“I know exactly who she is,” Hawke shot back. “Not what she is. Maybe you’ve forgotten that she’s not just a godsdamn inanimate object whose only purpose is to serve a kingdom, but I haven’t.”
“Hawke.” I whirled on him.
“Oh, yeah, that’s rich, coming from you. How do you see her, Hawke?” Vikter stepped in more. Suddenly, they were as close as Hawke and I had been under the willow. “Another notch in your bedpost?”
I gasped, spinning back around. “Vikter.”
“Is it because she’s the ultimate challenge?” Vikter continued, and my lips parted.
Hawke’s chin dipped. “I get that you’re protective of her. I understand that. But I’ll tell you just one more time, you’re way out of line.”
“And I’ll promise you this…it will be over my dead body before you spend another moment alone with her.”
Hawke smiled then, one side of his lips curling up. There was no dimple. His features seemed to sharpen in the moonlight, creating shadows under his eyes and on his cheekbones. “She thinks of you as a father,” he said, his voice so soft it sent a chill down my spine. “It would hurt her greatly if something unfortunate were to happen to you.”
“Is that a threat?” Vikter’s brows lifted.
“I’m just letting you know that is the only reason I’m not making your promise come true this very second,” he warned. “But you need to step back. If you don’t, someone is going to get hurt, and that someone won’t be me. Then Poppy will get upset”—he turned to me—“and that’s the sixth time I’ve said it,” he added, and all I could do was stare at him. “I don’t want to see her upset, so step. The fuck. Back.”
“Both of you need to stop,” I whispered, grabbing Vikter’s arm, but he didn’t budge. “Seriously. This is escalating over nothing. Please.”
They didn’t look away from each other, and it was almost like I wasn’t there. Finally, Vikter stepped back. I didn’t know if he saw something in Hawke’s face, or if it was me tugging on his arm, but he took another step away, his skin unusually pale in the moonlight.
“I’ll be guarding her for the rest of the evening,” Vikter stated. “You’re dismissed.”
Hawke smirked, and I shot him a glare he didn’t even seem to notice. He said nothing as Vikter took my arm and turned. I went with him, having taken only a couple of steps before I looked over my shoulder.
The space where Hawke had stood was empty.
I looked around quickly, not seeing him. Where had he—？
“I don’t even know what to say to you right now,” Vikter stated. “Gods. After I finished talking to the Commander, I couldn’t find you, but I ran into Tawny. She said you returned to your room. I went to check on you, and when you weren’t there, I figured you could be here. But I did not expect to find this.”
It seemed as if he knew exactly what he wanted to say.
“Dammit, Poppy, you know better than this. You know what’s at risk, and I’m not talking about the fucking kingdom.”
Hearing him curse caught my attention. I looked up as he stalked along, bringing me with him.
“If anyone had seen you with him, missing a few days of training would’ve been the least of my fears,” he went on, and my stomach dropped. “And Hawke knows better. Dammit, he never should’ve laid a hand—”
“Nothing happened, Vikter.”
“Bullshit, Poppy. You looked like you’d been thoroughly kissed. I hope that was all.”
“Oh, my gods,” I exclaimed, my face flaming.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“We were coming back in to go to my room—”
Vikter stopped, looking down at me with wide eyes and lifted eyebrows.
“Not what you’re thinking,” I insisted, and that was the truth. “Please. Just let me explain what happened,” I said, desperately trying to figure out how to fix this.
“I don’t think I want to know.”
I ignored that. “After you left to speak to the Commander, I felt bad because Tawny wouldn’t leave my side. I knew that as long as I stayed at the Rite, she would feel as if she had to stay with me. So, I told her I was going back to my room so she could have fun.”
“That doesn’t explain how you ended up out here with him.”
“I was getting to that,” I said, trying to be patient. “Hawke knew I didn’t want to go back to my room, and he knew how much I used to love the gardens. So, he brought me out so I could…so I could get past what happened here with Rylan. That’s why we were out here.”