she finally leaned back, and sighed.
“He made me vow that if he died, I would rule his kingdom.”
She turned and looked at Thor, her beautiful blue eyes wet, lit up in the morning sun, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, and he was shocked to realize her words were true.
“You? Rule the kingdom?” he asked, stunned.
Her face darkened.
“Do you not think I’m able?” she demanded.
Thor stammered.
“No-no-of course not. I didn’t mean it that way. I–I was just surprised. I had no idea.”
Her expression softened.
“I was surprised, too. It was not something I wanted. But I told him I would. He would not stop until I vowed.”
“So…then I don’t understand,” Thor said, confused. “Why was Gareth crowned? Why not you?”
She looked back down towards her father’s grave.
“My father’s wish was never ratified. The Council would not abide by it.”
“But that is not fair,” Thor yelled out, feeling the indignity of it rising within. “It was not what your father wanted!”
She shrugged.
“Is just as well,” she said. “It is truly not something I want.”
“But it is not just that Gareth should be the one to rule.”
She sighed, wiping back a tear, collecting herself.
“They say that each kingdom gets the king that it deserves,” she said.
Her words lingered in the air, and as Thor really thought about that, he realized that Gwen was much wiser than he thought. He realized in that moment what a good ruler she would, in fact, make. It upset him all the more that she was passed over, that her father’s wish was ignored.
“But I do worry for our kingdom,” she said, “our half of the Ring. The McClouds-when they hear that Gareth is crowned-they will be emboldened. It will embolden all of our enemies. Gareth is not a ruler, and they all know that. We will be vulnerable.”
Thor wondered about all the ramifications of the King’s assassination. They seemed endless.
“But what bothers me most of all, is not knowing who killed him,” she said. “I must know. I cannot rest until I do. I feel that my father’s soul will not rest, either. Justice must be done. I don’t trust anyone in this court. There are too many spies, and everyone lies. In fact, you’re the only one I can really trust-and that is because you are an outsider. Along with my brothers, Kendrick and Reese. Other than that, I trust no one.”
“Do you have any idea who might have wanted him killed?” Thor asked.
“I have many ideas. And many leads to pursue. I will pursue each one of them, and I will not stop until I find his killer.”
Gwen was looking at her father’s grave as she said it, and Thor felt the conviction in her words, felt that she would find out who did it.
After a long while, Gwen stood. Thor rose, too, and they stood there together, side by side, looking down at the grave.
“I want to get far away from here,” Gwen said. “I want to leave this place. A part of me wants to never come back. I hate all of this. I don’t know where it will all end. But I feel that it must all end tragically. In death. Betrayal. Assassination. I hate this court. I hate being royalty. I wish I could live a simple life. In fact, I wish my father had been a farmer. Then, he would still be alive. And that would mean more to me than the entire kingdom.”
Thor, feeling her pain, reached out his hand and held hers. She did not pull away.
“I will be far from here myself, soon,” he said.
She turned and looked to him, and he could see fear in her eyes.
“What do you mean?” she asked, urgently.
“Tomorrow we all embark, the entire Legion. The Hundred. We sail for training, for a distant isle. I won’t be back until the Fall. Assuming I make it back at all.”
Gwen looked crestfallen. She slowly shook her head.
“Life can be so cruel,” she said. “Everything at once.” She suddenly looked determined. “When does the ship sail?”
“In the morning.”
She clasped his hand.
“That gives us a day together,” she said, a smile forming. “Let’s make the most of it.”
Thor smiled back.
“But how?” he asked.
She smiled wider.
“I know the perfect place.”
She turned and led him away, and the two of them took off, holding hands, running back through the fields, Krohn beside them. Thor had no idea where she was taking him, but as long as he was with her, nothing else mattered.
*
As Thor and Gwendolyn strolled through fields of flowers, up and down gentle hills, he marveled at how good it felt to be with her. He sensed her joy, too. It wasn’t the joy she used to wear, that over-ebullient laugh and smile that lit up everything around her. That had been replaced by something more somber, more austere, since the death of her father.
They walked through fields bursting with color, a rainbow of pinks and greens and purples and whites, and Krohn ran around them, in circles, yelping and jumping, seeming even more happy than they. Finally they came to a large hill, and as they reached its top, Gwen stopped, and Thor did, too. He stopped, awestruck at the sight before him: there, on the horizon, sat a huge lake, made of a white-blue water, clearer than any water he had ever seen, sparkling beneath the sun. It was surrounded by towering mountains, and their cliffs looked alive, sparkling all different colors in the morning sunlight.
“The Lake of the Cliffs,” she said. “It is ancient. It is a hidden lake; no one ever comes here. I discovered it when I was a child. I had too much time on my hands, and I would explore. Do you see that small island, there?” she asked, pointing.
Thor squinted into the sun, shimmering off the lake, and he saw it. A small island sat in the center of the lake, far from shore.
“It is where I would escape as a child. I would take that small boat, there,” she said, pointing to a weathered rowboat on shore, “and row out myself. Sometimes I would spend entire days on it, far from everyone. It was a place where no one could get to me. It is the only place left for me that is pure.”
She turned and looked at Thor, and he looked at her. Her eyes were glowing, all different shades of blue, and they seemed truly alive for the first time since her father had died.
“I would like to take you there,” she said. “I would like to share it with you.”
Thor felt deeply touched, closer to her than he ever had.
“I would love to,” he said.
She took his hand, and leaned in, and he leaned in, too, and their lips met. It was a magical kiss, the sun emerging from behind a cloud as they did, and he felt his entire being warm over. Her lips were smooth, and he reached up and felt her cheek, which was even smoother.
They held the kiss for a long time, until finally she pulled away and smiling, took his hand. The two of them began to walk down the hill, sloping gently down towards the shore of the lake, towards the small boat that sat there, waiting. Thor could hardly wait.
*
Thor rowed the small boat as Gwendolyn sat opposite him, across the tranquil white-blue waters of the lake, and as they crossed it, he rowed them right up onto the sandy shore of the small island, its sand sparkling red. Thor jumped out, pulled the boat up safely, then reached out and took Gwen’s hand and helped her off. Krohn leapt out with an excited yelp, and began running on the sand.
Thor took Gwen’s hand, and she lead the way as the two of them began hiking on the small island, the sand
