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Great. I grit my teeth to keep from wincing. Aloserin is engaged to Ithronel, Alindra’s sister, so I can guess where the personal part of this conversation is heading. As if my last conversation with Rowan wasn’t bad enough.
“Go ahead,” I say, trying to twist my lips into the sort of smile that used to come so easily.
Aloserin takes a deep breath. He looks like he needs to steel himself against the conversation he’s about to have. “You’ve heard of the Kingdom of Stone and Sea?” he asks.
Well, that wasn’t what I expected. I blink as my mind shuffles through a tangled knot of memories, trying to remember where I’ve heard that name before.
“One of their ambassadors came through the portal with me,” I reply, although I feel like that wasn’t all. I’ve heard that name before, somewhere.
Aloserin nods. “Elorshin Miaren,” Aloserin says. “He also joined Orryen and Elanerill’s envoy to the Kingdom of the Summer. Just in case the four dragons in the envoy weren’t enough to convince Grathgore not to attack us again.”
Aloserin grins, and the memory comes to me. Alindra’s face in the firelight, her voice low as she told me how many families had left the Kingdom of the Summer. Including hers.They’re all in the Kingdom of Stone and Sea now, she said.
Shit. Now I can see where this is going.
“Ambassador Elorshin has invited King Galan to send an envoy of diplomatic representatives to his kingdom for the winter,” Aloserin says.
And then he falls silent and lets the implication hang in the air between us.
“That’s you?” I finally ask, when the silence starts to feel awkward.
He nods. “It is. I’d like to bring a few guards with me,” Aloserin continues. “And I’d like one of those guards to be you. If you want.”
I take a deep breath, then tug my fingers through my hair. “And this is, what, because of how great I am with a sword?” I ask.
My words come out sharper than I’d intended. I’ve been training hard, trying to learn to use a sword with my left hand as well as I once did with my right. But, as I’m sure Aloserin knows, at this point I’m still utter shit.
Aloserin winces. “That’s the personal part,” he says.
I know. But I want him to say it. I lean back against the stone wall and wait.
“Ithronel asked me to ask you,” he says. The way his voice sounds, I could almost believe he’s confessing to torture. “Her family lives in that kingdom now, so she’ll be going too. And so will Alindra.”
He takes a deep breath, glances at the wall behind my shoulder, and presses on.
“So, you know, if you choose to come with us,” he continues, “you’d have to deal with whatever’s going on between you and Alindra. But, for the record, I also think that’s a good idea.”
This time, I can’t stop the groan that escapes from my lips.
“Why is everyone so damned concerned about my personal life?” I say.
“Because you’re miserable?” Aloserin replies, twisting his voice at the end to make it sound like a question.
“I am not miserable!” I snap.
That also comes out sharper than I intended, but hells, I just had to make the same argument to Rowan and Arryn last night. Why is everyone so convinced that I’m unhappy? I’m finally a member of the Royal Guard, for fuck’s sake. I’m perfectly happy.
Aloserin crosses his arms over his chest and raises an eyebrow. “Right,” he says. “You know, I don’t think you’ve actually smiled since you put on that uniform.”
I glance down at my own chest, at the seal of the Royal Guard of the Kingdom of the Fall. It’s the uniform I always wanted to wear.
“That’s fucking ridiculous,” I mutter. “I smile.”
“You used to,” Aloserin replies. “Every time I went to the World’s End, you were smiling.”
Aloserin’s voice fades. I wonder if he’s remembering the last time he went to the World’s End and made an absolute ass of himself.
“Listen,” Aloserin says. “This is absurd, me trying to talk to you about this kind of thing. Ithronel’s the only relationship I’ve ever had, and you’ve slept with most of the nobles in the Crystal City.”
