“Thank you,” Aldrik said begrudgingly.

Vhalla blinked. He was thanking his brother, after all that? She couldn’t fathom a reason.

“I’ll see you within an hour.” The door closing signaled the younger prince’s departure.

Aldrik pulled back the sliding doors, and Vhalla stared at him hopelessly. He picked up on her emotion and crossed quickly to sit next to her, taking her hands in his.

“It’s okay.” He raised her knuckles to his lips. “It’s all right.”

“But ...” she protested weakly.

“I’ll change the book. It will be no trouble.” Aldrik cupped her cheek.

“Your brother?” she asked.

“Ignore him,” Aldrik sighed.

“Why is he like this?” Vhalla asked, allowing her prince’s touch to calm her.

“It’s a long story between us. But for now, I must go change that book before it has a chance to be brought to my father’s attention.”

Judging from the way Aldrik spoke, it was a long story she would not be hearing. “What would happen if your father saw it?” Vhalla knew Prince Baldair entertained women all the time. While she hardly wanted to be thought as that type of woman, especially to Aldrik, it seemed rather unfair one brother could get away with having women in his room and the other could not.

“Don’t worry yourself with it,” he sighed.

“What would happen?” she pressed. “Aldrik, stop shutting me out. Even if you think it’s for my own good.”

He averted his eyes. “I need to prepare for the troop arrival.”

“What would happen?” she snapped. He looked back at her, startled. Vhalla took a deep breath, calming herself. “Just tell me.”

“After I gave my testimony at your trial, my father spoke with me.” The prince’s voice was faint and his eyes never found hers. “He asked if you were going to be a problem.”

“A problem?” she whispered. Something about his tone unnerved her more than the entire exchange with Prince Baldair.

“A ... distraction from my obligations.” He finally turned back to her. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Vhalla was confused.

The prince just sighed and rested his forehead in his palm. “I told my father that I saw you for what you were. A tool that we needed and nothing more. That I had you in my palms, and you would do as I told you. That it—we—were nothing more than a means to that end.” Her chest tightened at the weakness in his voice. “Vhalla, I don’t—”

“I know.” She cut him off. It hurt to hear he said it, but she knew he only did what he felt was best. Or at least, she hoped. He looked at her skeptically and she squeezed his hand lightly.

“My father told me that he hoped I was correct because too much rested on my shoulders for the Empire to exhaust or invest much on a common girl, no matter how magically special.” Aldrik rolled his eyes at the paraphrased statements.

“Your brother was there, wasn’t he?” Vhalla realized.

Aldrik gave her a small nod.

If not for your sake, then his, Prince Baldair’s words repeated in her mind. He’s using you, Vhalla. It made her pause. Baldair would’ve seen all of Aldrik’s interactions with her in a very different light than she did—as the object of the crown prince’s affections.

“What will your father do? If he ...”

“If he found out you stayed the night with me?” Aldrik asked. “Or that I’ve fallen in love with that special common girl?” He smiled sadly at her.

“Both?” Vhalla reminded her insides that now was not the time to be fluttering.

“The former, I may be able to talk my way out of.” Aldrik pinched the bridge of his nose. “The later, I’m not sure.”

Vhalla took it for the truth, though something in the distance of his eyes made her suspect that he had a guess. She let it drop; perhaps some things were better left unsaid. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For telling me honestly.” It wasn’t lost on Vhalla how hard it likely was for him.

Aldrik laughed and shook his head. Vhalla pulled him closer to her and he obliged, leaning forward. Their lips met briefly, but that was all it took to reassure her about almost everything she thought she knew in the world.

“You need to get ready and edit that book.”

Vhalla stood, and he grabbed her wrist. “Will you come again tonight still?”

She blinked at his question. After all he just told her?

“I don’t know if that’s really—” she started, knowing full well now that it wasn’t just a bad idea, but a potentially dangerous one.

“There’s a secret entrance,” he said quickly.

Vhalla stared incredulously at him. “If there was a secret entrance, how come I didn’t use that to begin with?”

“Because I had a reason to see you.” A sly lopsided grin tugged at his lips. “Because I wasn’t expecting you to stay the night.”

Vhalla blushed and averted her eyes from his handsome face. “It’s still a poor choice,” she whispered.

“It always will be.” Aldrik stood. Her breath quickened by his proximity alone. He hooked his fingers under her chin and pulled her face upward gently. “If you want to make the widely accepted appropriate decision, then leave now, have mercy and end this before you entice me further. Because I promise, this will never be easy—for either of us—and I refuse to love you halfway.”