Becoming
an excerpt

Aurora’s room was at the end of the hall, to the right of Lukas and Rolf’s room. Lukas peered at the base of the door. He could not tell if the girl had a light on or not, as the moon was full, and the light from it could have been the cause of the glow from under the door if Aurora did not have a light turned on. Lukas gave an experimental rap on the door. There was no answer, so he waited and gave another knock after a few seconds. If there was no response this time, he would give up and go back to bed.

The door swung open, and Lukas found himself staring down the business end of a crossbow. Immediately, he did what any sensible person would do – he threw himself to the floor.

“Lukas?” Lukas looked up. Aurora, dressed in a pale blue night dress, with her hair down, stood over him, still holding the crossbow, although it was mercifully pointed away from him. “Lukas, what are you doing?”

“Oh. Um.” Lukas decided that he wasn’t doing his dignity any favors by continuing to lay on the floor. He picked himself up and dusted off his clothes. “Hi, Aurora. Sorry. I couldn’t sleep, and I wanted to see if you were awake still too and wanted to talk. I guess I must have disturbed you, huh?”

“Oh, no, I always sleep with a loaded crossbow beside my bed,” Aurora said, and Lukas honestly could not tell if she was intending that remark sarcastically. “However, yes, I was asleep. Is there anything I can do for you now that I’m awake?”

“No, it’s fine,” Lukas said. “If you can actually get to sleep, I won’t begrudge you your rest. You’ll need it for tomorrow.” He rolled his eyes. “Never get addicted to coffee, Aurora. This is what it reduces you to.”

“Rory.”

“Excuse me?”

“You can call me Rory,” Aurora said. “If you wish to, I mean. You needn’t. It’s merely that nicknames foster informality and friendship, so I thought perhaps you might like that.”

Because she was backlit by the moon from her window, Lukas could not see Rory’s face very well, but he was reasonably certain that she was blushing. The girl did that a fair amount when talking. She seemed perpetually embarrassed when making small talk. Lukas decided he would humor her and call her by the nickname. It obviously meant something to her that she had made such a gesture.

“All right, Rory,” Lukas said with a smile. “Never get addicted to coffee, you hear? I’ll let you get back to sleep. Maybe I’ll read a dictionary until I fall asleep. Good night.”

“Good night, Lukas,” Aurora said.

“Oh, and don’t shoot anyone in your sleep,” Lukas added before going back to his room. He thought he heard a faint giggle as he did so.

~~~~~

“He already has a girlfriend,” Rolf said, smirking at Rory from across the room.

“More than you ever will have,” Rory shot back.

“I’m wounded,” Rolf responded.

“If only,” Rory replied with a snort.

“How long before you go running back to Daddy?” Rolf asked.

“I’m tougher than you think,” Rory said.

“We’ll see,” Rolf said, examining his nails. “Two weeks, and that’s a generous estimate.”

“The only reason I would leave early would be to get away from you,” Rory said. Rolf laughed. “Or, better yet,” she added, “to flee the authorities once they find out how I have disposed of you.”

“Were you implying violence?” Rolf asked. “I’m shocked, milady.”

“Not only am I implying it, I am almost ready to resort to it,” Rory growled.

“I would like to see you try,” Rolf laughed. “It would be amusing and worth all the provoking it would take to elicit such a reaction.”

“Naturally, a lady such as myself would not attempt to attack a brute such as you,” Rory said coolly. “However, I am more than confident that any of the gentlemen we are traveling with would act to avenge me if you were to try to take advantage of me here, now that we are alone together.”

Rolf raised his eyebrows. “Well played, miss.”

Rory smiled smugly. “I try.”