Aria and Will by Kallysten Read Free Book Online Page A

against the rules, even if they were not
enforced.
    The battle, this night, lasted just over an hour. The
deep sound of a horn rang over the plain, and at once the demons retreated.
There were few cheers from the Guard to herald this victory. They all knew that
the demons would be back, the next night or the one after that, and this time
with reinforcements. It wasn't time to celebrate; rather, it was time to heal,
mourn, rest, and prepare for the next battle.
    As he made his way back to the walls and the slowly
opening doors that would allow him and the rest of the fighters back inside the
city, Wilhelm was a hundred feet or so behind Ariadne and Lorenzo. They walked
side by side, each with an arm around the other. Her head rested against his
shoulder. Wilhelm could hear them murmur to each other, though he made no
effort to understand what they were saying. If not for the sword in her hand
and the axe in his, both covered in drying blood, they could have been a normal
couple taking a stroll by moonlight.
    Wilhelm's hand clenched on his sword's hilt and he
looked around him rather than ahead. He suddenly wished the demons hadn't
abandoned the battlefield so fast.
     
    * * * *
     
    When Lorenzo entered Bergsen's office, a small smile
was playing on his lips. Wilhelm repressed a disgruntled growl. Lorenzo had no
way of knowing why the Commander had summoned him, but he didn't seem worried
in the slightest. Of course, if Wilhelm allowed himself to become aware of the
scent wafting about the younger vampire, the reason for his smile would be
blindingly obvious. Wilhelm had no desire, however, to be reminded that Ariadne
and Lorenzo shared a bed, and had shared it very recently.
    “Sir. Private Cambria reporting.”
    It wasn't the formal address Guard recruits were
taught, and Lorenzo's salute was a little sloppy. Wilhelm had never cared about
either thing, but now he wanted to snap at the man to stand straighter, and not
to smile like a lunatic when he was summoned by the Guard's Commander.
Frowning, he settled a little deeper in his armchair and struggled to remain
quiet. It was Bergsen's office, and Wilhelm was only there as an observer.
    If he had been Lorenzo's Sire, he would have taught
him better manners long before.
    “Private Cambria. I was beginning to wonder if you
would join us. I requested your presence almost half an hour ago.”
    Lorenzo had the grace to look embarrassed, and his
gaze left Bergsen, settling on Wilhelm for a second before he thought better of
it and looked straight ahead of him at the wall behind Bergsen's desk. It might
have been a trick of Wilhelm's imagination, but he seemed to be standing
straighter, suddenly.
    “My apologies, sir.”
    Bergsen did not say a word as he stood and walked
around his desk to come two steps in front of Lorenzo. Hands clasped behind
him, he observed the soldier for a few moments. The smile slowly faded from
Lorenzo's face under the scrutiny in a most satisfying way.
    “How long have you been part of the Guard, Cambria?”
    Bergsen knew the answer to that question already.
Everything he needed to know was in the manila folder on his desk.
    “Fifty weeks, sir.”
    “Fifty weeks. You had never belonged to a military
organization before that. I only need to look at your posture to know that.”
    Again, Lorenzo seemed to straighten, though it was
much too late by now.
    “You can't salute or stand properly,” Bergsen
continued. “You are slow in answering a summons from a superior. You disregard
the rules that forbid romantic relationships between members of the Guard.”
    Lorenzo frowned at that last reprimand and his eyes
flicked toward Wilhelm before Bergsen started talking again.
    “Luckily for you, none of these matters so much in the
Guard. What truly matters is that you are at your post on the walls on time
every night. What matters is that you have shown exemplary leadership in the
little time you have been part of the Guard, and your battalion