AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I thought you hated me.” She sobs on my shoulder.
“Never.”
A sense of peace and relief envelops me like a warm blanket when Anya’s little wails of grief turn into giggles of happiness. When she finally remembers herself, that a woman of her station should not be hugging a queen, she begins to apologize and pulls away.
“I’m sorry. I just… I wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”
Neither was I.
I didn’t even know I felt this way about my handmaidens until the words stumbled out of my mouth, each one more honest than the next.
Hmm.
I must admit that the night Levi explained the reason behind why his soldiers loved him the way they did, I had my misgivings. My father didn’t rule that way and he was the best king the kingdom of Aikyam has ever seen. Hence why I may have been skeptical in the ways Levi chose to govern his people.
But I can’t deny the warm feeling I got when I opened myself up to Anya in such a way. When I spoke my truth without fear of judgment or that she would respect me any less from showing such vulnerability.
Maybe there is more than one way to lead.
More than one way to rule.
Maybe I don’t have to keep an arctic distance from my subordinates as I have done in the past, or rely on force and fear, as my father had done before me.
Maybe Levi’s way of governing isn’t without its merits.
Maybe.
Now looking more like her old self, Anya quickly rushes to grab my gloves and hurries to put them on me.
“Even though the east wind is within reach, the weather still favors the north chill. Wear these, Your Highness, while you go for your walk.”
“Thank you. I shouldn’t be long,” I advise her and pull my coat’s hood over my head.
As I strut out of my tent, I tell the guards that there will be no need for them to accompany me either. If I didn’t want Anya’s company, then I can also do without my protective shadows. The campsite is filled with enough soldiers to guarantee my protection.
Unlike the other nights I strolled the campsite with Levi, the scenery around me doesn’t fill me with the same sense of tranquility. In fact, it does the opposite. As I watch Levi’s soldiers celebrate the fact that by tomorrow they will be once again with their loved ones, an uneasiness creeps up my spine.
Tomorrow I will be surrounded by strangers who all raised glasses to their king and his quest to steal the kingdom that is so rightfully mine away from me. I’ll be completely outnumbered by these men who plotted, conspired, and almost succeeded in taking my throne.
How will I ever have a moment of peace in such a hostile environment?
I’ll have to be on guard, twenty-four seven.
And even though I tried my best to gain Levi’s trust, I know I haven’t accomplished such a hefty goal yet. Nor will I do so in the small time I have until we reach Arkøya.
He will not lift a finger to protect me against his people or his men when we arrive.
If one so devoted to the east should conspire to try and assassinate me to clear the path to the northern throne for his king, then who’s to stop him.
Levi? The man who led such a battalion to my borders?
I think not.
Monad’s bodyguards?
The same men who haven’t once raised their swords in battle or slain more than a pigeon for their stew?
Also doubtful.
