Page 125 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

“Do you want me to spot and chart their travel path?” he suddenly asks.

“You can do that?”

“I’ll do anything for you, Nel.”

I blush into a million shades of red at that simple sentence.

But this is good.

He’s no longer concerned with Kahedin. I feed him another potato cube so he’ll forget all about my cousin. Svenn is a leisure eater, though, making sure the food is well chewed before swallowing it. I’m glad because it means more for me. Between the dive, the healing, and carrying the strings, I really need to replenish my energy. I keep eating until I am stuffed and sleepy.

“Do you want me to carry you to bed?” he offers smoothly.

The one with the chains on each corner? No way.

I shake my head fervently and nestle into his lap once again. He stiffens for a brief moment before his fingers draw circles down my back to comfort me. It’s endearing. I close my eyes, letting the warmth of his body soak into mine.

“When the bond is not telling me to hump you like a bunny in heat… this actually feels kind of nice,” he mutters to my hair.

I nod to his chest.

He presses a hand at the base of my spine and my body jolts.

“I’m sorry, Nel. I guess this is why you’ve been skipping practice,” he mutters in realization. “You were in pain.”

That’s not it at all…

“No.”

“Either this or you’re avoiding me.”

I really love our training sessions. It actually helps with my posture and gait. I ran from Svenn because I know what Lilith did to him. But I don’t want talk about that and open old wounds.

“It’s something else,” I dismiss.

His sculpture-like face twitches with mild interest. I know I have to offer him something.

“They don’t have chairs in the council room,” I say, giving him a half-truth. “I can run and climb all day but standing stiff…”

“Makes the cramp worse,” he finishes for me. “You mean to tell me you were standing the entire session from morning to evening?”

I nod.

His expression morphs into something lethal.

“It—it’s not that big of a deal.” I can’t control the tremor in my voice when he’s looking like he’ll finally take me back to Windhaven, only to kill every member of the Aldarelf council. “Everyone else stands and does just fine. I could have endured it too if I had a normal functioning leg—”

The endless depths of his eyes darken further, like the void in the heavens where thousands of stars meet their end.

I stop abruptly when I realized the more I talk, the deeper the grave I’m digging. Once again, I am reminded how frightening he can be. I’m so glad I never told the wolf where my cousin lives.

Svenn wraps his arm around me, squeezing me tightly against him. The sudden embrace catches me by surprise. My heart slams in my chest and starts pounding rapidly.

I prayed to the gods for this yesterday, for him to hold me. They answered it quickly. I make a note to visit the temples more often. I still in his arms and slowly lift my head to look at his face.

“You should have told me you were hurting, Nel,” he mutters, his ruthless edge softening.

I feel a strange tugging unravelling my heartstrings.