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“I...I demand it!” I ordered.
But Rune didn’t even slow down.
“How dare you!”
Nothing.
I couldn’t let him walk away like this. Not now, not that Alrick was here.
“Rune...wait.” My voice was soft this time, gentle, as if I was talking to Alrick when he held me in his arms.
Much to my surprise, it worked. Rune stopped but still didn’t turn.
“Please,” I added. “Please, Rune.”
Slowly, Rune turned and looked at me. Those eyes. Like an eagle staring at its prey.
“Are you not tired of the suffering of this war? Don’t you want to see it end?” I said before he could leave again.
Rune sighed and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe that he had actually stayed. Slowly, he walked back up to me.
“Tired?” he asked. “Are you asking if I’m tired of killing? Haven’t you heard the rumors? Do you know what kind of monster I am?”
I pinched my lips. I had heard those rumors indeed. He was feared by North and South alike. A creature of children’s nightmares. Yet, there was something about this man. Something that had made me lower my knife, something that made me feel safe in his presence.
“I’ve heard them.” I smiled. “People say I spit fire like a dragon. I kind of wish it were true. I can think of a few people I’d like to spit on.”
Rune didn’t laugh but threw me a curt nod.
“I am the monster people say I am. Yet every time I close my eyes, I see the horrors of war.”
Silence took over again. Then Rune stepped closer. I didn’t move.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” he said, his voice low but tender. “Your father was a great man, but there is nothing I can do for you or the rebels.”
I pushed a strand of my hair behind my ear. This darn short hair never stayed in the pins. Rune watched my every move.
“I understand,” I said, much to my own surprise, as I offered him back his handkerchief. It was strange to give it back, considering I had used it to wipe vomit off my lips. Looking at it closer now, I noticed old blood stains on it. He didn’t accept it, so I lowered my arm again. “I just thought you were as tired of this useless war as anybody else. Before he died, my father did everything he could to put the war to rest in a peaceful manner. And while I live and breathe, I’m trying to do the same.”
Rune’s lips curled up into a faint smile. “You will have many more years to live and breathe, My Queen.”
I sighed. “As long as you don’t join your father’s Order of the Black Spider knights, maybe.”
His smile vanished. “The Order of the Spider?” he wondered. “What would make you say that?”
I shrugged. “I heard you are rather good with the sword, and the fact that you made it down here unnoticed past all my guards speaks for your abilities. If the Order of the Spider comes for me again with you among them, I might not live too long after all.”
Narrowing his eyes, he stepped even closer. He was now only a few feet away from me. God, this man was a beast of muscle and strength. I fought the urge to step away.
“The knights of the Black Spider came for you?”
I nodded. “I have seen their tattoo on the men who tried to kill me. That’s not something one forgets so easily.”
Rune frowned, his gaze dropping to the floor. For the first time, he seemed shaken.
“There is only one man on this planet who controls the Order of the Black Spider,” he said. “Do you know what you are saying to me?”
Rune’s eyes found mine. He was still frowning. I returned his gaze, not blinking once.
