THE Knight's Hidden Princess
Chapter 185: What’s The Plan?

Chapter 185: What’s The Plan?

Couple of broken ribs and a nose later, we sat down on the floor breathing heavily, trying to catch my breath. Bjorn glared at me, he was in worse shape. He had a cut on his brow, his mouth was bleeding and he was holding on to his side as he glared at me. I have no doubt that I was also in worse shape too. I can feel the blood trickling down my nose and I think one of my eye start to be closing.

"So..." I said in between gulps of air, "Feel like you’ve had enough?"

Bjorn glared at me, "Not even close!" He said before he lunged forward, trying to hit me with a blow but all I did was just move to the side before he finally crumpled down to the ground.

I snorted in response as I stared at his figure on the floor. "Yeah, seems you’ve had more than enough."

"No, I just need to rest for a little bit then I will kick your ass later!" Bjorn said, his voice labored.

I laughed loudly but I instantly regretted my actions because it caused pain to course through my ribs. "Well take all the time you need and maybe take a little nap with it because the only time you will be kicking my ass is in your dreams."

Bjorn raised his head up before he turned so he was lying down on his back. "It’s not like you fight fair."

"You really want to talk about fair? You headbutted me, twice was it?"

Groaning, Bjorn turned to look at me. "Those are just tactics, you are knight you know that."

"Yeah, tactic my ass." I muttered as I stood up from the ground, "So I am going to take that drink you so graciously offered before."

Heading towards the drink, I grabbed the bottle and poured myself a generous amount before I downed it. I welcomed the burn down my throat and let out a long sigh as the warmth settled in my chest. I grabbed the other glass and filled it, I stretched it towards Bjorn who shook his head at me.

"No more for me, I think I’ve had enough."

"You finally yielded huh?"

"I meant the drink not the fight." Bjorn stated shooting me a hard glare.

I heaved out a sigh as I slammed my glass down on the table with frustration. All the time we’ve been fighting and he still couldn’t understand what I was trying to tell him. Or maybe he thinks it’s a whole lie and I really wished there is a way I could do it without telling him the whole truth but it seems I have no other choice.

"Okay, I am not sure I like the look on your face."

I turned to look at Bjorn then with a growl, I marched towards him and yanked him off the floor. Bjorn released loud protest as he struggled against me. I held on to him and shoved him backwards till he was against a wall and I held him there.

"Alright, you listen to me," I said still holding him against the wall, "I have tried to talk to you and I let you hit me repeatedly just to ease some of my guilt because I believed it was my fault. I should have done a better job of protecting her. She may be your sister but she is my wife. I swore to protect her and I failed at that and I am going to have to live with that guilt for the rest of my life. But now, the gods have given me a chance to have her back in my arms and I can’t do that without your help."

Bjorn tried to struggle but I pushed back, holding him against the wall. "What the fuck are you on about?"

"DAHLIA IS ALIVE!" I yelled, wincing as I instantly regretted my actions, "Dahlia is alive."

"You are lying!" Bjorn snarled at me.

I jerked him with more force than necessary, "Look into my eyes and tell me if everything I have said since I got here is a lie." I growled, the desperation I was trying so hard not show revealing itself through every word.

Bjorn eyed me warily, his eyes were hard and still fierce but they held something else, curiosity. A long pause passed between us and I noticed he had stopped struggling so I released him. Bjorn continued to stare at me, "So you are sure she is alive."

"Not sure, I know she is." I said my voice filled with conviction.

"Well how?"

Fuck, this is going to be trouble. "I heard from your sister?"

Bjorn looked puzzled as he cocked his head at me, "Um Dahlia?"

"No, of course not, I’m talking about Evie!"

Bjorn gave me a look that was no longer that of curiosity but he was now staring at me like I was crazy. "Evie?" He asked me still giving me that look, "Evie my little sister who stays in her room all day doing embroidery told you that Dahlia was alive."

"Yeah, that’s what they want you to believe but seriously how naïve are you in your own home?" I muttered under my breath and Bjorn glared at me.

Drawing in a deep breath, I decided to tell him everything. From Evie attempt of assassination on Celeste, Dahlia threatening Sigurd and then the whole thing with the Draumheimiers. I also told him about how I didn’t believe Dahlia was dead and how I’ve been searching for her and haven’t gotten any leads since Evie.

"So Evie was the one who took Dahlia?" Bjorn asked me when I was done.

I sighed as I shook my head. "No, not her. Your father."

"So my father took Dahlia to where exactly?"

"I do not know." I responded with a small smile on my face, "That’s what I need you to find out."

Bjorn released a scoff as he walked away while raking a hand through his hair. "So let me get this straight, Evie and my father want to get rid of Dahlia?"

"Yeah, that is what I said." I responded and Bjorn chuckled.

He walked towards the wall and went to lean on it. He didn’t say anything for a minute, just continued to stare at the floor. The silence hung in the air between us. I didn’t interrupt him because I knew this must have been a lot to process. Evie’s betrayal, his father’s involvement in the disappearing of Dahlia and also that she was in somewhere worse, struggling to stay alive just enough for us to find her.

At least I didn’t tell him that Sigurd has been feeding Evie the wrong batch of the ember dust. I didn’t tell him because he wasn’t taking this too well and besides nothing was confirmed yet. I also needed him to be of sane mind and focus everything on Dahlia. I was going to help Evie but right now, Dahlia is my priority and I do not care if that sounds a little bit selfish.

"So, what do you say?"

Bjorn shook his head at me, "Look, man, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this." He said before he chuckled, "I mean I know my father is horrible and is shit for a father but to think it will go this far? She is his daughter."

"A daughter who also threatened to end his life." I said and Bjorn glanced up at me, "He must have seen her as a threat, a competition and we all know Sigurd feels about competition and it doesn’t matter if it is his own daughter."

"Fucking hell!" Bjorn cursed as he raked a hand through his head, "That evil bastard, I swear I just want to get rid of him."

"Yeah, you will need to get in line but first I really want to find Dahlia. I can’t allow Ivar to grow up without a mother. I grew up with one parent, I swore my children would never do the same."

My words seemed to have convinced Bjorn because a look of determination suddenly settled on his face. "How about you talk to Evie?"

Releasing a breath Bjorn shook his head at me. "Yeah that’s going to be difficult." He looked up at me, "I understand you share a close bond with your siblings, I do not. Growing up, it was just me and Dahlia. We were always close and the reason we got close was through the harsh punishments we received from our father. Things got a lot worse when our mother died and Evie was born. I had to step away from Dahlia and be the man of the house, someone my dad could rely on and Dahlia. She had to be a mother to us all, at such a young age. Protect us from my father’s lies as best as she could until she got married. Now my point is, Evie and I are not that close. If anything the person best suited for a conversation with Evie is Dahlia."

"Yeah, well except she isn’t here is she?" I snapped at him and Bjorn sighed. Taking in a deep breath I turned to look at Bjorn, "Look, you are going to talk to Evie and convince her to tell you where Dahlia is or so help me, I will burn this place to the ground and I do not care which treasured family lies inside."

Bjorn narrowed his eyes at me, "Are you threatening me now?"

"No but if it was Amelia, ask yourself what you would be doing!" I informed him before I turned and walked out the hall.