Maude stared at the words in front of her, asking herself why she was trying to read if she was going to digest a single word. She’d been laying for hours, staring at the same several pages, and her arms were starting to get tired from holding the book above her head for so long. It didn’t help that the material was dense, since war strategy wasn’t exactly the light reading.

  She sighed, and turned to lay on the couch on her side, just barely able to see Jaspar working hard at his desk.

  Recognizing that she had still been struggling when they’d finished their sword practice, Jaspar had invited her back to his study to at least be in someone’s presence. Maude hated that he decided he still had to get work done and wouldn’t be able to directly spend time with her, but she was grateful for the proximity at the very least.

  His words about Silas staying in Aulbert until he had convinced her to come with him lingered in her mind. Though she had always felt growing up that she and Silas were close, with the confession of his feelings, she was now questioning everything she’d ever known about him. He may have correctly inferred that she was being treated well as a prisoner of war, and correctly deduced that she and Jaspar were together, but that didn’t mean he would be able to accurately gauge the risk her life might be under if he were to spread rumors about her and Jaspar’s relationship.

  After enough conversations with Helena, Maude knew for sure that rumors about the nobles spread through the commoners like wildfire. Inevitably, those rumors would bend the ear of the other nobles, eventually finding their way to the king.

  But Silas also defected from the empire’s army. I’m sure he is armed with invaluable information about the emperor’s plans, having led a battalion himself, she thought. Who’s to say that he won’t just go to the king directly?

  With everything she’d ever thought about Silas, thrown out the window, she wasn’t sure what his next move could possibly be.

  And if Jaspar gets to have his discussion with the king before Silas does anything…what will the king ask me to do to gain citizenship? She wondered. So many things could go wrong when Jaspar straight up asks the king directly about what I could do for us to be together. What if the king says there is absolutely no way to grant my citizenship to Aulbert?

  Maude bit her lip. It would be the worst case scenario if the king said there was nothing she could do. If that was absolutely the case, then it would be only a matter of time before the war ended and she was either executed in Aulbert or executed in the empire. The only way she would get to keep her life under those circumstances were if she escaped Aulbert before the end of the war. Then she would have to live out the rest of her days without Jaspar. Maude’s chest tightened at the thought.

  I don’t know which is worse. Dying and not being able to be with him, or keeping my life and not being able to be with him.

  Without a doubt, her greatest fear about it all was the king saying there was no path forward for her and Jaspar.

  But that’s only one one of the many answers that he could have, she reasoned with herself. And given the fact that I never fought any people of Aulbert, I’ve given Jaspar useful information about the war, and the king has let me participate in high society, it seems unlikely that he will say there is no possibility of me becoming a citizen.

  She sighed again, this time out of relief, as she watched Jaspar scribbling something on a piece of parchment with his brows furrowed.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Or so I hope, she added, feeling doubt creep back in nearly immediately after she’d finished reassuring herself.

  She shook her head, attempting to convince herself to move on. What’s the next worst thing that the king could ask me to do to become a citizen?

  Millions of terrible ideas floated through Maude’s mind, but there was one thing that floated to the top that seemed both plausible and horrible.

  What if…the king’s stipulation to become a citizen is that I have to fight in the war against the empire? Maude thought. Is that something I would be able to do for Jaspar?

  Though it had been months now since her last conversation with Sara Savoy, her old friend from the empire’s voice popped into her mind, asking Maude if there was anyone who she felt like she could fight for to protect them.

  Maude felt her stomach churn at the idea.

  Jaspar can defend himself, a voice within her argued. We would never be in a situation where I would have to actively defend him in that manner!

  Maude swallowed hard. Even if she didn’t have to, she wasn’t sure that she would be able to fight in the war because she loved Jaspar. She wasn’t sure that anything would ever be enough to convince her to fight.

  If that was the stipulation that the king gave Jaspar, their relationship was surely doomed.

  Surely he won’t demand that… she thought. Maude started to brainstorm what other possibilities there were, to take her mind off the looming possibility of being asked to fight in the war again.

  I wonder if the king might ask me to help rescue slaves from the empire, Maude thought. That’s something I could do that would be feasible. That’s part of what Aulbert is after, right? She wondered. Freeing the people from the empire’s tyranny? Maude wasn’t sure. She wondered if Jaspar would know, though now wasn’t exactly the best time to be asking the question.

  Her eyes moved once again to his figure, sitting at his desk, still scribbling at documents and reading the words they contained. She felt her heart starting to pound. What if there truly is no way for us be together? She wondered. What will I do? What will he do?

  She closed her eyes and saw Fronica Von Wickten in his arms. They would dance and he would spin her around at every ball for the rest of their lives together. Jaspar would look at her and smile warmly. And if Maude ever saw them together again, she could already imagine the sneer that Fronica would have on her face.

  Maude’s stomach soured at the thought. She opened her eyes, and the real Jaspar was still bent over his work. Would he really marry Fronica if he couldn’t be with me? She questioned. No matter how she sliced it, he didn’t seem to like Fronica at all.

  Though the thought pierced through her heart like a thorn, she wondered what he would do if there was no path forward for them.

  “Jaspar,” she heard her voice say. She had been trying hard to not disturb him, but the anxiety coursing her veins was starting to overwhelm her.

  “Hmm?” he asked, looking up from his work, and meeting her eyes over the side of the couch. His face switched to a cutesy one, as if he was looking at a baby animal, “Oh my goodness, you’re so adorable,” he said. “I did not expect to see you peeking over the couch like that.”

  Maude felt herself blushing behind the back rest of the couch, thankfully out of his sight. “Sorry to bother you,” she said. “Do you have any ideas what the king might require for my citizenship to Aulbert?” she asked.

  “Hmm,” Jaspar said again, tapping his pointer finger on his lips. Maude caught herself for a brief moment, wishing she was his pointer finger, and nearly shook her head at herself.

  “That’s a tough question to answer,” he finally responded. “I guess I’m not quite sure what the king may come up with.”

  Her heart sank. “So you’re telling me there’s a chance that there’s no way for us to be together?” she asked.

  “Of course there’s a chance,” Jaspar responded, looking a bit grim. “I wasn’t going to do anything about my feelings until I’d found a way to be with you, if you recall.”

  Maude swallowed hard, remembering how, in her drunken stupor, she’d practically forced him to confess his feelings for her. “I…recall,” she managed, choking out the words.

  “But I think the chance that he will not have a way for you to become a citizen is pretty slim,” Jaspar continued. “You are a sword saint, and Aulbert is not exactly flush with sword saints.”

  Maude gulped. “That’s part of why I’m afraid,” she said. “What if he requires that I fight in the war to become a citizen of Aulbert?”

  “What if he does?” Jaspar asked, raising his eyebrows. “Am I enough that you’d be able to move past your pacifistic ways?” he asked.