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All I could manage was a nod. It was more than okay. So much more than what I’d felt in my dream. I was dizzy with the sensation.
“Let’s start with going somewhere in the castle. I will escort you and take full responsibility if we are caught.”
His words confused me at first. Then I recalled we were talking about traveling and freedom before I’d tried to conjure Nyah. I glanced at him as he waited, always so patient. Those eyes—so blue like the sky in Astridon, not the charcoal one here.
I’d have followed him anywhere. Until the Imrati, it had been ages since I voluntarily left my rooms. Torvo’s kingdom was the furthest I’d been, and even though every moment had been a wonder, between the stress of the situation and the blanket of security stifling my every move, I had felt separated from reality.
“If you promise to stay beside me, I will go.” My stomach started fizzing like I’d swallowed a nest of restless bizzles—tiny, winged, red and yellow insects that never seemed to stop moving. But I found as much excitement as nervousness behind it. If we were caught and reprimanded, I could protect Torvo by blaming myself. As far as I could tell, Father liked him. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen him clap another person on the back or tip his lips up in a smile since Mama had been alive, yet he’d done so each time he’d accompanied Torvo to my rooms.
With sparkling eyes that made the flurry of insects in my stomach buzz harder, Torvo offered his hand. I slipped mine inside his grasp without hesitation. Any excuse to be close to him was a good excuse, no matter Father’s reaction to my wandering around the palace without permission. Besides, it wasn’t like I was unaccompanied. He obviously trusted Torvo with me.
Tucking my hand through his elbow, Torvo swung open the door, surprising the guard on the other side. The man straightened immediately, one hand saluting with a fist over his heart and the other on the hilt of his sword. Torvo carried no weapons—at least not visibly. I doubted he needed them as he was easily twice my size. Just his hand on top of mine swallowed it whole.
Besides, I had magic. And if the guard tried to hurt him, I could handle it. Again, I’d have to deal with father, but if he liked Torvo as much as I thought, he would be glad I’d defended him.
“Your Majesty…” The guard’s eyes—the only part of him visible beneath the bronze and leather helmet—widened in shock as he moved to stand between us and the hall. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him before. Typically, only those who stood near my father entered my room, and even then, only briefly. Well, except for Serano. But I refused to ruin this moment by thinking again about his horrible visits.
“The princess and I are going for a stroll,” Torvo said, clasping my hand tighter. “You’ll need to move.”
“I…I’ll alert the king that you—”
“Did I say you should do that?” Torvo interrupted, glaring down at the poor man.
“N..no, sir, Your Highness, I was given orders by—”
“Well, the princess and I are ordering you to stay put and continue guarding her quarters. We wouldn’t want anyone sneaking in, now would we?”
The metal on the guard’s armor clanked slightly as his knees shook. At this point, Torvo was directly above him, a full head and shoulders taller and doubly as wide as he was. A small thrill went through me at the sheer intimidation radiating off the man at my arm.
“Of course.” The man scooted to the side.
Torvo led me slowly down the twisting stone hall, where flickering torches lit the way.
When we’d gotten far enough ahead and around the bend, I started giggling. “I think you may have made him wet himself,” I said, then popped a hand over my mouth, realizing what I’d just said.
But Torvo only smiled back with a wink. “See? Adventure can be entertaining and amusing.”
“Where are we going?” I asked, not sure where this direction led. The occasional visit to the throne room or banquet hall had always taken me in the opposite direction.
“I thought we’d visit a friend. He doesn’t get much company.”
“A friend?” I repeated, puzzling out who he could possibly be referring to. Then I halted, tugging at his thick arm to make him stop. “You don’t mean Serano?”
“No, My Lady Rune.” Torvo patted my hand that gripped him so hard my knuckles were white as bone. “No. I am taking you to a friend I made at the Imrati. I doubt you’ve been formally introduced, so I’ll do the honors.”
Still uncertain, I let him lead me onward, twisting down toward the lower floors and even taking rounded stairways on occasion. There were so few people moving about the castle, but whenever we did happen upon a servant they immediately dropped into a bow, stealing peeks at me through their eyelashes. It made me anxious, the way they looked at me.
It didn’t escape my notice that we ran into no other guards. I wondered if Torvo had purposely planned this little outing so we’d meet as few as possible. He was so clever, and I appreciated it. Though I had hoped we could go somewhere alone together, like the tower, to gaze at the moons. Perhaps I would suggest that for the future.
“I wish I could take you to the sunshine,” Torvo said. “It’s a crime to hide you away from the light. From the world, Princess.”
My heart fluttered as we began descending yet another set of stairs, this one even darker and dingier than the others. Cobwebs clung to the torches, which hung further and further apart, casting the uneven edges of the steps in moving shadows. But Torvo kept firm hold of me, and I felt no danger of falling.
Not physically.
“I did enjoy the sun in your land, especially after I became used to it. For a while it hurt my eyes,” I admitted.
“A flower needs sunlight to bloom fully,” he replied, eyes on me even as he led us confidently downward.
