Fantasyland 01 Wildest Dreams (16 page)

He followed me and I handed him his sweater.
He took it and pulled it on while I blathered.

“
When you get back, I want to know
everything. This is
so
cool.
I
love
this. I
can’t wait to hear what they have to say.”

“Finnie –”

I handed him his socks and cut him off. “No.
Don’t say you can’t tell me. If you hear what they say and you
can’t tell me, okay. But maybe you can. Don’t burst my bubble now.
You can burst it later if you have to.”

He took his socks but didn’t put them on. He
just stared at me.

Then he hooked me with an arm around my
waist and I was suddenly plastered against his body and his mouth
had crushed down on mine. He gave me a short, hot kiss (with
tongues) then let me go.

Then he ordered, “Loft, wife, I’ll be back
soon.”

I smiled at him and agreed, “Okay.”

Then I rushed to the ladder and up.

Once in, I stuck my head out and called to
my husband as he tugged on his boots, “Have fun with the
elves.”

His head tipped back and his eyes caught
mine. Then he shook his head. Then he grinned.

I grinned back and slapped the curtains
closed.

Then I rushed to the bed, sat cross-legged
in the middle of it and listened to the door open and close.

Then I giggled.

Holy freaking
moly!
This world had elves and I was married to their
lord, a man who, for some reason (magic?), didn’t suffer cold or
heat.

How… freaking…
cool!

This adventure was
totally
worth a million dollars.

Totally
.

The Message

Tyr’s hooves pounded through the snow taking
Frey Drakkar over the rise behind his hunting cabin and beyond,
through the trees that grew thicker and thicker and into the heart
of the forest, the part that was so dense, even Tyr and The Drakkar
had to slow to navigate it.

Then they entered an opaque, drifting white
mist that only The Drakkar and his steed could penetrate, any other
human attempting it would be cast back.

The elves were present.

Tyr and The Drakkar moved through the thick
stand of trees and heavy vapor and saw the light of the adela tree
piercing the mist and shafting around the dark trunks of the forest
well before they arrived at the clearing that held the wide, tall,
sparkling adela with its many narrow branches rising straight from
the stump, its bark glittering, its twirly-ended twigs profuse and
shooting out to the sides and straight into the air.

The Drakkar pulled back on Tyr’s reins at
the edge of the fifteen foot circular clearing surrounding the
adela and dismounted. The elves were already there, moving to the
adela, touching it’s bark at the base where the tree rose from the
earth, instantly transforming from their diminutive size to human
size – stopping at a height not near as tall as The Drakkar, but as
tall as his winter bride.

Drakkar approached with Tyr’s jaw close to
his shoulder and stopped halfway to the glittering, magical
tree.

Nillen, Speaker of the Elves, moved
instantly to him, stopping two feet away from his lord.

Then he bowed his head by tucking his chin
to the side of the neck before his ice blue eyes, Drakkar’s new
bride’s same eyes, moved to his lord.

“Thank you for coming, my lord, Frey
Drakkar.”

“This had better be good, Nillen, I was ten
minutes away from consummating my marriage when your elves
arrived.”

Nillen’s lips tipped up at the ends and his
eyes sparkled like icicles. “We have bad timing,” he murmured.

“Immensely bad,” Drakkar agreed on an
impatient growl. Nillen’s lips tipped up further but The Drakkar
wasn’t in the mood to share his amusement. “Your message?” he
prompted.

Nillen held his eyes.

Then he whispered, “You know our
message.”

This was true. Drakkar knew his message.

They were there to discuss his new
bride.

A bride who smiled at him, laughed and
joked. A bride who he woke up to curled tight around his body. A
bride who quailed at the sight of a dead deer on her table when
she’d not only brought down numerous in her time on this earth, she
had cleaned them and stripped their hides. A bride who cooked food
like she’d been doing it her entire life, rather than having it
served to her already prepared at every meal from the time she
stopped suckling her wet nurse’s breast. A bride who said strange
words and uttered bizarre terms such as, “freaking out”, “ticking
me off”, “flip me out”, “pissing me off” and “all that jazz” as
well as “technicality”, “beejeezus”, “cool-as-shit”, “jerk” and
“the next level”. A bride who wore dresses and perfume and made up
her face doing the two former with natural ease and the latter with
obvious practice when everyone in the realm knew she did none of
these. A bride who had an immensely graceful bearing but an
unreserved and friendly manner, again, something she’d never had
before. A bride who did not know the difference between elves and
fairies nor did she know her husband held elf magic and was immune
to heat and cold although this had been known for century upon
century as the House of Drakkar birthed Freys into their line. A
bride who returned his kisses with exuberance, melted in his arms
and grew immensely heated merely at his hand moving over her
rounded arse. And a bride who moved nearly immediately to assist
him in defense when she feared he faced danger then behaved with
unbridled delight when speaking of the elves.

A bride who was most definitely
not
the Winter Princess Sjofn of
the House of Wilde.

“My bride,” Drakkar grunted.

Nillen inclined his head.

“
I assume,” Nillen started, “considering
your reported…” he paused, “
activities
prior to my brothers and sisters’ arrival, she has touched
you?”

“She has,” Drakkar confirmed.

“May I read?” Nillen asked and Drakkar
tilted his chin up in an affirmative.

Nillen did not come closer but simply lifted
his hand, laid it on Drakkar’s chest for a mere moment and then
pulled it slightly away. A vaporous, ice blue handprint remained on
The Drakkar’s chest even after the elf’s hand had moved away,
sparkling, ice blue sinews stretching between The Drakkar and
Nillen’s hand as he held it up.

Drakkar saw that Nillen’s eyes were closed
as he took his reading then the connection was broken, the print on
his chest fading when Nillen’s hand dropped and his eyes
opened.

Then he smiled.

“She is indeed the Ice Bride,” he whispered
and the elves in the clearing roused, the air filling with
anticipation.

“Explain,” Drakkar ordered curtly.

“She is not of this world,” Nillen stated,
Tyr shifted his bulk and butted his master’s shoulder with his jaw
for his horse had long since communicated this same impression,
indeed, the night of his wedding as she inexpertly (at first) drove
her sleigh at his side.

The elves standing in the clearing continued
to stir but Drakkar said nothing.

Nillen continued. “The elves have known of
the existence of another world, different than ours, in some ways
more advanced, in other ways very short-sighted, for many
millennia. That world holds very limited magic.”

Drakkar remained silent.

Nillen went on to explain. “Humans have
twins that live in each world. In fact, nearly every human has a
twin save, fortunately for both worlds, those who carry evil. Those
with extreme malice in their heart, enough to act on that
wickedness freely and without scruple, only have one being in one
world. There are others who do not have twins but these, too, are
not birthed only due to extreme circumstances. Those who do not
hold malice or their mother’s have not endured extreme
circumstances in one of the two worlds have two. Although the twin
will look like the other, sound like the other, they are
not
the other but two separate
beings.” Nillen paused, Drakkar nodded once and Nillen kept
speaking. “You have a twin in that world and Sjofn of the House of
Wilde has one. And she conspired to switch places with her twin on
the night of her wedding to you.”

Drakkar’s jaw went tight but he said
nothing.

Nillen carried on. “The Sjofn of this world
wished to escape you. The Seoafin of our parallel world came here
for much different reasons.”

“And those are?” Drakkar asked.

“Primarily… grief,” Nillen answered and
Drakkar blinked as his gut grew tight.

“Grief?”

Nillen nodded. “Many years ago, she lost her
mother and father. They were beloved by her. She has not recovered
from this loss, such was the weight it settled on her soul. She
became aware of our world and the understanding there were twins to
those living in her world.” He paused and his eyes stayed
unwavering on his lord. “She wished to see her parents again and
took a great risk and paid a great treasure in order to do it.”

Drakkar felt his gut tighten further as he
muttered, “Bloody hell.”

Nillen lifted his chin. “I’m afraid that
although your Ice Bride was clear about her reasons for voyaging to
this world, the Sjofn of this world was not forthright with your
new bride and shared very limited information prior to your bride’s
travel as well as leaving select information for her to understand
after. The switch was accomplished just ten minutes to her being
forced into the sleigh that would take her to the Dwelling of the
Gods. Amongst other things, she had no idea her parents of this
world had grown impatient and even angry with her and she had no
idea that she was facing imminent marriage to you. Indeed, even
now, after reading Sjofn of the House of Wilde’s communications,
she holds incomplete information about you.”

Drakkar glared at the elf as he felt his
neck muscles contract before he urged in a tight voice, “Go
on.”

Nillen’s head dipped to the side before
straightening. “Your bride is…” another pause, “
unusual
for a female in this world and even one,
it is our understanding, in her home world. Although she was faced
nearly instantly with these inauspicious circumstances, she has
rallied and while she does wish to spend time with her parents, she
has enjoyed her adventure on this world very much so
far.”

That did not surprise The Drakkar. Not after
seeing her greet the townsfolk that very day or walking in on her
in the pub last night as she cried out in delight, arms straight in
the air, smile beaming from her beautiful face while clearly
engaged (successfully) in wagering in a game of chance.

Nillen kept speaking though his voice had
grown soft. “You do remember, my lord, that although we understood
your reasons for accepting the king’s request, the elves cautioned
you strongly against binding yourself to Sjofn of the House of
Wilde.”

Drakkar kept his gaze aimed at the elf but
he felt his entire frame get tight.

He did remember. The elves went beyond
cautioning him. Their concerns at this alliance with Princess Sjofn
were communicated in a tone that was nearly desperate. Their
warnings were dire that such a union would anger Keer, the God of
Destiny who had foretold that the Lord of the Elves would marry his
Ice Bride, a woman who shared, like The Frey of the Drakkar, elf
magic for through her veins coursed traces of elf blood. A woman
that Keer, with aid from
all
the
gods, Wohden, Adela, Hermia, Meer
and
Alabasta had searched for and chosen in order to unite the
elf and the dragon to create a child who was a true, rightful heir
to the throne a Lunwyn, something which the gods felt crucial
though they had not explained why through prayer, Vallee or the
elves.

But, for Drakkar, it was foretold the
particular woman destined for him was chosen by the gods as a
handsome reward for his endeavors and the weighty responsibility of
the commands he held for she also shared Drakkar’s lust for
voyaging and his thirst for unending quest.

All of which would be impossible for Finnie
to be if the world of the winter bride waiting for him at his cabin
held little magic for she, clearly, wouldn’t either.

After sifting through this knowledge in his
brain, finally, The Drakkar lifted his chin.

Nillen’s smile beamed from his face before
he announced, “The Great Keer and Destiny have prevailed.”

Drakkar blinked and the elves around the
clearing twittered.

“Explain,” he demanded.

“Why, my lord, you’ve married your rightful
Ice Bride.”

Drakkar’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you said
her world holds little magic.”

“
It does but that doesn’t mean it
holds
none.
She’s of
the elves, albeit the elves of
her
world, she’s still of the elves, our kind there long since
gone to their realm deep within the earth, never to return.
Princess Sjofn holds her coloring from traits passed down naturally
through her parents, although latent in each parent, they have come
out in her by pure chance. Your Seoafin holds her coloring because
she carries the blood of elves.”

Drakkar studied Nillen’s happy face and
noted, “I see this pleases you.”

Nillen lifted his chin and replied, “Indeed
it does, my lord.”

Drakkar thought of Finnie but he didn’t need
to do so. He already knew she pleased him which was why, although
he proceeded cautiously with a woman unknown to him, he continued
to proceed. Until now, he hadn’t known if she was a Sjofn of the
House of Wilde bewitched (probably, he had thought, by her mother)
to be to his liking, if the gods were at work or if a double had
been created for fiendish reasons. What he did know was that he was
enjoying testing all these theories, therefore, warily, he
proceeded to test them.