“Do not lie,” Sehra scolded. “I can sense the magic on you. You have touched Achel.”

Vhalla stiffened and blinked her eyes quickly, shifting her vision into magic sight. The girl looked no different from Za, whom Vhalla knew was a Commons. Did she have a closed Channel? Had Vhalla somehow been misled that Aldrik’s bride wasn’t a sorceress?

“My mother speaks to me; she tells me the Achel has been stolen. But the Emperor rages daily for it to be given to him. It is gone, but not into the Empire’s hands. Only your hands have its shimmering remnants upon them.”

“How are you so certain?” Vhalla asked uneasily.

“I am a child of Yargen.” Sehra sat straighter at the word. “I know the old ways. I know the old magic that has long been forgotten by the southern peoples.”

“Why does Shaldan want the axe?” Vhalla hoped the question didn’t confirm or deny her possession of it.

“Because it is our history,” Sehra answered as Za shook her head in disgust at Vhalla’s question. “Because it is not yours to take, or have, or use.”

Vhalla had no argument to any of those. “You wish to use it to fight for your sovereignty?”

She couldn’t exactly fault the North for it. She personally knew what it felt like to be chained under the Emperor. She couldn’t imagine a good leader’s agony at the knowledge of their entire people being reduced in such a way.

“Not fight.” Sehra shook her head. “Make a deal for it.”

“With me?”

The princess nodded.

“What do you think I can do?” Vhalla hardly had any say in the future of the North, even less the power to give them their sovereignty.

“You hold no more love for this Empire than my people do, this much I have seen. It gives me faith for you. However, with the axe in hand, you are a danger to us as a tool of the war-hungry men who sleep in these stone walls,” Sehra said, revealing nothing Vhalla didn’t already know.

“Yet,” the princess held a long pause, “you also hold the future of Solaris in your hands.”

“How?” Vhalla frowned.

“Not hands, perhaps. Around your neck would be a better way to say it?”

Vhalla’s hand went up to the watch, buried under the cloak and layers of clothing. Vhalla knew that Sehra had never seen the token, and even if she had, there was no reason for her to be so certain as to its origin. “How did you know?”

“His heart sings for you, his eyes search for you, his magic calls for and embraces you. Even a fool could see it, and I am no fool.” Sehra raised a finger, pointing at Vhalla’s chest. “He may not even realize what he has given you.”

“What?” Vhalla’s curiosity got the better of her.

“His magic sleeps within,” Sehra was gracious enough to inform Vhalla, in not so many words, that Aldrik had given her what was well likely an unintentional vessel. “Do you deny the rumors of your involvement with the crown prince?”

Vhalla remained silent. It was an odd thing for a bride-to-be to ask about her groom. But the whole night so far had been anything but conventional.

“No . . . One who screams for truth cannot turn and deny her heart.” Sehra leaned slightly against Za. “You can have him. I give him to you.”

“What?” Vhalla blinked.

“You cry for an Empire of peace; here is your chance, Vhalla Yarl.” Sehra narrowed her eyes slightly, a challenge carried in her words. “Give me Achel. Let me return the weapon to its tomb to await its true master’s return. I will disappear, return to my home from your frigid, barren mountaintop. The North will write me off as dead so long as the Empire relinquishes its hold on my people.”

Vhalla processed this for a moment, and somehow managed to keep in insane laughter. “You want me to make a deal, that if I give you the axe and convince the Empire to give up the land the Emperor has just won at the highest price, I can be with Prince Aldrik?” She commended herself for remembering the prince’s proper title.

Sehra frowned at Vhalla’s amusement.

“You’re delusional.” Vhalla stood. As if she would ever try to bargain for Aldrik’s heart. Vhalla ignored that part and focused on one of the many other reasons why the girl’s proposal wouldn’t work. “There’s no way the Empire could, or would, let go of Shaldan now. To do so would admit failure, which no one will do.”

“And I thought you were different, that you had reason and a sense of justice.”

“Those are luxuries we cannot afford. We’re all trying to survive in a world that doesn’t give a damn about reason or justice, so learn well, princess.” Vhalla sighed. “Even if I wanted to take your deal, I’d never be with the crown prince. The Emperor would refuse it. Nothing is ever that simple.”

Za engaged in a quick series of harsh words punctuated with nasty glances at Vhalla. Sehra nodded a few times, frowned, and held up her hand.

“Then help us kill the Emperor.”

Vhalla’s head jerked around instinctually at the deeply treasonous words, looking for someone to spring from the shadows and lock her up. She returned her attention to the princess once it was clear no one else had been in the empty hall for hours. Vhalla clenched and unclenched her fists. She should be appalled. But the thought settled easily upon her mind. It complemented the dark history she had with the Emperor Solaris and the utter hatred she generally held for the man.