Viggo's eyes never strayed from Saga as he sat opposite her in the carriage. He took in every reaction of hers and catalogued them with the rest he had learnt about her so far.

The sigh and slight upturning of her lips as the carriage began rolling strengthened the biggest thing he had come to understand since entering the bedroom the previous night.

She was more than happy to leave her home behind.

Why that was, he still wasn't sure about, though he had a guess. With her timidness, her automatic apologies, the way she had a hard time meeting his eyes. He guessed she hadn't been treated right.

How severely bad, he couldn't tell. But enough so that the image of her he had had before their marriage felt like a joke.

Her father, the Duke of Fyris, had several times had problems with bandits. So severe problems he claimed his own knights weren't enough to deal with it. Viggo had each and every time been ordered by the King to help out, and each and every time the Duke had invited them for an extravagant feast when the issue was solved as a thanks, but really it was a way for him to flaunt his wealth and the power he had. A way of showing he could remain in the comforts of his home while others fought his battles.

It was the way many of the nobles acted around him and his knights. He knew they in private called him a barbarian, but to his face they would be cordial while still doing what they could to show he didn't belong. Except a few who had come to respect him for how well he and his knights dealt with threats when called upon, a few who actually appreciated his help. A few who were growing in numbers.

During the dinners at the Duke's, Viggo had taken notice of Saga. She had always been adorned with beautiful fabrics and jewelry, and the Duke had always spoken about and to her with such affection. Many men had eyed her and sought a way to earn her favour. But the Duke had always acted protective of her.

Now Viggo wondered if that protectiveness hadn't been for her benefit, but for his own somehow.

They had travelled quite a bit away from the estate and the town, had gone up on a hill, and from the window it was possible to see the grand castle in the distance.

Saga gasped as she leaned a bit out of the window.

Viggo smiled seeing her like that. Unguarded while marvalling over something so easy as the view. That was how an eighteen year old girl should be, instead of terrified of everything.

"You've never seen the castle from afar?" he asked to strike up a conversation with her.

He regretted it immediately. She jumped a bit, then pulled away from the window to look down on her lap where she picked at the skin around her nails. It seemed to be a habit of hers for whenever she was nervous.

"No, I've never left the town," she answered in a soft voice, which was almost a whisper. As if she was afraid any word could be the wrong one.

Viggo swore a bit to himself, he ought to have known that. It was a well-known fact that though her sister had been to the capital to mingle with the other nobles, Saga never had been. Something which had again always been framed as an act of protectiveness, but which now rather seemed like an act of control.

"I'll take you wherever you want. We can travel the world if you so wish," he promised her, and she looked up at him with round eyes, which seemed to fill with tears.

But then she lowered her head again. "Thank you, but that won't be necessary. I'm certain you have duties, which are more important."

His heart ached with the resigned tone of her voice. She was right, of course. He didn't have the ability to just let go of everything to take her travelling. He had far too many responsibilities for that. But the way she didn't even allow herself to indulge in the dream tugged at his heart in a way he wasn't used to.

He had felt it the moment he had entered the bedroom the previous night. What he had proposed to her, was something he had decided on as soon as he had been ordered to marry. He knew he anyway couldn't ever be a proper husband of any woman. But the plan had been to make it more as a demand and order, use fear if whatever woman he married wouldn't have been agreeable.

One look on Saga had been enough for him to know he would never be able to use fear as a tool to control her. There was enough fear in her as it was, and he felt a protective urge to instead remove that fear from her.

It was more than just that she had been so afraid, however. He hadn't noticed it before during any of the dinners at the Duke's, but seeing her up close, memories hidden in the depths of him had stirred. He wasn't sure yet what memories, nor why she stirred them. But something about her grey eyes and raven hair reminded him of something, or someone.

So watching her now, he knew he needed to protect and care for her as if she was his little sister.

"I have a lot of duties," he agreed with her. "But I made a promise to protect and care for you. I have no intentions of breaking that promise, so please, if you ever find yourself wanting something, let me know."

"Thank you, Viggo," she murmured, her eyes on her own lap.

Viggo watched her and saw as the first tear stained her dress. She had cried the previous night in what he interpreted as gratitude as well. It made him wonder how much, if any, kindness she had been shown throughout her life.

They didn't talk much more and the carriage continued to make its way to his estate. The journey would take them a few days, and for a big part they would go through land without any towns to take rest in. It made Viggo decide to stop as they reached the last big town, though they had at least one more hour of light left during which they could have gone on.

If it would have been only he and his men, he would have pressed on. But Saga would have never slept in the wilderness. Even if she had been treated poorly, she would be used to the luxury of being a duke's daughter, sleeping on soft beds and having maids wait on her. So though he couldn't provide that type of luxury throughout the journey, he wanted to give her as much of it as possible.

Besides, she looked so thin and fragile he felt certain even wind could break her, let alone sleeping on the ground.

They got rooms at the town's inn. Viggo brought her up to the room they would share. As he saw it, his jaw clenched.

The bed had a thin straw mattress and cobwebs inhabited the corners.

"My apologies for the state of this room," he said as he watched her eyes travel around the space. How disgusting it had to look to her. "Unfortunately we can't be too picky with luxury while on the road. But I promise you'll find my home more up to the standard you're used to."

She turned to him, gave him a smile she had already given him several times. A strained one. A smile which didn't reach her eyes.

"This room is fine," she answered, but the smile told him she hid her true thoughts.

"I'll go ask for a maid to bring you water for a bath," he said instead of pressing further to find out what she really thought as it would only cause him to feel as if he failed her. "Then I have to talk to my men for a bit. Will you be fine on your own until dinner?"

She nodded, the forced smile still intact. "I will be."

He gave her a nod back in approval before leaving her be. After having seen to that a maid would bring her a bath, he looked for Kai. As if the squire anticipated Viggo would want a report, he found the boy by the horses, away from other people.

When Kai noticed his commander, he pulled away from the horse he had been petting to stand with his back straight, ready for orders. Viggo couldn't help but smile at the boy. He had been the first one to seek training to become a knight after Viggo had received his fief. The town had been run down with monsters easily finding their way in to attack its residents. Kai had already lost his father and older brother to monsters and had listed his desire to protect his mother and two younger sisters as his reason to want to become a knight.

"What did her father want with her?" Viggo asked, choosing to skip any type of unnecessary small talk.

Kai's eyes dropped and his straight back slouched. "I don't know. The Duke wanted to talk to her privately. And I didn't want to leave them, but Lady Saga insisted it was fine for me to do so. I apologise for not following your orders, sir."

With how his head hung in shame, you would have thought his transgression had been to abandon a life and death fight.

"No need to apologise. You were following her orders instead. That's quite alright," Viggo reassured the squire, who immediately straightened again and the happy spark in his eyes, which was his default, appeared again. "Do you have any clue what might have transpired between them?"

The spark dimmed a bit again as his lips tightened. "Lady Saga is scared of the Duke. Even when she asked me to leave, I think she did it more because she was afraid of her father's anger than wanting to be alone with him."

Viggo nodded and fitted the information in with the rest he had gathered about her so far. It fit perfectly with how he felt certain she had been mistreated.

"Anything else?" he probed.

"Her room..." Kai shuddered before continuing. "It was in a part of the castle which was colder than the rest and completely void of decorations. She asked me to turn around so I wouldn't see her bedroom. Said it was because it was messy and she'd be embarrassed if I saw that. But..." He shook his head. "I didn't look, though I wish I had. But I don't think it was a bedroom suitable for a duke's daughter."

So she hadn't even got to enjoy the comforts her status should allow her, Viggo thought as more anger rose in him. He was glad they were several hours away from the Duke, or else he maybe would have returned to give the Duke some well chosen words and fists.

"Thank you, Kai." The boy brightened at those three words. "As we continue to travel, if we are attacked, your primary task is to ensure she's safe. Even if that means taking her and running from the fight. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" Kai bobbed his head.

The boy's enthusiasm caused a smile on Viggo's lips. "Now go and get yourself some food and rest."

Kai didn't hesitate to follow the order, and Viggo was left alone with the horses. He walked over to a black mare, who neighed and turned her head away from him.

"Upset with me, huh?" he chuckled as he placed a hand on her forehead, on the white mark which was the only part of her which wasn't black. "It's not because of you I'm not riding you. It's because of this girl. You will like her. She's very timid."

He moved closer to stroke the horse, and after a few minutes, the horse turned her head to press her nuzzle against his side.

"Now that's my girl," he cooed as he leaned his forehead against her.

Luna, a name she had got because the mark on her forehead was reminiscent of a moon against the dark night sky, had been his companion for the past ten years, and though a horse, was the one he trusted the most. They had been through enough life-threatening situations together for him to know he could always rely on her.

"She was huffing profusely the whole way here," a familiar voice said behind Viggo, making him turn to lock eyes with Audun.

The man stood at the entrance to the stables, his posture as rigid as it always was. His brown hair lay perfectly on his head, a feat he even managed in the middle of a battle. The green eyes held Viggo's for a moment before they drifted to Luna instead. The only sign of that something was amiss.

"I have to ensure Saga is comfortable," Viggo answered.

"Luna knows that. But that doesn't mean she likes it," Audun replied with an ache in his voice which made Viggo aware of what he actually meant.

Audun walked over, placed himself on the other side of Luna, and patted her back.

"You're sleeping in the same room as her?" he asked. His eyes still on Luna.

Viggo shook his head to himself. The man before him was always compost, always stern and plenty had called him emotionless through the years. But in the quiet space where they were the only witnesses, every action of his dripped with emotions, and on this occasion with pain and hurt.

"You know it would risk causing questions if I don't. And we can't afford that, especially not while we're still in the Duke's territory."

"I know."

While Audun still rather looked at the horse than him, Viggo stretched his hand out and placed it on top of the other man's where it laid on the horse's back.

"I don't like this any more than you do," Viggo murmured and squeezed Audun's hand. Audun reacted by flipping his hand over so they could hold one another.

"Are you sure? She is pretty. If you were to slip I..." Audun swallowed hard and the next words came out in a rush as if saying them caused him physical pain. "I wouldn't blame you."

"I have no interest in her like that, and I never will," Viggo answered without missing a beat. "You're the only one for me."

"I'm just saying, I wouldn't blame you. But please tell me if you do. I don't think I could stand hearing about it from someone else."

"It hurts me that you don't trust me." Viggo withdrew his hand from Audun's. "After everything we've been through, I can't believe you don't trust me."

Audun's eyes left the horse to land on Viggo's instead as he reached out and grabbed hold of the withdrawing hand again.

"It's not that I don't trust you. The whole situation is just hard. It is hard watching you being attentive to her in a way you never can be to me. It's hard knowing you will sleep next to her, when I can't do that."

Viggo moved their hands up, so he could place kisses on the other man's knuckles. He had done the same to Saga earlier that morning, but then it had been a friendly gesture and a way to create a sense of intimacy between them. Pressing his lips against Audun's skin was so much more than that. It always had been. Ever since the first time when they had both just been boys confused about the feelings growing between them.

Audun's lips parted, and a soft sigh escaped. Viggo kept his eyes firmly on his lover's, knowing the hunger and passion he felt would be visible there, as he tasted his skin. The sweetness of it was intoxicating, and it always left Viggo hungry for more.

But he couldn't take more, not then and there. The risks were all far too great.

So before he could do something he would regret, Viggo lowered Audun's hand again.

"You will always be the only one for me," Viggo reassured him again.

Audun swallowed, closed his eyes, and nodded.

"But do please find me whenever you need me to remind you of that," Viggo continued and gave Audun's hand one last squeeze before the both of them had to return to reality.