Ludwig asked softly, a smile threading his tone now, almost warm.
At the sight of the acorn, the commander's arm dropped as if the wire had been cut. The sword clattered against the wooden planks and skittered to rest by her boot. Her expression unzipped into something like astonishment, then relief, then an answer that had to come free. "You…so it was true." Her voice trembled with more feeling than it had before. "You met the princess…"
The sudden softness in her face was both startling and telling. She reached out with a hand that no longer trembled, palm hovering near the nut as if to confirm it was real and not an echo.
"Sure," Ludwig answered but drew his arm away from her grasping hand, "Lorina Ulesse." He let the syllables settle between them. "Quite the connection. She wasn't as hard-headed as you are."
