How long had it been since he had last seen Oliza? Ulrik had lost track of the years. He had waited for her endlessly that night in the cave hoping that she would show up. When he realized that she was not going to come, he left and tried to forget her to no avail. Avaram's death had been a tragedy but it had served to step in between them once again. In the end, she had her responsibilities and he had his.

"How did you sleep?" Ulrik turned to the sound of the woman's voice and for a moment, he could see Oliza but knew that it was only his imagination. Instead, another woman faced him, not Auria and not Oliza.

She smiled down at him as she sat at his side of the bed and caressed his forehead. She bent down and kissed his cheek and then stood and walked to the other side of the room.

"I slept well." He replied groggily as he stood from the bed. "Valeska, nothing happened between us?" Ulrik could not help but ask. Valeska had been his friend and the sister of his best ally.

Valeska laughed softly as she looked at Ulrik in reassurance. "Do you think me the kind of woman that would resort to trickery?" She flipped her long auburn hair back to tie it and shook her head. "We merely spoke, I gave you something to sleep better and you slept. Nothing more."

Ulrik shook his head in disbelief after asking such a question. Valeska gave him comfort from his troubles but both knew that their relationship had a boundary. Once, Ulrik had made the mistake of having a mistress and such a mistake had produced dire consequences.

Valeska walked up to him and gave him a playful shove. "Honestly, do you think I would risk Auria's wrath?" she laughed. "That woman would kill me if I laid my hands on you." She looked at Ulrik but her eyes had lost all playfulness at her last words. "How can you let her have so much control…over almost everything?" she sighed.

The question was something that Ulrik had asked himself more than once. "It is what I owe her after all that she has done and all that I have put her through." Ulrik pulled himself up from the bed and ran his hands through his hair.

That was why Valeska had left her brother's pack and gone to Ulrik's to forget the past.

"I still think that no woman would ever do what she has done… to care for a son that…"

Ulrik cut Valeska off after he realized where she was going. He did not want to hear the events of the past repeated to him once more.

Valeska only looked down in defeat. "I'm sorry. I should not have brought it up." She took his hands and looked at him sadly. "I know that your heart belongs to someone else and I know that it is not Auria. I loved someone once too but you know how that ended for me. If the one you love lives then do not spend your life pining away."

Valeska cared for him, Ulrik knew that. It could even be said that Valeska had grown to love him in her own way though her love would most likely stay unrequited. Once, Valeska had truly loved someone but her lover had been murdered by her own protective brother, Ivaylo. The reason for the murder had been based on the fact that he had discovered that her lover already had a mate. It was something that Valeska had already known but Ivaylo had considered it to be reason enough to kill him.

Ulrik stood from the bed and kissed Valeska's hands in a show of gratitude. "I must thank you for your patience with me."

She smiled cheerfully with all traces of sadness gone. "Off again to Wyvern's Court I presume?" She stood from the bed and kissed his cheek once more. "Take heed of my advice."

Ulrik smiled at her and then made his way through the door. He trusted Valeska and often she appeared to know more than she let on. Whichever was the case, she was there for him at all times with no questions asked. But it seemed that not even with her could he forget about Oliza. Valeska shared similarities with her that could one day make their friendship unsafe. If that was the case, then they would have to answer to Ivaylo.