Tempered Hearts (Hearts of Valentia Book 1) (20 page)

She crossed her arms, frowning at him.

“You haven’t even heard what the danger is yet, why are you already arguing?”

“I don’t believe I said a word.” She lifted her chin, defensive.

“You have that look on your face.”

Vennic sighed, clearly wanting to avoid listening to them bicker. “What’s the problem? Why did the yar order the doors closed?”

Darius shifted his gaze to the elf. “There’s a mysterious disease afflicting the mining caste. They don’t want to risk exposing anyone until they’ve determined the source.”

“Like the grabnar problem?” she asked.

He shot her a mildly surprised look, then shook his head. “No, not this time. It manifests as an actual disease, whereas that was a parasite we easily discovered. I’m assuming Vennic told you about that?”

“A bit. It’s only affecting the miners here?”

“Yes, but there’s concern it could spread if they can’t determine where it came from or what it is.”

With a resigned grunt, Vennic dismounted. “And I imagine you’ve a mind to inquire about this, correct? Proseika to the rescue?”

Darius frowned. “It’s a bit larger a problem than defending that oft-contested mantle, Vennic. If this mine stays shut down, the entire kingdom suffers for it. We can’t afford that when we’re barely beginning recovery from the war.”

Vennic slapped him on the back, grinning. “That was a joke. I know what it means if Ogtern falls. I’m with you for whatever mischief you get into.”

Darius released his reins and helped Arden down from her horse. “I know you wanted to see this place, but I wish you’d consider staying behind. I don’t like the risk this presents, especially given your confessed predilection for exploring tunnels.”

She made a face at him. “You already promised to let me explore any mine I like so long as you were with me. Are you going back on your word?”

Vennic laughed, coughing against his fist to hide it.

“That’s unfair, asahana.”

Grinning at him, she patted his cheek and collected her horse’s reins, looking back over her shoulder as she started towards the area the soldiers were setting up camp. “That’s your consequence for marrying a woman with a good memory and insatiable curiosity.”

His grumbles of displeasure and Vennic’s laughter caught up to her before they did, but she held her ground. Ogtern awaited, hopefully with some answers.

Chapter 20

Darius

Arden’s expression as they entered the cavernous opening of the Ogtern communal square made Darius forget everything and anything else around them. Her eyes were wider than apples as she took in the massive stone columns that spiraled up and out of sight. Her lips parted in a half grin, half gape of utter amazement at the grandeur of the endless mosaic floor stretching out at their feet and climbing the walls. She marveled at the warm, luminescent orbs protruding from the rock, reaching up to touch one as a child investigating a shiny thing. More than once he had to urge her on from where she paused to study something up close, or corral her when she rushed ahead, eager to see what was around the next corner. She was as intrigued with the vendor stalls and shop windows they passed by, peering closely at the oddly shaped roots at a vegetable cart, or pressing her face up to windows to look at the tools or armor or household goods.

It was impossible not to smile, only slightly less difficult not to laugh. Watching her was like seeing the world with fresh eyes. There was so much wonder in the way she looked at everything. Each question she asked had purpose, expanding her mind, the answers forming a chain of knowledge that fed the fiery intelligence in her gaze. Not even the surly dwarves were immune to her. Wherever they went, whomever she spoke with, they were all changed by her presence— small lights left behind in her wake.

The communal square shifted into residential areas, those occupied by the merchant class. Arden shifted into questions about architecture, commenting on how ingeniously each building was carved from the mountain’s interior, how intricate their façades were in replicating various styles from Valentian and Danumbar history while refreshing the looks with unique dwarven touches. In all the years he’d known the place, he’d never given it half the thought she had in the short time they’d been there, and he wondered what else he failed to appreciate in his travels.

The gates to the noble residences halted their journey, however, and he groaned when he saw who was on guard.

“No visitors beyond this point,” the dwarf said, his red-orange hair sticking out in tufts between his helmet and shoulder armor.

“Droogan,” Darius forced a friendly smile, “what a pleasure to see you again. Still as warm and welcoming as ever. Glad some things never change.”

“Save your pleasantries, meddler. You’ll not be getting through here on my watch.”

He folded his arms across his chest, trying not to feel smug that the bothersome lout was still on guard duty, rather than bumbling his way up the army ranks. “Now, Droogan, I don’t think your yar would be particularly pleased with you barring our way. I hear he might be in need of my services again.”

“No one needs you!” he barked. “Begone!”

Scowling, Darius ushered Arden and Vennic towards a temporary retreat around the corner of a building.

“So it’s brute force, then?” Vennic asked. “You know that old boulder won’t budge an inch for you.”

He was about to agree, but Arden stopped him with a hand on his arm. “He doesn’t like you, that much is obvious. May I ask why?”

“I trounced him rather thoroughly in hand-to-hand combat while we were campaigning for opposing political candidates, his support being for a cousin of his.” He scratched his chin absently, trying to think of another way through. Kicking off their visit with a street brawl wasn’t exactly what he had in mind for their trip. “It’s two years since then, and he still holds a grudge.”

Arden chewed her bottom lip, fiddling with the cuffs of her tunic. “Would you let me speak to him? All he can do is say no, after all, which won’t make us any worse off.”

“You want to speak with him?”

She nodded, grinning. “People are like lock boxes. Find the right combination of words, and they open right up. This Droogan problem has an easy enough solution, I think.”

He glanced at Vennic, but all he offered was a shrug. “Very well, but I don’t think you’ll get very far with that one.”

She lit up briefly, then immediately changed her demeanor as they rounded the corner again. Her walk was not the giddy steps she had on their journey so far; she became a lady of purpose. At ten paces from the guard’s hateful stare, she bid them stop and wait while she approached him.

Arden dipped a curtsy. “Good afternoon, sir guard. I was wondering if I might have a word?”

He eyed her suspiciously. “Who are you?”

“My name is Arden.” She hunched towards him and glanced over her shoulder nervously, then approached him.

Darius frowned as she leaned in close to the guard, her voice too low to hear. She whispered to him for several long moments, all the while Droogan’s eyes trained on the king. When his expression shifted, eyebrows raised in keen interest, Darius had to hide his surprise. Was she actually getting through to him?

Arden stepped away, and Droogan gave her a cool look of approval. “Very well then, I’ll let you through.”

She curtsied again. “Your help is greatly appreciated. It will be remembered.”

He bit back a laugh at Droogan’s sudden flushed cheeks when Arden smiled at him. When he turned to open the gate, Darius shot her a questioning look she totally ignored, keeping her focus on the dwarf. As they passed under the massive arch when the iron bars lifted, he sneered at the men, but had only a pleasant smile for Arden. She threw him a small wave and a grin before motioning the group on.

A block from the gate, Darius stopped her for questioning, even though she’d gone back to gaping at the new level of gilded grandeur around them.

“What in the heavens did you say to him?”

“Hmm?” She stood from where’d she been examining the intricate design of a cornerstone. “The guard? Not much. I was polite and respectful. It’s amazing how far that gets you.” She patted his cheek and winked before continuing on down the road. “I may also have mentioned that you’ve a mind to look into the miners’ illness and put yourself in a position to contract it, but that’s neither here nor there.”

Vennic snorted a laugh. “She was right. Simple solution.”

“Using my potential demise as an incentive?” He caught up to her, amused at her self-satisfied look. “That’s deplorable, Your Highness.”

She lifted her chin and sniffed. “Sweet lies are more tempting than unpalatable truths, though I do hope you’ll put serious effort into not dying. If you make me a widow at eighteen, I’ll give you no peace in the hereafter.”

Laughing, he leaned in to her ear. “There are far worse things I could endure, asahana.”

She tried to hide her blush with a look of disdain, but her heart wasn’t in it. In moments, she was back to studying every inch of the city they passed through.

Darius enjoyed every second, impending doom or no.

Arden

“Come to bed, asahana,” Darius yawned. “You’ll see more of it tomorrow.”

Arden pushed away from the window with a sigh. “How can you sleep? My mind is racing with everything today and all the questions I have for tomorrow.” Wistful, she looked back over her shoulder, glancing at the street below and the sudden influx of traffic as long strings of carts rolled through on the rails running down the middle of the road.

“I don’t think the miners guiding those carts would be particularly happy to stop and chat right now.” He flopped onto his back, his eyes closing as he smiled softly at the ceiling. “Nighttime supply transport is a carefully orchestrated dance, even if their output is limited.”

“I only want to watch, not bother them.”

“If I said please, would you at least consider closing the drapes?”

She giggled. “Consider? Certainly.”

“Arden…”

His tone gave her pause, his voice deeper and gentler than his teasing. It pulled her gaze from the window, back to the bed, where his hand stretched out toward her.

“Please?”

The look in his eyes, something quiet and insistent, stilled the endless stream of thoughts running through her head. It was that look that pulled at her hope, even when the rest of her insisted it was wasted effort.

“You need rest if you’re to be sharp for tomorrow,” he said. “Our audience with the yar is bright and early.”

As always, Arden stuffed her dashed hopes down somewhere deep below her gut, but turned and pulled the drapes, even her excitement for the dwarf city dulled. “You’re right, of course. If I want to come off as moderately intelligent, I shouldn’t attempt it while tired.”

Her robe slung across a chair, she climbed into bed and curled up on her side, facing the covered window. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the rumble of the carts and where they might be headed.

It was better than thinking about the man lying next to her.

Long, quiet moments stretched out into the night, and she assumed he fell asleep. She was finally beginning to drift off herself when she felt him shift closer beside her, the weight of his elbow dipping the pillow behind her head.

“Asahana, are you awake?”

As she couldn’t fathom why he’d care, she kept her eyes shut and breathing steady, hoping if she ignored him long enough, it might hurt a little less to be rejected night after night. After his exhilarating treatment of her pain from riding, she thought perhaps he’d come around, but there was nothing after that to encourage her further.

She nearly gave herself away when he brushed the hair from her face, his touch so gentle she again doubted his violent past.

“You are truly the brightest light in all Valentia,” he whispered. “I’m a poor choice to receive it.”

As badly as she wanted to turn and tell him how stupid he was for thinking such a thing, her curiosity about what else he might say far outweighed it. Perhaps he was coming around after all, but wasn’t sure how to fix it.

“I will try to be better for you.”

As he settled in beside her, she forced herself to keep breathing. Never had she wanted to kiss someone as badly as she did in that moment, but what would he think of her? Her, lying there, being put out and stubborn as he whispered sweet words in her ear… And she didn’t want to embarrass him, either. How often did she speak truths when she thought no one could hear? She’d be mortified to be called out for talking to herself. Instead, she continued to feign sleep until rest closed in long after his words turned into quiet snores.

Morning came at a hateful hour, and she resisted Darius’s gentle urging to open her eyes, instead tucking his arm under hers and burrowing deeper into his embrace.

He chuckled in her ear. “What are you doing, Arden?”

“Five minutes more,” she mumbled under the covers.

“And what excuse will we make to the yar for our tardiness?”

Drawing his hand up, she set her cheek on top of his palm. “We’re newlyweds. Let him draw his own conclusions.”

“Asahana…”

“If we lie to everyone else, why not the yar as well?”

The moment it was out of her mouth, she regretted it, cringing at her callousness while half-asleep. He let out a slow exhale, then lifted up, turning her to face him as she pinched her eyes shut.

“Arden…”

She shook her head, still not able to look at him. “I’m sorry. That was—”

“Arden, look at me.”

He didn’t sound angry, so she cracked an eye open, immediately stunned at the sight of him hovering over her. Her heart hammered in her chest as she stared into the brown and gray rings of his irises, her apology stuck in her throat. His thumb brushed against her cheekbone, his gaze drifting down to her slightly parted lips. Stars, she couldn’t breathe. Even as his face lowered towards hers, she didn’t dare hope the moment was real. More than once she’d dreamt what it might be like to be kissed by him when his heart was in it, but she always woke up before she could find out.

His breath cooled her flushed skin, but she didn’t dare move. It was the rabbits all over again. If she so much as twitched…

The moment his lips met hers, she went from comfortably warm to hotter than a blacksmith’s forge. There was so much tenderness in him, tears pricked at her eyes. Tentatively, she drew her hand up, running her palm against the stubble of his face, pouring herself into the moment as though she might be able to capture it if she let it surround her completely. His kiss pulled her in, begging for more, ready to give him anything and everything he desired. If he let her, she was sure she could help him turn his pain— his loss— into faded, far-off memories. They could have more.

They could have everything in each other.

The chime of bells outside broke the moment, and he severed the kiss with a slow sigh.

“We can’t be late today, asahana.”

Her eyes fluttered open, searching his gaze. “No leniency for a proseika?”

He winked and lightly touched the tip of her nose. “Not even for a king.”

“Is it wrong that I’m now predisposed to disliking this yar a great deal?”

He laughed and kissed her forehead before rolling away and out of bed. “Try not to let that show when you ask him for shards of Gordian weapons, then.”

Abruptly, she sat up. “You think he’d let me have some?”

Darius laughed louder as he pulled a tunic over his head. “You know, any other man might be insulted you’d forget his bed at the mention of a bit of metal.”

Indignant, she threw a pillow at him, catching him in the stomach, though it only made him laugh harder. Huffy, she got out of bed and strode for the dressing room, leaning out of the doorway to give him some last words.

“You’ll have to do a lot better than that to keep me in bed if my alternative is acquiring new specimens for research.”

Her challenge issued, she closed the door, more than pleased with the morning’s progress.