Chapter 23
As we rode through small town after small town, on the fringe of the city on the horizon, I couldn’t help but notice how different life was here from life in both Ralheim and Salheim.
I had never dared to leave my town before, and I was coming to realize that the world we inhabited was much larger, and much more diverse than my parents had let on.
I couldn’t fault them, though, as it was likely they too had never left Ralheim during their too-short lifespan.
A tear wiggled at the corner of my eye, and I tried to brush it away in a way the man behind me wouldn’t notice, turning my focus to the buildings of Malheim.
Where we had stone-paved roads and large homes that stood close together, here it appeared they prioritized nature in a tactic similar to Salheim, choosing dirt for their roads with only a stone line on the side so you knew where the road ended and where the land belonging to the homeowner started.
The homes were small—similar to those in Salheim. Though they were built with stone and plaster like they were in my hometown, they didn’t seem nearly as large, something which struck me as odd as I noticed a woman with a babe balanced on her hip and two children running between her legs.
Anger bubbled in my chest at the thought that maybe the Seid had been allowed to live full lives in Malheim, avoiding the culling that had taken over a quarter of Ralheim adults just a decade ago.
I knew I couldn’t judge based on the sight of one mother though, and I didn’t feel like asking the man at my back, so I suppressed the fire.
For now.
It was odd, though. I was prisoner and being taken here against my will; I also didn’t feel a loss for anything left behind.
The reality was, I had been floundering since that day Adis had snatched me from my home, and since I hadn’t been able to put down roots anywhere along the way, it was hurting less and less each time I was abducted and forcibly moved.
I know how deranged that sounded, even in my own mind, but it was the truth.
My heart panged for Otho, something I did not understand as I still had yet to figure out if he was friend or foe with his emotional swings and odd behavior at dinner with his family, but I would figure this out on my own.
It wasn’t long before I noticed a large building rising in the distance. Until this moment, Ralheim and Malheim had been very different cities, but as I noticed the similarities between the building ahead and Adis’s compound, I began to worry.
They appeared the same.
Both were large palaces with a tall exterior wall, and I had a hunch I would find the same circular courtyard set-up inside, allowing the servants a sense of false freedom every time they crossed from one room to the next.
I just hoped the servants here had a choice. But deep down, I knew it was unlikely.
We arrived at the gates, where I was directed to dismount.
I grimaced as I stretched my legs for the first time in hours.
“Don’t run,” the man behind me commanded, as if I had anywhere to run.
Or the energy to try and outrun the horse-like creature (I’d already forgotten the fancy name the man called them.)
I shifted my weight from foot to foot, waiting for him to finish his discussion with a stable boy.
Just the sight of the young man leading a large horse away brought Leif to the front of my mind, someone else for whom I felt a small pang in my heart.
I didn’t know if that made him my weighted, since I felt the same pang for Otho, but it was something to delve into later.
“Come,” the man directed, leading me by the hand as if he hadn’t just snatched me from a stranger’s kitchen in the dead of night.
Now that the sun was well on its path through the sky, I took this time to observe my captor.
I don’t know what I had been expecting of a man of Malheim, but he was quite ordinary.
Though he was tall, I estimated he was still a bit shorter than Otho, and less broad.
He had dark brown hair similar to my own, and our skin tones were both light.
He led me through a courtyard, pushing my neck down as we crossed into a darkened room.
Though this giant building had looked like Adis’s compound from the outside, inside, it was a whole different world.
Just like their villages, it was clear they revered nature in all things, with the room containing plants in every corner—though how they survived without sunlight, I wasn’t sure.
In the center of the room, was a large wooden table, and at one end there was a man with blond hair, resting his chin on his hands, which were propped on the table.
It was hard to see his features in the darkened room, but the arms his chin rested on certainly weren’t what I would call small.
“Welcome to Malheim.” The man spoke, but he didn’t say my name, which revealed to me that he didn’t know it. “I am the viscount here. You may call me Hansen.”
Before I had the opportunity to respond, the man behind me pulled out a chair, forcing me into it.
“I have heard rumors about you.”
I raised an eyebrow. That was surprising since I had only been a woman for a couple of days. “You have?”
“I have,” he affirmed. “My spies in Ralheim report you are capable of reading Seid magic.”
My mouth went dry. He did know. And now I wondered who his spies were. Was it Astrid? Friar? Otho? All of them? Had I played right into their greedy hands?
“We will not harm you, but I want magic too. If Adis has it, it is only a matter of time before he uses it against us to change the outcome of the war.”
I shook my head, scared of what would happen when I said the next words.
“Magic doesn’t work that way. It’s in ancient books.
If you have one, I can read the magic in the book to you, but I cannot conjure it out of nothing.
” It was odd, though this was technically betraying my province, it didn’t feel bad like I expected it would.
I held no loyalty in my heart for Ralheim.
He didn’t appear flustered by my confession. “I see. You carry none of these books with you?”
I motioned to myself, sitting in this chair in what had to be obvious was a nightgown. “I carry nothing with me.”
“Well then.” He was pensive for a moment. “If I have my spies acquire these books, will you read the magic to me?”
I nodded. While I was tired of being a pawn in this war, I was certainly not in any position to refuse—and so far, Hansen did seem a smidge more transparent with his motives than Adis.
“Interesting.” He moved his hands from their position under his chin. “You care nothing for your homeland then?”
“After what they did to me?” I scoffed, wincing as my memory brought the sound of my ribs being kicked by those shiny black boots to the forefront of my memory and the brand on my wrist itched.
“But also, I must warn you that the magic I read to Adis was nothing major. Nothing that could turn or transform a war.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
Men. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Before I could say anything else, he snapped his fingers. “Take her to a guest room, but ensure a guard is at the door, day and night.”
So, I was a prisoner here as well. I said nothing as the man who brought me here pulled me from the chair and led me from the room. I glanced over my shoulder, finding Hansen’s green eyes fixed on me. He said nothing; he merely watched.
We crossed the courtyard to the row of doors on the other side.
Just like when I was kidnapped by Adis, a door was pushed open for me and I was directed inside.
But unlike before, where behind the door had been a sad excuse for a cell, here there was a large bed decked out in green and gold linens, a wooden wardrobe, and a dressing table against the wall.
I fought to keep my shock in check, as this was the nicest room I had ever seen.
And I’d seen a lot of rooms the past fortnight.
“Bathing chamber is there. You will take your meals here for the time being,” the man directed before closing the door behind him.
I was still in such awe I didn’t have a chance to ask about the nightgown I wore, but I figured I would have a chance to do that later.
Unable to resist, now that I was alone, I crossed the room and jumped on the bed, smiling when I sunk into it. Although I’d had a bed like this at home, it was nothing near this soft. Plus, after weeks of sleeping on cots, this was the most luxurious thing I could have envisioned for myself.
I was basking in the plush arms of the bed, wondering if dinner would top this experience for the day, when there was a knock at the door.
Furrowing my brows, I shifted into a sitting position just in time for the door to open and a man to enter.
I recognized him immediately, my heart speeding up at the sight of him.
“Leif!” Before I could consider my actions, I was across the room and pulling him into a hug.
Once the novelty of seeing someone I recognized wore off, I came to my senses, pulling back to reveal what I was sure was a look of horror on my face, “How are you here?” I dropped my arms and took a step back.
Leif frowned at the distance I had put between us. “I told you I would follow you to ensure you were safe.”
I raised an eyebrow and pursed my lips. I didn’t believe him.
“All right.” He sighed, resigned. “I was one of the spies in Ralheim.”
I took a second step back, the back of my thighs brushing the plush bed. I wished I could say I was surprised, but I had already surmised someone near me had betrayed me. The betrayer being Leif actually made a lot of his recent actions make more sense. “And how did you find me in Salheim?”
“I really did follow you,” he admitted. “Hansen has been wanting me to sneak you away since we first met, and since you wouldn’t come with me to my coven . . .”
I didn’t know why, but an immense feeling of disappointment filled my stomach. “So, everything was a lie then?”
He shook his head. “No, I never lied to you—that I swear. I just didn’t tell you that I was a spy for Hansen.
” His lips twisted, making it look like he might just cry.
“I just . . . I was so pulled to you that I told you that first, and then I didn’t know how to back track and explain why I was there in the first place. ”
“Hm.” Though I could still feel the disappointment, a flicker of hope sprung to life at his confession. “Does Hansen know?”
His eyes searched mine for a moment. “About us being weighted?” When I bobbed my chin, he shook his head. “No, that would give him power over me.”
I tilted my head to the side. “Doesn’t he already have power over you seeing as he is your employer?”
He took a step closer. I remained where I was.
“It’s not like that—with weighted, I mean.
” He let out a huff of air, running a hand through his blond hair.
“It’s common knowledge that weighted can always find each other, no matter how far apart they are.
It is also known that they will sacrifice anything for each other, even their own wellbeing. ”
I closed my eyes, diving into the emotions I was feeling.
His words made sense in that they explained how he always found me, and I did feel something, almost like a thread, connecting us.
But what I didn’t feel was that I would do almost anything for him.
For example, currently, I would definitely pick sleeping in this bed over this conversation with him. It was that soft.
I tried to picture my parents’ relationship in my mind, frowning when the image failed to emerge.
“Your feelings will grow in time. Then you will see,” he said, his voice just above a whisper as he practically read my thoughts.
My eyes snapped open to see he had closed the distance between us, leaving him now standing toe to toe with me. I scooted back on the bed. “Why did you tell him where to find me then?”
A baffled expression appeared on his face. “So he could get you away from Otho.”
I frowned, still unsure how I felt about Ralheim’s general. “And you thought my being a prisoner here would be more to my liking?” I really didn’t understand his justifications if he really thought we were weighteds.
He swept his arm around the room. “Does this look like a cell?” When I just shook my head, he sighed and reached for my hand. “Runa, I am just one man. I got you away from Adis and Otho in the only way I knew how, since you wouldn’t sneak off to my village with me in the dead of night.”
I withdrew my hand, reasonably sure I had been the one to earn my freedom away from Adis, but I didn’t voice that.
“Runa.” He reached forward, tilting my chin up as he stood between my legs.
“I know you don’t trust me, you have every reason not to.
But I know my feelings for you, and they are different from any other person I have ever met.
I know you are my weighted, and I will do whatever it takes to prove it to you.
I’ll move a mountain if that’s what you ask of me. ”
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, replacing the apprehension that had been there before. It was nice to hear such pretty words about myself from his mouth.
Was this love?
He moved his hand from my chin to brush it down my cheek. “Tell me what you need me to do, and I will do it.”
I couldn’t keep the smile off my lips. “I just need time, Leif. Time to get to know you. To get used to this.” I moved my finger between us. “I’ve never been . . . romantic with anyone.”
His eyes widened. “Never?”
I debated explaining my situation to him, in full, but instead I just shook my head.
“Well then, I am honored to be your first, and only, romance,” he whispered before leaning in to capture my lips with his.
I don’t know why I let him kiss me, but I did enjoy it. Either way, it didn’t last long and soon he was heading for the door. “I have to go now, duty calls. But I will return, I promise.”
Then the door was closed behind him, leaving me to touch my lips, the ghost of his kiss awakening an emotion I didn’t recognize.
Maybe Leif really was my weighted.