"Why does it matter?It is just a woman."
"Great Khan, do you truly feel she is just a woman?"
Ragnar was quiet for a moment.They both knew the strength Azul carried.She couldn’t throw a sword, but her lips, her eyes, and her words were truly enough to bring the downfall of a kingdom.The question was, would she be for them or against them?Would her eyes watch the Valthorne fall, or would they be the reason for their rise?
"Thane," Ragnar began.He knew marrying Azul was a gamble, but it was a gamble he was willing to take.Whether he lost or not.“You've served me for ten years.You've bled for me, killed for me."He met his general's eyes."I need you to follow me now."
"I am following you."
"Then follow her."
Thane's expression flickered—surprise, then something darker."I don't—"
“Do you know what she asked me?When I told her my heart’s intentions?”
Thane was silent; Ragnar continued.“She asked me if I wanted the Steppes or if I wanted Oblivia.”A laugh escaped his lips.“Truly, I have never met such a woman who could make my heart feel such agony and such delight.”Ragnar placed a hand against his chest, eyes softening as he looked up at the stars above.“I thought to myself then.If I asked her for the world, she might truly try to give it to me.Just a woman, and she is willing to give me such a thing.Yet that wasn’t what I wanted.I simply wanted her to stay.”He looked down once more at his general.“I don’t want her to leave after she has paid her debt.So I will ask her for the impossible.I will ask her to give me Oblivia.”He laughed as he spoke—he knew it was an absurd thing to ask for, but what choice did he have?
She need not return his feelings.
As long as he could sit across from her and watch her play her game of Ukhel Dain—he need not even participate if she wished—that was enough.
“Do you think she won’t give it to you?”Thane’s words stopped Ragnar in his tracks, the general’s eyes strangely cold.
“Great Khan, if you ask her to give you Oblivia, she will give it to you.Is that what you wish?”
Ragnar paused, his smile falling as he considered Thane’s question.“It would take her years, if it’s even possible, for her to give me something that great, Thane.I simply want her to stay as long as I am allowed to have her.”He looked up, and his voice settled, carrying the authority that had seen men through numerous battles."If something happens to me, she holds the Valthorne.She holds our people.She holds you.Your loyalty to me is your loyalty to her.There is no separation.Should I die, you must protect her.Should I live, you must serve her still.Thane, that is all I ask of you, as my friend, my brother."
“Even if she betrays you, Great Khan?”
A moment of silence passed between them.
“Hmm.”
Thane stared at him.
For a long moment, Ragnar thought he might refuse.Might finally, after all these years, draw a line he wouldn't cross.
Then Thane's shoulders dropped.
"Ten years," he said quietly."Ten years, and you've never asked me to do something I truly couldn't stomach."He looked away, into the darkness."Until now."
Thane stood, looking down at him—at his Khan, his brother, the man he would one day follow into hell and out again.
"I'll follow her," he said."Because you’ve asked it of me."He walked away, disappearing into the darkness between the trees.
Ragnar sat alone, his sword across his knees, his eyes on nothing.He was asking for too much; for all he knew, Azul might not even wish to return to the Steppes; the power she would wield if they were successful would give her agency to go anywhere she wished.
Ragnar did not know where her heart lay, nor did he know which words she told him were true or which smiles she gave him were genuine.He simply wandered in the dark, in hopes of one day understanding or, at least, seeing what she kept so fiercely guarded beneath her ribs.
If she would allow him, it would be his greatest honour.
Chapter 32
EnochfoundAzulinthe throne room.It was strange to see her standing before the empty seat of Borjigin power as if she had every right to be there.The morning light streamed through the high windows, catching the gold in her eyes and setting them alight.
She wasn’t in chains; she wasn’t guarded, and she looked like a true princess of the Borjigin, with gold layered and stacked on her limbs and neck.
She giggled to herself.“The Of??Really?”
