Dakota had long since departed, his footsteps fading into silence, yet Helga remained rooted in the corridor, her figure still as stone. The flicker in her eyes betrayed the storm beneath her composed exterior—an emotion she rarely allowed herself to feel. Was it fear? Doubt? Or perhaps guilt.
Had she made a mistake?
Helga, the Barsons' eldest daughter, was bred for royalty. She was trained from a very young age on the ways of the nobles, trained to be a queen. From the moment she could walk, she was immersed in the arts of diplomacy, war, and rule. She was her family's greatest pride — the hope of the Barsons to rise into power.
But who would have thought that Heimdal would fall in love with her half sister, Astrid — a daughter of a lowly mistress of her father? She even gave birth to Alaric, Heimdal's first born son.
