Ascend by Amanda Hocking

“We’ll probably
bring the survivors back to Förening. They can have shelter here.”
    “I should ready the palace for extra guests then,” I said,
and I hated that. He would be out at battle, and I would be at home, making
sure the beds were made. “I should be going with you. This is ridiculous.”
    “Princess, this is the right place for you,” he said, almost
tiredly. “But it’s time for me to go. I don’t want to make them wait for me.”
    “Yes, sorry.” I stepped aside so he could walk past me. His
arm brushed against me, but he didn’t even notice. As he walked by, I said, “Be
careful.”
    “You say that as if you care,” he muttered.
    “I do care,” I said defensively. “I never said that I
didn’t. That isn’t fair.” He stopped with his back to me.
    “The other night, you made your intentions perfectly clear.”
    “So did you,” I said, and he pivoted to face me. “And you
made your choice.” He’d chosen duty time and time again, and if he had to
sacrifice something, it had been me.
    “I never had a choice, Wendy,” Finn said, sounding exasperated.
    “You always did.
Everybody does. And you chose.”
    “Well, so did you,” he said finally.
    “That I did,” I agreed.
    He stared at me for a moment longer before turning and
walking away. I hadn’t wanted that to be my last conversation with him before he
left. Part of me still feared that something might happen, but Finn could
handle himself.
    There were going to be survivors coming, and I needed to get
the palace ready. I had never considered myself domestic, but Willa and Matt
would be good at that sort of thing.
    I found them together in Matt’s room, and Willa was trying
to explain to him what happened in Oslinna without freaking him out too much.
That was our general approach with telling Matt stuff. We didn’t want to keep
him completely out of the loop, but he would have had an aneurysm if he
understood exactly what we were up against.
    “The Vittra killed people?” Matt asked. He sat on his bed
watching Willa straighten her hair. We may be in crisis mode, but that didn’t
mean her hair had to look like it. “They actually killed people like you?”
    “Yes, Matt.” Willa stood in front of the full-length mirror
across from him, running the straightener through her long hair. “They’re the
bad guys.”
    “And they’re doing this because they’re after you?” Matt
asked, turning to me.
    “They’re doing it because they’re bad people,” Willa
answered for me.
    “But that Loki guy, he’s one of them?” Matt asked.
    “Not exactly,” I said carefully. I stood off to the side of
the room, and I leaned back against the wall.
    “He was though,” Matt said. “He kidnapped you before. So why
are you always hanging out with him?”
    “I’m not.”
    “Yeah, you are,” Matt insisted. “And the way you danced with
him at your wedding? That’s not the way a married woman acts, Wendy.”
    “I danced with a hundred guys that night.” I shifted my
weight and stared down at the floor.
    “Leave her alone, Matt,” Willa said. “She was having some
fun at her wedding. You can’t blame her for that.”
    “I’m not blaming her for anything. I’m trying to
understand.” He scratched at the back of his head. “Where is your husband, by
the way?”
    “He’s down talking to the team before they leave,” I said. “Giving them instructions and words of encouragement.”
    “You didn’t want to see them off yourself?” Willa asked,
turning a bit to look at me.
    “No.” I thought back to my conversation with Finn and shook
my head. “No. Tove’s got it covered. He’s the Prince now. He can share some of
the responsibility.”
    “When do you think the refugees will get here?” Willa asked.
She set the straightener down on the nearby dresser, and I could see burn marks
on it from her doing the same thing many times before. She must pretty much
live here now.
    “I’m not sure,” I said. “Maybe