Stolen Princess

27. Deehrling

"What the hell is the matter with you?" I hiss at the back of Talon's head as he stalks away from me. I slipped out of the great wooden doors he'd only just slammed behind him, my revelation of unfortunate romantic feelings still stinging fresh against my conscious.

"I should be asking you the same thing," he growls, turning on me so fast that I smack into his chest face first, "What would possess you to give that idiot your champion points, eh?" he asks, eyes narrowing down at me. I bite my lip, suddenly unsure of what to say. I step away from him a little, and he stares at me for another long moment.

"Naatan's hands seemed a little more important than a few points," I finally murmur with a shrug. I look away from him, scanning the crowd that's pouring out of the great hall to witness the upcoming duel. My father's court is a blood-thirsty bunch if nothing else.

Talon's anger melts, in fact, his whole body seems to wilt as the anger drains from his face, watching mine.

"Wren..." he whispers softly, and it's a miracle I can even hear him as the rumble of onlookers grows. I stare at him, and now that the anger is gone, fear begins to creep into my veins.

"He's going to kill you," I warn him, chewing my lip and crossing my arms so that I don't reach out to him instead. Talon studies me and sighs heavily, and I can see the moment his determination settles in despite his momentary softness.

"You've always been afraid of him then?" he asks, those dark brows falling together in a v. I watch as he pulls a small knife from somewhere and begins flipping it absently as he waits for Aleksander to arrive.

"And you think you're going to come in on a white knight?" I ask a little sourly, "Save me from my monster and we'll ride off into the sunset together?" I murmur, my voice sounds sad even to me. And I realize there's a part of me that wants that dream if the horse belongs to this Orc in particular.

"You'd probably charm the damned horse out from under me and the two of you would dance off into the forest without me, eh?" he teases, a half-sad smile on his lips.

"Talon... please..." I whisper as Alek's voice reaches me just over my shoulder. He's laughing with his cronies, half of them drunker than is safe for a duel. Talon's eyes move to somewhere past my shoulder for a moment before he turns back to me again.

"There's something you should know," he says, stubbornly changing the subject.

"What's that?" I ask my throat tight. I know the duel is coming, I know there are people crowding around to watch the bloodshed, and I know that whatever magic Alek has... he's going to use it to kill Talon.

"You wanted to know what deerhling meant..." he hesitates, and I can't look away as his gaze traces my face, "It's the opposite of vahaling which means 'beloved', and deerhling means 'beloved of another'. I've never thought anything of it... until I met my brother's intended and she was both at once."

"Tal -" I'm choking now, trying to understand what he's saying, trying not to cry even though my heart is shattering.

"It's a name a lot of men use for their sister in law... and I didn't think -" he stops, takes a breath, "I didn't think I could hate a nickname so much I'd have to say it every other sentence just to remind myself who you belong to."

I don't say anything, he's stolen the air right out of me as I try to puzzle through his meaning.

"Rise and fight you lizard!" Alek cries, half-drunk from across the courtyard. I flinch at his words without thinking, and then all of the sudden Talon's forehead is bent to mine. There's a flash of blue light like he's healing something... even though he needs every piece of energy he has left.