rude, but I do not want to stay here any longer. But the smell of the food outweighs my frustration.
The packed dining hall quiets as I enter.
“And there she is! Our Queen. Our savior!” Ashur’s voice booms across the dining hall.
The room bursts into applause. I plaster a smile on my face and walk to the high table at the other end. Neva has already beaten me there, though, and whispers into his ear. His face contorts from shock to annoyance before waving her off.
“Your Majesty, are you leaving us?” He asks when I’m within reach of his table, surveying the leathers I have donned again. I heft the pack up higher on my shoulders and adjust my grip on the one clutched to my chest.
“Unfortunately—yes. There’s another island that is still without magic.” I reply, following a fleeing Neva with my eyes.She walks around everywhere dressed like that?
“A queen’s job is never done,” he says, eyes narrowing. “Like a captain’s.”
I almost miss the last of his words as he says them under his breath. But the sneer on his face was not hard to miss. I drop Lach’s pack to the floor.
“Would you care to speak up?” I tilt my head and stare intently at him.
“It’s been brought to my attention that your captain is a bit more to you than his position dictates.”
What is this? The Dark Ages? I thought the Valkyries weren’t super stuffy with their love lives. Or at least that’s what I had been told.
“I cannot see how my personal life is your business.” My words aren’t rude but my tone is nothing short of icy.
“It is my business since you are our queen,an unmated queen.” Ashur sets his wine glass down and leans over the table.
The dining hall holds its breath, people straining to hear our conversation. The men and women next to Ashur volley their heads back and forth through our exchange.
“There haven’t been mates since magic faded.”
“Ah, but there will be now.” He waggles his finger up in the air like he’s making a grand point. “And we can’t have a ruler on the throne that is swayed by the whims of desire because she yearns for a lover that’s mated to another.”
His words have me flinching.
My worst fears lay bare for the world to see.
But it’s the underlying threat in his tone that has me squaring up to the table. “Am I not the blessed heir to the throne? The rightful ruler set forth by Odin himself in a covenant that ties my very life to it?” Fury surges through me, peeling my lips back in a snarl.
My skin tingles like a small electric current races over me. A wind rips through the dining hall, and the chandelier above us sways.
Ashur’s eyes widen and a golden light radiates from me, illuminating his face. With all the grief I have suffered through already in my life, I’ll be damned if they try to keep him from me.
“Am I not?” I hiss.
He leans back and away from me, lowering his head in submission, and I take that for my answer.
“I am leaving this island and heading for Olundy. Where,again,I will be freeing an island from the clutches of evil. If you have any further concerns, feel free to address them during our next council meeting—where it is appropriate,” I snap, stooping to pick up Lachlan’s pack.
I make my way through the quiet dining hall and people flee from my path. But as I’m walking through the door, I see a stunned Neva hiding in the shadows.
I’m still bristling when I reach the dock. But the sight of Lachlan in the moonlight, his back towards me as he stares out at the sea, has my anger evaporating.
“Took ye long enough,” he says without turning my way.
