Maude heard a knock on the door to her bedroom. “Lady Maude?” she heard Helena’s voice call.

Maude rubbed her face deeply into the pillow, ensuring she got most of the liquid off her face, sniffled, and then turned it over.

“Yes?” she asked, trying to make her voice sound as normal as possible.

“His grace is here to see you,” Helena replied.

Oh no, Maude thought, wiping her nose across the back of her hand. This was the last way she wanted Jaspar to see her after coming back from meeting with someone, who, for all intents and purposes, was basically an ex-fiancee.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, and used the sleeve on her dress to more thoroughly and carefully dry her face.

“Lady Maude?” she heard Helena’s voice ask again.

“He may come in,” she replied, standing up off her bed, and straightening her gown. The door opened, and their eyes met. Maude felt her heart skip a beat. And from the look on his face, Maude could tell that he knew how upset she was.

Helena shut the door behind him, and they were alone in the silence.

“How did it go?” Jaspar asked finally.

Maude shook her head. “It could have gone a lot better,” she answered. “You were right.”

“I was right?” he asked, cocking his head slightly to the left.

“He came for me,” Maude confirmed. “He came to take me to wherever he ended up.”

Jaspar sighed, glancing at the rug on the floor, and running one of his hands through his hair. “I knew it,” he murmured softly.

Maude bit her lip. “He’s the friend I’ve had the longest in my life,” she said. “I didn’t think he’d ever thought of me that way.”

“That’s because your father has taught you to sell yourself very short,” he replied, meeting her eyes again. “You are way more incredible than you believe you are,” he replied.

Maude shook her head. “It’s hard to see myself as anything but a burden,” she said. “You’re not about to convince me otherwise right now.”

Jaspar sighed. “I understand. But because you can’t see it, you’re at a loss as to how he could have ever felt this way, am I right?”

Maude squirmed at his words. How had he gotten such a good read on her?

She didn’t reply. “So I’m right,” Jaspar concluded. “It was so obvious in his letter, but you easily dismissed it.”

Maude swallowed hard. This conversation wasn’t exactly making her feel better at this moment. “I at least came back to you like I promised I would,” she said.

Jaspar’s eyes sparkled. “I’m eternally grateful you did,” he replied. “I was genuinely concerned I would never see you again.”

“There are too many people I care about here,” Maude replied. “I don’t know that I could just leave. My roots feel more planted here than they ever felt in the empire.”

He smiled warmly. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. “So what else happened?” he asked. “Did he tell you anything that we might be able to put to use?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Maude shook her head. “I asked him how he made it over the border. He was too upset about my feelings for you, so I had to leave.”

Jaspar growled. “He figured out what is going on between us?” he asked.

Maude nodded grimly. “He pieced it together pretty easily though,” she said. “He had enough clues from the townsfolk that my refusal to go with him was enough for him to figure it out.”

Jaspar grimaced. “You’re also just a very genuine person,” he said. “You’re very easy to read.”

Maude felt her eyes widen. “Really?” she asked. He nodded. “I would have never thought that about myself,” she said.

He smiled. “It’s not a bad thing in general. It’s really only bad when you’re trying to keep a secret.”

Maude frowned. “That doesn’t really bode well in our favor having a secret relationship, though,” Maude said.

Jaspar nodded. “It does not. Did you confirm or deny anything?” he asked.

“No,” Maude said. “I just walked away.”

“Good,” Jaspar said. “As long as he doesn’t start any rumors in Aulbert.” He paused, studying Maude’s face closely. “Would you like to go to the training yard?” he asked.

Maude looked into his concerned eyes. “That sounds lovely,” she said. “I’d like that.”

~

Maude picked up her favorite sword. Jaspar gestured at the target dummies, and she picked the one on the left. She started hacking and slashing at the dummy, starting her usual routine. He stood next to her, performing his own warm up maneuvers.

“What else did he say?” Jaspar asked her.

“He’s not staying in Aulbert,” Maude answered, feeling some of the stress being chipped away from her body with every blow of her sword. “He’s going to a different kingdom to a build a life there.”

“Are you sure?” Jaspar asked. “If I was in his position, I’d stay in Aulbert until I had convinced you to come with me.”

Maude missed a blow on the target dummy, and struggled to prevent her sword from finding its way into the dirt next to the dummy. “What?”

“Are you sure he wouldn’t try to stay in Aulbert?” he asked again.

“I’m, uh, not sure,” she answered. “I guess that was his plan for if I went with him.”

“He’ll probably be trouble, then,” Jaspar said with a sigh. “Did he say anything else you think I might find important?”

Maude rolled the memory of the conversation with Silas over in her head again. “He defected,” she murmured, going back to hitting the dummy.

It was Jaspar’s turn to look surprised. “Why?” he asked.

“He heard that I was supposed to be the emperor’s concubine after the war,” she answered. “And he suspected that I might have figured it out, and that was why I had walked away from battle, at least, he hoped that was what happened. He hoped that the emperor was only claiming I was dead because my unit lost the battle.” Maude sighed. “He found out that I was alive quickly after crossing the border into Aulbert.”

Jaspar groaned, pinching his nose. “Why do I have such a strong feeling this man is going to be a nuisance?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“I suspect two things,” Jaspar said, holding his hand up with two fingers briefly. “One, that he’s going to try to figure out a way to win your heart before he actually leaves Aulbert, and two, that he’s going to talk about our secret relationship.”

Maude’s heart felt like it was about to stop. “If it’s just a rumor and no one can confirm it, it’s not that big of a deal, right?”

Jaspar shook his head. “It depends on how it’s presented and twisted. The wrong kind of rumor could cause the king to transfer your prisoner of war guardianship to someone other than me,” he said.

Maude’s stomach dropped. “You mean…I would have to leave the Rosenberg manor?”

Jaspar nodded, his face looking grim. “And there is no guarantee that whoever your guardianship is transferred to wouldn’t have you executed immediately.”

“What?” Maude exclaimed, her sword hitting the dummy’s head.

“I have been working with the king. I’ve been telling him all of the things you’ve helped me with. Someone else who may want you dead could very easily lie and have you executed. It has been a very delicate balance to keep you alive.”

Maude felt like her head was spinning. Being heralded as a hero of Aulbert, being allowed to go to parties, establish roots, and meeting friends, all of these things had been Jaspar’s doing.

“The best way to deal with the problem is to get ahead of it,” Jaspar was saying.

Maude could hear Jaspar’s voice asking something of her, but it sounded far away, and she couldn’t quite make out what he was saying. She was alive and well and experiencing an entirely new way of life because of this man. She’d been so worried about him killing her that she’d never considered that he’d do the opposite.

“Maude?” Jaspar asked.

“Sorry, could you repeat that?” she asked, coming back to her senses.

“Would you be alright if I asked the king how you might be able to gain citizenship in Aulbert?” he asked.

Maude swallowed hard. If the king could just as easily move her guardianship to someone other than Jaspar, and have her executed, then really, her life was in the king’s hands.

“That would be fine,” she confirmed. Turning back to her target dummy, she felt herself shudder. She could have never imagined that Silas’s visit could potentially put her life in jeopardy.