the ten or so nobles who greeted her were the heads of some of the oldest families on the continent. Naturally, not every noble family was in attendance. Court wasn’t a mandatory function, but nobility often had little else to do to pass the hours and were kept happy and complacent toward the Empire by milling about and gossiping with each other.
“Vhalla, I’m glad you’re here,” Daniel spoke the moment they were free of the initial party that was brave enough to break the ice with the Windwalker. “I did a lot of thinking after the North . . .”
“I did too,” Vhalla said quickly. His expression mirrored her heart and Vhalla was inclined to spare them any awkward moments. “It’s good to be home.” Whatever home had now become.
“Speaking of home, I have something I want to show you.”
“What is it?” Vhalla tried to decipher his cryptic words.
“Lady Yarl.” A man interrupted their conversation before Daniel had time to elaborate. “I heard word of your ordeal in the West. Appalling, really, that Lord Ophain allows those zealots to run so freely.”
Vhalla turned to face the Western man, trying to gauge his sincerity. “Lord Ophain does what he can. He’s worked to make it clear where the West now stands toward Windwalkers.”
“And where do you think that is?” The man gave her a slow smile.
“I think—”
Another hush fell over the crowd, and Vhalla was stilled by the man and girl standing, hand in hand, in the back doorway to the large hall. Vhalla tried to look at anything else. She tried to look at the vaulted ceiling with carved archways. She tried to look at the patterns the stained glass printed on the alabaster floor. She tried to look back at the lord and strike a conversation.
But she was trapped, her eyes focused on the hand wrapped in Aldrik’s.
She had seen the princess before. She’d stood on the Sunlit Stage upon Vhalla’s return. But she might as well have been half a world away from Aldrik then. Now she stood poised and tense at his side, and in them Vhalla saw the future Emperor and Empress.
She wanted to leave. She didn’t want to see anymore. She didn’t want to confront the mess his perfect façade created in her heart.
Aldrik scanned the crowd and his lips parted to speak, freezing halfway open the second his attention found her. She saw his confusion at her presence, a similar feeling to the panic she was already drowning in.
The nobles missed nothing and hastily pointed out the awkward exchange between the prince and the newest lady.
“Prince Aldrik, so good of you to join us today! The Lady Yarl was presented by the Lord Taffl earlier,” came a voice that broke the silence with malicious excitement, the same Western man whom she’d been speaking to a moment before.
“Lady Yarl,” the prince’s lips formed her name with such precision that it sent a shiver up Vhalla’s spine. “It is an honor to have you as a member of this Court.”
The words were stiff and formal, but his eyes were alive.
“Thank you, my—” Her voice wavered as she caught herself before she could use her former term of endearment. Aldrik’s eyes widened a fraction, and she could hear him hold his breath. “Prince Aldrik.”
Disappointment attempted to pull his shoulders down. What did he want from her? What did he think would happen?
“I believe this is the first time the Lady Yarl has met the future Empress,” a woman tittered. “She wasn’t there for the presentation of our dear prince’s betrothed during the Festival of the Sun.”
Vhalla’s hand went to her neck. Baldair had been right; these people were awful. She sought him out, and the younger prince looked on helplessly.
“Lady Yarl, Hero of the North, why don’t you introduce yourself to your future ruler?” the woman suggested.
Vhalla was tempted to show them all exactly how she’d gotten the title of the Hero of the North. She’d reaped destruction and rained hellfire upon her enemies. Vhalla straightened, holding herself taller. But she’d also earned her title and freedom by playing this noble game. If they wanted her to play, then she would show them how to play to win.
All eyes were fixed on the Windwalker as she crossed the room to the prince and princess. Her feet echoed across the floor, the only thing breaking the silence. Vhalla swallowed her frantically fluttering heart. She would do not only what she had to do, but what was right, what