Extraits

“It’s weird.” Vhalla paused, staring at two sorcerer tokens. “I never thought about it before; all sorcerers have the same range. . . . But a Groundbreaker would need to attack much closer than a Firebearer.”

Baldair burst out with laughter that dissolved once more into coughing. It sounded wetter. “Brother, didn’t you have the same argument with me once?”

“Perhaps.” Amusement lit Aldrik’s eyes; his mask hiding the grin Vhalla knew was there.

“You two would think alike,” Baldair chuckled.

“Would we?” Aldrik pulled away the partition in the middle of their board, revealing the full field of play to Vhalla and Baldair.

“She’s the only one who’s ever been able to stand you. It makes perfect sense.” Baldair smirked.

“Brother, your words just warm my heart,” Aldrik muttered.

“As if you have one,” the younger prince said in obvious jest.

“You are quite right,” Aldrik agreed. Baldair paused to look at his brother curiously. “I gave it away long ago.”

The golden prince wheezed in amusement, his eyes fluttering partway closed.

«Alors montrez-leur ce qui leur manque,» suggéra Gianna en haussant les épaules.

"Quoi?"

La femme occidentale se mit à rire à l'expression étonnée de Vhalla. «Montrez à sa famille ce qu'elle a perdu en vous. Déployez vos ailes, tokshi et volez. Planez au-dessus d'eux, faites en sorte qu'ils fixent le soleil, les larmes aux yeux pour vous voir atteindre de nouveaux sommets.

Dans ce rêve, les vêtements d'Aldrik avaient été lavés du mieux qu'on pouvait s'y attendre sur un front de guerre. Mais ses épaules s'affaissaient comme s'il ne pouvait plus remplir le manteau de son poste. Des yeux qui brillaient généralement comme de l'onyx, éclairés par une flamme intérieure éternelle, s'étaient émoussés en charbon et se trouvaient dans des puits sombres et enfoncés. Ses cheveux corbeau étaient ébouriffés, tombant mollement autour de son visage; il avait besoin d'être brossé. Un chaume sombre masquait son menton et ses joues, accentuant un air renfrogné éternel.

Peu importe la distance parcourue ou le nombre de personnes qu'elle rencontra, une main invisible ramena Vhalla vers le prince héritier de l'Empire Solaris.

Elle ne pouvait pas lui échapper. Même lorsqu'elle dormait à un demi-continent, son esprit se joignit au sien. La mélanger, la mêler, la torturer avec la pire et la plus belle douleur qu'elle ait jamais connue.

But she had lived to see that day. Vhalla was there the moment her prince became her Emperor. He turned back to her helplessly. For the first time in the whole of knowing him, Aldrik looked lost, shell-shocked. She tried to offer him an encouraging smile, but there was only one thing to be done. She had something more important to give him than her smiles. Vhalla dropped to her knee before the Emperor of the realms.

“Long live Solaris.”

“If I could find a way to keep the peace and allow us to be together, would you still take me? Would you forgive me? Would you want me?”

Vhalla bit her lip, containing her cry of, “Yes!” She pressed her eyes closed. He spoke of escaping pits, but they were about to be thrown back into one if they did this. He was risking everything.

“Vhalla, you are the dawn at the end of a seemingly endless night, and I never showed you enough appreciation for the essential part of my life that you are.” He leaned forward and caught her eyes.

“That’s not true.” She shook her head.

“It is,” Aldrik insisted, his tone suggesting how he would feel about further objections. “I kept you too far, and I let you slip from between my fingers. At the end of it all, I do not blame the Northern girl or my father, I blame myself for not being enough of a man at the moment I gave you the papers decreeing your nobility; instead of severing our relationship I should have taken you into my arms and comforted you, promised you that I would find a solution if you only stayed by my side. I should have never been the person I was that drove you to, alone, walk out of those camp doors.”

“I wish I could hate you, you frustrating man,” she breathed hopelessly.

“And I wish I could stop loving you, my frustrating woman,” he laughed. It was an equally hopeless sound. “I wish I could see the sun rise without thinking of how beautiful you are in the dawn, your hair an impossible mess and your body contorted in that weird way you call sleeping.”

“Do you play?” Vhalla tried to ignore the worrying panic creeping up her spine.

“To whom do you speak, my lady?” Aldrik smirked at her foolish question.

Vhalla rolled her eyes at the elder prince.

“Brother, I am truly glad I was able to see this.” Baldair smiled weakly, countering Vhalla’s move.

“See what?” Vhalla heard the caution in Aldrik’s voice. After all this time, he still withdrew when it came to publically acknowledging things that made him happy.

“Seeing you acting like a normal man.” Baldair gave his brother a tired but affectionate smile. “It has given me hope for you.”

Vhalla, you are the dawn at the end of a seemingly endless night, and I never showed you enough appreciation for the essential part of my life that you are.