Macha's Journey

While she looked around she realized how uniform everything looked. All the buildings looked the same, and it was difficult to tell them apart. She had been there once before to deliver some doc.u.ments for Tyr, but she did not take the time to really look around her. There lay a small building towards the entrance of the sector that they used for recruitment. She took a deep breath before opening the door and going in.

At the desk stood a tall man who was talking with Sierra. They both glanced over to see who opened the door. Sierra recognized Macha immediately and one of her eyebrows shot up. After a.s.sessing her, she noticed Macha"s eyes were swollen from crying and she wore traveling clothes. Sierra put on a warm smile, "Macha, what are you doing here?"

Macha did not know Sierra well but remembered that the woman worked for Freyr. It was difficult, but she forced a smile on her face. "I wanted to join the military," she said with resignation. She did not appreciate seeing someone who recognized her, but nothing could be done about it. The last thing she wanted to do was to explain the details of why she was there.

Sierra"s smile widened. She speculated that Macha would not have come to enlist if things had been going well with Tyr. She saw this as an opportunity to help Freyr. With a short laugh, she said, "You don"t want to join the military. Trust me. Come and join the palace guards. I always need people like you."

Sierra detected the hesitation in Macha"s eyes. Unwilling to let this opportunity slip away, she explained, "I was in the military. It"s a great place to lose your soul and do mindless killing, but if you prefer protecting others and want to make new friends, then you"re in the wrong place."

Inwardly, Sierra apologized to the recruiter. She actually liked her time spent in the military but had left to a.s.sist Freyr at the palace. Later she would send the man a gift basket, but for now, she wanted to make sure Macha joined her.

The recruiter standing next to Sierra wanted to defend the military but did not dare say anything. Sierra held a lot of power and could easily get him fired. Her change of att.i.tude confused him because earlier she had been praising their work.

Macha"s lips twitched to the left. She pondered about what Tyr revealed about the military. He mentioned, on more than one occasion that it had been one of the worst experiences of his life. Despite admitting that the country needed one, his sentiments lined up with what Sierra mentioned.

Thinking about Tyr made her upset. She came here specifically to forget about him. It frustrated her that her mind kept wandering back to the memories they shared. She looked up at Sierra, "You really could use someone like me?" Macha thought the woman"s words sounded too good to be true, but she did not have a reason to lie to her.

Sierra put an arm around Macha"s shoulders and led her out the door. Right now, she wanted to pat herself on the back. With exaggeration, she falsely declared, "Oh yes. You possess experience which I highly value and you already pa.s.s the background check. I am positive you would never hurt Freyr."

Those were not the qualifications Macha possessed that made her employment wanted. The only reason Sierra wanted to hire her was that King Freyr was crazy about this woman. Sierra already had a plan as to where she would put Macha. This seemed like a great opportunity to appoint Macha as Freyr"s personal guard. This would allow the two to be with one another all the time.

Relief caused Macha"s shoulders to relax. She was happy that she found a new job without any problems. She did not know Sierra well, but the woman was nice enough to help her in her time of need. As they rode through the streets towards the place Macha turned to Sierra, "Thanks for offering me a job. I really appreciate it."

Sierra easily heard the sadness in Macha"s voice. She felt terrible that it made her smile, but Freyr had just refused a marriage offer that came from Phocée. Queen Alala"s daughter took a fancy to Freyr and wanted to marry him. The union would have brought stability to the relationship between the two countries. It was because of Macha that Freyr immediately wrote back, rejecting the offer. All the advisors tried to convince him to accept the offer, but this was one issue he refused to yield on.

****

After Tyr left, he immediately went to visit Freyr at the palace. He heard Macha"s confession, but her betrayal cut him like a knife. He did not understand how she claimed to like him when she had just been with his cousin. The pain was still raw, and he wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

The incident made it so Tyr would have preferred to not see his cousin right now, but he needed to turn in his report on the Purple Rain situation. He planned to keep his visit strictly business after seeing that Freyr was not alone in the office. Seeing his cousin look so composed caused Tyr to squeeze the handles of his bag. His cousin seemed to be devoid of guilt, which made him remember Jarnvid"s tauntings.

Freyr saw Tyr enter the office, and he welcomed him. His cousin maintained his usual cold aura and Freyr wondered if he had listened to him. "Did you talk with Macha?" he asked. He got up to shake Tyr"s hand, but Tyr just glowered at it. This sent up warning flags and Freyr took a step back. He poured himself a drink. "What is wrong? I can tell something bothers you." He motioned for the guards in the room to leave.

Tyr waited for them to be alone before speaking, "Why did you do it?" His face was pained, and he fought back the urge to punch his cousin.

Freyr took a sip of his drink and tilted his head. At first, he believed the two did not talk, but now it seemed as if Macha had explained the situation to Tyr. His brows came together and his blue eyes looked into Tyr"s eyes, "She needed help. How could I just ignore her? Anyone would have done the same if they were in my position." Freyr still did not understand why Tyr would be angry at him. He defended the woman they both cared about. "Why are you so upset by it?"

Tyr threw the bag that contained the drugs and his report onto the ground. His voice was raw, "How could I not? You"re my f.u.c.king cousin, yet you disregard my feelings?" He had enough of Freyr acting as if an affair could be altruistic. Without giving his cousin a chance to react, he stormed out of the room.

After leaving the palace, Tyr went back to the guild. He wanted to go on a long mission so he would not have to see Macha"s face for a while. There were many things he needed to think about. Although he loved her, he was unsure if he could forgive her. The thought of losing her made him want to die, but the pain of being cheated on also hurt. He did not know if he wanted to be in a relationship with her if she would continually cheat on him.

He stormed into Bartosz"s office and grabbed the stack of papers that he knew were too difficult for the mission board.

Bartosz heard about the drama that unfolded earlier in the day. He did not understand what happened, but it seemed like the drama involved the King. There were some rumors of her entering headquarters wearing the King"s shirt and going up to the apartment with him. It had been common knowledge that King Freyr showed interest in Macha, so everyone a.s.sumed the worst. Bartosz already understood that Tyr would want to go out alone for a while, he did the same thing when Fenrir left him. Holding up a paper, he drawled, "Here, do this one. It"s to a.s.sist Kochi in their war."

Tyr stared at the paper that Bartosz held out. In his mind, the paper glowed as if it held his salvation. He grabbed it and stalked out of the room to get his things.

When he reached the apartment, he hesitantly opened the door. Part of him wanted to see Macha, but the other part of him dreaded meeting her. His vision fell on the blanket that Macha bought for Boreas"s Day and bitter pain stabbed at his heart. When he strode into his room and looked at the bed, he wondered if Freyr laid in it with her, or if they had s.e.x somewhere else.

It did not seem like she was there. Her not being in the apartment, waiting for him, caused Tyr to feel bitter and disappointed. He punched a hole in the wall and screamed in frustration. It confused him why love was so elusive for him. All he wanted was for Macha to like him and be true to him. He did not care if she loved him, he was happy just being with her and hanging onto her warm light.

Tyr grabbed a bag and shoved some clothes into it. He did not care what he took because he wanted to leave before she got back. Dawning his armor, he called Aži and left. He needed time to heal and the war would be a good distraction. If she still waited for him, when he got back, maybe they could start again.