Chapter 13

"Hey, you! What're you doing here?" The guard came out from the guardhouse and stood obstinately in her path.

Yelena thought quickly. "One of the soldiers asked me to buy something for him and he wants me to bring it to him personally. He's not very patient, so..." She quickly dodged around the young trainee and ran towards the Keep's guest quarters.

The guard made a lot of noise about it, but he didn't really pursue her. He probably thought she was just a harmless saleswoman, since he probably scanned her and found no traces of magic or weapons.

Perfect. Now, if only she could figure out which of the hundred or so rooms in the guest wing were his...

"Janco, we have to find her now. Yelena was never a patient child, and when something didn't happen like she wanted it to, she'd go fix it herself." Nutty worried her lip as she and Janco half ran, half jogged back to the Keep.

Janco shook his head, not even out of breath. "What could happen in an hour?"

Valek was having an exceptionally bad time. He had found that he couldn't bring himself to sleep, even though he knew he had that early meeting tomorrow with the Commander and the Master Magicians. But the only thing that he could think about was the way her face drained of color and how she looked at him like he had destroyed everything around her.

He gritted his teeth and threw another stone against the wall. The wall by now was cracked and held little fragments of rock that had crumbled. At this rate, the Keep would have to call someone in to make a new wall.

Sighing, he sat back down on the bed, his head lowered into his hands. He was beginning to feel twinges of an emotion he sensed was regret. And that was impossible. He never regretted anything once he had done it. Not after he had killed the King, not after he had become the security chief of Ixia.

A sharp knock at the door startled his thoughts. His hand immediately came down over a long knife on the bedside table. "Come in," he called out hoarsely, not having the energy to move.

The door slowly eased open and he had the strangest hope that it was her.That somehow, this was a world where the two of them could actually belong together.

He let go of the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding when Maren stuck her head inside.

"Valek, you can't sleep either? Do you want to spar with me in the training grounds? They're probably mostly empty right now," Maren said cheerfully, closing the door and dropping into a chair.

She'd wanted this man for such long time. Ever since she'd been one of the newest trainees in the castle, she'd always admired his strength, his grace, his ability to make every gesture seem fluid and effortless. And now that she was so close to having him in the palm of her hand, she wasn't going to let that little jungle savage come and take her Valek away from her.

She'd waited years for him. She'd trained and trained, knowing that the only way to get him to notice her would be for her to be an exceptional soldier. And she'd become that, almost reaching the point of being his second. He was the only reason she hadn't quit and gone back hom. And what irked her was the fact that no matter how hard she tried, he would only give her a word or two on how to improve before turning to his next opponent. She meant nothing.

"I'd rather not," Valek said non-commitedly. "It would probably be best if you left now." It might be rude, but he didn't want to have to put up with her now. Her simpering and fawning over him made him feel annoyed and slightly ill at ease.

She got up from her chair and for a moment he thought she would leave. But instead, she came towards him and reached for him. Immediately, he moved back, wary. What was she doing?

Without warning, she dropped herself on him and pressed her lips against his. He was stunned. Maren had never really hinted. She...Well, maybe she had and he'd tried to ignore it. He tried to lift her off of him and ended up only making her struggle more.

A quiet gasp by the door caught his attention. Throwing Maren aside, he dashed towards it, only to realize that she had left. She had seen everything.

His headache grew worse. Why did it have to be her?

I've always wondered if many women in the castle were after Valek and too intimidated not to show it...I've always had the strangest suspicion that Margg had a thing for him. But alas, it was not to be :)

Review please ~