No matter how many times Saga woke up in cold sweat and dread coursing through her she would never get used to it.

"How are you? Are you feeling ill again?" Viggo asked her and moved away from the armour he had been about to put on, moved toward her.

"I... I'm fine," Saga answered and shook her head. "Just a nightmare."

Viggo went back to the bed, pulled her onto his lap, and held her tight. With how much bigger he was compared to her, Saga always felt like his body shielded her from everything when he did that.

"Dreams won't harm you. You have nothing to be afraid of," he whispered to her as he hugged her in comfort.

She pressed her eyes against his arm as the dream replayed in her mind, a dream which made it clear she had something to be afraid of.

Goblins riding on dire wolves had somehow got into Sinkbek in the dream. They had been causing chaos in the garden outside the castle, attacking everyone in sight. That alone was enough to create knots in her stomach, but there had been even worse parts to her dream.

Quite obviously, Viggo had been fighting the goblins and dire wolves. He had been in the thick of it all, and Saga had woken up while he had been surrounded by them.

Saga knew Viggo was formidable. She knew he wouldn't have earned his title as a lord if he wasn't. But even he had to have his limits. Not even he could fight over a dozen opponents at once.

So while Viggo reassured her she was safe, Saga felt numb with fear that he would be hurt. She had before been so focused on that she would do something which made her lose his kindness that she hadn't even considered someone else might take him from her.

And she knew the attack would happen soon. The garden work hadn't started in the dream.

"Are you feeling better?" Viggo asked after quite a while.

"Yes," she nodded and forced a smile to hide the dread she still felt. How her body was still cold. How thoughts still raced through her mind.

"I'll be heading out then. But if you need anything, call for me."

He let go of her, and she sat back down on the bed to study him as he got his armour on.

"You'll be careful, right?" she said as he was completely ready.

He turned to her, gave her one of his gentle smiles. "You never need to worry about me."

His words did little to reassure her.

"Just... Just promise you'll be careful," she urged him on.

A wrinkle started forming between his eyebrows. "Did you dream about me getting hurt? You really never have to worry about that. I've never found myself in a danger I couldn't handle."

This time his words only increased her fears. "But what if there one day is some? What if you one day find yourself in danger you can't handle?"

He walked back to her. Placed a hand to her cheek. She looked down at her lap finding it impossible to meet his eyes because guilt began mixing with the fear. The best thing for her to do was to tell him what she had dreamt. To confess to all of her magic. Then he could prepare.

But what would he think of her if she did?

The information Hrafen had given her a few days prior came to her mind, amplifying her fear of herself. Strong unstable magic. And it was strong enough that it had already killed.

How would Viggo take that information? How differently would he look at her after knowing?

If she had felt desperate to keep Viggo's kindness before, it was nothing compared to how she felt after being sick. He had cared and dotted on her so much those first few days after she had woken up. Brought her food, held her, done everything for her. And he had looked at her as though she was someone precious he needed to care for.

The only other person she could remember having ever cared for her like that was her mother. But she had lost that care far too early. She couldn't lose Viggo's care as well. The thought of losing it crushed her, sent her spiraling down a path which always led back to her father and how she deserved his punishments.

So she couldn't tell him what she knew of the future. But she also needed to find a way to protect him from the incoming attack.

"I'm strong, Saga," Viggo told her. "Not to brag, but I am possibly the best fighter in Ranriki. You never have to worry about my safety. If anything were to happen, then please, just focus on keeping yourself safe. Alright?"

Her fingers fidgeted as she nodded, though she knew she wouldn't do as he had asked her to.

He leaned in and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Rest some more now," he said before leaving her.

She did not do that either.

As soon as she was alone again, she rose from the bed and called for Erna to get breakfast and help with dressing. Once she was ready, Saga left the bedroom with a half-formed plan of how to do what she could to protect Viggo.

First she stopped by the library, which she again, unfortunately, found occupied by Hrafen. Though this time, the mage actually sat by a table pouring over some books.

"Ah, the Lady is back. Does she want another history lesson? Or maybe politics will be today's topic? Or has she changed her mind about wanting me to teach her magic?" the mage greeted her in his usual lazy tone.

"None. I'm here to find a book," Saga answered, not sparing Hrafen so much as a glance. Since the mage was rarely courteous, Saga found no reason for her to be so to him.

"How interesting. What book might that be?" he asked and stood from the table to walk over to where she read the spine of the books on a shelf. He placed himself so close to her, that she took a step to the side away from him. But he followed and got into her personal space again.

She opened her mouth to tell him to leave her be. Both through leaving her personal space, but also to not pry into her personal business. But the library was awfully unorganised, and it would take her ages to find the right book, maybe the whole day. She didn't have that time. The attack could be happening as they were speaking.

"I want a book with information about goblins and dire wolves," she confessed. "Do you know if there is such a book?"

The mage smirked and got a glint in his eyes which Saga didn't like. It looked far too pleased.

"I can do you the favour of easily finding the right book for you. But if I do you that favour then I want something in return," he answered.

Again, Saga wanted to tell him off. But she held the words back. "What would you want in return?"

"An answer. That is all. An answer to one single question."

"What is the question?"

"You'll find out if you agree."

The mage really knew how to get under her skin. But she had no choice other than to play along.

"Fine."

Hrafen's smirk widened and with a flick of his wrist a book soared from a shelf and into his hand. Saga reached out to grab it from him, but he moved it away and out of her reach with a tsk.

"My question and the answer first," he leered. "What did your breakfast at your father's estate generally consist of?"

Saga's eyes widened. She wasn't sure what she had expected Hrafen's question to be. But certainly not that. If anything, she had assumed he would ask her something related to her magic. The question he asked instead was random and sounded like something he asked only to unsettle her.

The issue was, however, that the answer would be very telling.

"What kind of question is that?" she huffed and looked away from him to hide how little she wanted to give the answer. How it brought up all her insecurities about how she didn't deserve any of what she had right now. Of how she acted like something more than she was.

"It is the question I want answered. So either answer it, or I'll make the book return to the shelves. And I want the honest answer, and I am good at telling if someone is lying to me."

She closed her eyes as she answered. "Stale bread."

The answer was a short version of what the breakfast had been. But since he had only asked about what it had been, there was no way she would tell him how she got the breakfast. That she had picked it from other's left-overs.

Something poked her, and opening her eyes again, Saga saw it had been the book.

"Quite an interesting breakfast for the daughter of a duke," Hrafen pointed out as Saga took the book. But then he returned to where he had sat when she had entered without another word.

Not wanting to linger with Hrafen, Saga brought the book back to the bedroom. For the rest of the day, she read all which was written there about both goblins and dire wolves. Nothing of which wasn't information she hadn't already read before.

Goblins were tenacious creatures who liked wreaking havoc. With claws for nails and fangs for teeth, they could do great harm if they managed to get close enough.

Regarding dire wolves, there were many different types with varying abilities. The ones they had encountered on their way to Sinkbek had been a quite tame type; the only thing making them different from ordinary wolves was their size. But some dire wolves had greater magical abilities such as blending into shadows and changing the air around them. The problem was that Saga had no idea what type of dire wolves it had been in the dream.

So as dinner came, she had learnt nothing to help her keep Viggo safe.

She dreamt the same thing that night and woke up in a similar state.

"Another nightmare?" Viggo asked as he returned to sit on the bed next to her.

She nodded. And with her heart hammering and body cold as ice. With her mind spinning, telling tales of what she would have witnessed had the dream continued further. All of those images were of Viggo on the ground with wounds covering his whole body as he slowly bled to death. With all of that making her fear unbearable, worse than any of her father's beatings, Saga threw caution away. At least some of it.

"If there's an attack here, you... you have to be careful and stay close to others so you don't fight alone."

Viggo's eyes had been gentle and filled with sympathy. But it slowly faded as a frown deepened on his face. His lips pressed tightly shut, then his eyes narrowed into something worse than anger.

Disapproval.

"If there is an attack here, then it is my job as the Lord to ensure everyone's safety. It would be disgraceful of me to consider my own safety in such a situation."

Saga felt parched as she looked down, away from Viggo's stare. She wasn't surprised by his reaction, though she wished it had been something else. That he would show some signs of self-preservation. And mostly, that he wouldn't look at her as if she had offended him.

Yet, his life was more important than any discomfort she currently felt, so she pressed on.

"But if something happens to you, then who will look after the city in the future? You should consider that before you..."

"That's enough!"

His voice was both louder and harsher than Saga had ever experienced before. Enough of both for her to flinch and curl in on herself, expecting pain to come. She had angered him. She had pushed for things she knew as his wife she had no business meddling in. It was a transgression which warranted a severe punishment.

"You might be used to how your father runs things," Viggo went on and stood. Any second he would pull her to stand followed by hitting her for daring to speak out of line. "But I am no coward and will never act like one."

She heard his steps against the floor, wondered if he was collecting something to use as he punished her. Her whole body trembled and she didn't even dare to breathe. Pain already slashed across her back, pain which would surely soon be real and not just in her mind.

But then the door to the bedroom opened and closed.

Air rushed into Saga's lungs again as she looked up to find herself alone.

He hadn't beaten her. He hadn't punished her in any way though she had spoken out of line.

Tears filled and overflowed from her eyes in a matter of seconds. Her body felt weak, and she laid down in bed as she sobbed all her feelings out. Though she wasn't sure what those feelings were.

Fear? Guilt? Anxiety? Relief?

Shame?

It could be any number of things.

She had angered him. So far he had only shown her kindness, but she had ended up angering him.

But he still hadn't hit her for it. Hadn't punished her in any way. He would have been within his rights to do so. Saga wouldn't have blamed him for it.

And maybe he was still planning to do it. Maybe he had gone to think a bit about the best punishment for her. When they saw each other again, then surely she wouldn't be as lucky.

With that thought in mind, Saga didn't dare venture out of the bedroom that day. She found she had no energy for anything other than staying in bed with her thoughts. They turned darker and darker as the day went by, going from the occasional rational thought of that Viggo wasn't someone who would ever hurt her to imagining him beating her skin raw and bloody.

Even as dinner came, she didn't leave the bedroom, but asked Erna to bring her some food. Not that Saga ate much of it. Mainly she pushed the food around on the plate; the few mouthfuls she tried to eat made her want to puke.

A feeling which increased as Viggo did not return to the bedroom that night.

The bed felt awfully big and cold and empty without his presence next to her, and she twisted and turned several times over until she finally fell into restless sleep.

In her dreams that night, she saw the goblins, maybe half a metre in height with grey skin and yellow eyes, on top of the massive dire wolves looking down at the city from the mountain. It was a steep slope down, one you had to climb from unsteady rock to unsteady rock. But the dire wolves found a way. With their claws against the stone and jumping from small junctures, they made their way down. The goblins cackled as they did, excitement gleaned in their eyes. It had been a long time since last they had fun, but now they finally would again.

Without a sound, the dire wolves landed on flat ground again, soft grass meeting their paws instead of the scratching stones. They were by the castle, but knew it was better to get further into the city. Too many within the castle walls knew how to fight them.

So they set off at a run.

But luck wasn't on their side.

Shouts filled the air as they were spotted. A few guards ran in their direction, but they didn't halt, didn't hesitate. Both the dire wolves and the goblins launched themselves at the incoming defenders, and the wolves howled and goblins laughed as the ground was coloured red.

Saga woke up. The sounds from her dream mixing in with reality, and she knew what she had witnessed in her sleep hadn't been events of the future. No, it had been what was happening right then and there.