“I don’t know what else you think I’ve done.” She took a step away, crossing her arms. “If you remember, my life hasn’t been mine for the past few weeks. I’m owned by the crown, my prince.”

“Is that it? You’re just owned by the crown? There is nothing more?” Aldrik shortened the gap between them with two steps.

“What else more would there be?” Why else would she be headed to war?

His eyes widened by a fraction, and Vhalla realized that they weren’t talking about her presence in the military or combat. Aldrik stormed past her, his shoulder hitting hers lightly.

“Aldrik, you know that wasn’t what I meant,” she called after him.

He froze and looked back at her. Was that appreciation on his face? Was he impressed that she recognized the subtle shifts in their conversation?

The moment was fleeting, and he left her without another word.

Vhalla wanted to scream. The wind tickled under her palm, responding to her frustrations. For the first time Vhalla considered running and abandoning her duty.

Later, in their tent, Vhalla vented to Larel about it all. “I don’t even know what I did!” The other woman was silent. “I thought he would’ve been pleased I’m not utterly useless.”

“You were never useless,” Larel corrected unhelpfully.

“I bested Elecia!” Vhalla flopped back onto her bedroll. “I thought he’d be proud.”

Larel paused a long moment, lying on her side next to Vhalla. They set up their bedrolls against each other to give more room for their armor and things in the small tent. It seemed a much better use of space, and Vhalla had already shattered any contact barriers from the nights she’d spent shaking and sobbing in Larel’s arms.

“The way you fought, Vhalla,” Larel began delicately.

“Not you too,” she groaned.

“Well, you moved very differently than ever before,” Larel pointed out. “What happened?”

“We’ve been training for weeks,” Vhalla stressed. “I hope I’m getting better.”

“Neither Fritz nor I could best Elecia.”

“But you two weren’t really sparring.” Vhalla turned on her side to face Larel.

“We were.” Larel nodded. “How did you do it?”

Vhalla paused, trying to put her defensiveness aside and think. “I don’t know, I just moved.”

“You ‘just moved?’” Larel quickly dropped the skepticism when she saw Vhalla’s face.

“I didn’t even think,” Vhalla added softly, attempting to analyze what had happened. “It was as though my body knew what to do, and I just had to trust it.”

“You fought like Aldrik.” Larel continued before Vhalla could point out that the prince had been training her, “No, Vhalla, you fought exactly like Aldrik.”

“But—”