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Wanda watched you from her balcony as you trained with Steve. It had been many years since the land had seen war, but you and the other knights trained daily as if battle loomed on the horizon. Your swords met with a resounding ‘clang!’ and she gaped in awe as you pressed your blades closer to Steve’s chest, an ever-growing smirk resting on your lips.
You were somehow much stronger than Steve, who was at least ten years your senior. Rumors spread across the palace that you were descended from gods, but no one but the servants truly believed that. Everyone else knew your village-bred warriors - The Valkyries - and you were no exception to their greatness.
“Princess! Get off that balcony. You know you shouldn’t be watching them train!”
Wanda sighed. After losing her brother and mother in a raid, her father grew more protective. At least one palace guard monitored every move she made; she wasn’t allowed to partake in anything deemed “aggressive”, and she could never step foot outside the palace gates. Her father believed this acceptable since the palace grounds were large enough to sustain a small village if needed, but it only made Wanda feel stifled.
Her father pulled her away from the ledge and firmly shut the doors. The curtains flapped violently at the impact but didn’t seem to faze his highness. He only cared about pulling Wanda away from the sight of faux violence.
“They were only training, papa,” she whined. “I don’t understand why you assigned Valkyrie as my guard if you never want me to witness her train.”
“Her protecting you has nothing to do with watching her train,” he replied with such a finality there was no room to argue. “Now, please, go with Natalia to the bathhouse. We must get ready for tonight’s festivities.”
Ah, yes. The Firelight Festival.
The king hosted the Firelight Festival at the palace every year to bring the surrounding villages together. The meaning behind it had been told to Wanda when she was young, but she pushed that out of her mind long ago. She only cared about the festival now because it meant she’d have alone time with you. It was the only time her father let her enjoy the festivities without whisking her away back to her room for the evening.
They call me a sheltered princess, she thought as Nat escorted her to the bathhouse. Perhaps they are right. Will I…will I ever be anything more?
She caught a glimpse of you sheathing your sword, laughing along to whatever excuse Steve had for losing, and frowned. Will I ever be worthy of your attention, my Valkyrie?
“Would you like me to bring you tea?” Nat asked, helping her strip out of her dress before guiding her into the opaque water.
Wanda shook her head and sunk into the water until only her face could be seen. “Just leave me, please.”
“As you wish, Princess.”
Princess.
Why did that title always feel wrong coming from everyone else but you? When Wanda first met you, she insisted you only refer to her as Princess because she saw you as nothing more than a servant. The defiant way she stuck out her chin as she said this made you laugh until you doubled over, which only fueled Wanda’s frustration. There had been nothing funny about her request! Yet you continued to laugh until you wiped a stray tear from your eye.
“Okay, Princess, I’ll do whatever you ask of me.”
Her cheeks flushed at the memory. Something about how you said it made her insides curl until she felt nothing but her nerves buzzing inside her. Every time the title left your lips, it felt as if you were teasing and admiring her at the same moment. It was confusing.
“Are you trying to drown yourself?”
Wanda jolted at the sound of your voice, sending a wave of water toward the edge of the bath with her arm. Water licked at your boots, but you didn’t flinch. She brushed the wet bangs back from her eyes and found you crouched at the edge. The smile on your face didn’t falter, even as she shrieked at you that she was indecent and you shouldn’t have been in the room.
You tilted your head to the side. “Does the princess not wish for me to see her naked?”
“I-”
“Because I promise I would never do anything to defile your reputation.” Your eyes never dropped, but she could somehow feel the burn of your gaze across her entire body. “Unless you asked me to.”
WHY WOULD YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!
A drop above her upper lip pulled her out of her thoughts. She gently touched her face and nearly groaned at the blood on her fingertips. Now you were giving her a nosebleed with your filthy words. Disgusting.
The sight seemed to worry you enough that the smile Wanda loved so much dropped from your face. “Princess - do you need me to fetch a doctor?”
“No!” She crossed her arms over her bare chest and turned away from you. “I do not need a doctor, thank you very much. And I do not need you ogling me! Please leave before I poke your eyes out, you barbarian.”
You snorted. “Barbarian, huh? I guess that’s an upgrade from servant.”
She pressed her lips into a tight line. She refused to smile at your comment because she hated when you made her feel this way. It was as if you did it on purpose! Constantly trying to get a rise out of her, just because you could, at the expense of her feelings. She accepted long ago that you would never return her love, but you didn’t always have to make it seem like this was untrue.
“I’ll leave you be, Princess,” you laughed. “Will I still see you at the Firelight Festival?”
“Obviously,” she grumbled, still refusing to turn around and look at you. “Do not be late when you come to fetch me. The fire flakes are always tastier when they are fresh.”
You agreed and promised to fetch her just before the festivities began, so you could be the first in line, before taking your leave. The door creaked as it opened and shut, and she finally let her arms drop when she heard it click. You were such a mystery to her.
Do you mean the things you say, Valkyrie?
Or is it nothing more than your warrior charm trying to squeeze its way around my heart?
As promised, you arrived ten minutes before the festival began to escort Wanda to the food stalls. Fire flakes were a staple for the festival, but merchants from all over the kingdom came to give the people a sample of their delicacies. The smell of cooked boar wafting through the air made her mouth water. She had never been allowed to try boar - her father claimed it was meat for peasants - but she always wondered if it tasted as good as it smelled.
You bent slightly to meet Wanda’s gaze and gestured to the corner of her mouth. “You know, it’s not sexy when you drool like.”
She screeched, slapping her hand over her mouth so you could no longer see the unsightly spit pooling on her chin. “I wasn’t trying to be sexy, you pigheaded brute! I was admiring the smells and realized how hungry I was.”
Your lips lifted slightly. Of course, you weren’t affected by her insult. Somehow, you always seemed more energetic whenever she threw insults your way.
You leaned back into a standing position, hands resting on your hips as you glanced back at the stall with the boar. You sucked at your teeth. His Highness would kill you if he knew you wanted to buy her something other than fire flakes and candy, but…Wanda’s eyes were wide with curiosity when she watched the chef slice into the meat. She had been so sheltered that anything excited her lately. And she looked so damn cute when she had that look on her face.
Wanda looked over at you and saw your fingers clutching your shirt just over the left side of your chest. You didn’t say anything, but the look on your face was one of pain.
“Are you…okay?” She reached up to grab onto your fingers, which only made you tighten your grip on your shirt.
You looked down at her delicate hand and then back up to her concerned gaze. “I think I’m having a heart attack.”
“Well, I insist you suck it up,” she declared after a beat. “You are not allowed to die, especially during my favorite festival. I forbid it.”
“You forbid it?”
“Yes. If you dare try to defy me, I will have no choice but to make you spend the next month chained to Sir James.”
You deadpanned. Sir James was not a native to your kingdom, but he was an ally to the palace. He spent most of his time shamelessly flirting with Wanda whenever he visited, and you always felt like cutting off his hands whenever he got a little too close.
“I will not die tonight, Princess,” you relented. “I’d hate to make you sad on the night of your favorite festival.”
“Thank you-”
“Because Gaia knows you don’t need any more wrinkles on your forehead.”
Wanda gasped and shoved two fingers into your side repeatedly, aiming for the soft spot under your rib cage where it would hurt the most. “You. Take. That. Back! I do not have wrinkles!”
“Is everything okay, Princess Wanda?” Steve clapped a hand on your shoulder and pulled you back from her brutal assaults. “Do you need me to take over as escort for the evening?”
You nudged his side with your elbow. “She’s fine. We’re just about to go find our seats for the storytelling.”
“You shouldn’t tease the princess so much,” Steve scolded you. “She’s fragile.”
“She’s not fragile,” you countered. “You’re just overprotective of her.”
Wanda raised a finger to speak. “I’m right here-”
“If her father found out you were teasing her, he would force you to clean out the stables for a week.”
“Horse shit isn’t exactly worse than hearing Princess Wanda whine how stuffy her room is.”
She moved to smack your shoulder, but you dodged the blow just in time. “I do not whine! Gods, you’re insufferable. Can we please go sit now?”
You shrugged off Steve’s hold, ignoring the way he grumbled about not being invited to sit with either of you and directed her to walk forward. You liked Steve; he was your oldest friend and a good captain to follow. But you didn’t want him butting into your time with Wanda.
The villagers gathered around the giant bonfire every year to hear the story of the first Firelight Festival. How it signaled the end of the brutal winter season and brought the people of this kingdom together now that the snow had melted back into the ground. Wanda always found herself bored listening to the same story every year, but it kept her out of her room longer, so she always insisted on attending.
You found a spot far enough from the crowd to feel comfortable but close enough to hear the story. Her father would have dragged her back inside had she been seen any farther than this. You let Wanda get comfortable in her spot first before sitting next to her. She enjoyed how your arm pressed against hers as you sat, and she feared that she would lose that comfort if she moved even an inch.
“Do you think father will ever let me see outside this palace?” She asked once she finally gave up on trying to listen to the story.
“Hm?” You looked down at her, brows furrowed and lips slightly down. “Do you even want to see outside the palace?”
“Some days, I don’t think so.” She rested her chin on top of her knees and let herself lean more into your arm. She missed how you adjusted to let her be more comfortable against your side. “But there are days when I grow tired of doing the same thing and hearing the same people whisper about me.”
“Do you want me to kill them?”
You probably would kill them if I asked, wouldn’t you? Such a brute.
“No. I think I want to see the outside world, even if it’s only the surrounding villages. They’re all so different, and I want to know what I’m missing.”
You stared out at the bonfire quietly. A look Wanda couldn’t decipher flashed across your face, but she didn’t have time to ask you what was wrong before you were speaking again.
“If you ordered me to take you outside the palace, I would,” you murmured. “I would defy your father if that is what you wished, Princess.”
If you don’t stop talking to me like that, I’m going to fall in love with you!
Or get another nosebleed…
She hid her face against her knees this time and whined. You coughed to hide that you were smirking at her, but she didn’t need to look up to know you were. You were so smug sometimes; it drove her crazy.
Someone screamed across the courtyard, and your moment with Wanda was ruined. You jumped up, unsheathing your sword with one hand and pulling Wanda up with the other.
The screams grew louder, and the people started to grow restless. They shoved their way past you and Wanda to try and get a peek at who was causing the commotion. You knew if you didn’t move now, you would be trampled, especially when people saw the source of distress. You only took a moment to look for a clearing before tucking Wanda against your side and guiding her back toward a secure room.
“Stay here until I come to get you,” you ordered her. “Do not open this door for anyone but me, do you understand?”
“What about Steve?” She looked up at you with so much love and trust, you nearly keeled over right there, but you shook your head.
You trusted Steve with your life, but you trusted no one with Wanda’s except yourself.
You cupped her cheek, gently tilting her head so she kept her eyes on you. “Only open this door for me, Princess. I will return soon.”
Dread filled her chest as she watched you secure the door behind you. She wanted to run to the window and watch you until you reached the source of distress, but she knew what you would say if you caught her.
“Why would you run to the window? What if bandits showed up and were specifically looking for you? You could have gotten hurt!”
She squeezed at her fingers, hoping it would distract her from her worry. You spent your life concerned with Wanda’s safety, but who was concerned for you? You would die for the princess, but would you live for her if she ordered you to?
A crash came from the distance, and screams surrounded the room she hid in. Heavy footsteps sounded like rumbles of thunder as people ran from the palace courtyard to the safety beyond the gates. Wanda had never witnessed a battle, but she assumed this is what one sounded like. She wondered if anyone was fighting - if she would soon smell the blood-soaked earth coming from the outside.
The doorknob rattled, and a hand hit the door, making Wanda jump.
“Princess Wanda, are you there?” It’s Steve. “Princess, if you can hear me, we need to leave now! Open the door, and I will help you.”
She stared at the door. Blood rushed through her ears, muffling all of the screams and conflict beyond the room's safety. Only open this door for me, Princess. You made it clear that she could not open the door, even for Steve. Steve was your mentor, but you didn’t trust him enough with her life. Could she disregard your words and open the door for Steve in hopes of escaping sooner?
Steve cursed and hit the door again. He screamed at her to open it before the situation escalated, but her feet remained frozen in their spot. She refused to betray you. She knew you would return for her if you said you would. No matter of man or beast would keep you from fulfilling that promise.
Wanda sat on the floor, moving slowly to ensure she didn’t make a sound. It was better if Steve did not know she was in the room because, despite your words, she still hated to hurt Steve’s feelings. He was only trying to keep her safe too.
Time moved slower the longer she sat in that room. The struggle outside never quieted, and the longer you took to return, the more she worried you were injured.
What will I do without my Valkyrie?
Can I survive without someone holding my hand?
She didn’t have time to ponder it further when you burst through the door. The sight of you made her gasp. You were covered in blood and sweat; the soft eyes she fell in love with all those years ago were steel as you looked at her. She finally caught a glimpse of who you were, really. The Valkyrie many men dreaded on the battlefield.
Despite knowing you could hold your own, she found herself running to you and insisting on checking for wounds.
“I’m fine,” you insisted with a gentle nudge to keep her from undressing you there. “We don’t have time to assess the damage; we need to go.”
“Go? Go where?”
“Your lady-in-waiting is dead. There was an assassination attempt on your father, and she stopped it.”
Wanda’s bottom lip trembled. “N-natalia?”
“The other guards managed to get your father out and are heading to the northern fort to regroup. We need to leave now.”
Why were you speaking to her so coldly? Was it to keep yourself together after losing a dear friend? Or were you so concerned with getting Wanda out to safety that you didn’t realize how plainly you spoke to her? There was something you weren’t telling her, and she needed to know what it was.
You grabbed her hand to guide her out of the room, but she stayed firmly planted in her spot. You began to argue with her - yell that you didn’t have time to sit there and chat. There had been no way of telling how long they had before reinforcements showed up, and you wouldn’t waste time with her life in the balance. She knew that. But she still needed to know the truth.
“I will go with you wherever you choose to take me,” she whispered, tightening her grip on your hand. “But tell me, who is responsible for this?”
“Tch! We don’t have time for this, Princess!” You moved to pull her again, but she fought back.
“Tell me! I can handle it!”
Your jaw clenched. The words you forced between your teeth made Wanda finally lose all of the strong resolve she had. “It was Steve.”
The silence between you and Wanda as you escaped the palace had not been uncomfortable at first. She understood your main focus was keeping her safe, and you easily followed through. You cut down soldiers who even looked at Wanda suspiciously. Not a scratch landed on her because you worked so hard to keep her safe until you could no longer hear the chaos from the palace grounds.
But the farther you walked, the harder it was to ignore the silence. Too much happened in the last few hours. Her thoughts raced with the new information, but most importantly, she wanted to know where you two would go from here.
And if Steve were still alive.
Would you kill your oldest friend if it meant keeping me safe?
“There’s a small cave just a few paces from here,” you gestured deeper into the woods with your sword. “It’s close enough to the river that we’ll have clean water to sustain us for the night. We’ll continue in the morning.”
Wanda did not speak until you reached the cave. Even then, she found it hard to gather the courage to ask why Steve would do such a thing or how many people died at the hands of his men. She wrapped her arms around herself, hoping it would stop the trembling, but it was useless. The fear she tried so hard to stomp down finally crawled its way back out.
You stood at the cave entrance, back turned to Wanda so you could observe your surroundings. No one followed you, but you could never be too sure.
Moonlight glowed around your body, and Wanda had never seen you look more like an angel of war until this very moment. It should have terrified her. But the shiver that moved down her spine as she looked at you wasn’t from the sight of you. At least until she realized you were purposefully favoring your left side to conceal a wound on your abdomen.
“You’re hurt!”
She rushed to your side to get a look at the wound. You attempted to turn away from her to hide it, but she tugged at your arm to prevent it. The little princess was strong when she wanted to be. You let her guide you to the ground, despite knowing she knew nothing about tending wounds. If it comforted her to feel useful in a time like this, who were you to deny her?
The wound was deep but not the worst you’ve ever had. You flinched when she pulled your shirt away to get a better look at it. The fabric peeling away from the exposed flesh felt like getting slashed all over again. She apologized but continued. The best thing she could do was wash it with whatever water she had left over and wrap it. It wouldn’t help much - and if you broke out into a fever the next day, she wouldn’t know what to do - but it was something.
“Was it Steve?” She asked while she tried to tear some of the fabric from the bottom of her dress. Neither of you had any bandages, but she hoped it would work if she ever managed to tear through it.
Why am I not strong like you, Valkyrie?! Why can I not help you when you need it?
You placed your hands on hers to stop her. “That is your favorite dress. You shouldn’t ruin it for me, Princess.”
“If we don’t dress the wound, it could get infected.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“I am not risking your life over a pretty dress!” She shouted. Your eyes grew wide, but she refused to apologize for her outburst. “Please rip it for me, so I may tend to your wounds now.”
You complied if only to avoid hearing her yell like that again. The last thing you wanted was to add to her growing list of worries.
“You didn’t answer my question,” she reminded you.
You rested your head back against the stone wall and sighed. “Would it bring you peace knowing?”
“No.” But I want to know who would be so cruel enough to try to take away those I love most in this world. “I suppose that gives me my answer. Are you taking me to the northern fort in the morning?”
“No. Steve was unsuccessful in his coup, which means he will go after you and your father again,” you replied. “I will not bring you there until I know we have what it takes to defeat him when he shows his face again.”
How your expression darkened at the mention of Steve made Wanda’s stomach twist. Steve didn’t just betray the royal family - he betrayed you. He tried to kill you. Wanda knew you didn’t care about your life as much as you cared for hers, but it didn’t lessen the feelings of betrayal.
“Where will we go?”
“Across the kingdom to gather allies. When Steve strikes again, he will use every person he has at his disposal, and we need to be ready.” You finally looked down at her and gently took her hand, cradling it to your chest. “Do you trust me to keep you safe?”
She smiled warmly despite the tears still gathering in her eyes. “With my life.”
“Good because I don’t plan on traveling the kingdom without you by my side. It’s the only way I know you’ll be safe.”
You wrapped your arm around her shoulders and pulled her against you. You kissed her temple before resting your chin on top of your head. The exhaustion must have finally caught up to you because you fell asleep shortly after that. Wanda wished she could fall asleep as quickly, but she took the time she was awake to enjoy being in your hold.
I don’t know who these allies are, but if it means finally seeing the world with you, I will go anywhere Valkyrie.