Page 31 of Ties of Starlight

Unfortunately, it was near impossible to observe her when he had to ride at the front, and she always rode at the back.

He couldn’t exactly just sit backwards in the saddle without making what he was doing obvious. Now that the Constella had finished his work catching him up on everything he needed to know, he’d fallen to the middle of the group, leaving Nyrunn and Frode at the front with a few guards slightly ahead of them.

Halfway through the morning, Frode said, “So, how is married life treating you, Your Majesty?”

It was like Frode lived to test Nyrunn’s patience but simultaneously also lived in fear of it ever snapping.

“If you’re fishing for a ‘you were right,’ you’re not getting one.”

“Was I?”

Nyrunn attempted a covert glance over his shoulder. Idonea was still at the back, that same, strange look on her face. Tired. Bored. And… something else. He turned back to face Frode. “After we pause at midday, make an excuse to have Idonea ride at the front.”

Frode shook his head but said, “It shall be done, Your Majesty.”

And it was. As Nyrunn was about to mount his steed, Frode and Idonea were riding up to him. Although Idonea's eyes were narrowed at him. He swung himself up as she said, “Lord Frode is insisting that we must ride side by sidein order for the guard formation to best protect us. Is that true, Your Majesty?”

“Your Majesty, I have no idea what I have done to make your wife think so little of me that I could ever lie to her, especially on a matter as serious as her safety.” Frode's dramatic air only had Idonea rolling her eyes. “You must defend my honor to your wife that a lie—no, not even so much as a fib—has ever left these lips.”

Whenever anyone claimed Star Elves were reserved and cold as a hard rule, Nyrunn was always tempted to shove Frode in front of them so they could observe his ridiculous dramatics for themselves.

“Do you have a reason you don't want to ride beside me?” Nyrunn ignored Frode and instead focused on Idonea, looking resplendent as always, her inky-black hair plaited back, just a few pieces framing her face without hiding her ears. If only he could tell her and she believe him. Since he couldn’t, he settled into his saddle and gathered up his reins.

“I like riding toward the back. I always ride toward the back.” She said “always” like it was somehow longer than the few days they'd been traveling.

“You haven't ridden in the front yet; maybe you'll like it better,” Nyrunn said, tapping his heels against his steed and they set out again.

Idonea urged her horse after him, falling into step beside his. “I know what I like, Your Majesty.”

He looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. “But maybe you'll like something else better, and how will you ever know if you never give it a chance?”

She just lifted her chin and huffed, shifting her gaze to the road in front of them. Frode shot Nyrunn a look that clearly said “I could have told you this was a bad idea” as he fell into his position on Nyrunn's other side.

Nyrunn was content to ride in silence and instead spend the time observing her. At first as they rode, Idonea looked the same as he'd seen before. She looked bored, like she'd seen everything around them a thousand times before. While he couldn’t say the road they were on currently was the most stunning scenery their kingdom had to offer, for a girl who’d lived in Novum her whole life, a forest full of a plethora of plants, green, blue, and purple, including Star Lilies shining and glowing on the ground, it should at least captivate her a little.

But as they rode, though she did look around a few times, usually she looked straight ahead like she wasn't actually seeing anything in front of her. Her head was usually in the clouds—even back in the library, he'd spent plenty of time pretending to read when really he was just staring at her and pining away in silence. She'd always been half-present. Half of her always somewhere else.

Where? Where was she?

Now that he knew how much she was plagued by nightmares, he could only suspect that was either the cause or at least part of the situation. Whatever they were about.

But as they rode, she seemed to actually pay more attention, especially when Frode started to fill the air with irrelevant chatter, glaring at Nyrunn when he did so, probably for not doing it first. But if Nyrunn started talking and started pushing with the questions he wanted answered, then Idonea's suspicions he'd arranged this would be confirmed. So he kept his silence as Idonea occasionally engaged with Frode, mostly with short replies to break up his monologues about the most inconsequential things. At one point, Frode rambled on for half an hour just recounting Agnarr and Gytha’s story, as if every Star Elf hadn’t heard it a thousand times in their childhood alone.

Then Frode spent the next half an hour discussing how much he was looking forward to witnessing the comet and how amazing it was to be able to see it in his lifetime and be present for all the rituals.

Nyrunn didn't really care about that, but he did care about the way Idonea was nodding along up until Frode said, “Of course, the Heava Dance at the ruins is next, so it's all anyone is talking about in the camp. I don't know what they're all so anxious about. We've already encountered and solved the complication that threatened the ritual this time around. I should think now we're in the clear.”

Idonea's grip on her reins tightened and there was a strain in her smile as she hummed and nodded along. Was it the reference to Olaug's disappearance testing her impassivity or was it the Heava Dance?

He prodded at their bond, but everything Idonea was feeling was hidden well behind her wall.

While he was grateful the wall kept Idonea from reading too much into him, it was getting annoying he couldn’t read her at all.

Idonea said, “Then you ought to tell the rest of them that. This time the Heava Dance will go perfectly.”

Nyrunn hoped so. His court often overinflated his dancing skills in an attempt to flatter him, and this was a completely foreign dance to him. The steps had long since gone out of style, and Nyrunn only had so much time left to practice.

“You'd think it'd be obvious, Lady Idonea. You are nothing like Inga, save for both being Gytha's chosen,” Frode said.

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