A/N: Dearest readers! I hope you're all well! I'm very well! It's summer in Sweden (YAAY!) and I am at home now, where the sun doesn't set at nights, so it's practically daylight for 24 hours.. but enough talking about ridiculous light! Thank you all for your reviews, favs and alerts!

Here's chapter twenty-four, and I hope you all like it!

Enjoy!

A Valiant Heart

Chapter XXIV

Waking up after consuming more wine than I was used to, was a terrible ordeal. I had a horrible headache, and my belly felt ungrateful, and even though I was hungry, the thought of food sickened me. But the feeling that was worse, was the knowledge that I had been foolish, extremely foolish, by asking the Hero to kiss me. What was I thinking? Of course, I could not have been thinking, at all, for if I did, I would be sensible enough to refrain. Perhaps it was all because of the wine? Surely, I had felt content under the influence of the rich, red drink, but without it, I would never have to endure such awkwardness.

It was not without shame I walked down the stairs to the tavern, which was rather empty at this hour. It was just before lunch, I was told by a barmaid, and was then offered some fine breakfast.

"No, thank you," I replied politely.

"You should eat." I did not see Wolfsblade as I walked down the stairs, but his voice carried across the room, and as I spun around, I saw him sitting by a table, eating breakfast. Shadow lay at his feet, and wiggled his tail upon seeing me. "Come, sit. Eat." He pushed a plate filled with bread, pork, cheese and salmon to the opposite side of him.

With a sigh, I walked to sit by him. "I'm not hungry, or rather… I can't eat."

"Oh, I know the feeling," said he as he slid over a small flask to me. "Whenever I'm in Knothole, I make sure to refill my stock."

I glanced at the small flask. It resembled the potion I was given by Madame Yarrow when I woke up. "What is it?"

"Don't know," Wolfsblade shrugged, "but it works. I had Valeria make it for me. She's not as skilled as Yarrow, yet, but makes tolerable potions. Take it. You will feel better."

I did as told and swallowed the liquid. It tasted close to nothing, and within seconds, I felt my headache starting to fade. "It really does work…"

The Hero chuckled. "You seem surprised. Is that really necessary after yesterday?"

I smiled half-heartedly. I could barely look at the man out of shame. "No, perhaps not."

"Did you sleep well?" he asked with a sigh.

"Yes, I did," I answered. "I believe sleep was what I needed."

"I'm glad to hear it, because you are going to sleep another night in that bed."

I looked up at him, and he seemed rather apologetic. "What do you mean? I thought we were going back today?"

"Yes," he nodded, "but I just got news that a storm's coming. The submarine isn't strong enough to withhold such currents, so if we're unlucky, we could end up in the middle of the sea going west."

Slowly, I nodded. "So, we stay?"

"So we stay." He smiled softly. "But at least you got away for a while, eh?"

I smiled. "Yes, luckily. I wouldn't have made it one more night locked in that room, no matter how damaged my face would be."

"You did that all by yourself," the Hero reminded me. "No one asked you to seclude yourself from the world."

I sighed as I took a bite of the bread on my plate. "It was either that or being ridiculed by the whole city."

"Or," he pushed, "you could have been celebrated as a heroine, for saving your brother and countless of others. You don't know that." He leaned back against the back of his chair, a cup of warm ale in his hand. "Perhaps, you'd have won the election."

I scoffed. "Oh please, Mr Wolfsblade! Spare me your pity! No one would vote for a monster."

"Ariana, you didn't look like a monster!" he almost barked as he leaned forward again. "They didn't see you like that! Everywhere around the city, they talked of your bravery. You have no idea how much anger I had to receive from the people; they all wondered where in Avo's name I was when that Balverine attacked you. They all wondered why I let an innocent girl be mutilated, instead of myself. While spitting on me, they glorified you."

I was shocked, but as so many times before, a defence mechanism activated inside of me, and I huffed. "Well then, that explains it," I said.

"Explains what?" he drawled.

"Why you would spend so much money on me," I continued, even though I knew it was far from fair of me to say such things.

There was a muscle in his jaw that flexed violently as the Hero's face turned dark and almost threatening. "Eat your breakfast, Miss Ariana."

Our conversation ended rather abruptly, and I spent the rest of the time regretting what I had said, and even though my conscience told me to apologise to the man, my pride prevented me from it.

When the Hero had finished, he rose from the table and told me he was going out hunting for some game for the Inn-keeper. He then encouraged me to explore the village, but I did not feel for exploring the village—I wanted to explore the woods.

"May I come with you?" I hurriedly asked.

He seemed rather troubled by this. "Miss Ariana, you are aware of the fact that there are plenty of Balverines in these woods?"

I swallowed as I nodded. "Yes sir, I know that."

"You have neither your pistol nor your sword with you," he continued.

I nodded, looking away as blood flushed to my cheeks. "I know that."

"So you obviously should not come." he said, his words rather final. He did not want me to come with him, that much was evident.

"Well, I…" Suddenly, I found myself without reason. I could not explain to him why I wanted to come with him. Why did I? Because I was in no mood for walking about the village? Would that reason be sufficient, or would it seem rather arrogant? I sighed. "I… well, I thought you might enjoy the company?"

He was silent for a while. I did not see his face, and was rather startled when he finally spoke. "Get your coat."

I almost lost my tongue as I looked up at him. "Yes… it's—I just have to rush upstairs to get it. But please don't—"

"Well, hurry along, then!" he sighed.

To not let him wait for far too long, I shot up from my seat and hurried upstairs. My heart was pounding violently against my chest and I did not know what I had gotten myself into and why. There would most certainly be plenty of Balverines in these woods, so why did I suggest coming with him? Then again, I could not fear the beasts for the rest of my life, and the only way to reconcile with myself and my fears was to actually face this beast one again. When I returned downstairs, the Hero was waiting for me by the door, leaning against the frame.

"You'll freeze out there," he said, but I contradicted him.

"No, I won't," I said, straightening my back. "This is warmer than it looks; it's pure wool."

The Hero smirked. "Yes, well, wool might be sufficient in the mainland, but here, it's just as useless as cotton against the cold winds."

But I stood decided. I would not let his remarks change my mind. "I will be perfectly fine, thank you." At least Shadow seemed happy I would come with them, as the big, black dog wiggled his tail vigorously.

"Very well, then," Wolfsblade said as he opened the door. A chilling howl of the wind was heard outside. The Hero bowed. "After you, my lady."

I knew he was mocking me, but I would not let him win. I had decided. "You might be surprised, Mr Wolfsblade, by my resistance towards cold." I then strode past him, with Shadow by my side, and the Hero chuckled as he closed the door. "You find this amusing?" I asked him as we started walking towards the woods.

"Yes," he admitted. "Quite so. I cannot deny the curiosity of how you will react once we've walked far enough from the village, and you start to shudder."

"Well, I won't," I said stubbornly. "You just watch me."

"Oh, I will." He was teasing me, and even though I had to admit that it was rather cold, and that there was no logical reason to why I begged to come along, I would not yield. The Hero would not win this time. I was already enough humiliated from last night, and I would not let him humiliate me again.

I walked ahead of him, even though I did not know where we were going, but Wolfsblade kept telling me left or right and sooner than expected, we had wandered far from the safety of the village. I looked back at the Hero. "Where are we going?"

"Just a bit further up, there's a clearing," he said. "It's a fantastic spot for rabbit hunting, and even an occasional deer." The Hero then walked past me. "Are you still warm enough?"

"Yes!" I spat. "I appreciate your concern, but I'm perfectly fine."

"Well, that's good," he said further ahead as he came to a halt. "Because now, we wait."

As I joined him, we were indeed facing a clearing, a white, glistering clearing, and the Hero sank to the ground, leaning against a tree. I hesitated, knowing it would not be very clever of me to sit down on the cold ground. But the Hero rolled his eyes as he opened his coat to let the one side land on the ground next to him.

"Sit down, Ariana," he muttered, pointing at his coat. "We could be here for a while."

Sighing deeply, I carefully sat down on his coat, as far away from him as the piece of leather allowed. "So, this is it, then?"

He nodded. "This is it."

I sighed again as I pulled my knees to my chin and wrapped my robe and arms around them. "Why are you hunting for the Inn-keeper?"

"Because I can," the Hero shrugged. "So why shouldn't I?"

"Do you do it often?" I asked.

He chuckled as he turned his head to me. "Why are you so curious?"

"I am trying to figure you out, Mr Wolfsblade," I muttered. "You have a keen interest in providing people with things they need, haven't you?"

He smiled. "Well, I consider that as a compliment. I am flattered."

"It wasn't a compliment," said I. "It was my way of asking what you were getting out of it. Do not pretend like you do things without a hidden agenda, Mr Wolfsblade. I know you better than that."

He scoffed. "A hidden agenda? Is it really that hard to believe that I can do things without wanting anything in return?"

"Yes," I said and looked away. "You're not like that. You are a debt collector. You do favours you know the people you do them for can't pay back. They are thus indebted to you their entire lives. You can call out favours whenever you'd like in this way, and the people can't refuse, since they are trying to repay you."

The Hero did not reply, but I felt his gaze on me. I turned my head to him and saw his cold, steel eyes bore through mine, his jaw so clenched, his face was squared. "This is how you want to see me, is it not, Miss Ariana?" he grolwed lowly. "It won't matter what I do for you, will it? You will still despise me, hate me. In your eyes, I will always be a monster. Strange, when you so desperately wanted me to kiss you last night."

I felt my cheeks redden, but I did not look away. Instead, I folded my arms. "I wasn't desperate. I—I wasn't even serious."

Wolfsblade huffed and leaned slightly closer. "No? You seemed rather serious at the time."

I opened my mouth to give him a sharp retort, but the words abandoned me. My cheeks reddened even more, and his sudden closeness caused my heart to race.

He leaned a bit closer, his face now dangerously close to mine. "Or perhaps, you just wanted to know what it would feel like being kissed by a man?"

I was stunned by his smug face and by his seductive tone, but I gathered enough strength to look away. "I know what that feels like, thank you very much."

"Oh yes, that's right," he drawled and sat back up. "Garrett. Although… I would not see him as a man."

"He is four and twenty," I muttered. "He isn't a boy."

"Aye, that may be a man's age," the Hero persisted, "but that doesn't make him a man. Action does."

"If actions made the man, you'd be no man," I spat and glared at him. "You'd be a pig."

He glared back, dark shadows playing across his steel irises. "That's a new way of showing gratitude, Miss Ariana." There was something threatening in his glare, in his voice, and especially in the following pause, in the silence that hovered above us.

I could not reply and looked away. I huddled together even more, and decided that I would not talk to the man again while being out here. No word that would come out of my mouth could make it any better.

We sat in silence for a long time. The only one of us that had moved, was Shadow, who had roamed around the woods, hunting on his own. The wind howled in the trees, and I shuddered violently. The wind was indeed penetrating my woollen coat to the point where I could no longer feel my arms that was wrapped around my legs, but I said nothing. I did not want him to be self-righteous.

But I did not have to speak, as he suddenly pulled me closer to him, to wrap his coat around us both. "I told you wool was useless in this weather," he muttered as his arm was forcefully wrapped around me, together with his leather coat. I did not want to admit it, but I was relieved by his warmth. I even—though as subtly as I could—pressed myself closer to him, so that more of his coat could cover me. He noticed it, and tightened his hold of me. I felt his steady breaths, felt his scent, and my heart raced. I felt like a little girl in his arms, pathetic and small, but I could not deny my desire to be even closer, to have both his arms around me, to know that he would not let me go.

We sat like that for another long moment. Perhaps an hour or two. It had darkened, and there were no rabbits, no deer and no Balverines. In the end, the Hero sighed deeply. "We might as well head back, before it gets all too dark." His arm disappeared from me, creating a shrieking cold where it had been. "Come, Miss Ariana, let's go back."

I rose from the ground, freezing after being so warm next to the Hero. "What will the Inn-keeper say when you return empty-handed?"

"He won't say a word, or I will cut his head off," he muttered. "Shadow!"

Hearing the man call for his dog, brought me back to when I first saw him, that day in Old Town, when he had marched up to us, his stature so intimidating and proud, and I suddenly found myself comparing the man I then saw from the man I knew now. So much had change, yet so much were still the same. If I had known then, what the two of us would go through, what feelings that would rage between us, I would never have introduced myself. I would have gone inside and kept as far away from the man as possible. But that was all too late now.

We walked back, both of us quiet, but I could sense a frustration coming from the Hero. He wanted to yell at me, that I could feel. He wanted to scold me, to spill out his anger at me, but he kept it in. It was not until we could see the lights from the village, that he decided to let it out. He grabbed my arm and spun me to face him, and I was afraid of what might come, but I was at least certain he would not hurt me; it he wanted that, he would not have waited until we were this close to other people.

"Ariana, before we go back, there's something we need to sort out," he growled. There was frustration in him that had been building up, most certainly ever since I suggested that actions would make him a pig, or perhaps even before that.

"What?" I asked. I tried to sound brave, but I did not do well.

"What is this?" he suddenly asked. "What is it that we're doing?"

"I don't understand what—"

"You know what I'm talking about!" he growled as he grabbed my other arm and pulled me closer. "I need to know what in Skorm's name we're doing!" His face was twisted into a furious scowl, and his grip around my arms was strong, painful even. I did not know what to answer, for I truly did not know what we were doing, but he dragged me even closer, forcing me to almost clash into his chest. Our faces were close, and I could feel his heavy, frustrated breath on my lips, and I felt a tingle in my belly. Would I have to fight my own urges every time the Hero and I clashed together? Or, perhaps, the battle was already lost? Before I knew it, I rose to my toes to press my lips against his.

Something exploded inside of me, a desire I did not know I had bottled up, and Wolfsblade seemed just as frantic. His arms tightened around my waist, pulling me as close to him as possible, and as soon as my arms were free from his grip, I locked them around his neck. It was something I had never experienced before, feeling his lips move so passionately against mine, our breaths heavy in each other's mouths. Our tongues met in a shared desire and danced around each other as if doing so was the most natural thing in the world. I could taste his desire, taste his longing, and when our lips parted, I let out a small noise, pathetic in its existence, but a proof of the pleasure I had felt in this surprise. Our breaths gathered around us like clouds in the cold, and we looked at each other.

"So that's what it feels like, kissing you?" I breathed.

He brought a hand to my face and caressed it gently. "That's what it feels like." We were not apart for long before he kissed me again, and let his lips trace my jaw, my throat and down to my collarbones. He pulled me up so I was standing on the tip of my toes while he kissed my collarbone, and gently nibbled it with his teeth, and he kept on kissing me, kept on leaving burning traces from his fiery lips. I gasped as he kissed the sensitive skin right below my earlobe. "I want you," he hissed in my ear, and a shiver ran through me. He wanted me. He wanted me. "I want all of you."

I gasped slightly before I forced him away from me. "We can't! We—we can't. Not here, not now!"

His jaw was tightened, but he nodded. "You're right. Not here, not now."

I looked into his eyes for something I could understand, something that was not an enigma to me, but all I saw, was the same burning desire that I felt. So I looked away. "Let's… let's go inside. It's cold and we need some food. So we can think straight."

"So we can think straight," he mimicked and followed my suggestion, and we continued back to the village and the Inn, but thinking straight was not something I would be able to do for a long time, not with the taste of him still fresh in my memory, and on my lips.